Maria E. Beasley (c. 1836-1913), a pioneering female inventor who was born in North Carolina, is best known for creating machines and other industrial processes for the more efficient production of barrels. She also obtained patents for various other types of inventions, however, and some of those patents involved key improvements to transportation safety.
Beasley developed a strong interest in mechanics early on in life. When she was only about 13 years old, she built a small sailboat that was able to safely transport herself and a pet dog safely across water.
More than two decades later, Beasley — along with her husband John and their sons Walter and C. Oscar — ended up moving to Philadelphia. During their time there, Maria became a frequent visitor to the Centennial International Exposition that was held between May and November 1876. She specifically spent a lot of time checking out the exhibits in Machinery Hall, which was the second largest structure at the exposition. These exhibits, featuring a wide range of machines as well as emerging industries, inspired Beasley to pursue a career as an inventor.
The inventions that Beasley designed over the next several years included a life raft for which she was granted patents in 1880 and 1882. This raft was outfitted with a base of collapsible metal floats to ensure greater flexibility and allow for easier storage on a ship. Beasley’s raft also had airtight containers for safeguarding perishable provisions. As part of her updated design for this raft, the surface of the metal floats was rearranged to facilitate using the entire device reversibly in case of accidental overturning or other emergency situations out at sea.
Beasley ultimately focused as well on innovations for railroads. By the mid-1890s, she became significantly involved in possible solutions for transporting perishable goods across long distances via trains. Beasley concluded that the best way to achieve this goal was to accelerate the speed of trains through electrification rather than depend only on refrigerator cars to keep those goods cool. To this end, she constructed an experimental rail line around her own property to figure out how to best develop trains able to endure speeds of up to 100 miles (161 kilometers).
The safety-oriented devices that Beasley designed for such a train included a “telescopic glass” for engineers to use in spotting potential hazards further down the rail line; and a mechanism for circulating cold water and air around train axles to reduce potential overheating. Another one of these devices was a “means for preventing derailment of railroad-cars” for which she was awarded a patent in 1898.
A major component of this anti-derailment device was a guardrail. Part of this guardrail was a flange (a protruding rim or edge) at the inner side of a track rail. The flange would interact with a mechanical catch (known as a detent) linked to the train. If a train was in danger of jumping off the rails, the flange and detent could jointly prevent this from happening and instead keep that train moving along on the track.
Beasley’s entrepreneurial endeavors in transportation were not restricted only to her inventions. In 1891, for example, she became a founder and director of the Wabash Avenue Subway Transportation Company of Chicago.
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For more information on Maria E. Beasley, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_E._Beasley
Transportation History 
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