Eli H. Janney (November 12, 1831 – June 16, 1912), aka Eli Hamilton Janney or simply Eli Janney, was the inventor of the modern knuckle coupler that replaced link and pin couplers on North American railroads. Biography He was born in 1831 to Daniel Janney and Elizabeth Avis Haines in Loudoun County, Virginia. He studied briefly at a seminary. He married Cornelia Hamilton (1833–1889). In the American Civil War, Janney achieved the rank of major for the Confederate States of America, and served on the staff of General Robert E. Lee. After the war, he was a dry goods clerk in Alexandria, Virginia; he spent many of his lunches whittling his concept out of a block of wood for a replacement to the railroads' link and pin couplers that were in wide use. On April 1, 1873, Janney filed for a patent titled "Improvement in Car-Couplings" describing the knuckle style couplers that are in use on railroads today. He was awarded on April 29, 1873. He died on June 16, 1912, in Alexandria, Virginia and was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery. The City of Alexandria named one of their streets in his honor, Janney's Lane. Janney's coupler and the Westinghouse air brake are generally regarded as being the two most significant safety inventions in U.S. railroads between the end of the Civil War and 1900. References Further reading Railcar Coupler History in North America, by J.H.White at American Heritage Magazine CPRR.org (2004), Link and Pin Couplers; includes a scanned copy of the patent application. Retrieved March 31, 2005. Union Pacific Railroad, UP - Chronological History. Retrieved March 30, 2005 Jim Patents awarded Improved Car Coupling, April 21, 1868 Improvement in Car-Couplings April 29, 1873 Improvement in Car-Couplings October 20, 1874 Improvement in Car-Platforms August 20, 1878 Improvement in Car-Coupling Draw-Bars August 27, 1876 Improvement in Car-Couplings February 25, 1879 Improvement in Car-Buffers April 8, 1879 Improvement in Car-Buffers May 13, 1879 1831 births 1912 deaths American people in rail transportation American mechanical engineers People from Loudoun County, Virginia People from Alexandria, Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War Engineers from Virginia