Railway signalling
engineers
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Abell, Harry
Chief Signal & Telegraph Draughtsman, LMS between Hitchcock and
Birchenough in 1945/6. Began as draughtsman in Derby Telegraph Office. Portrait
Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73.
Acfield, Wilfred Cozens
Signal Superintendent LBSCR 1896-1906; then Signal Superintendent
Midland Railway. Founder member of Institution of Signal Engineers. Retired
25 August 1927 when title was Signal Superintendent LMS (Derby). Member of
first Pringle Committee. Warburton,
L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the
signal and telegraph departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal,
2006 (15), 40-: and Warburton, L.G.
LMS signals No. 10 – Mechaniacl route indicators. LMS Journal,
2005 (10), 40:
Patents:
9134/1914. Improvements in electrically controlled block systems for
railways, with Josiah Sayers, Bernard William Cooke, and George Salt.
Applied 11 April 1914. Published 1 April 1915.
8009/1913. Improvements in railway signalling, with Bernard William
Cooke. Applied 15 April 1913. Published 18 December 1913.
Angus, Arthur Reginald
Inventor of electric signal control system for trains: used West Somerset
Mineral Railway for full-scale demonstration. An Australian. Vast number
of patents. Following dates from period of demonstration (5 July
1912):
29,304/1911 Improvements in or relating to
railway safe running devices. Applied 7 February 1811. Published 7 May
1912.
See Locomotive Mag, 1912,
18, 142.
Annett, James Edward.
Lock 7 keys. See Vanns p. 26.
3427/1875.
Annett, James Philip
26,943/1902 Improvements in Railway Signalling
and Apparatus therefor. Applied 6 December 1902. Published
29 October 1903.
14,181/1906 Improvements in Automatically Compensating the Operating
Wires of Railway Signalling Apparatus. Applied 20 June 1906. Published 30
May 1907 with Herbert Fitzroy Clayton
Barnes, William
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Central Division (Telegraphs) in 1923 aand
in 1942 was promoted to Divisional Assistant (Signals).
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Bell, F.
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Eastern Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Derby from 15 August 1935 until 1938.. Commenced work in
Midland Railway Derby Signal Works on 1 April 1892 as draughtsman.
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Berry, Richard Golding
Draughtsman in Civil Engineer's office of LYR from 1890. Became LYR
Signal Superintendent in 1911, but Signal Engineer (Manchester) following
LNWR/LYR amalgamation. Retired due to ill health (chronic arthritus)
on 31 October 1929 and died on 21 April 1931.
Warburton, L.G. LMS signals No. 20 –
Manchester Victoria and Exchange multiple-aspect colour light and power
re-signalling scheme. LMS Journal, 2008, (23) 20-41.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15),
13-27.L.G. Warburton LMS
Journal (12) 31. notes that patented a form of ATC system with H.W.Moore
2550/1914; 8651/1915.
Birchenough, Harry
Recruited by Bound of LMS in 1930s: apprenticed Railway Signal Co.c1927
in Liverpool and graduate of Liverpool University.
Warburton: LMS Journal (1),
17..Chief Signal & Telegraph Draughtsman, LMS between 1946 and 1956.
Retired c1975. Served in army during WW2. Portrait
Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73.
Papers
The design of signalling apparatus (January, 1956 Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock)).
with J.I. Wright
The design of signal structures (January, 1937 Institution of Railway Signalling
Engineers via Nock).
Blackhall, A.T.
Founder member of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers. Worked
for Great Western Railway. First President of Institution. See
Nock: portrait on Plate
4.
Boot, James
Latterly Chief Engineer General Rauilway Signal Company
and President of Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers: prior
to that had started on GNR (ten years); LSWR and Southern Railway and claimed
to have worked for four signal contractors. The Institution visited Toton
Marshalling Yard in 1939. via
(Nock).
Papers (Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock).
1. Electric signal machines (March, 1924).
2. Route signalling (November, 1927).
Bound, Arthur Frank
Born Tunbridge Wells on 23 August 1878; died Bognor Regis 5 October
1957. Premium apprentice under R.J. Billinton at Brighton Works of LBSCR.
In 1898 joined Vickers as a draughtsman. In 1903 joined British Power Railway
Co. working on LSWR pneumatic signalling, but in same year joined the Great
Central where introduced colour light signalling and Reliostop system. Appointed
Signal & Telegraph Engineer of the Southern Area of the LNER at the Grouping,
but left to join the LMS as Chief Signal & Telegraph Engineer in 1929.
Had presented a paper to the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers in 1915
advocating the use of track circuit block with automatic signals. On LMS
introduced speed controlled signalling near Mirfield.. Retirement August
1944: Locomotive
Mag, 50, 139.
Biographical information
Warburton, L.G. and Instone,
Reg. LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph
departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15),
13-27.:
Papers (Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
(via Nock)
A review of the art of signalling and some suggestions (February, 1915).
Signalling colours with F.R. Lankshear. (November, 1923).
Evolution: the Centenary Year of railways (Presidential Address, 1925)
Electric locking releases—their use and possible abuse (April, 1929).
Railway colour light signalling in relation to manual
block and multiple aspect signals (April, 1932).
Contributions
Hookham, F.J. Automatic train control.
J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1925,
15, Disc.: 271-5. (Paper No. 181)
Queried the effect of speed on the ability to stop (of GWR system)
and admired the cheapness of the Reliostop system.
Patents
567,056. Improvements in retarding means adapted for
controlling the operation of points, switches and movable parts of crossings
in railway tracks, with Percy Lomas. Accepted 25 January 1945.
564,429 New or improved electricity generating plant, particularly
adapted for use in train control systems. with Andrew Rankin. Accepted 27
September 1944.
563,966 Improvements relating to automatic train control systems,
with Percy Lomas. Accepted 7 September 1944.
353,023 Improvements relating to railway signals, with Douglas Maes
Turnbull. Accepted 17 July 1931.
236,003 Improved supporting structure for power transmission mechanism
for operating railway points, signals, and the like, with Walter Sydney Roberts.
Accepted 2 July 1925.
184,130 Improvements in or relating to train control systems and apparatus
for use therewith, with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd and Alfred Ernest
Hudd. Accepted 28 July 1922.
182,259 Improvements in or relating to train control systems and time
element devices for use therewith, with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co
Ltd and Alfred Ernest Hudd. Accepted 6 July 1922.
175,733 Improvements in or relating to train control systems, with
Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd and Alfred Ernest Hudd. Accepted 20
February 1922.
175,945 Improvements in or relating to train control systems and apparatus
for use therewith , with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd and Alfred
Ernest Hudd. Accepted 20 February 1922.
110,017 Improvements in and connected with train controlling apparatus,
with William Rowland. Accepted 4 October 1917.
11272/1915 Improvements in and connected with railway signalling systems
and train controlling apparatus, with William Rowland. Accepted 8 April
1916
5769/1915 Improvements in apparatus for controlling and stopping trains
independently of drivers, with William Rowland. Accepted 27 May 1915.
2495/1915 Improvements in and relating to railway signalling apparatus,
with William Rowland. Accepted 20 January 1916.
6807/1914 Improvements in apparatus for controlling and stopping trains
independently of drivers, with William Rowland. Accepted 18 March 1915.
Bowden, Ernest Albert
Bennett
Vanns notes that together with E.F. Newton , R.J. Insell and C.M. Jacobs
these GWR employees were the patentees of the audible warning system.
