Carriage & wagon engineers & others associated

Anderson, C.O.D.
Carriage and wagon works manager, Barrow, LMS. See Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29, 115. In 1931 Works manager, Wo1verton, moved to be works superintendent, Newton Heath (Locomotive Mag., 1931, 37, 5). Crewe locomotive superintendent who went with No. 6100 Royal Scot on its North American tour in 1933. Locomotive Mag., 1934, 40, 20 or Backtrack, 2015, 29, 134.

Attock, Frederick
According to Shepherd Attock was born in Liverpool on 10 February 1842 and died at Windermere on 21 May 1902. He was apprenticed under his father George Attock (below), Superintendent of the Carriage & Wagon Department of the GER. He succeeded his father in 1874. In 1877 he became Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the LYR, following the retirement of Charles Fay until he resigned due to illness on 22 October 1895 and the function was taken over by the CME, Aspinall. He was responsible for taking LYR carriages from 4 to 6-wheel to bogie construction. He arranged for all coaches to be fitted with continuous footboards, and was responsible for ensuring that all passenger stock was equipped with the vacuum brake by 31 May 1888. He appeared to be involved with the demonstration of the Lovatt Eames on the L&YR. He held many patents and Shepherd notes that the Board of the L&YR took note of this in the form of post-retirement remuneration..
Shepherd, Ernie. The Atock/Attock family: a worldwide railway engineering dynasty. 2009. 264pp. (Oakwood Library of Railway History No. 150)

Patents (all via Shepherd: two final verified via Espacenet)
321/1878 Axleboxes for locomotives, railway wagons, etc.,
1954/1881 Sliding windows of railway carriages, tramcars etc.
342/1883 Couplings of railway wagons, etc.
13155/1885 Improvements in coupling apparatus for railway wagons and other vehicles, with P. Morris
13915/1885 An improved construction of folding portable table.
8319/1887 An improved draught and dust excluder or closing device applicable to railway carriage doors and otherwise.
20490/1890 An improved arm and head-rest combined, applicable to railway carriages, tramcars, ships' berths, and other seats.
22140/1891 An improved portable grip lifting jack for railway engines, carriages, wagons, tram-cars, and other like vehicles,
2707/1892 Improvements in axle boxes for locomotives, railway carriages, and other vehicles.
885/1893 Improvements in or relating to movable arm and head rests combined, applicable to railway carriages, tram-cars, ships' berths, and other seats. Published 7 October 1893.  Applied 14 January 1893.
16293/1893 Improvements in bogies for rolling stock. Published 19 December 1893. Applied 29 August 1893.

Attock, George
Born in Doncaster in 1812 (baptised St. George's church on 19 July). Moved to the Easterrn Counties Railway at Stratford as chief foreman of the Wagon Department probably in 1846. Died 23 August 1875 in what is now East London.
Shepherd, Ernie. The Atock/Attock family: a worldwide railway engineering dynasty. 2009. 264pp. (Oakwood Library of Railway History No. 150)
Patent
2145/1863. [Steel or rubber springs between bodies and frames].
Refers back to 1733/1853.

Bailey, George Herbert
Born Bristol 12 October 1883. Died Parkstone 13 May 1960. Educated Merchant Venturers' Technical College. Joined drawing office of Metropolitan Co in Saltley. In 1919 became Chief Draughtsman at Leeds Forge. Became Chief Engineer (Design) at Metropolitan-Cammell. Patents:
GB 435720/1934 Improvements in or relating to the construction of railway wagons
GB 423,623/1935 Improved rotable seat;
GB 427,662/1926 Improvements in and relating to steel coaches or cars for railway and other purposes;
GB 427,775/1935 Improvements in bogie frames for rolling stock and in manucture thereof;
GB 317,220 Improvements in or relating to self-propelled railway vehicles;
GB 391,633/1938 Improvements in or relating to the construction of road and rail vehicles;
GB 169,502/1921 Improvements in or relating to door opening mechanism for railway vehicles: Bailey was at Leeds Forge;
GB 402,469/1933 Improvements relating to containers for transport purposes
GB 402,151/1933 Improvements relating to containers for transport purposes
GB 234,067/1927 Improvements in & relating to window and like frames for steel and metal coachwork
GB 325,727/1930 Improvements in & relating to collision buffers for railway vehicles
GB 408,430/1934 Improvements to bogie frames for rolling stock and in the manufacture thereof
GB 284,090/1928 Improvements in and relating to railway coaches, wagons, and the like GB 588,142/1947 Improvements in or relating to hopper rail wagons
GB 412,297/1934 Improvements in collapsible containers for transporting goods

