General Electric Co.’s deal to spin off its railroad business to Wabtec Corp. unites the creations of two of the 19th century’s most famous inventors and rivals: Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
Both men filed their first patents in the 1860s and competed in the development of products that used electricity. Edison and Westinghouse famously battled over the future of electrical distribution—alternating current vs. direct current—resulting in insults and publicity stunts, including Edison electrocuting animals in his...