Douglas Strutt Galton
Steamindex home page

According to Marshall Captain Sir Douglas Strutt Galton was born at Droitwich on 2 July 1822 and died in London on 11 March 1899. Wells (BackTrack 13 page 579) notes that Galton held various positions under the Commissioners of Railways and in the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, 1847-1854, and became chief of the Railway Department, 1854-1859. First commissioned in 1840, he worked for the Ordnance Survey, 1846/7; the War Office, 1860/1875, and was in overall charge at the Newark Brake Trials between 1875 and 1880. He was knighted for his services in 1887.

Wells quotes some of Galton's own observations on the efficacy of guards:

Captain Galton's opinion on the general situation at the close of the 1850s is worth noting in full. He was a man of wide experience, a very able and perceptive man whose words were not lightly overlooked.

"The guards of trains are sometimes placed in vans with windows in a projecting position, but the utility of the projection is often destroyed by the use of wide carriages in trains, which obstruct the view. In other cases the vans are supplied with a look-out window in the roof, but from these the guard can only look along the top of the carriages, and would probably be unable to see any signal made out of the carriage window; besides which the advantages of this projection are sometimes destroyed by luggage being placed on the roofs of the carriages."

Organizer of brake trials under auspices of Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1878 in association with Stroudley and Westinghouse which showed conclusively that skidding did not enhance braking performance. Further trials were conducted on the NER in 1879. See Wells BackTrack, 13, 98. Several references in Ottley mainly in the form of reprinted materials from Min. Proc. I.M.E. of 1878 and 1879 which lack full citations. Ottley 3223 would appear to be an original document. Needless to say that neither Galton nor skidding feature in the arty Oxford Companion.. Ottley 3225 Report by Douglas Galton on brake experiments made at Gisburn on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on the 14th, 15th and 16th July 1880. See Wells. Backtrack, 2008, 22, 518-24. The overall excellence of Chrimes Biographical dictionary is rather marred by the failure of Denis Smith (pp. 325-7) to make any mention of braking.

Papers
On the effect of brakes upon railway trains. Proc. Instn Mech Engrs., 1878. 29, 467-89; 590-632.
On the effect of brakes upon railway trains. 1879, 30, 170-218.

30-06-2009