Neither Newton nor Bowden were named on the extension of the system to involvve
automatic application of the brakes. See
Locomotive Mag., 1921, 27, 29.. (note typo? which attributes
to "Howden".
Patents
12661/1905. Improvements in or relating to
signalling on railways. Applied 19 June 1905. Published 7 June
1906.
Brentnall, E.G.
London Midland Region's Chief Signal & Telegraph Engineer between
1957 and 1968,
Paper: (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Lifting barriers at level crossings (November, 1959).
Bruxby, Hayes
Died 12 September 1934. Signal and Telegraph Superintendent
Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway since 1922 until retirement in March
1932, prior to that he had been Signal Superintendent since 1901 and prior
to then he had served ten years on the Great Northern Railway.
Bryson, William
Patentee with Llewellyn Wynn Williams of
Patents one of which related to tablet exchange apparatus; both associated
with the Railway Appliance Works of Irvine.
See Christensen: Brysons catcher, LMS
J (38) 12.
Paper
Token exchange apparatus in Scotland (Institution of
Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
GB 15078/1908 Improvements in and relating to receiving
and delivering devices for tablets, staffs, and the like on railways.
Applied 16 July 1908 Published 11 March 1909
GB 15159/1909 Improvements in and relating to burners for oil
lamps. Applied 29 June 1909 Published 23 June 1910
Buckland, John
Chief Inspector of Signal Engineering, Great Central Railway. Retired
22 May 1909 after 34 years service: son retired as Chief Inspector and died
aged 87 c1955. Letter from Bernard Buckland (aged 81)
Railway Wld., 1975,
36, 214
Byles, Cyril Beuziville.
Former Signal Engineer Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway; thence
New South Wales Government Railway from 1911. Tempting to consider that may
been related to the brave Roman Catholic priest who went down with the
Titanic.. See LMS Journal,
2008 (22) 47.
Cardani, Armand
Born 20 June 1921; died 2002. Joined the S&T Department
of the London & North Eastern Railway in 1938 and, following an
apprenticeship, was appointed as an engineering graduate. During that time
he gained Honours grade in the London University BSc (Special) Degree. His
main area of work activity was in connection with the Great Eastern
electrification and this continued until 1947 when he joined the Great Western
Railway. God’s Wonderful Railway was Armand’s true home. He was
immensely proud of their achievements, both historic and current. His career
blossomed there; he became Assistant Signal Engineer of the Western in 1957
and in 1959, at the age of 38, became the youngest Chief S&T Engineer
of that Region. In 1953 or 54 he gave a lecture to the Gloucestershire Railway
Society, followed a short while afterwards by a site visit to Ealing where
he explained to a 14 year old schoolboy sufficient about signalling to set
him on a lifelong career. That schoolboy was Tony Howker who went on to become
President of the IRSE! Brian Heard (another Past President), in a message
from the Philippines, also comments on the tremendous benefit he received
from early training with Armand. This interest in bringing on the youngsters
in the profession was a hallmark of Armand’s career. By 1968, when he
transferred to the London Midland Region as Chief S&T Engineer, he had
overseen the conversion of over 1,700 single-track km of the WR to multi-aspect
signalling and the creation of one of the first co-axial trunk telecomms
systems on the railway. On the LMR he had similar success with the major
schemes at Trent, Derby and Saltley followed by the West Coast work controlled
from Warrington, Preston and Carlisle. In 1975 he was appointed as the BR
Director of S&T Engineering, a post in which he successfully steered
the industry through many difficult technical and contractual changes until
his retirement in 1981 after 42 loyal years of service to the railway. Armand
joined the IRSE as a Student in 1942, progressing to the Council by 1960
and giving many years of service to the Miniaturisation and Examination
Committees. He became President in 1970 and led us on the first Convention
to Spain – and what a joy that was! In his Presidential address, as
we all do, he made predictions. Most of them came to pass, but he doubted
that computers would become involved in the safety side of signalling. When
he joined the British Railways Board, and heard of the preliminary work in
BR Research by Alan Cribbens’ team, he quickly, gracefully and with
great good humour, accepted that things had changed. He then stuck his neck
out to support the SSI development and played a major part in securing approval
for the work to proceed. To do that, in the climate then existing showed
true greatness. In 1982 he was elected an Honorary Fellow and continued to
give regular support to the Institution at meetings and social events. It
was a particular pleasure to see him at the Members Lunch in 2001, which
coincided with his 80th birthday, and again in 2002 when he completed 60
years of membership. Throughout his working and Institution life he had wonderful
support from his wife Joyce. Her death in 1995 was a blow which left him
devastated. Now, after a lifetime of service to our Industry, which will
live on in the newly created Armand Cardani Memorial Fund, it is his turn
to be mourned. We are grateful for all that he has done and we will miss
his leadership, guidance, friendship and unfailing good humour.
Carslake, Charles
Died 1932:? Paper: (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
via Nock) Intermediate block
signalling (March 1922). Moved from being Assistant Signal & Telegraph
Engineer Southern Area to being Signal & Telegraph Engineer North Eastern
Area (Locomotive
Mag., 1936, 42,
42)
Challis, Ernest Walter
Nock stated that son
of W. Challis and was employed by Westinghouse Brake & Signal Co. on
the LNER relay interlocking systems at Hull Paragon and at Northallerton
and on the preliminary work for the major installation at York described
in his paper.
Paper
A Comparison between relay and electric lever interlocking (December, 1938)
Patents.
1,046,762 Improvements relating to railway traffic control apparatus.
with Derek Arthur Hotchkiss and Westinghouse Brake & Signal. 1966.
989,723 Railway signalling systems. with Westinghouse Brake
& Signal. 1965.
996,384 Railway route setting apparatus with Hedley Leighton
Worthington and Westinghouse Brake & Signal. 1965.
957,800 Improvements relating to railway traffic controlling apparatus
with Westinghouse Brake & Signal. 1964
950,185 Improvements relating to railway traffic controlling apparatus
with John Sydney Hawkes and Westinghouse Brake & Signal. Published
1964.
521,405 Improvements relating to traffic controlling systems for
railways and the like with Westinghouse Brake & Signal and Charles
Francis Dickson Vennin. Published 1940.
517,988 Improvements relating to route setting or locking systems
for railways and the like with Westinghouse Brake & Signal; Charles
Francis Dickson Vennin. Published 1940.
Challis, W.
Nock noted in response
to son's paper the ability of a small power frame (that at Borough Market
Junction) to be able to handle a huge amount of traffic. He was Assistant
Signal & Telegraph Superintendent on the Southern Railway, and judging
from first paper may have formerly worked for Metropolitan Railway. His own
papers are listed below:
Signalling Apparatus for use in foggy weather and snow on the Metropolitan
Railway (May, 1923).
Description of trains between boxes where there are two or more block sections
(November, 1928).
Electric lever interlocking and intermittent fed track circuits (May,
1931).
Chessell, Charles F.W.
Chief Signal & Telecommunications Draughtsman, LMR between 1956
and 1981 when he retired. Served in army during WW2. Portrait
Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73.
Cooke, Bernard William
Born on 8 August 1872; son of a Derby solicitor. Joined Midland Railway's
Signal Department on 10 May 1889 as a learner in the Signal Department Drawing
Office under Thomas Woodward the Signal Superintendent. Just prior to the
Grouping he was appointed Works Manager, a post he retained under the LMS.