Booth, N.H.
Draughtsman, Carriage and Wagon Engineers' Department, Doncaster, appointed Assistant Carriage and Wagon Development (Design), (Carriage and Wagon Engineering Development Unit). Locomotive Mag., 1957, 63, 20

Bore, Richard
Manager of carriage depot at Euston; promoted to be departmental superintentend at Saltley and eventually carriage superintendent at Wolverton  from 1865 until 1885. Responsible for 33 foot coaches. See Modellers Backtrack, 4, 262 for article by Millard and M.C. Reed

Boyd, Archibald John
Born c1889; died 9 May 1959, chairman of Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co and Patent Shaft and Axletree Co. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Oxford. In 1912 he entered the steel works of Cammell Laird and Co., Ltd., Sheffield, as a pupil, passing through the various departments, and becoming in 1913 assistant London manager of the company. After a period of military service in WW1, he was recalled from France to become assistant general manager of the new ordnance factory which had been built by Cammell Laird  at Nottingham. In the 1920s Cammell Laird and Co., Ltd., started to manufacture railway rolling stock at the Nottingham factory, and subsequently acquired control of The Midland Railway-Carriage and Wagon Company, Ltd., and The Leeds Forge and Newlay Wheel Companies. Sir Archibald Boyd was appointed a director of these companies. In 1929 Vickers, Ltd., and Cammell Laird and Co., Ltd., amalgamated their railway rolling stock interests in the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company, Ltd., at Saltley, Sir Archibald becoming managing director in 1934. (see Locoomotive Mag., 1934, 40, 17). During WW2 much of the company's capacity was devoted to the production of fighting vehicles, and from October, 1942, to December, 1943, Sir Archibald was seconded to the Ministry of Supply as Director-General of Tank Production. He received his knighthood in 1950, relinquished his office as managing director in December, 1953, and was appointed chairman in January, 1956.

Bramworth, A.S.
Member of LNER/LMS party wihich visited USA in 1945 (group photograph in Cox Locomotive Panorama Vol. 2). Also involved in introduction of diesel railcars on British Railways when he was in charge of Carriage & Wagon Department at York.

Brown, W.H.
Wagon Works Manager, Doncaster. Locomotive Mag., 1923,  29, 220.  J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1927, 17, 476,  To Carriage & Wagon Works Manager, Doncaster in 1927 (Locomotive Mag., 1927, 33, 209). Carriage Works Manager, York: in photograph of naming ceremony of No. 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley. Locomotive Mag., 1937, 43, 400.

Cameron, Evan
Head of Carriage Department, LBSCR under Stroudley. Cruttenden. Railway Wld., 1983, 44, 516.

Carr, William
Deceased c1906: former manager of York carriage works, NER. Locomotive Mag., 1906, 12, 180

Chalmers, G.W.
Managing Director, Hurst, Nelson and Company, Ltd.: attended Inaugural Meeting of I. Loco. E. Scottish Centre

Collins, C.E.
Appointed Assistant Works Superintendent C.M.E's Department, Earlstown in 1947 See Locomotive Mag., 1947, 53, 15

Cook, A.C.
Former engineer, works manager and managing director of Cravens Ltd of Sheffield. See Locomotive Mag., 1955, 61, 43

Crew, Malcolm Hillier
Manager of carriage and wagon department of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, Ashford, at time of his retirement in 1925. Born in 1877 and educated at Cheltenham College, and at Owens College, before becoming a pupil of Sir John Aspinall at the Horwich Works of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Subsequently joined LCDR becoming assistant works manager and later manager of the Longhedge Works, Battersea. On the fusion of that railway with the South Eastern Railway he was transferred to the carnage and wagon department at Ashford. Died suddenly in Malvern on 29 May 1932. Obit. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1932, 122, 719..

Crocker, F.
Worked for Midland Railway and LMS: devised an oscillation recorder; expert on carriage and wagon suspension systems. Spoke in discussion on Squire's I Loco E Paper (No. 303) pp. 422-4.

