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For half a century the air-powered locomotive was a serious contender
for the top spot in transportation because of its obvious advantages:
simplicity, safety, economy, and cleanliness. Air engines were commercially
available and used routinely, first as metropolitan street transit and later for
haulage in mines.
Inventor Charles B. Hodges became the first and only air car inventor in
history to see his invention become a lasting commercial success.
His engine was two stage and employed an interheater between the two
piston stages to warm the partially expanded compressed air with the
surrounding atmosphere.
A substantial gain in range-between-fill-ups
was thus proven attainable with no cost for the extra fuel, which was
provided by the sun. The H. K. Porter Company in Pittsburgh
sold hundreds of these locomotives to coal-mining companies in the
eastern U.S.
With the hopeful days of air powered street transit over, the compressed
air locomotive became a standard fixture in coal mines around the world
because it created no heat or spark and was therefore invaluable in gassy
mines where explosions were always a danger with electric or gas engines.