The Signal Works closed in 1932, but he was retained until his retirement
on 1 July 1934. He died on 29 December 1939. He was responsible for several
Patents. See Warburton, L.G. Bernard
William Cooke. LMS Journal, 2008 (24), 46-56 (with portrait).:
Patents:
339,200 Improvements in pyrometer devices for indicating lamp failure.
Applied 11 June 1929, Published 11 December 1930.
212,095 Improvements in bearings for signal wheels, cranks, and the
like. Applied 27 February 1923. Published 6 March 1924.
9134/1914. Improvements in electrically controlled block systems for
railways, with Josiah Sayers, Wilfred Cosens Acfield, and George Salt.
Applied 11 April 1914. Published 1 April 1915.
8009/1913. Improvements in railway signalling, with Wilfred Cosens
Acfield. Applied 15 April 1913. Published 18 December 1913.
Cooke, [Sir] William Fothergill
Born in Ealing in 1806; died Farnham, Surrey on 25 June 1879. Developer,
with Wheatstone of electric telegraph.
Marshall: See also
Deakin
Patents (via Woodcroft):
7390/1837 Giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means
of electric-currents transmitted through metallic-circuits. 12 June
1837.
7614/1838 Giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means
of electric-currents transmitted through metallic-circuits. 18 April
1838.
8345/1840 Giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means
of electric-currents. 21 January 1840
9465/1842 Apparatus for transmitting electricity; applicabe to apparatus
for giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means of
electric-currents, 8 September 1842
10655/1845 Electro-telegraphs and apparatus relating thereto; partly
applicable to other purposes. 6 May 1845.
Cottrell, Stephen Butler
Born in London in March 1865. Died Rhos-on-Sea on 5 March 1933. Chief
Engineer (General Manageer upon its completion) Liverpool Overhead Railway
where he introduced an advanced signalling system:
see Min. Proc. Instn Civ. Engrs,
1901, 144, 16-40. Had begun his career by being apprenticed to
R.E. Wilson and later to Sir Douglas Fox. He assisted in the construction
of the Whitby to Scarborough line and in the construction of the Hawarden
Swing Bridge. From 1888 he was involved in the LOR, becoming Chief Engineer
in 1892, but resigned in 1909 becoming a consultant on electric traction.
Paper: The relative advantages
of overhead, deep-level, and shallow subway lines, for the accommodation
of urban railway traffic. presented at Institution of Civil Engineers Conference
in 1903. Illustrated interview. Rly
Mag., 1901, 8, 97.
Marshall.
Gwilym Roberts in BDCE3.
Crook, G.H.
Great Western Railway signalling engineer who advocated speed signalling
and was involved in the development of Automatic Train Control.
Nock covered both apscts at
considerable length as well as listing Crook's Institution of Railway Signal
Engineers papers:
Characteristics and efficiency factors of some typical electric signalling
circuits (April, 1914).
Automatic and power signalling economics (December, 1927).
Notes on some recent signalling developments on the Great Western Railway
(November, 1928).
Ethics and economics of speed signalling (April, 1931).
Automatic Train Control (April, 1933).
The signal engineer and the permanent way (Presidential Address
1938).
The signalling of siding connections-development of remote control electric
locking methods (February, 1948).
Also ILocoE paper::
Route and speed signalling. J. Instn
Loco Engrs, 1929, 19, 770-805. Disc.: 805-22. (Paper No.
252)
Currey, John H.
Paper: (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
The B.T.C. Automatic Train Control System (February, 1958)
Nock notes how the visual indicator slipped in, although initially excluded.
A prototype control unit fitted to an Eastern Region A1 class Pacific included
a visual indicator, and the press became aware of this when they inspected
this locomotive at King's Cross, following shortly after the Harrow &
Wealdstone disaster. Locomotive Mag.,
1958, 64, 67
Davidson, C.
Patent with C.D. Williams (3286/1873) for automatic train control
which sounded a gong, shut off steam and applied brake:
Vanns.
Davy, Edward
Born in Ottery St Mary on 16 June 1806.
See Chris Cock. Backtrack, 2010,
24, 690. He was the author of An experimental guide to
chemistry (1836) and Outline of a new plan of telegraphic
communication (1836). He was the inventor of block signalling which was
covered by Patent 7719/1838 (date 4 July 1838). He died in Malmsbury, Victoria,
Australia on 26 January 1885. ODNB entry by
Eleanor Putnam Symons.
Deakin, William Henry
Born in London on 10 September 1848. Son of John Deakin, an early
and inventive railway signal engineer. Mother was a descendent of William
Dampier, the famous navigator. Signalling engineer and inventor of many safety
appliances. Joined Stevens & Sons in 1865 and moved to McKenzie &
Holland in 1874. Much of his working career was spent in India working for
Saxby & Farmer, but he returned to England in 1922. He died in Worcester
on 12 October 1937. Obituary Trans Newcomen Soc., 1936, 17,
239-43.
Paper
Development of railway signalling.
Trans. Nerwcomen Soc.,1929,
9, 1-11.
Also Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers Papers (via
Nock):
Early history of railway signalling, 1929
Reminiscences of an early signal engineer, 1930.
Dell, Robert
Born 1900; died 1992. Chief Signal Engineer, London Transport Board;
formerly, from 1942, Signal Engineer. Faced with the need for utmost safety
in handling the intense services on the London Underground and tube railways;
introduced many novel methods of signalling control, including programme
machine working at junctions, and the system of automatic train operation
installed on the new Victoria Line. He also designed the systems of automatic
fare collection and automatic ticket reading used on London Transport.
Sheila Taylor's The moving
Metropolis calls Dell a strong character in a powerful
position London: Laurence King, 2001. Eden, Eric London Transport
Railway Signalling: Papers on the Life and Work of Robert Dell 1900-1992
Nock, O.S. Railway enthusuast's
encyclopedia
Douglass, J.
Chief Draughtsman in Electrical Engineer's Department at Horwich Works
at grouping: moved to London on 1 November 1925 following formation of Electrical
Engineer's Department.
Downes, John Rathbone
Born 22 April 1864; joined Midland Railway in October 1894; was Chief
Draughtsman on 14 April 1897 and became Chief Draughtsman, Eastern Division
Drawing Office, Derby following formation of LMS. Retired in December 1928
having served for 44 years. . Warburton.
LMS Journal, 2010 (32) 73..
Dudley, E.J.
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Western Division Electrical Department, at
Crewe until 1 November 1925, thence at Derby..
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Duncan, John
Blacksmith at Kittybrewster Workshops of Great North of Scotland Railway
who assisted James Manson in development of tablet exchange apparatus. Robert
Sharpe, draughtsman, assisted, Duncan had worked on machinery in a weaving
factory. System described by Mike Christensen in
Rly Arch 2002 (1), 47 and
in LMS J (38), 12. The system
was taken up by the Highland Railway; the North British (between Arbroath
and Montrose); the Port Road between Castle Douglas and Stranraer, and on
the Belfast & Northern Counties and Belfast & County Down in Ireland.
The LSWR gave a trial of it between Portsmouth Arms and South Molton
Road
Dutton, Samuel Telford
Born in 1838 and spent his childhood in Manchester. Joined McKenzie
& Holland in Worcester, but in 1889 set up in competition on the opposite
side of the road. Author of Railway signalling, theory and practice,
S.T. Dutton, London: Crosby, Lockwood & Son reviewed in
Locomotive Mag., 1928,
34, 100. States that experience gained in India, bbut see review
of book by Edward Dorricott in
Backtrack, 2016, 30,
574.