Cruddas, T.
Inventor of system for welding steel underframes. Formerly foreman blacksmith at Doncaster, became Assistant Works Manager at Shildon. See T. Henry Turner's song of praise for his work in Discussion on paper by Vandy.  (Hughes LNER p. 75)

Dorman, William Sansome
Born in Leicester on 18 May 1854, and received his early education at Chance's Schools, Smethwick, Birmingham. At the age of sixteen he commenced an apprenticeship in the works of the Oldbury Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., and on its termination became chief draughtsman at the Birmingham Railway Carriage Works, Handsworth, which post he held until 1893. In the early part of that year he was appointed Works Manager of the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Gloucester. Eight years later he became general manager to G.R. Turner and Co., Langley Mill, Derbyshire, and under his guidance the firm was brought up to a high state of efficiency, considerable additions to the buildings and machinery being made. On the death of T.N. Turner in 1904, the firm was turned into a company, and Dorman was appointed managing director. This position ho held until his death, at Gloucester on the 19 October 1905.

Eling-Smith, James William
Death in 1963, aged 68. Educated Derby School and after serving in WW1 in which he was awarded the Military Cross, he graduated from Glasgow University in 1922. He received his practical training as a pupil in the Carriage and Wagon Works of the former Midland Railway, Derby. In 1924 he was appointed Oil Gas Inspector (Carriage and Wargon) and in 1927 went to Newton Heath as Assistant Works Manager followed by two years at Derby Carriage and Wagon Works as Assistant to the Works Superintendent. In 1934 joined the Carriage and Wagon Drawing Office Staff at Derby as Experimental Assistant. After serving with the Forces in  WW2 and attaining the rank of Major, he returned in 1945 to Derby to become Assistant Chief Draughtsman of the Carriage and Wagon Drawing Office and in 1952 he was appointed Chief Draughtsman. In 1957 appointed as Chief Technical Assistant (Carriage and Wagon) from which position he retired in 1959. Eling-Smith was an acknowledged expert on rolling-stock braking and he visited the Continent several times representing British Railways on braking and on one occasion diesel railcar design and construction. He was long serving member of the Midlands Centre Committee of the Institution and served as its Chairman for three years in succession, 1954-57. He was elected a Member in 1936. Obituary J. Instn Loco. Engrs, 1963/4, 53, 838. See also Pat Webb Fitted coal tests. Midland Record, 2000 (13), 59..

Ellse
District carriage and wagon superintendent at Sheffield, Midland Railway until death in 1902? Locomotive Mag., 1903, 8, 125

Ford, Thomas Wharton
Born London on 28 May 1868; died London on 8 July 1917. Early education at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grammar School, after which he was at University College, London, for a time. In 1886 he began an apprenticeship under James Holden at the Great Eastern Railway Locomotive Works, Stratford, and in 1889 he was employed as draughtsman on the staff, subsequently being engaged on experimental work on the footplate. From 1892 to 1896 he superintended the railway carriage wheel and axle shops, and then was appointed one of the Company's inspectors and testers in the manufacturing districts for the locomotive department. In 1897 he commenced work on his own account in Westminster as a consulting engineer, and took a very active part in the introduction of portable pneumatic tools and compressed-air machinery generally throughout the railway and general engineering workshops and shipyards of Great Britain, visiting the United States on several occasions in this connexion. He was for some time Managing Director of the International Pneumatic Tool Co., Ltd., and was subsequently connected with the Pneumatic Engineering Appliances Co., Ltd., from its formation, being appointed a Director in 1907, which position he held up to the time of his death. In 1904 he was appointed a Director of the British Pneumatic Railway Signal Co., Ltd., and in 1910 took up a similar position on the Board of Cravens, Limited, of Darnall, Sheffield, railway carriage and wagon builders, recently becoming Managing Director. M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E. (elected Member in 1899). Grace's Guide

Fossett, Sidney Charles Hudson
Died 16 January 1965, in his 65th year. Began his ensincering training as a premium apprentice at Stratford in 1916 and after completing his training and four years as a technical assistant was appointed Chief Foreman, Train Lighting Shop, Stratlord Carriage Works. From 1929 to 1931 he was Assistant Carriage Works Manager and he then was appointed Outdoor Carriage & Wagon Assistant to the Chief Mechanical I:ngineer, LNER. In 1940 he became Carriage Works Manager, Stratford and in 1944 he moved to Dukinfield to take charge of a Government factory for two years, returning to railway scrvice in 1946 as Assistant Docks Machinery Engineer, Hull. In 1950 he was appointed Carriage Works Manager, Stratford, moving to York to take up a similar appointment in 1951 where he remained until retirement in 1961. Fossett was a Whitworth Exhibitioner, he was awarded the M.B.E. in 1953 and he served on a British Railways Committee concerned with the design of steam heating equipment for coaching stock, many coaches being tnrncd out from York Carriage Works being equipped with heating apparatus designed by Fossett He was elected an Associate Member ILocoE in 1923 and he transferred to Member in 1953.ILocoE obituary

Gilbert, J.L.
Engineer of the Pullman Car Co. responsible for Devon Belle observation cars. Locomotive Mag., 1947, 53, 116.

