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{{Short description|American civil engineer}}
{{Infobox person | name =Arthur Mellen Wellington | image =1895_NC_photo_of_A_M_Wellington.png| image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1847|12|20}} | birth_place =[[Waltham, Massachusetts]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|5|17|1847|12|20}} | death_place =[[Manhattan, New York City]] | death_cause =[[Kidney disease]] | resting_place = [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]]| resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = [[Civil Engineer]]| title = | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | religion = | spouse =Agnes Bates | partner = | children = | parents =Oliver Hastings Wellington <br>Charlotte Augusta Kent | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
{{use mdy dates| date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox person
⚫
'''Arthur Mellen Wellington''' (December 20, 1847 – May 17, 1895) was an [[United States|American]] [[civil engineer]] who wrote the 1877 book ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways''. The saying that ''An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two'' is attributed to him. He was involved in the design and construction of new railways in [[Mexico]]. He was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railroad. He was the editor of the [[Engineering News-Record|''Engineering News'']].<ref name=nytobit/><ref name=obit/>
| name =Arthur Mellen Wellington
| image =1895_NC_photo_of_A_M_Wellington.png
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1847|12|20}}
| birth_place =[[Waltham, Massachusetts]], US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|5|17|1847|12|20}}
| death_place =[[Manhattan, New York]], US
| resting_place = [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| education =
| employer =
| occupation = [[Civil Engineer]]
| title =
| spouse =Agnes Bates
| children =
| relatives =
| signature =
| footnotes = <ref name=Globeobit>{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35091901/may-1895-arthur-mellen-wellington-obit/| title=A. M. Wellington Dead| newspaper=Boston Globe| location=Boston, MA| date=May 18, 1895| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
}}
⚫
'''Arthur Mellen Wellington''' (December 20, 1847 – May 17, 1895)<ref name=Globeobit /> was an American [[civil engineer]] who wrote the 1877 book ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways''. The saying that ''An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two'' is an abridgement of a statement made in this work (see below). Wellington was involved in the design and construction of new railways in [[Mexico]]. He was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railroad. He was the editor of the [[Engineering News-Record|''Engineering News'']].<ref name=nytobit/><ref name=obit/>


The pioneering effort of Wellington in engineering economics in the 1870s was continued by [[John Charles Lounsbury Fish]] with the publication of ''Engineering Economics: First Principles'' in 1923 and the first publication of the ''Principles of Engineering Economy'' in 1930 by [[Eugene L. Grant]].
The pioneering effort of Wellington in engineering economics in the 1870s was continued by [[John Charles Lounsbury Fish]] with the publication of ''Engineering Economics: First Principles'' in 1923 and the first publication of the ''Principles of Engineering Economy'' in 1930 by [[Eugene L. Grant]].


