Contested Currents
The Race to Electrify America

After making a small fortune selling his railroad air brakes, Westinghouse and his new wife moved to a house in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, they called “Solitude”. This was not only George Westinghouse’s home but also his private laboratory and a place of invention, creation, and experimentation. In 1884, after striking gas in his backyard, Westinghouse invented ways to control and transmit natural gas to both industrial and residential consumers. By 1886, Westinghouse invented a piping system, an automatic cut-off regulator and a gas meter and eventually distributed natural gas to his immediate neighborhood.

Because of Westinghouse's interest in gas distribution, he became interested in electrical power distribution. In 1885, Westinghouse imported a number of Gaulard-Gibbs transformers and begin experimenting with AC networks at his home in Pittsburgh.

To learn more about George Westinghouse try the following activity:

ACTIVITY – Better understand Westinghouse's AC power.

AC LED Lasso.pdf

AC LED Lasso.doc