Russell Allport

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Russell Allport & Co, Hobart workshop with the frame for the small electric locomotive in the far left corner
Small electric locomotive from Russell Allport & Co, Hobart, probably for Hopetoun
A wooden back -Seilwinde Russell Allport & Co, Hobart
A Russell Allport steam locomotive on the Wielangta Tramway , 1911

(James) Russell Allport († February 5, 1914 in Suva , Fiji ) was a Hobart , Tasmania- based Australian electrical engineer .

Life and work

Russell Allport was born as the son of lawyer Morton Allport and his wife Elizabeth, b. Ritchie, born. After completing his education in this city, he moved to Mount Cameron on the northeastern end of the Tasmanian island at the age of 17, where he gained his first engineering experience with the Longreach Dredging and Tin-Mining Co. Some time later he went to England and joined Spagnoletti & Crookes as an apprentice , where he gained a thorough knowledge of the engineering profession.

First he worked on the City and South London Railway , which was built as a tube . He was next sent to the Notting Hill Electric Light Station by the same company. This low-voltage power station used the three-wire system with accumulators and served an area of ​​two square miles. Russell Allport understood the basic principles of the company very quickly and gained valuable experience. At the Ferranti plant in Deptford he acquired knowledge of high voltage electrical engineering. There two machines with 10,100 horsepower each were built, which could supply 200,000 light bulbs. These machines were 26 m high in total. The magnets weighed 460 tons and the anchors weighed 325 tons. The main shaft weighed 37 tons and was turned from the largest steel ingot cast in Scotland up to that time. The machines could be opened within five minutes to make repairs to the dynamo armature.

Before Russell Allport returned to Tasmania, he toured Germany, France, Italy and other places to gain work experience and accumulate knowledge that proved very beneficial to him and helped bring Hobart up to date with the latest technology. A few weeks after his return, he joined the Hobart Electric Tramway Company as an assistant to AC Parker .

He started a business on Murray Street in 1895, but it wasn't long before he realized the space wasn't nearly big enough to grow his business fast enough. His first assignment was to equip the O'May Bros. SS Silver Crown with electric lighting.

He then bought a 23 × 52 m piece of land on Melville Street, on which he built a state-of-the-art factory. Within four years he had 15 employees. He further expanded his premises, including an office and shop front, a large machine shop and machine room, a joinery, a brass and iron foundry and a forge. The machine tools used consisted of four lathes, planing, drilling, forming and screwing machines. Russell Allport also added the necessary equipment for x-ray imaging, providing an extremely useful facility in this regard. He built a steam engine with 30 hp to order in his workshops. He has been said to have built the best manufacturing facility in southern Tasmania.

He installed electrical equipment on several steamers including the Banks Peninsula , Grafton and Australia . Russell Allport was an agent for the Brush Electrical Engineering Co. , a world-renowned company, and he has imported much of their machinery into Tasmania. His bike repairs were unbeatable in Tasmania, and the latest equipment was used to the full for this job. Russell Allport has been involved in building complex machinery for one of the largest companies in the colony, and it is extremely satisfactory to note that experts believe that his products were equivalent to imported machinery.

The foundry and machining were performed on his premises under the personal supervision of Russell Allport. He installed his electric lights in many of the leading companies in Hobart. The lampholders for the arc lamps and incandescent lamps of street lights were manufactured by Russell Allport. They were exceptionally reliable and well-designed.

His own premises were lit with electric lights everywhere. The workers were well looked after in their own line and only the best work was found under Allport's supervision. The trade has expanded in many directions and should not diminish in the hands of such a skilled manager. He invested wisely and reaped the benefits. Allport's connection with Hobart, though brief, has been hugely beneficial to the city's development and to itself.

Russell Allport died on January 7, 1914 at Colonial Hospital in Suva, Fiji, after a trip to the Fiji Islands in the steamer Tofua, during which he became so sick that he had to be hospitalized when the steamer arrived in Suva. [3]

Projects (selection)

  • Electric locomotive
  • Electric light of the Gaiety Theater, Zeehan
  • 17 electrical installations for the Banks Peninsula steamer from TA Reynolds and Co (November 1895).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f g Russell Allport, AMIEE, Electrical Engineer, Melville-Street. The Mercury, June 1, 1899, p. 2.
  2. ^ SS Silver Crown. Extensive alterations. The Mercury, July 3, 1896, p. 2
  3. ↑ Letters: Russell Allport Electric Locomotive (LR246, 248, 249, 250)
  4. ↑ Gaiety Theater, Zeehan.
  5. ↑ Shipping Enterprise. Zeehan and Dundas Herald, Nov. 26, 1895, page 2.
personal data
SURNAME Allport, Russell
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Allport, James Russell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian electrical engineer and rail vehicle builder
DATE OF BIRTH 19th century
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1914
Place of death Suva , Fiji