Green, George Edward
Educated in Gloucestershire at various schools between 1906 and 1915. He joined the Glourester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd., as an apprentice, and, from 1922 to 1324, served in the drawing office. In the sanie capacity he spent one year with the Birmingham Rly. Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd., returning to the Gloucester Rly. Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd., in 1925. He joined the Buenos Aires Western Rly. in March, 1927, as a draughtsinan, and continued in that post until appointed assistant carriage and wagon works manager in 1933. He died on the 14 December 1937 aged 35.

Hardy, Thomas Morgan
Born 20 July 1924 at Houghton-le-Spring. Apprentice at Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd under Winston Tulip the company's Chief Engineer. See Archive, 2011 (72), 12

Hills, F.J.
Appointed London manager of Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co see Locoomotive Mag., 1934, 40, 17. Hills was formerly with the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works and on its absorption by the Leeds Forge Co. he entered the service of that company, subsequently joining the rolling stock department of the London office of Cammell, Laird & Co.

Hobbs, Anthony Edward Walter
Patent GB 1,261,896 Improvements in or relating to railway vehicles. Applied 19 September 1968. Published 26 January 1972. Yaw damper for four wheel vehicles (including bogies). British Railways Board. Andrew Dow Railway p. 113

Hood, W. Wells-Hood
Appointed assistsant works manager Faverdale Wagon Works in 1923: Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29, 245 Had become managaer at time of his replacement by S.L. Baiser (Locomotive Mag., 1939, 45, 329)

Howard, J.W.
Died in New Zealand on 14 August 1912: former general manager of Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd.. Howard received his early training in the Stratord shops of the G.E.R., and was afterwards connected with John Spencer & Son, of Newburn, Newcastle-on-Tyne. He went to the Gloucester Wagon Works as assistant manager n 1894, and succeeded Mr. Alfred Slater as general manager ten years later. He resigned in early 1911 due to ill-health. Loco. Mag., 1912, 18, 201,

Johnson, O.C.
District Foreman, C. and W. Department, OrdsaIl Lane, to be District Foreman, C. and W. Department, Manchester (Victoria). Locomotive Mag., 1938, 44, 363.

Kerry, W.
District carriage and wagon superintendent at Wellingborough for seventeen years moved to similar position at Sheffield, Midland Railway following death of Ellse, previous holder of position. See Locomotive Mag., 1903, 8, 125.

Lampard, Derrick
Carriage & Wagon Department: See Pat Webb Fitted coal tests. Midland Record, 2000 (13), 59.

Long, Charles
Worked for Pullman Car Co. See Scenes from Pullman Life. Railway Wld. 1973, 34, 190-3.

McLaughlin, Reginal Geoge
Chairman Birmingham Centre ILocoE when employed at Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon. First encountered when elected to ILocoE at Leeds Centre when at L&YR Newton Heath presumably the carriage & wagon works thereat.

McPherson, Thomas
ILocoE membership 1920 when employed at Hurst Nelson in Motherwell

Maddison, Thomas Blackburn
Production and Works Assistant, Chief Mechanical and Electrical and Carriage and Wagon Engineers' Departments, Doncaster,  appointed Carriage and Wagon Development Engineer (Carriage and Wagon Engineering Development Unit).  Locomotive Mag., 1957, 63, 20 also I. Loco.E. Paper 638

Mann, David Barrie
Born in Cowlairs, Glasgow on 27 December 1881. Went to South Africa in 1901 to fight in Zulu rebellion and returned to Glasgow in 1906 and worked as a coach builder in Cowlairs Works, but left on 13 September 1913. He then worked for other Scottish coach builders including Gentlemans and Pickerings; was  forced to seek work in Canada and then South Africa due to the Depression, but retuned to East Kilbride, after his Glasgow-born wife died, where he died in 1974

Mann, William d'Alton
Born in Sandusky, Ohio on 27 September 1839; died 17 May 1920. Civil War soldier. Inventor of the Boudoir car which he patented. Also invented a vestibule for trains and refrigerator cars. Publisher. Wikipedia and Jim Greaves. Backtrack, 2015, 29, 484

Mason, C.
Contributed information for article on Wolverton & Stony Startford Tramway in Locomotive Mag., 1924, 30, 48-9 which noted that he was former manager of LMS carriage works but had been moved to Earlestown Wagon Works as manager.  