Dyer, Herbert Hedley
Joined Midland Railway in 1907. In 1929 appointed Assistant (Signals)
Derby; in 1931 became Development Assistant, and in 1938 Assistant Signal
and Telegraph Engineer (Watford). In 1948 under British Railways became Executive
Officer (S&T) and later Chief Executive Officer. Retired 31 December
1951. Warburton, L.G.
and Instone, Reg. LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal
and telegraph departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15),
13-27 (with portrait).:
Easterbrook, Walter John
Born 23 January 1842 at Ippleton in Devon. His father was a yeoman
farmer. He joined the GWR in the late 1850s and in the period 1863/4 had
become a fitter with Saxby & Farmer. On 18 June
1865 he maried Mary Ann Stockbridge at Willesden Parish Church. Was successful
in patenting improvements in interlocking although this led to his dismissal
and a series of further patents both from him and from his former employer
Saxby. In this effort Easterbrook received financial backing from Georhe
Henry Hannaford. In the end there was a Court case which took th form of
the Great Western Railway versus Easterbrook held between 14 May and 15 July
1865. Saxby used Sir Frederick Bramwell and John Imray to appear on their
behalf and Easterbrook lost and had to leave the field of signalling. He
subsequently lived in Bristol and died on 19 January 1914.
Br Rly J., 1992, 5,
25.
Patents
927 13 September 1867
2143 24 September 1867
509 1868
3272 in G.H. Hannaford's name November 1869
1606 1872
Edwards, George
Began by working for Saxby and Farmer then became Signalling
Superintendent of LNWR. In 1876 helped to establish a signal manufacturing
department in the Gloucester Wagon Co. where he took out a Patent (947/1877)
for a signal box and lever frame. In 1881 he established the Railway Signal
Co. See Sutcliffe. Modellers
Backtrack, 1995, 4, 324 and Christensen, Mike. The Gloucester
Wagon Co. Ltd. Part 2. The signalling work. .
Br. Rly J., 1985, 1,
244-59.
Eggington, F.B.
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
via Nock)
Nomenclature of interlocking signals (March, 1935).
High speed trains and their effect on signalling (March, 1938).
Subsidiary signals: their development and some problems arising from their
use (December, 1945).
Ellison, C.H.
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
via Nock).
Automatic signalling (March, 1917).
The onset of electric traction on the North Eastern Railway (Presidential
Address, 1921)
Elridge, Tilden Theodore
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Western Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Crewe from 1939-42.Previously with British Pneumatic Railway
Signal Co. until it closed in 1934 when joined LMS as a technical assistant
at Euston. He joined the armed forces in 1942.
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Every, W.S.
Signal Engineer of the London Passenger Transport Board.
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock).
Signalling on the London Underground Railways (November, 1924).
Aiming at 100% efficiency (Presidential Address, 1928)
Farmer, John Stinson
Born in 1827 and died in Billingshurst on 12 December 1892. At an
early age he entered the service of the LBSCR. In 1849 appointed assistant
traffic manager under George Hawkins. 1862 entered partnership with
John Saxby and together they founded the firm of Saxby
& Farmer to manufacture signalling equipment and safety devices. They
erected works at Kilburn by the LNWR on its approach to London. Their first
apparatus, installed at Bricklayers Arms, LSWR, London, comprised eight
semaphore signals and six points, all interlocked. In 1875 firm brought out
a mechanical continuous brake.
(Marshall)
Fielding, Jack
Account by O.J. Morris of the life of an early signalman at Lovers'
Walk in Brighton. Locomotive Mag.,
1943, 49, 138.
Finch, Owen
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Western Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Crewe from 1934-9.
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Fletcher, J.W.
Telegraph Superintendent LNWR 1879-1903 (Teleramics website). Awarded
Silver Medal at Paris Exhibition.
Locomotive Mag., 1900,
5, 145
Flint, Frederick J.
Born in Gosforth, but family moved to Watford. Joined LNWR Signal
Department. Served in Royal Horse Artillery during WW1. Left LMS in 1926
for Westinghouse and placed in charge of Manchester Victoria & Exchange
Contract. Later associated with ARP signal boxes at Crewe North and South.
Retired to Bude. . Warburton, L.G. LMS
signals No. 20 – Manchester Victoria and Exchange multiple-aspect colour
light and power re-signalling scheme. LMS Journal, 2008, (23) 20-41.
includes portrait and notes that Author met Flint in Bude..
Fraser, J. Holden
Started on Great Eastern Railway: became Chief Officer of the British
Transport Commission in charge of Signalling & Telecommunications. Papers
to IRSE : the training of maintenance staff for signal and telegraph works
(April, 1937) and the co-relation of signal and permenent way work (April
1947)
Fraser, W.A.
North British Railway signal engineer who introduced Syke's single
line lock and block apparatus or non token system method of single line working
controlled by treddles on the Lothian Lines in Edinburgh opened in 1915.
Yuill. NBR Study Group J., 2003 (89),
4-.It would seem that he became Chief Engineer, Scotland
under the LNER. NBR Study Group J.,
2004 (91) 15.
French, Edward
Probable inventor of somersault signal as used on Great Northern Railway.
Signal inspector at Hitchin invented signal probably as a consequence of
Abbots Ripton accident. Attempted to patent and took out a provisional
application with assistance of Burns, but such action was contrary to railway
practice. See Nock Great Northern
Railway p. 100.
Glisbey, J.E.
On 14 June 1916 Glisbey began work on the Midland Railway. At the
Grouping he was a laboratory assistant in the Derby Telegraph Department,
his salary being £155. In 1928 he was in the Electrical Department working
in the District Assistant's Telegraphs Office, Watford. In 1934 he was Telegraphs
Inspector, Watford on £300. When the new section was formed to deal
with power signalling schemes in 1937, he became Assistant (Colour Light
Signals), Euston, on a salary of £400. On 1st July 1940 he was Assistant
(Colour Light Signals), Crewe, on £425. He then became Area Technical
Assistant, Watford Junction, and on 31st July 1944 was appointed Resident
Engineer (New Works), Preston, with a salary of £500.
LMS Journal. 2010 (30), 57..
Golding, A.J.
Author of Relay interlocking paper presented to the Institution of
Railway Signalling Engineers in 1937 (via
Nock): exemplified by the
installation at Thirsk. Chief Draughtsman, LMS Western Division Signal
& Telegraph Drawing Office, Crewe from November 1942.
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73...
Greenwood, William Vitruvius
Vanns notes that secured
patents with John Saxby for signal lamps whereby a single lamp : 683/1854
and 1830/1854
Griffiths, Ralph Stanley
Employed by McKenzie & Holland Ltd.from 1899: firm in which his
father William Griffiths had worked since its inception.
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
via Nock)
Some impressions of Continental signalling practice (October, 1917).
The double wire system of mechanical signalling (March, 1925).
The problem of signal aspects; what must we tell the man on the footplate?
with T.S. Lascelles. (April, 1930).
History of the mechanical locking frame (Presidential Address 1934)
A chronological record of the protection of facing points (December, 1936).
The art of signalling and some reflections (October, 1943).
The signalling of single line stations (April, 1945).
Upper quadrant signals (April, 1946).
