Westinghouse prospered by improving railroad brakes. He understood the corporate needs for uniformity, predictability, and control.82 Westinghouse invented his automatic railroad air brake in 1869. As with Edison’s incandescent bulb, “invent” is a deceptive word. Virtually all the inventions of the period arose from the tinkering culture of American shops and factories. There were numerous versions of most devices. Attaching a single inventor to any of them and awarding a patent often involved seemingly endless litigation.
