Trivia this week! Is it true that Elijah McCoy was one of the first employees of the US patent office, hence the saying,“It’s the real McCoy”.
No, McCoy patented the steam engine lubricating system back in 1872. The McCoy system lubricators were expensive, but worked extremely well. Elijah was an oil man and responsible for ensuring that the train was well lubricated. After a few miles, a train would be forced to stop and an oil man would have to walk alongside the train applying oil to the axles and bearings.
In an effort to improve efficiency and eliminate the frequent stopping necessary for lubrication of the train, McCoy set out to create a method of automating the task. In 1872 he developed a "lubricating cup" that could automatically drip oil when and where needed. He received a patent for the device later that year. The "lubricating cup" met with enormous success and orders for it came in from railroad companies all over the country. Other inventors attempted to sell their own versions of the device but most companies wanted the authentic device, requesting "the Real McCoy."