Guest, Thomas
Thomas Guest joined the L&Y Railway at Hunt's Bank, Manchester
in 1906, moving on to the Midland Railway on 1 August 1906 as a Draughtsman
in the Signal Works. In 1919 he was appointed Leading Draughtsman on the
appointment of B.W. Cooke as Signal Works Manager. At the grouping he was
Acting Assistant to the Signal Assistant on a salary of £335 p.a. His
salary was increased to £360 on 1st January 1928 and on Bound's appointment
he was made Assistant Locking and Design (Mechanical) with his salary increased
to £500 p.a. He moved to the London HQ on the opening of Euston House
in 1934 with his salary increased to £550. In 1936 he was appointed
Assistant (Signals) at Crewe on £600 p.a. becoming Divisional Assistant,
Crewe on 1st August 1939 on £625 p.a. His salary was increased to £650
in 1944 and on 1 October 1946 he was appointed Divisional Assistant Signal
& Telegraph Engineer, Crewe on £900 p.a. before being appointed
Divisional S&TE Crewe on 1st December 1947 with a salary of £1300
when H.E. Morgan retired. Warburton,
L G. LMS signals No. 21 continued: Mirfield 'speed' multiple-aspect colour
light re-signalling scheme. LMS Journal, 2009 (26) 33-41.
Guthrie, Herbert J.
Signal and Telegraph Superintendent CIE in 1944; formerly Technical
Assistant Signal and Telegraph Engineer, Great Southern Railways. Implemented
manual generation of electricity (see Nicholson
and W.S. Roberts to operate remote points on lightly
used railways in Ireland.
Paper
Signalling developments in the Irish Free State: Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock
Hall, G.L.
Entered Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1900. Lieut. Col. Hall,
RE was formerly an Inspecting Officer at the Ministry of Transport
(Nock) and was appointed Signal
& Telegraph Engineer on the Southern Railway in succession to
Thorrowgood.
Hampton, Alfred Smith
Apprenticed Woodside Electrical Engineering Co. before joining Caledonian
Railway as draughtsman. Became chief assistant to telegraph engineer in 1910
and appointed telegraph and electrical engineer to Caledonian Railway in
1920. From 1923 Divisional Electrical Engineer (Scotland) and from 1929
Divisional Signal and Telegraph Engineer (Scotland). Retired 2 May 1936.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27.: and (which
includes a portrait) Warburton, L.G.
LMS signals No. 22: Glasgow – St. Enoch LMS colour light re-signalling.
LMS Journal, 2009 (28), 62-80.
Haywood, Thomas Eli
Many patents, some in association with well-known signalling equipment
manufacturers, also with General Railway Signal Co. (often with other Haywoods);
also patents on several other devices relating to petrol pumps (for filling
motor vehicles) and rolling garage doors.
Patents
GB 15402/1905 New and improved rollers and frames for carrying point and
other rods. Applied 27 July 1905. Published 12 April 1906.
GB 267/1906 Improvements in locking bars, used in connection with railway
safety appliances with Saxby & Farmer Ltd Applied 4 January 1906.
Published 13 December 1906.
GB 28830/1906 Improvements in electric treadles or rail deflection contact
makers for railway signalling and the like with McKenzie and Holland
Ltd. Applied 18 December 1906. Published 18 December 1907.
GB 11198/1907 Improvements in or relating to pulleys for carrying signal
wires with McKenzie and Holland Ltd. Applied 14 May 1907. Published 27
February 1908.
GB 14572/1907 Improvements in means for electrically detecting the position
of the switch tongues and locking bolts of railway points. with McKenzie
and Holland Ltd. Applied 25 June 1907. Published 4 June 1908.
GB 25579/1909 Improvements in indicator signals for railways and in operating
means therefor. with McKenzie and Holland Ltd. and Arthur William Beauchamp.
Applied 5 November 1909. Published 16 June 1910.
GB 4997/1910 Improvements in signalling and interlocking for railways
and tramways. with McKenzie and Holland Ltd. and Alfred Ernest Hudd.
Applied 28 February 1910. Published 16 February 1911.
GB 9511/1913 Improvements in suspension springs for vehicles. Applied
23 April 1913. Published 23 April 1914.
GB 4873/1914. Improvements in interlocking apparatus for railway
signalling. with Saxby & Framer Ltd and Arthur Greenwood Kershaw.
Applied 25 February 1914. Published 3 December 1914.
GB 5685/1914 Improvements in railway signalling and interlocking with
Saxby & Framer Ltd and Arthur Greenwood Kershaw.. Applied 6 March 1914.
Published 9 July 1914.
GB 13316/1914 Improvements in derailers with Saxby & Farmer Ltd
and Arthur Greenwood Kershaw. Applied 30 May 1914. Published 19 November
1914.
GB 14525/1915 Improvements in interlocking apparatus for railways.
with Saxby & Farmer Ltd and Arthur Greenwood Kershaw. Applied 14 October
1915. Published 17 August 1916.
GB 102,673 Improvements in railway signalling and interlocking apparatus.
with Saxby & Farmer Ltd and Arthur Greenwood Kershaw.. Applied 19
April 1916. Published 21 December 1916.
GB 168,289 Improvements in chains for reinforcing driving belts. Applied
14 May 1920. Published 15 August 1921
GB 168,116 An improved driving belt. Applied 14May 1920. Published
15 August 1921
GB 473,152 Improvements relating to the laying of electric cables.
with General Railway Signal Company Ltd. Applied 15 April 1936. Published
7 October 1937
GB 520,145 Improvements in electric connectors with General Railway
Signal Company Ltd. Applied 11 October 1938. Published 16 April 1940
GB 550,363 An improved type of signal arm with.Thomas Arthur
Eli Haywood, John Telford Haywood and Percival Frank Haywood. Applied 15
September 1941. Published 5 January 1943.
GB 551,743 Improvements in ship semaphores with.Thomas Arthur
Eli Haywood, John Telford Haywood and Percival Frank Haywood. Applied 8 November
1941. Published 8 March 1943.
GB 551,741 A new and improved type of ship semaphore
with.Thomas Arthur Eli Haywood, John Telford Haywood and Percival
Frank Haywood. Applied 7 November 1941. Published 8 March 1943.
Hills, Edward Charles
Engineering apprentice at Wolverton Carriage & Wagon Works:
transferred to Chief Signal & Telecommunication Engineers drawing office
in 1954 and became Chief Draughtsman in 1981. Retired December 1993. Portrait
Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73..
Hitchcock, Cecil Mahon
Chief Signal & Telegraph Draughtsman, LMS between 1929 and 1945.
Ex-LNWR, trained at Crewe Mechanics Institute. Moved from Derby to Euston;
latterly at The Grove, Watford. Retired in 1945 due to heart problems. Portrait
Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73.
Holland, Walter
Walter Holland had been an employee of the Oxford Worcester &
Wolverhampton Railway prior to that railway being taken over by the Great
Western Railway in 1863. He then formed a partnership with Thomas Clunes
(who owned the Vulcan Ironworks in Worcester) and John McKenzie to form McKenzie,
Clunes & Holland (later McKenzie & Holland). McKenzie & Holland
expanded to become the foremost manufacturer of signalling equipment in the
UK. Walter Holland became a J.P. for the City and County and was Mayor of
Worcester from 1878 until 1881 and again in 1887 (off Internet 3 November
2011).