Matthews, Charles Alfred
Worked for Turton, Platts & Co. of Sheffield.
Patents
GB 15740/1912  Improvements in and relating to buffers. Priority date: 5 July 1912. Publiahed 3 July 1913
GB 3615 /1901   Improvements in and relating to buffers. Priority date:19 February 1901. Published 30 January 1902
GB 107635 Improvements in and relating to buffers. Priority date: 4 July 1916. Published 4 July 1917
GB 364441 Improvements in buffers for railway vehicles and the like. Priority date: 24 March 1931. Published 7 January 1932
See also Locomotive Mag., 1903, 9, 86

Merrett, E.F.
In 1931 was works superintendent, Newton Heath, to be works superintendent, Wolverton.. Locomotive Mag., 1931, 37, 5.

Milne, E.A.
E.A. Milne, Works Superintendent, Barassie to Carriage & Wagon Assistant, Glasgow. See Locomotive Mag., 1939, 45, 328.

Nagelmackers, Georges.
Born 24 June 1845 in Lieges, Belgium; died Villepreux, France on 10 August 1906. Wuith the assistance of King Leopold II he established Wagons-Lits which led to the Orient Express and the famous sleeping cars. Wikipedia and Jim Greaves. Backtrack, 2015, 29, 484

Nichols, Henly
Elected an Associate Member of ILocoE in 1939, was born in London in 1887. He served his engineering apprenticeship at Stratford Carriage and Wagon Works on the Great Eastern Rly. from 1901 1908 and at the same time attended the Great Eastern Rly. Mechanics' Institute afterwards, the East London Technical College, and finally the Chiswick Polytechnic. On leaving the railway company he joined W. and G. du Cros, Ltd., coachbuilders, Acton. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the Royal Naval Air Force and later was transferred to the R.A.F. and commis5ioned a Flying Officer (Technical Instructor). In 1919 he joined the Buenos Aires Western Rly. as Wagon Shop Foreman, but he returned to England in 1922 and was appointed General Foreman of the coach factory of the United Auto Services, Ltd., at Lowestoft. In 1924 he again went out to the Argentine as Foreman in the Coach Shop of the B.A. Western. On the outcome of the working arrangements between the B.A. Western and Southern he was appointed Foreman of the Wagon Section on the B.A. Southern in 1930, followed by the saw mills, and in 1938 was appointed assistant Chief of Carriage and Wagon Section for the Western Section at Liniers, which post he held until compelled to retire through ill health early in 1941. He died in Buenos Aires on 25 October 1941.

Peters, A.E.
Works Superintendent Wolverton Carriage & Wagon Works. Present during visit of Princess Elizabeth. Locomotive Mag., 1948, 54, 54.

Pick, R.
In 1906:became manager of York carriage works, NER in succession to William Carr. Formerly employed at Shildon wagon works. Locomotive Mag., 1906, 12, 180. Retired in 1920: Locomotive Mag., 1920, 26, 231.

Pickering, Robert Young
Borm in Yorkshire in 1841 [Wikipedia states (01-2018)  Railway Cottages, Shildon], but family moved to Scotland; died on 30 January 1932 at his estate at Conheath, Dumfiesshire. His father owned a small railway wagon building and repair firm at Netherton, and Robert obtained full control of it in 1878. It had premises at Wishaw and in 1888 the firm became a limited company, with Robert being managing director. John Wilson, a Lanarkshire coalmaster and wagon owner, J. Kennedy, a timber merchant and J. Mitchell, a banker took a major financial stake in the company and in 1911 Pickering was relieved of his position as managing direcctor. In about 1895 he purchased the Braxfield Estate near Lanark moving on to the larger Conheath Estate in 1900.

Powell. Thomas
Died Bournemouth 9 November 1937. Former Secretary and Manager of the Pullman Car Co. Loco. Carr. Wagon Rev., 1937, 43, 367.

