James Trane
{{Short description|Norwegian-American businessman}}
James Alex Trane (April 29, 1857 – January 24, 1936) was a Norwegian-American inventor and industrialist. He was the co-founder of Trane.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120125025210/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757408,00.html Business: Happy Trane (Time Magazine. March 15, 1937)]
Biography
James Alex Trane was born as Jens Alexander Martin Trane in Målselv, Norway.[https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/255/pd00000004048826 Church book from Målselv parish, Målselv local parish 1853–1863 (1924P)]. Digital Archives, National Archival Services of Norway. Retrieved October 3, 2023. He was an immigrant to the United States who settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1864, finding work as a steamfitter and plumber. In 1885, he opened his own plumbing shop.{{Cite web |title=About Trane. Our History (Trane Inc.) |url=http://www.trane.com/Corporate/About/history.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102024320/http://trane.com/Corporate/About/history.asp |archive-date=2010-01-02 |access-date=2009-09-12}}
Besides being a steamfitter and a plumber, James Trane was also an inventor. He designed a new type of low-pressure steam heating system, Trane vapor heating. Reuben Trane, James' son, earned a Mechanical Engineering degree (B.S. 1910) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined his father's plumbing firm.{{Cite web |title=Hall of Fame Members. Reuben N. Trane |url=https://www.ashrae.org/membership--conferences/honors--awards/hall-of-fame |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905184500/https://ashrae.org/membership--conferences/honors--awards/hall-of-fame |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |access-date=January 10, 2016 |publisher=ASHRAE}}
In 1913, James and Reuben incorporated The Trane Company.{{Cite web |title=Trane Culture » Our History (Trane Inc.) |url=http://www.tranenynj.com/tc_history.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408053442/http://www.tranenynj.com/tc_history.php |archive-date=2013-04-08 |access-date=2010-08-28}} By 1916, the Tranes were no longer in the plumbing business, but rather were focusing their attention on manufacturing heating products.{{Cite web |title=100 Years of Trane History |url=https://www.trane.com/content/dam/Trane/Commercial/global/products-systems/education-training/engineers-newsletters/acoustics/adm-apn046-en_0313.pdf |access-date=April 1, 2017 |publisher=Trane Engineers Newsletter, volume 42 –1}}
In 1925, Reuben Trane invented a new type of heat transfer device known as the convector radiator. It consisted of a new style of heat exchanger in a sheet metal cabinet—a highly efficient, lightweight replacement for the bulky, slow-responding castiron radiator. In 1931, The Trane Company developed its first air conditioning unit, the Trane unit cooler, and in 1938 its first centrifugal refrigeration machine, the Turbovac.{{Cite web |last=Anita Doering |date=March 13, 2016 |title=Trane Company's 'House of Weather Magic' |url=https://archives.lacrosselibrary.org/blog/trane-companys-house-of-weather-magic/ |access-date=January 1, 2018 |publisher=La Crosse Public Library Archives}}
References
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External links
- [http://company.ingersollrand.com/ircorp/en/discover-us/our-global-brands/trane.html Trane official website]
{{Ingersoll Rand}}
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Category:People from La Crosse, Wisconsin
Category:Norwegian emigrants to the United States
Category:19th-century American inventors
Category:20th-century American inventors
Category:American industrialists
Category:American company founders