Hollins, Frederick Thomas
Telegraph Engineer & Superintendent, Great Eastern Railway: see
article by him on application of electricity to interlocking in
Rly Mag., 1899, 4,
41-8
Patents
GB 24494/1905 Improvements in means for electrically actuating intermittently
moving wheelwork applicable in clockwork registering and indicating with
William Robert Sykes Junior and Frederick William Leake. Applied 27 November
1905. Published 27 November 1906.
GB 25712/1906 Improvements in counting apparatus and rail contacts or
treadles operated by railway vehicles for signalling, indicating and controlling
purposes on railways. with William Robert Sykes Junior and Frederick
William Leake. Applied 14 November 1906. Published 14 November 1907.
GB 24281/1905, Improvements in electrical block indicators for railway
gate crossings. with William Robert Sykes and Frederick William Leake.
Applied 24 November 1905. Published 13 September 1906.
GB 24280/1905. Improvements in electric interlocking of railway signals
with block telegraph instruments. with William Robert Sykes and Frederick
William Leake. Applied 24 November 1905. Published 13 September 1906.
GB 17000/1904. Improvements in electro-magnetic relays. with Edward
Tyer and Frederick William Leake. Applied 3 August 1904. Published 22 June
1905.
GB 25240/1902. Improvements in electrical instruments for signalling on
railways. with Edward Tyer and Frederick William Leake. Applied 17 November
1902. Published 22 October 1903.
GB 23041/1901. Improvements in interlocking apparatus or safety devices
for hydraulic or other lifts. with Amendt Henry Christian Thomas. Applied
14 November 1901. Published 30 October1902.
GB 9284/1901. Improvements in electrical instruments for signalling on
railways. with Edward Tyer and Frederick William Leake. Applied 4 May
1901 Published 1 May 1902.
GB 13106/1900. Improvements in safety devices for electric interlocking
or block signalling. Applied 20 July 1900. Published 29 June 1901.
GB 435/1900 Improvements in apparatus for electrically interlocking the
doors or gates with the operative machinery of hydraulic or other lifts
with Amendt Henry Christian Thomas. Applied 8 January 1900. Published 8
December1900.
GB 15135/1899. Improvements in electrical clock arrangements and
apparatus. with Frederick William Leake. Applied 22 July 1899. Published
2 June 1900.
GB 22783/1896.| Improvements in electric locking and block apparatus
for railways. Applied 14 October 1896. Published 2 October 1897.
GB 9517/1896 Improvements in electric locking and block signalling on
railways. with William Robert Sykes. Applied 5 May 1896. Published 10
April 1897.
Holt, George
Born 28 October 1888. Joined Signal Department of LYR at Hunt's Bank
in 1902. In 1911 he moved to the GNR(I) Signal Engineers Department in Ireland.
In 1918 he was manager of E.C. & J. Kayes Signal Works in Darlaston.
In 1919 he joined the Midland Railway Signal Department Drawing Office and
was appointed Chief Draughtsman at Derby in 1930.. By 1943 he was Indoor
Assistant S&T Department at Watford HQ. He retired in 1944,.
See Warburton, LMS J., 2007 (20),
24. and Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73
Horler, F.
Paper (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Railway level crossings (March, 1927).
Street traffic signals with F.L. Castle. (December, 1930).
The human element (November, 1937).
Our inheritance and our task. (Presidential Address, 1950)
Layout of signal cabins (December, 1953).
Hudd, Alfred Ernest
Born on 8 July 1882 in Liverpool, premium apprentice under Aspinall
at Horwich under Aspinall where he beacme interested in automatic train control.
Paid several visits to USA to study American systems and introduced experimental
systems on Southern Railway before joining LMS in 1933. Died in Hove on 31
January 1958. L.G. Warburton LMS
Journal (12) 31. Not in Marshall. An Espacenet search has revealed
a huge number of patents: many jointly with other well-known signal engineers.
Langridge Vol. 2 notes that
Hudd "departed rather sourly".
Paper (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Transient track circuits (December, 1923).
Other papers
A new system of automatic train control.
J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1931,
21, 825-42. Disc.: 842-54. (Paper No. 283)
Patents
GB423598 Improvements in or relating to automatic train control
systems. Applied 4 August 1933. Published 4 February 1935.
Insell, Robert James
Vanns notes that together
with E.F. Newton , C.M. Jacobs and E.A. Bowden these GWR employees were the
patentees of the audible warning system. Died 25 March 1928 in Torquay.
Signal and Telegraph Engineer, GWR. Insell spent whole of his career with
GWR having joined the signal department at Reading- in 1881; became Chief
Draughtsman in 1893, Assistant Signal Engineer in 1900, and in 1903 Chief
Assistant to the Signal and Telegraph Engineer.Foundation member of the
Institution of Signal Engineers. Associated with A.C..Blackall in many signalling
developments, notably the Insell-Ferriera system of route-lever signalling.
Obituary J. Instn Loco Engrs., 1928, 18, 451.
See Locomotive Mag., 1921,
27, 29..
Patents
12661/1905. Improvements in or relating to signalling on
railways. Applied 19 June 1905. Published 7 June 1906.
25955/1905. Improvements relating to signalling on railways.
Applied 13 December 1905. Published 13 December 1906.
Paper (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Signalling and its connections with the construction and management of railways
(February, 1913).
Jacobs, Charles Mark
Vanns notes that together with E.F.
Newton , R.J. Insell and E.A. Bowden these GWR employees were the patentees
of the audible warning system. See
Locomotive Mag., 1921, 27, 29.
Patents
12661/1905. Improvements in or relating to signalling on
railways. Applied 19 June 1905. Published 7 June 1906.
25955/1905. Improvements relating to signalling on railways.
Applied 13 December 1905. Published 13 December 1906.
Jones, William Richard
Warburton, L.G. and Instone,
Reg. LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph
departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15),
13-27.:
Kapp, Gisbert Johann Eduard
Born 2 September 1852 in Mauer, Vienna: died 10 August 1922 in Birmingham.
In 1904 he was offered the position as the first Chair of Electrical Engineering
at the University of Birmingham, a post he held until 1919. Kapp developed
the basis for the calculation and construction of alternating current, dynamos
and the transformer. Invented with Hans von Kramer
Railophone system immediately prior to WW1 and demonstrated it on Stratford
upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway:
see Loco. Mag.,
1912, 18, 157. Paternts: Improvements in resonating relays:
27063/1913 and 444/1914. Mainly from Wikipedia 02-10-2013
Kempe
Patented system with Rowell for a driver warning system intended to
be used in fog and similar to that adopted eventually by GWR. Trial installation
near Wimbledon c1900. See Hall Danger
signals
Langley, P.A.
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Eastern Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Derby from 1938 until 1947 when became Divisional Assistant
(Signals) at Derby. Commenced work on LNER Southern Area at Liverpool Street
in 1928. Warburton. LMS Journal,
2010 (32) 73.
Lascelles, Thomas Spooner
Great-grandson of James Spooner
the surveyor who laid out and supervised construction of the Festiniog Railway.
He was a keen railway historian and was President of the Railway Club from
1958 until his death in 1960. President Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
in 1952 and author of many papers (Vanns). Nock notes his roles as Librarian,
Historian and Editor. Plate 11 in
Nock shows from a plaque illustrated
(together with a portrait) that he died on 17 February 1960 and had been
born in 1914. He was a director of W R Sykes Interlocking Signal Co. Ltd.,
and became its Managing Director in 1953. His full name came from
Ellis's London Brighton and
South Coast Railway.