==Early Life and Works==
==Early life and works==
⚫
He was born on December 25, 1847, in [[Waltham, Massachusetts]].<ref name=Globeobit /> In 1878,<ref name="Thueson_ASEE">{{cite journal| last1=Thueson| first1=Gerald J.| first2=William G.| last2=Sullivan| title=Engineering Economy A Historical Perspective| journal=Session| issue=1639| date=1847| pages=1–8| url=https://peer.asee.org/engineering-economy-a-historical-perspective}}</ref> he married Agnes Bates, and they had two children. Wellington was a descendant of Roger Wellington, an early settler of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington.<ref name="Thueson_ASEE"/> In 1863, Wellington graduated from the [[Boston Latin School]] and then studied engineering with [[John Benjamin Henck]], a prominent civil engineer practicing in Boston.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit">{{cite journal| title=Wellington Obituary| journal=Engineering News and American Railway Journal| volume=33| issue=21| date=May 23, 1895| pages=886–888| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.e0000407064;view=2up;seq=392;size=200}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> While his work with Henck took place during the [[American Civil War]], he studied [[mechanical engineering]] and passed the examination for an assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/>
He was born on December 25, 1847 in [[Waltham, Massachusetts]] to Oliver Hastings Wellington (1812-1893), a physician and Charlotte Augusta Kent (1818-1882).<ref name="findagrave">{{Cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121344521|title=Arthur Mellen Wellington|last=|first=|date=January 1, 2018|website=|archive-url=|publisher=[[Findagrave]]|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref><ref name=nytobit/>
⚫
In 1878,<ref name="Thueson_ASEE">Thueson, Gerald J., and William G. Sullivan. "Engineering Economy A Historical Perspective." ''Session'' 1639 (1847): 1-8 Accessed at [https://peer.asee.org/engineering-economy-a-historical-perspective]</ref> he married Agnes Bates and they had two children, Jessie Kent Wellington Morton (1853–1936) and George Wellington (1861–1935).<ref name="findagrave"/> Wellington wasa a descendant of Roger Wellington, an early settler of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington.<ref name="Thueson_ASEE"/> In 1863, Wellington graduated from the [[Boston Latin School]] and then studied engineering with [[John Benjamin Henck]], a prominent civil engineer practicing in Boston.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit">Wellington Obituary in Engineering News and American Railway Journal, Vol. 33, No. 21, May 23, 1895, pp. 886-888. Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.e0000407064;view=2up;seq=392;size=200 ] {{PD-notice}}</ref>
While his work with Henck took place during the [[American civil war]], he studied [[mechanical engineering]] and passed the examination for assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/>
[[File:1876 Buffalo NY and Penna RR pass.jpg|left|thumb|400px|Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad pass issued by [[Albert Fink]]]]
[[File:1876 Buffalo NY and Penna RR pass.jpg|left|thumb|400px|Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad pass issued by [[Albert Fink]]]]


==Surveyor and locating engineer==
==Surveyor and locating engineer==
Wellington left Henck's office in 1866 to work as a surveyor in the engineers corps at the Brooklyn Parks department<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> on the [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] project under [[Frederick Law Olmsted]].<ref name=nytobit/> In 1868, he took a position as a surveyor on a locating party for the [[Blue Ridge Railway (1901)|Blue Ridge railroad]] in South Carolina<ref name=Globeobit /> in charge of a series of explorations to find possible routes for the railroad.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> Wellington left the South Carolina road and went on to practice location engineering for the [[Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad|Dutchess & Columbia]] railroad in New York state.<ref name=Globeobit /><ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> He left that road in 1870 to work on the [[Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (1887–95)|Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia]] railroad as a division engineer for the next three years.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> He continued in this position until the financial [[panic of 1873]] put a sudden stop to railway construction.<ref name="Thueson_ASEE"/><ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> He was appointed as [[Chief Engineer (railway)|Chief Engineer]] of the [[Toledo and Canada Southern Railway]] in 1872. He then went to work for the [[Buffalo and Erie Railroad]], the [[West Farms Railway]] and the [[Canadian Great Western Railway]]. He was made engineer in charge of the [[Mexican National Railway]] in March 1881,<ref name=Globeobit /> and afterward, he became the Assistant General Manager of the [[Mexican Central Railway]]. He returned to Manhattan, New York City and became one of the editors of [[The Railroad Gazette]] in 1884.
Wellington left Henck's office in 1866 to work as a surveyor in the engineers corps at the Brooklyn Parks department<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> on the [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] project under [[Frederick Law Olmsted]].<ref name=nytobit/>