Pullman, George Mortimer
Born in Brocton, New York State on 3 March 1831; died Chicago 19 October 1897. Founder of the Pullman Car Co. Left school at 14 and worked in a store in Westfield. In 1848 joined his brother, a cabinet maker in Albion, NY. In 1855 he moved to Chicago where he considered improvements in sleeping accommodation on trains. By 1858 he had developed his ideas suffidently to re-model two day coaches on the Chicago & Alton RR into sleeping cars, making upper berths hinged to the side of the car. He built a third car in 1859. Because other railways would not take up his cars, he moved to Colorado where he ran a store, at the same time designing his first Pullman car. On returning to Chicago he and Ben Field carried out the design, and patented the folding upper berth on 5 April 1864. They completed their first Pullman car, named Pioneer, in 1865. The lower berth was adapted from the seats. The car was well received. In 1867 the partners organized the Pullman Palace Car Co which grew to be the largest car-building firm in the world. Pullman established his first manufacturing plant at Palmyra, but soon removed it to Detroit. As the business grew more plants were opened at St Louis (1880), 8mira, NY (1873-83), Wilmington, Del (1886), San Frandsco, and at Pullman, now part of Chicago (1880). Here Pullman built the entire town, completing it in 1881, noted as the healthiest dty in the world. In addition to the sleeping car, Pullman introduced the combined sleeping and dining car in 1867, the dining car in 1868, the chair car in 1875 and the vestibule car in 1887. Pullman was also the owner of the Eagleton Wire Works, NY, and president of the Metropolitan Elevated RR in NY City. Marshall. See also Humm J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 2015, 38, 252. Towns named Pullman in Illinois and in Washington State.

Purves, J.
Chief outdoor assistant to the carriage and wagon superintendent, Derby, LMS. See Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29, 115. In 1931 promoted from divisional carriage and wagon superintendent, Wolverton, to be assistant to the chief mechanical engineer (carriages and wagons), Derby. Locomotive Mag., 1931, 37, 5.

Redpath, William
Born 5 August 1882 in Pennsylvania, USA, of British parents. Received his technical education at Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne; premium apprentice from 1899 to 1905 on the North Eastern Railway Co. at York and Gateshead; then went to USA for further experience in railway car building. After two years as a draughtsman the Steel Car Depaertment of the American Car & Foundry Co. and then the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, he returned to England and was engaged as a designer, Midland Railway Carriage Co., Shrewsbury, from 1907-1910, and then two years as designer, Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co., Birmingham. From 1912-19 he was chief rolling stock assistant with Rendel, Palmer & Tritton, Westminster. In 1919 appointed joint general manager, Leeds Forge Co., Leeds, where he had control of the design, production planning, sales and purchases of the whole concern. In 1929 the Leeds works were closed down on the amalgamation of the Vickers & Cammell Laird Rolling Stock interests, and concentration of the work in Birmingham; Redpath then set up in private practice as a consulting engineer in London, being also employed as assistant managing director of the Howard Pneumatic Engineering Co., from 1929-1932, when he was appointed general manager and subsequently managing director, Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co., Gloucester (see Locomotive Mag., 1932, 38, 278). In 1934 he again set up as consulting engineer and became technical adviser to the Railway Assessment Authority, From 1939-47, Government service, first in the Air Ministry, then in the Ministry of Aircraft Production, and finally in the Ministry of Supply. In 1946 on the rnerger of the Ministry of Aircraft Production and the Ministry of Supply he became Regional Controller of the two Ministries, a post which he held until retirement in December 1947. He died just before reaching his 67th birthday after a long and serious illness. Contributed to discussion on Wagner's ILocoE paper. Elected member ILocoE in 1930. J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1948, 39,  586.

Rhodes, W.
Technical Assistant. Carriage & Wazon Engineering Department, to be Assistant (Carriage Design).See Locomotive Mag., 1955, 61, 166.