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Weissenbruch's signal system on the Belgian State Railways (June 1922)
Lock and Block (May, 1925).
Railway signalling in Germany (January, 1927).
A short account of the Siemens and Halske lock and block system (April,
1928).
A contribution to the question of route lever working (March, 1931).
The reform of the signal: aspects on the French Railways (April, 1932).
C.E. Spagno1etti (March, 1941).
Early tube railway signalling (March, 1941).
Signalling on the Swedish State Railways (March, 1941).
Notes on G.N.&C.R. signalling (June, 1942).
New signalling on the Severn Tunnel (June, 1942).
The origin of the centrally balanced semaphore (October, 1943).
Lewis, Leonard P.
Lecturer on Railway Signalling, Royal Technical College, Glasgow.
Author of Railway signal engineering (mechanical). See
Locomotive Mag/., 1921,
27, 79
McKenzie, John
Had been an employee of the Oxford Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway
prior to that railway being taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1863.
He then formed a partnership with Thomas Clunes (who owned the Vulcan Ironworks
in Worcester) and Walter Holland to form McKenzie, Clunes & Holland (later
McKenzie & Holland). McKenzie & Holland expanded to become the foremost
manufacturer of signalling equipment in the UK. (off Internet 3 November
2011).
Meacher, Herbert
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Western Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Crewe from 1923 until 1934. Commenced career with LNWR as
a draughtsman in 1894; became Chief Draughtsman in 1913. Retired due to ill
health in 1934. Warburton. LMS
Journal, 2010 (32) 73..
Meakin, J.F.
Chief Draughtsman (Telegraphs) at Derby in 1923..Born 10 February
1865; joined Midland Railway on 22 March 1878.
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Michod, Percy Douglas
Joined LNWR telegraph department in 1893, becoming works manager in
1897. In 1905 he beacme chief telegraph assistant. During WW1 he served in
the Chshire Railway Battallion where he rose to rank of Lt. Col. and was
awarded OBE in 1919. In 1925 he became District Electrical Engineer, Euston
and became Assistant Signal & Telegraph Engineer under Bound in 1929.
He retired in 1933 and died on 8 March 1945.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27.:.
Moore, Henry William
Ex L&YR man, assistant to Richard Golding
Berry: In 1929 appointed Outdoor Assistant Siganls Derby (HQ). When
Hampton retired in 1936 appointed Assistant Mechanical
Engineer and Electrical Engineer and Signal Engineer, Glasgow. Was briefly
in charge of locomotives until situation clarified. Retired 1944.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15),
13-27.L.G. Warburton LMS
Journal (12) 31. notes that patented a form of ATC system with R.G.
Berry (whilst still on LYR) 2550/1914;
8651/1915.:
Paper: Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers via
Nock
Specification, installation and maintenance of power signalling systems
(November, 1929)
Moore, James Samuel
Born 6 March 1863 in Derby. Joined Midland Railway in 1877 working
in the office of the Chief Accountant. He worked for Saxby & Farmer and
then for the Railway Signal Company, but joined the London Tilbury &
Southend Railway during its final period, before being absorbed by the Midland
Railway in 1912. He retired on 5 September 1925 and died in 1950.
See Warburton, Midland Record,
2007 (25), 69.
Patents
13426/1907 Improvements in apparatus for controlling railway signals
and the like. Applied 10 June 1907. Published 9 April 1908
10712/1906 Improvements in railway points or switches and signalling
mechanisms. Applied 7 May 1906. Published 7 May 1907
2062/1906 Improvements in and relating to railway signalling
apparatus. Applied 26 January 1906. Published 17 January 1907
23754/1905 Improvements in railway point and signalling mechanisms.
Applied 17 November 1905. Published 15 November 1906.
Morgan, Herbert Edward
Joined signal department of Taff Vale Railway in 1896. having worked
for Westinghouse Power Signalling and W.R. Sykes joined Midland Railway in
1911. In 1922 was made chief assistant to Midland Railway's Signal
Superintendent: W.C. Acfield. He retained this position on LMS, but became
Divisional Signal and Telegraph Engineer, Crewe from 1929. Contributor to
Macaulay's Modern railway
working (Volume 6). Retired 1948. Died 1970.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27. Warburton
reproduced a humorous manuscript by Morgan intended for the LMS
Magazine, but probably not published in Midland Record No. 3 {no
page number yet} and No. 14 page
54.
Newton, Edward Frank
Vanns notes that together with C.M.
Jacobs, R.J. Insell and E.A. Bowden these GWR employees were the patentees
of the audible warning system. Neither Newton nor Bowden were named on the
extension of the system to involvve automatic application of the brakes
See Locomotive Mag., 1921,
27, 29..
Patents
12661/1905. Improvements in or relating to
signalling on railways. Applied 19 June 1905. Published 7 June
1906.
Nicholson, John Hedley
Signal and Telegraph Engineer, Great Southern Railways
Patent
FR 583910 Perfectionnements dans les appareils de manoeuvre des
aiguilles et signaux de chemins de fer et analogues. Applied 23 July
1923
O'Donnell, John Patrick
Born in Dublin 1 July 1859 and died in Banstead, Surrey on 2 December
1919. In 1875 articled with Stephens & Sons, Railway signalling engineers
of London and Glasgow. In 1882 appointed assistant signal superintendent
LYR. Between 1885 and 1889 in service of LSWR under
Jacomb-Hood, the chief engineer, when he
designed and carried out extensive alterations to the signalling at Victoria
station (KPJ seems improbable location, but brother of Jacomb-Hood was associated
with LBSCR) and elsewhere. Later joined Dutton in establishing the firm of
Dutton & Co, signailing engineers, at London and Worcester. Left in 1894
and in conjunction with A.G. Evans founded the firm of Evans, O'Donnell &
Co, Railway Signal Works, Chippenharn & London. This firm later amalgamated
with Saxby & Farmer Ltd and O'Donnell held the position of joint managing
director for many years. In 1901 formed the British Pneumatic Railway Signal
Co and started the first works for the manufacture of pneumatic tools on
a considerable scale in Britain. He installed the first automatic signals
on passenger lines. Extensive contracts were implemented under his direction
on the GER, LSWR, Central Argentine and other railways. At Victoria station,
London, SECR, he installed the first 3-position all-electric interlocking
system. He was a prolific inventor and member of many technical societies.
He was managing director of the Superheater Corporation Ltd and of British
Power Signalling Co Ltd.
Marshall
Oldham, Alfred
Joined LNWR at Crewe Works in 1890. Was Assistant Signal Superintendent
to John Troughton Roberts from 1913. After a brief period at Derby he became
Divisional Signal and Telegraph Engineer, Crewe from 1929. Retitred 1935.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27 (with
portrait).:
Openshaw, Vincent H.
Vincent H. Openshaw was, at the 1923 grouping, Assistant (Signals)
at Hunt's Bank, Manchester with a salary of £575 p.a. On Bound's appointment
as LMS Signal and Telegraph Engineer in 1929, he was appointed Assistant
(Signals) Manchester on £650 p.a. On 1 November 1929 he was appointed
Indoor Assistant (Signals) Derby with his salary increased to £800.
He moved to the London HQ at Euston House and in 1936 his salary was £950.