In 1868, he took a position as a surveyor on a locating party for the [[Blue Ridge Railway (1901)|Blue Ridge railroad]] in South Carolina in charge of a series of explorations to find possible routes for the railroad.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/>
Wellington left the South Carolina road and went on to practice location engineering for the [[Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad|Dutchess & Columbia]] railroad in New York state.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/>
He left that road in 1870 to work on the [[Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (1887–95)|Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia]] railroad as a division engineer for the next three years.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/> He continued in this position until the financial [[panic of 1873]] put a sudden stop to railway construction.<ref name="ENRWellingtonObit"/><ref name="Thueson_ASEE"/>
He was appointed as [[Chief Engineer]] of the [[Toledo and Canada Southern Railway]] in 1872. He then went to work for the [[Buffalo and Erie Railroad]], the [[West Farms Railway]] and the [[Canadian Great Western Railway]].
He was made engineer in charge of the [[Mexican National Railway]] in March 1881, and afterward, he became the Assistant General Manager of the [[Mexican Central Railway]]. He returned to Manhattan, New York City and became one of the editors of [[The Railroad Gazette]] in 1884.
== Honors ==
== Honors ==
⚫
He then became editor and part owner of [[The Engineering News]].<ref name=nytobit/> In 1891, Wellington was elected a member of the [[Canadian Society of Civil Engineers]].<ref>{{cite journal| journal=Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers| volume=s. 9-10| publisher=Canadian Society of Civil Engineers| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjg8AQAAMAAJ&q=Henck%27s+field+book+for+civil+engineers&pg=PA450| via=Google Books| title=Obituary: Arthur Mellen Wellington| year=1895| access-date=January 2, 2018}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>
He then became editor and part owner of [[The Engineering News]].<ref name=nytobit/>

⚫
In 1891, Wellington was elected a member of the [[Canadian Society of Civil Engineers]].<ref>Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, Volumes 9-10, By Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. Accessed at [https://books.google.com/books?id=sjg8AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA445&ots=efPCwSju6W&dq=Henck's%20field%20book%20for%20civil%20engineers&pg=PA450#v=onepage&q=Henck's%20field%20book%20for%20civil%20engineers&f=false] on January 2, 2018. {{PD-notice}}</ref>
== Famous Quotation ==
The famous quotation, 'An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two," is a shortened version of this statement below, which appears in the introduction to his magnum opus, "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways," published in 1877:

"It would be well if engineering were less generally thought of, and even defined, as the art of constructing. In a certain important sense it is rather the art of not constructing; or, to define it rudely but not inaptly, it is the art of doing that well with one dollar, which any bungler can do with two after a fashion."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zXVCAQAAIAAJ&dq=it+is+the+art+of+doing+that+well+with+one+dollar,+which+any+bungler+can+do+with+two+after+a+fashion.&pg=PA829 Extract of "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways" published in "The Railroad Gazette" 3 Dec 1856 p 829 final column]</ref>


==Death ==
==Death ==
Wellington died on May 17, 1895 in [[Manhattan, New York City]] at age 47.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |author= |coauthors= |title=Arthur M. Wellington |quote=Arthur M. Wellington died at New York after a prolonged illness. Mr. Wellington was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern railway, ... |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=May 18, 1895 }}</ref><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |author= |title=Arthur M. Wellington |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_Mellen_Wellington_obituary_in_the_New_York_Times_on_May_18,_1895.png |quote= |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 18, 1895 }}</ref> He was interred at [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in the [[Bronx, New York City]].<ref name="findagrave"/>
Wellington died on May 17, 1895, from heart failure following surgery in [[Manhattan, New York City]], at age 47.<ref name=Globeobit /><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |title=Arthur M. Wellington |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_Mellen_Wellington_obituary_in_the_New_York_Times_on_May_18,_1895.png |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 18, 1895| via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Obituary Notes: Arthur M. Wellington |quote=Arthur M. Wellington died at New York after a prolonged illness. Mr. Wellington was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern railway, ... |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=May 18, 1895| page=3| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50723678/chicago-tribune/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>