Roberts, Charles
Born Leeds on 16 November 1831, the eldest son of Thomas Roberts, a paper stainer and his wife Martha. In 1841, the Roberts family were living in Hunslet and by now Charles Roberts had two younger brothers: John Roberts, aged 7 and William Roberts, aged 2. The Roberts family had moved again by 1851 but were still living in Hunslet. There was now another brother: James Roberts, aged 9 years. All the older Roberts boys were working in the paper business like their father, with the exception of Charles Roberts, who was working as a joiner. In 1854, Charles Roberts married at St. Peter's, Leeds his first wife, Jane Hammill, then aged 22 years. Charles was recorded as a joiner of Fleece Lane and Jane was the daughter of a coal miner. By 1861, Charles, was recorded as a wagon builder, employing 2 men and living with his wife Jane and his mother-in-law. A son Walter Roberts had been born to the couple in 1861, but died within a few. Jane Roberts also died in 1862, aged 30. Charles was the founder of the Charles Roberts Works. and married for the second time on 26 October 1863 at Wakefield Holy Trinity Church to Mary Taylor (nee Blackburn) a widow with two young daughters from her first marriage. Charles was 31 at the time of his second marriage and a wagon builder, living in Thornhill Street, Wakefield. On 1 May 1864 a son, Rowland Joseph Roberts was born, but hís mother died in 1865 aged 33. On 4 October 1870 Roberts married for the third time to spinster Hannah Heptonstall, the daughter of James Heptonstall, the parish clerk of All Saint's Church, Wakefield where the couple married. The 1871 census records the Roberts family, including his two step daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Ann Taylor from his second marriage all living at Southgate, Wakefield. Charles Roberts had done well in the intervening years and was employing 44 men in is railway wagon building business. In summer 1871, a daughter Annie Elizabeth Roberts was born to the newly wed couple, followed on the 21 July 1872 by a son, Charles Heptonstall Roberts. Another son, William Walton Heptonstall Roberts was born on the 15 October 1873. Seven years later in 1880, Roberts' third wife Hannah died aged 40 years. Stonebridge House, Benton Hill, Horbury was the home of Charles Roberts and his family. The 1881 census records that Charles Roberts, widower, aged 49 years, the manager of a wagon works was living at Wakefield Road, Horbury almost certainly at Stonebridge House. The household consisted Rowland Roberts (16), apprentice ironmonger; Anne Roberts (9), Charles H. Roberts (8), William W.H. Roberts (7). Mariah Hawksworth (58) widow and annuitant plus a domestic servant Eliza Siskitt. All except Charles Roberts born in Wakefield. On 16 November 1881, at Wragby Parish Church, Roberts married for Ellen King, aged 45 who was born in Suffolk the daughter of a farmer. Charles was now recorded as an engineer and railway wagon manufacturer. By 1891, the Roberts family are recorded  as Rowland Roberts was now assistant manager at his father's wagon works. Annie Roberts was still living at home and both Charles H. and William Roberts  were apprentices to a mining engineer. Roberts Billhead

Robson, A. Eric
Elected President ILocoE for the Session 1968-1969, received his early training as a Privileged Apprentice in the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works of the L.M.S. Railway from 1925-1930. After serving for a few years in the Drawing Office, followed by period as Supernumerary Supervisor, he was appointed Progress Assistant to the then Works Superintendent in 1936, responsible for all production planning and progressing in the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works.
In October 1938, when the L.M.S. Railway entered into contracts with Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for the construction of Hurricane wings, Mr. Robson was made wholly responsible for this work, including the planning, layout and equipment of workshops, and production manage- ment for the contract. With the outbreak of war this activity rapidly developed, including the repair of Lancaster aircraft for the Civilian Repair Organisation of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, and by 1942 more than 4000 people were employed in the Carriage and Wagon Works on such work. In 1945 he received the award of M.B.E. for this work.
He was appointed Assistant Works Superintendent, Derby Carriage and Wagon Works in 1942 and to a similar post in the Derby Locomotive Works in 1944. In 1946 he became Works Superintendent, Derby Locomotive Works and for a short time at the end of 1947, Works Superintendent, Derby Carriage and Wagon Works. On Nationalisation in 1948 he was appointed Principal Assistant to the CM.E. of the L.M. Region of British Railways, before going to Doncaster in 1949 as Carriage and Wagon Engineer of the Eastern and North Eastern Regions.
After disappearance of the Railway Executive he became Chief Carriage and Wagon Engineering Officer at the BTC, Marylebone, in 1954, until the amalgamation of this post with that of CM.E. in 1958, when he went to the L.M. Region as its first Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer. After a short time as Assistant General Manager (Workshops) in 1966, he was appointed Chief Engineer (Traction and Rolling Stock) in the same year, until taking over as General Manager, British Railways Workshops. in July of this year. He became a Member of the Institution in 1945 and was first elected Member of Council in 1953. He became Vice-President in 1962. He was elected a Member of Council of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 17th April, 1968. 5 ) Appointed Superintendent, Carriage & Wagon Works of LMS at Derby in 1947. Locomotive Mag., 1947, 53, 190. Portrait: photograph taken at annual dinner of British Railways Chief Mecanical & Electrical Engineers on 11 December 1961: Clements The GWR exposed page 163.

