Henry Roe Campbell

Henry Roe Campbell (1807 – 1879) was a prominent American surveyor and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional engineers in the United States, Campbell made significant contributions to American railroading and bridge building in the first half of the 19th century being known as the known as "The Bridge builder of New England" as well as the inventor of the 4-4-0 steam locomotive. The 4-4-0 or American type steam locomotive was the most popular wheel arrangement in 19th century american railroads. White noted that the design was successful because it .."met every requirement of early United States railroads". His work was influential and widely copied.

Early Life and works

Henry Roe Campbell was born in September 9, 1807 to Amos Campbell, (1779 in Bucks County, Pa; died 1868) and Ann Roe in Woodbury, New Jersey. One of three children in the family, Henry's brother John D. Campbell, (b. 1821, d. 1863) would also go on to becoming a civil engineer while helping his brother Henry construct bridges for the Vermont Central Railroad and then went on to become Superintendent of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad.

His father, Amos Campbell, was a well-known covered bridge builder as well as being known for operating an early railroad from Woodbury to Camden, New Jersey. Amos Campbell, built bridges using Ithiel Town's patented lattice design (See also Lattice Truss Bridge article. In 1849, at age 70, Amos traveled to Maumee, Ohio to erect the largest covered bridge he had ever built. As a young person, Henry learned architecture and civil engineering while working as an apprentice to his father.
Henry Roe Campbell married Sidney Boyd of Lancaster, Pa. in 1833. Henry met Sidney while he worked on the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad. Two are their sons were Joseph Boyd Campbell (1836-1891), a graduate of West Point (Class of 1861) and civil war veteran (Battle of Antietam) and Henry Roe Campbell, Jr., who was also involved in railroads and civil engineering.

Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad

In April 1828, Major John A. Wilson, US Army Corps of Engineers was charged with locating the route of the railroad between Columbia, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, with a survey party that included among others John Edgar Thomson, future Pennsylvania railroad engineer and president, assistant engineers; John P. Baily, Samuel W. Mifflin future chief engineer of the Huntington and Broad Top Railroad railroad, Major Wilson's son and future PRR executive,William Hasell Wilson, and Campbell.

Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad

In 1832 Campbell became the chief engineer of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad (PG&N). Herman Haupt, fresh out of West Point, served Campbell as an apprentice on the PG&N. He invented numerous things for railroads, ranging from double-acting brakes to the 4-4-0 locomotive.

During the mid-1830s, Campbell became quite busy designing other rail lines and structures while still employed as the PG&N's chief engineer. He drafted plans for a bridge on the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad in New York; the West Philadelphia Railroad as a route to eliminate the planes on the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad; oversaw construction of the Camden & Woodbury Railroad in New Jersey as principal engineer; received his patent for the 4-4-0 locomotive, a major leap forward in railroad technology; laid out and designed the Norristown & Valley Railroad; and drafted a map and profile of the Gettysburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. He resigned his position with the PG&N in 1839 and became an independent civil engineer, taking on a variety of projects. (Schopp unpublished manuscript).

File:US11003-1854.png

Campbell patent depicting rail wheel and rail interaction with inverted U rails

During the 1840s, he established his own locomotive works in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. . By the late 1840s, Campbell had left Philadelphia for New England, where he worked as chief engineer for the Vermont Central Railroad and the Vermont & Canada Railroad. He designed and constructed many covered bridges in New England and became known as the bridge-builder of New England. During the 1860s, Campbell returned to Pennsylvania and continued to accept a variety of bridge and construction contracts. In 1875, he completed the then longest swing-span movable bridge in the world at Perth Amboy in New Jersey but the harsh winter weather of that project eventually caused his demise. He died in Woodbury, New Jersey in February 1879.

Works

• Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Rail Road Company., Campbell, H. R., & Strickend, W. (1833). Report and estimates of the engineers of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Rail-Road Company. Philadelphia: publisher not identified.
• Campbell, H. R., Kramm, G., & Lehman & Duval Lithrs. (1835). Plan of the West-Philadelphia Rail-Road. Philadelphia: Lehman & Duval Lithrs. For Map see this [2].
• West Philadelphia Rail Road Company. First annual report of the West Philadelphia Rail Road Company. Philadelphia, 1835. 9pp. Source Library:The American Antiquarian Society
• Campbell, H. R. (1837) Report of Surveys Made to Avoid the Inclined Plane Upon and for the Improvement of the Columbia and Philadelphia Rail Road; by Order of the Canal Commissioners of the State of Pennsylvania. A. Seyfert & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Campbell, H. R., & Gettysburg Railroad. (1839). Map and profile of the Gettysburg Rail Road as surveyed by order of the legislature of Pennsylvania, 1839. Philadelphia.
• Strickland, W., Gill, E. H., & Campbell, H. R. (1841). Reports, specifications, and estimates of public works in the United States of America: Comprising the Philadelphia gas works ; reservoir dam across the Swatara ; twin locks on the Schuylkill Canal ; Delaware Breakwater ; Philadelphia Water Works ; dam and lock on the Sandy and Beaver Canal ; dam on the James River and Kanawha Canal, Virginia ; locks of eight feet lift, on the same aqueducts across Rivanna River and Byrd Creek, on the same ; superstructure, etc., of farm bridges, on the same ; lock gates and mitre sills. London: J. Weale.

Patents

Campbell received two patents for his work:

• Patent No. 9,355 For the 4-4-0 Locomotive configuration. This locomotive had a three point suspension and a leading truck and operated well on uneven tracks as well as powerful because of its four connected driving wheels.
• Patent No. 11,003 [3] which was for a double rail system of inverted "U" rails where the flange on the carriage wheel rode between the rails such that it allowed the flanges of the wheels to run freely between them.

Death

Campbell died in Woodbury, New Jersey on February 6, 1879, and is interred in Green Cemetery,Woodbury, Gloucester, New Jersey.

References

Sources

• Henry Roe Campbell (1807-1879), Author(s): Edward T. Francis, Source: Railroad History, No. 157 (AUTUMN 1987), pp. 110-113, Published by: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS), Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43521236 , Accessed: 24-05-2016 13:09 UTC (JStor access required)
• The 4-4-0 (American) Type of Locomotive, Author(s): Paul T. Warner, Source: The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, No. 35 (October, 1934), pp. 10-37 Published by: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS), Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43519735, Accessed: 24-05-2016 13:25 UTC (JStor access required)
• Some Early Locomotive Patents, Author(s): Paul T. Warner, Source: The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, No. 87 (OCTOBER, 1952), pp. 9-20, Published by: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS), Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43517671 ,Accessed: 24-05-2016 13:25 UTC, (JStor access required)
• Pennsylvania historic resource form (Chester Valley Railroad: Birdigeport to Downington, 2004) for details on Campbell's early life and some of his career. Accessed at [4] on May 22, 2016.

External links

• Emmitsburg Maryland Area Historical Society website