==Partial Bibliography==
==Partial bibliography==
* ''Methods for the computation from diagrams of preliminary and final estimates of railway earthwork: with diagrams giving quantities on inspection to the nearest cubic yard, for both regular and irregular sections, direct from ordinary field-notes.'' (1875). New York: D. Appleton and company. Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t6833pt1m;view=1up;seq=9]
* {{cite book| title=Methods for the computation from diagrams of preliminary and final estimates of railway earthwork: with diagrams giving quantities on inspection to the nearest cubic yard, for both regular and irregular sections, direct from ordinary field-notes| date=1875| location=New York| publisher=D. Appleton and company| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t6833pt1m;view=1up;seq=9}}
* ''Justification Expenditure for Improving the Alignment of Railways'', Railroad Gazette, Sept. 1-Dec. 29, 1876. Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013053593;view=1up;seq=9]
* {{cite journal| title=Justification Expenditure for Improving the Alignment of Railways| journal=Railroad Gazette| date=September–December 1876| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013053593;view=1up;seq=9}}
* ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways''. First published in 1877 <ref>Wellington, A. M. 1847-1895.(1877). ''Economic theory of the location of railways: an analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital.'' first ed. New York: Wiley.Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044091863894;view=2up;seq=8] on September 18, 2018.</ref> and revised through six editions with the last published in 1914 by Wellington's wife, Agnes Wellington. <ref>Wellington, A. M. 1847-1895.(1914). ''Economic theory of the location of railways''. Sixth ed. New York: Wiley.Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021066389;view=2up;seq=6;size=150] on September 18, 2018.</ref>
* {{cite book| year=1877| last=Wellington| first=A.M.| title=Economic theory of the location of railways: an analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital| edition=first| location=New York| publisher=Wiley| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044091863894;view=2up;seq=8| access-date=September 18, 2018}} and revised through six editions with the last published in 1910 by Wellington's wife, Agnes Wellington.<ref>{{cite book| last=Wellington| first=A.M.| year=1914| title=Economic theory of the location of railways| edition=Sixth| location=New York| publisher=Wiley| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021066389;view=2up;seq=6;size=150| access-date=September 18, 2018}}</ref>
* ''Report respecting railways and trade in Mexico''. Wellington was co-author with Victor Drummond. Great Britain House of Commons Sessional papers 1881 LXXXIX 390 401 Cd 2944. <ref name="Powell1921">Powell, Fred Wilbur. The railroads of Mexico. Stratford, 1921. Accessed at [https://books.google.com/books?id=nj8aAAAAMAAJ&dq=Wellington%20%22chief%20engineer%22%20%22mexican%20national%20railway%22&pg=PA215#v=onepage&q=Wellington&f=false].</ref>
* {{cite book| chapter=Report respecting railways and trade in Mexico| last1=Wellington| first2=Victor| last2=Drummond| title=Great Britain House of Commons Sessional papers 1881 LXXXIX 390 401 Cd 2944}}<ref name="Powell1921">{{cite book| last=Powell| first=Fred Wilbur| title=The railroads of Mexico| location=Stratford| year=1921| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nj8aAAAAMAAJ&q=Wellington&pg=PA215| via=Google Books}}</ref>
* ''The American line from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico via Jalapa''. American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions. (1886) Volume XV, pages 791-829 Wellington was chief engineer in charge of the 1881 survey See also Engineering News (1887) Vol. XVIII pages 165-6,182-3 and 202-3. <ref name="Powell1921"/>
* {{cite journal| title=The American line from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico via Jalapa| journal=American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions| date=1886| volume=XV| pages=791–829}} Wellington was chief engineer in charge of the 1881 survey. See also {{cite journal| title=(unspecified)| journal=Engineering News| date=1887| volume=XVIII| pages=165–6, 182–3 and 202–3}}<ref name="Powell1921"/>
* ''New York & Brooklyn Bridge: report of the Board of Experts to the terminal committee of the Board of Trustees as to enlargement of traffic facilities of the Brooklyn Bridge'': with an appendix containing the report descriptive of the recommended plan submitted to the Board of Experts by A.M. Wellington. New York: [s.n.]. Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N. Board of Experts. (1888). Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t56d86m4p;view=1up;seq=5]
* {{cite book| title=New York & Brooklyn Bridge: report of the Board of Experts to the terminal committee of the Board of Trustees as to enlargement of traffic facilities of the Brooklyn Bridge| first=A.M.| last=Wellington| year=1888| location=New York| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t56d86m4p;view=1up;seq=5}} with an appendix containing the report descriptive of the recommended plan submitted to the Board of Experts Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N. Board of Experts. (1888).
* ''Piles and pile-driving'': being a reprint of some of the articles which have appeared in Engineering News on pile driving and the safe load of piles and of the pamphlet. by Hering Rudolph, Wellington, A. M.. (1893). Accessed at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89078539806;view=1up;seq=7]
* {{cite book| title=Piles and pile-driving| first1=Hering| last1=Rudolph| last2=Wellington| first2=A.M.| year=1893| publisher=Engineering News Publishing Co.| url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89078539806;view=1up;seq=7}} being a reprint of some of the articles which have appeared in Engineering News on pile driving and the safe load of piles and of the pamphlet.