Rowntree, E. De H.
Senior manager at Leeds Forge. Developed use of pressed steel see ILocoE Paper (without number) Pressed steel in railway rolling stock Volune 16 page 459. Chairman of Leeds Centre

Sedcole, W.J.
Chief engineer of the Pullman Car Co,: died at his home in New Malden on 26 February 1947. Partly online website and Loco. Mag., 1947, 53, 62

Sessions, H.H.
Employed by Pullman Car Company: inventor (disputed) of vestibule to connect passenger cars: US Patent 373,098. In part Tayler.

Shepherd, Arthur A.
Appointed chief assistant to S. Warner, carriage & wagon superintendent of the LSWR at Eastleigh. Shepherd succeeded A.H. Panter as chief carriage draughtsman at Eastleigh in 1898. He was a student at Manchester Technical School, obtaining first class honours in carriage & wagon building in 1891 and had his early training on the L&YR. See Locomotive Mag., 1914, 20, 106. Patent GB 130823 for drop stamped and electrically welded wagon axleboxes (not traced in Espacenet): see Locomotive Mag., 1921, 27, 175-6.

Sinclair, W.
Carriage and wagon works manager, Stoke, LMS. See Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29, 115

Steele, J. jr
Works Manager, R.Y. Pickering and Company.: attended Inaugural Meeting of I. Loco. E. Scottish Centre

Sykes, William Harold
Works Manager, Carriage & Wagon Works, York in 1965

Thring, J.F.
In 1960 was Assistant Chief Engineer (Carriages & Wagons) Metropolitan Cammell Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd. Author of ILE Paper No. 508

Turner, Tom Newsum
Born 5 February 1850, being the son of G.R. Turner, manufacturer of railway rolling stock, and colliery engineer, of Langley Mill, Derbyshire. After two years in the drawing office of the late Langley Mill Steel and Iron Co. he served his time with Handyside and Co. of Derby, following which he was draughtsman and mechanical engineer to his father. On the death of the founder of the business in 1893, he became proprietor of the works, developing them with care and judgment until at the present time they have become one of the largest works of the kind. In 1903 he turned the business into a private company, under the style of G. R. Turner, Ltd. Died at his residence, Dunstead, Langley Mill, on 2 September 1904.

Vandy, W.
Works Manavcr. Wagon Works. Shildon to he Assistant Carriage and Wagon Engineering Officer; See Locomotive Mag., 1955, 61, 166.ILocoE Paper 526 Production of steel wagons.

Vidal, John Furze Bancroft
President ILocoE for the Session 1956-57, was elected a Member of the Institution in 1932 and has been a Member of its Council and of the Finance and General Purposes Committee for 23 years and chairman of the latter since 1946. He has also served on the Visits Committee for over 20 years and has been its chairman for the last four years. Educated at Tonbridge School, Vidal was trained as an engineer at Crompton and Co. Ltd., Chelmsford, and became particularly interested in the railway mechanical and electrical branches. His first appointment, in 1911, with the Patent Lighting Company gratified this interest by bringing him into close touch with the Furness, Highland and North British railways and also with the London and South Western and Midland in connection with the installation and maintenance of the Grob constant voltage system of train lighting. He was temporarily commissioned in the Royal Engineers in January 1915, and as a brigade signal officer attached to the Ninth Division, he assisted during the battle of Loos in the first experimental use of trench wireless signalling. Soon afterwards he transferred to the first Wireless Signal Company taking an active part in the early development of Army wireless field signalling equipment. In 1918 he transferred to the Royal Air Force Signals Experimental Establishment, then at Biggin Hill. Returning to civilian life, Vidal joined J. Stone and Co. Ltd., Deptford, in 1920, being responsible for the design and sale of some of this company’s railway specialities. He is a director of its subsidiaries Stone-Wallwork, Ltd., the Coleman-Wallwork Co. Ltd., and Mead McLean and Co. Ltd.. From  biography written at time of his installation as President: his Presidential Address.

Wild, J.W.
Jig and Tool Designer, Carriage and Wagon Engineers' Department, Derby, appointed Assistant Carriage and Wagon Development Engineer (Workshop), (Carriage and Wagon Engineering Development Unit). Locomotive Mag., 1957, 63, 20

Willison, John
Inventor of a coupler: several British patents granted from 1900 to about 1920; and many in other countries including Germany and the United States, John Willison  originated in Derby, but may have moved to USA It was registered in 1910, and approved in USA 1916, and in Germany. The company Knorr bought it and it started to be used in Germany for some heavy trains and some suburban trains in Paris. The Soviet Union needed a new coupler and decided to use this coupler. Evaluated in India. See Locomotive Mag, 1923, 29, 369

2023-07-06