František Antonín Gerstner

After he finished his studies on the Prague university and polytechnical school he worked at the Vienna University as a professor of geometry. From his youth he worked under the leadership of his father František Josef Gerstner on the project of a horse-drawn Railway from České Budějovice to Linz. He spent same time in England where he became familiar with steam railways. When he returned home in 1825, his father entrusted him with the realisation of his project of the horse-tram.

After finishing the Czech part of the horse-tram in 1828 and because of some disagreements between them and the company that was directing the construction, he left for Russia to design railways there. In 1838 he went to study the American railways because he wanted to project the Austrian railway network. He died in a car crash in Philadelphia.

(mj)