==Patents==
==Patents==
Wellington received three patents for his work:
Wellington received three patents for his work:
* Patent No. 549,981 thru 549,983. <ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US549981]</ref>
* Patent No. 549,981 thru 549,983.<ref>{{cite patent| url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US549981| title=Art of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work by Agency of Vapor Pressure| country=US| number=549981| gdate=November 19, 1895| inventor=A.M. Wellington, Dec'd. A.B. Wellington, Executrix}}</ref>


==Legacy==
==Legacy==
*In 1921, the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] instituted a prize, the [[Arthur M. Wellington Prize]], in response to a proposal by the [[Engineering News-Record]], which had endowed the award in honor of Wellington who was a former editor and part proprietor of ''Engineering News''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asce.org/templates/award-detail.aspx?id=1605|title=Arthur M. Wellington Prize|last=|first=|date=January 1, 2018|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=January 1, 2018}}</ref>
*In 1921, the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] instituted a prize, the [https://www.asce.org/templates/award-detail.aspx?id=1605 Arthur M. Wellington Prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204014755/https://www.asce.org/templates/award-detail.aspx?id=1605 |date=February 4, 2019 }}, in response to a proposal by the [[Engineering News-Record]], which had endowed the award in honor of Wellington who was a former editor and part proprietor of ''Engineering News''.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.asce.org/templates/award-detail.aspx?id=1605| title=Arthur M. Wellington Prize| date=January 1, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102074024/http://www.asce.org/templates/award-detail.aspx?id=1605| archive-date=January 2, 2018| access-date=January 1, 2018| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In 1979, the then-named American Institute of Industrial Engineers, (now [[Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers]] or IISE) created the Wellington Award in honor of his work in engineering economy to recognize "...contributions and service in the field of engineering economy that enhance the visibility of the engineering economy division of IISE."<ref name="IISE_web">{{cite web|last1=Anon.|title=ENGINEERING ECONOMY (EE) WELLINGTON AWARD|url=http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=3020|website=iise.org]|publisher=Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers|accessdate=18 February 2018}}</ref>
* In 1979, the then-named American Institute of Industrial Engineers, (now [[Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers]] or IISE) created the Wellington Award in honor of his work in engineering economy to recognize "...contributions and service in the field of engineering economy that enhance the visibility of the engineering economy division of IISE."<ref name="IISE_web">{{cite web| last1=Anon.| title=ENGINEERING ECONOMY (EE) WELLINGTON AWARD| url=http://www.iise.org/Details.aspx?id=3020| website=iise.org| publisher=Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers| access-date=18 February 2018}}</ref>
** Its first four recipients were [[Eugene L. Grant]] (1979), Arthur Lesser Jr (1980), W. Grant Ireson (1981) and H.G. Thuesen (1982).
** Its first four recipients were [[Eugene L. Grant]] (1979), Arthur Lesser Jr (1980), W. Grant Ireson (1981) and H.G. Thuesen (1982).
*His book The economic theory of the location of railways was first published in 1887 by the ''[[Railroad Gazette]]'' and John Wiley New York. The subtitle was ''An analysis of the conditions which govern the judicious adjustment of gradients, curvature, and length of line to each other, and to the character and volume of traffic''. The 5th edition had the subtitle ''An analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital''. He indicated the importance of the ruling gradient and its effect on train loads and running costs. By 1906 (1914??) it was in its 6th edition and had also been printed in London.
*His book ''The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways'' was first published in 1877 by the ''[[Railroad Gazette]]'' and John Wiley New York. The subtitle was ''An analysis of the conditions which govern the judicious adjustment of gradients, curvature, and length of line to each other, and the character and volume of traffic''. The 5th edition had the subtitle ''An analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital''. He indicated the importance of the ruling gradient and its effect on train loads and running costs. By 1910 it was in its 6th edition and had also been printed in London.


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:American civil engineers]]
[[Category:American civil engineers]]
[[Category:American engineering writers]]
[[Category:American engineering writers]]
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[[Category:American textbook writers]]
[[Category:American education writers|Textbook]]
[[Category:American instructional writers|Textbook]]
[[Category:American surveyors]]
[[Category:American surveyors]]
[[Category:Engineering journalists]]
[[Category:Engineering journalists]]
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[[Category:American mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:American mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:American railroad pioneers]]
[[Category:American railroad pioneers]]
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[[Category:American people in rail transportation]]
[[Category:Boston Latin School alumni]]
[[Category:Boston Latin School alumni]]
[[Category:1847 births]]
[[Category:1847 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx)]]
[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)]]

Latest revision as of 03:59, 4 July 2024

Arthur Mellen Wellington
Born(1847-12-20)December 20, 1847
Waltham, Massachusetts, US
DiedMay 17, 1895(1895-05-17) (aged 47)
Manhattan, New York, US
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery
OccupationCivil Engineer
SpouseAgnes Bates
Notes

Arthur Mellen Wellington (December 20, 1847 – May 17, 1895)[1] was an American civil engineer who wrote the 1877 book The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways. The saying that An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two is an abridgement of a statement made in this work (see below). Wellington was involved in the design and construction of new railways in Mexico. He was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railroad. He was the editor of the Engineering News.[2][3]

The pioneering effort of Wellington in engineering economics in the 1870s was continued by John Charles Lounsbury Fish with the publication of Engineering Economics: First Principles in 1923 and the first publication of the Principles of Engineering Economy in 1930 by Eugene L. Grant.

Early life and works

[edit]

He was born on December 25, 1847, in Waltham, Massachusetts.[1] In 1878,[4] he married Agnes Bates, and they had two children. Wellington was a descendant of Roger Wellington, an early settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington.[4] In 1863, Wellington graduated from the Boston Latin School and then studied engineering with John Benjamin Henck, a prominent civil engineer practicing in Boston.[5] While his work with Henck took place during the American Civil War, he studied mechanical engineering and passed the examination for an assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.[5]

Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad pass issued by Albert Fink

Surveyor and locating engineer

[edit]

Wellington left Henck's office in 1866 to work as a surveyor in the engineers corps at the Brooklyn Parks department[5] on the Prospect Park project under Frederick Law Olmsted.[2] In 1868, he took a position as a surveyor on a locating party for the Blue Ridge railroad in South Carolina[1] in charge of a series of explorations to find possible routes for the railroad.[5] Wellington left the South Carolina road and went on to practice location engineering for the Dutchess & Columbia railroad in New York state.[1][5] He left that road in 1870 to work on the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad as a division engineer for the next three years.[5] He continued in this position until the financial panic of 1873 put a sudden stop to railway construction.[4][5] He was appointed as Chief Engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern Railway in 1872. He then went to work for the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, the West Farms Railway and the Canadian Great Western Railway. He was made engineer in charge of the Mexican National Railway in March 1881,[1] and afterward, he became the Assistant General Manager of the Mexican Central Railway. He returned to Manhattan, New York City and became one of the editors of The Railroad Gazette in 1884.

Honors

[edit]

He then became editor and part owner of The Engineering News.[2] In 1891, Wellington was elected a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.[6]

Famous Quotation

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The famous quotation, 'An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two," is a shortened version of this statement below, which appears in the introduction to his magnum opus, "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways," published in 1877:

"It would be well if engineering were less generally thought of, and even defined, as the art of constructing. In a certain important sense it is rather the art of not constructing; or, to define it rudely but not inaptly, it is the art of doing that well with one dollar, which any bungler can do with two after a fashion."[7]

Death

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Wellington died on May 17, 1895, from heart failure following surgery in Manhattan, New York City, at age 47.[1][2][3]

Partial bibliography

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  • Methods for the computation from diagrams of preliminary and final estimates of railway earthwork: with diagrams giving quantities on inspection to the nearest cubic yard, for both regular and irregular sections, direct from ordinary field-notes. New York: D. Appleton and company. 1875.
  • "Justification Expenditure for Improving the Alignment of Railways". Railroad Gazette. September–December 1876.
  • Wellington, A.M. (1877). Economic theory of the location of railways: an analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital (first ed.). New York: Wiley. Retrieved September 18, 2018. and revised through six editions with the last published in 1910 by Wellington's wife, Agnes Wellington.[8]
  • Wellington; Drummond, Victor. "Report respecting railways and trade in Mexico". Great Britain House of Commons Sessional papers 1881 LXXXIX 390 401 Cd 2944.[9]
  • "The American line from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico via Jalapa". American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions. XV: 791–829. 1886. Wellington was chief engineer in charge of the 1881 survey. See also "(unspecified)". Engineering News. XVIII: 165–6, 182–3 and 202–3. 1887.[9]
  • Wellington, A.M. (1888). New York & Brooklyn Bridge: report of the Board of Experts to the terminal committee of the Board of Trustees as to enlargement of traffic facilities of the Brooklyn Bridge. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) with an appendix containing the report descriptive of the recommended plan submitted to the Board of Experts Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N. Board of Experts. (1888).
  • Rudolph, Hering; Wellington, A.M. (1893). Piles and pile-driving. Engineering News Publishing Co. being a reprint of some of the articles which have appeared in Engineering News on pile driving and the safe load of piles and of the pamphlet.

Patents

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Wellington received three patents for his work:

  • Patent No. 549,981 thru 549,983.[10]

Legacy

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  • In 1921, the American Society of Civil Engineers instituted a prize, the Arthur M. Wellington Prize Archived February 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, in response to a proposal by the Engineering News-Record, which had endowed the award in honor of Wellington who was a former editor and part proprietor of Engineering News.[11]
  • In 1979, the then-named American Institute of Industrial Engineers, (now Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers or IISE) created the Wellington Award in honor of his work in engineering economy to recognize "...contributions and service in the field of engineering economy that enhance the visibility of the engineering economy division of IISE."[12]
    • Its first four recipients were Eugene L. Grant (1979), Arthur Lesser Jr (1980), W. Grant Ireson (1981) and H.G. Thuesen (1982).
  • His book The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways was first published in 1877 by the Railroad Gazette and John Wiley New York. The subtitle was An analysis of the conditions which govern the judicious adjustment of gradients, curvature, and length of line to each other, and the character and volume of traffic. The 5th edition had the subtitle An analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital. He indicated the importance of the ruling gradient and its effect on train loads and running costs. By 1910 it was in its 6th edition and had also been printed in London.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "A. M. Wellington Dead". Boston Globe. Boston, MA. May 18, 1895. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b c d "Arthur M. Wellington". The New York Times. May 18, 1895 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  3. ^ a b "Obituary Notes: Arthur M. Wellington". Chicago Tribune. May 18, 1895. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Arthur M. Wellington died at New York after a prolonged illness. Mr. Wellington was chief engineer of the Toledo and Canada Southern railway, ... Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c Thueson, Gerald J.; Sullivan, William G. (1847). "Engineering Economy A Historical Perspective". Session (1639): 1–8.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Wellington Obituary". Engineering News and American Railway Journal. 33 (21): 886–888. May 23, 1895.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Arthur Mellen Wellington". Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. s. 9-10. Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. 1895. Retrieved January 2, 2018 – via Google Books.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ Extract of "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways" published in "The Railroad Gazette" 3 Dec 1856 p 829 final column
  8. ^ Wellington, A.M. (1914). Economic theory of the location of railways (Sixth ed.). New York: Wiley. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Powell, Fred Wilbur (1921). The railroads of Mexico. Stratford – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ US 549981, A.M. Wellington, Dec'd. A.B. Wellington, Executrix, "Art of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work by Agency of Vapor Pressure", issued November 19, 1895 
  11. ^ "Arthur M. Wellington Prize". January 1, 2018. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  12. ^ Anon. "ENGINEERING ECONOMY (EE) WELLINGTON AWARD". iise.org. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
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