He died in the post on 24 August when based at the LMS wartime HQ at The
Grove, Watford. Warburton, L
G. LMS signals No. 21 continued: Mirfield 'speed' multiple-aspect colour
light re-signalling scheme. LMS Journal, 2009 (26) 33-41.
Peter, Bernard Hartley
Born in Launceston on 8 June 1885. Died 28 December 1970. Educated
at Blundells School and City & Guilds. Highly innovative signal engineer
(with at leasdt eleven British patents): he was appointed Signal Engineer
to the District Railway when aged 19 and introduced the illuminated signalling
panel at Mill Hill Park (Acton Town) in 1906. Invented automatic train describer
system. Subsequently employed by McKenzie & Holland, and between 1911
and 1947 at Westinghouse.. See Rutherford:
Backtrack 12 222. Founder of the Signal Engineering Society.
Who Was Who.
Pigott, A.
Death in 1899 (Rly Mag,
1899, 4, 188): joined GWR in 1846; moved to GNR in 1851; became Siganl
Superintendent from which he retired in 1893. Introduced block working to
GNR.
Poulett, 8th Earl . George Amias Fitzwarrine
Born 23 June 1909; died 1 March 1973. Educated at Eton. Served pupil
apprenticeship as mechanical engineer at GWR Locomotive Works, Swindon, and
Signal Factory, Reading. Technical Assistant: to Chief Mechanical Engineerr,
Woolwich Arsenal, 1940–41; to Director of Ordnance Factories (Small
Arms), 1941–43. Member Institute Railway Signal Engineers. Who Was
Who
Preece, William Henry
Born at Bontnewydd, Caernavonshire on 15 February 1834; died Penrhos,
Caernarvon on 6 November 1913. Superitendent of Telegraphs on the LSWR from
1860 until 1870 when he joined Post Office. Had formerly been assistant to
Edwin Clark. Inventor of block instruments.
Knighthood in 1899. FRS. Latterly involved with development of telephone
and radio communication. Patents listed by Vanns:
77/1862
2016/1865.
Roberts, John Troughton
Webb pupil at Crewe from 1885, and became foreman at one of Crewe's
locomotive sheds in 1890. Transferred to work under Arthur M. Thompson in
1891 and in 1912 became Signal Superintendent under E.F.C. Trench, Chief
Engineer. Retired 30 June 1927.
Warburton, L.G. and Instone,
Reg. LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph
departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27. (with
portrait):
Roberts, Water Sydney
General Manager Railway Signal Company
Patent
FR 583910 Perfectionnements dans les appareils de manoeuvre des
aiguilles et signaux de chemins de fer et analogues. Applied 23 July
1923
GB 21788/1914 Staff, tablet, and ticket
systems.-In order to permit transfer of a number of tokens from one end of
a section to another in cases where the amount of traffic in one direction
is greater than that in the opposite direction, a portable
.
GB 20196/1914 Interlocking and controlling
and locking hand levers and hand gearing, interlocking.-A tappet or slide
or the like 1 connected to the device to be locked is locked by a member
16 which is removed when an electro-magnet is energized and ... ...
Rowell
Patented system with Kempe for a driver warning system intended to
be used in fog and similar to that adopted eventually by GWR. Trial installation
near Wimbledon c1900. See Hall Danger
signals
Sadler, W. John
Privileged apprentice in Midland Railway's Signal Drawing Office 1914.
Following military service during WW1 he returned to Derby and in 1929 became
Statistical, Technical and Signal Sighting Assistant to Bound. Thereafter
he was employed at Derby, Euston and Crewe. He was responsible for the design
of facing point locks and train stops for the Bow Road to Barking power
signalling of 1928. See Warburton, LMS
J., 2007 (20), 24.
Saxby, John
Marshall notes
John Saxby was born in Brighton on 17 August 1821 and was the inventor of
signal interlocking. At 13 began as a carpenter's apprentice. Later employed
on LBSCR as a carpenter. Saxby became interested in problems of railway safety
following several accidents, particularly one at Bricklayers' Arms, resulting
from irregular working. He patented his system of interlocking of points
and signals in 1856 and it was first applied in that year at Bricklayers'
Arms. The first interlocking frame of the type which became universal was
installed on the LBSCR near Haywards Heath. Saxby was employed by the LBSCR
for 22 yrs. He introduced important improvements in the original 1856 patent
in 1860 and 1867. The success of the system was such that in 1861 he started
his own business at Haywards Heath to manufacure signalling apparatus. In
1862 he formed with J.S. Farmer the firm of Saxby &
Farmer, beside the LNWR at Kilburn. They were sole signalling contractors
to the LNWR and LBSCR. Easterbrook had been employed
by Saxby & Farmer and attempted to exploit his own improved form of
interlocking. In 1871 they introduced the 'rocker & grid' interlocking
frame. In 1878 works were established at Creil near Paris, managed
by Saxby's son James. His partnership with Farmer ended in 1888, Farmer
remaining at Kilburn until his death. In 1889 the French works became part
of John Saxby Ltd and in 1893, with the Kilburn works, Saxby & Farmer
Ltd. In 1902 Evans O'Donnell & Co of Chippenham was leased to Saxby &
Farmer and in 1903 manufacture was transferred there. He died in Hassocks,
Sussex on 22 April 1913. He had become a Member of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers in 1880.
Patents
1479 24 June 1856 linked signals with points
2258 11 October signal design
1754 19 July 1860 interlocking
and in partnership with John Farmer
2119 1867 locoking
1601 1871 interlocking
294 1874 rocker design for interlocking
Mike Christensen: John Saxby.
Archive 1998 (18) 2.
Gray, Adrian. The Clayton Tunnel
Disaster. Backtrack, 2009, 23, 606-7.
Nock, O.S. Railway enthusuast's
encyclopedia
Sharpe, Robert
Draughtsman at Kittybrewster: assisted Manson
and Duncan to invent tablet exchange apparatus
Shepherd, Bryan William
Born 26 May 1938. Educated Ealing Grammar School for Boys and Bristol
University. Divsional Signal Engineer (South Eastern), Southern Region in
1982. Who's Who in Britain's Railway Industry. 1982.
Shoppee, L.B.
In 1903 Shoppee commenced work on the LNWR as a probationer in the
Goods Department in the District Superintendent's Office at Euston. In 1911
he was appointed as Outdoor Assistant at Chester to the Superintendent of
the Line and later transferred to Crewe. In 1913 he was appointed Assistant
Traffic Superintendent for the Chester and Holyhead District and in 1919
he became District Superintendent, Manchester, transferring to a similar
position at Euston in 1920. In 1925 he was appointed District Controller,
Willesden, and in 1929 was appointed Assistant (Signalling Section) Chief
General Superintendent's Office, Derby. On 1 August 1932 he was appointed
Signalling Assistant to Chief General Superintendent, Derby, his salary being
£1000. On 1 January 1939 he became Assistant Outdoor Superintendent
(Signalling) on £1200 and on 1 January 1943 was appointed Signalling
Assistant to the Chief Operating Manager, Watford HQ, on £1400, increased
to £1650 at the end of 1945. LMS
Journal. 2010 (30), 57..
Spagnoletti, Charles
Chief Telegraph & Signal Engineer, Great Western Railway. His
full name was Charles Ernest del Diana-Spagnoletti according to
Adrian Vaughan's A pictorial record
of Great Western signalling. Henry
Parris (ODNB entry) states born on 12 July 1832 and died in Hampstead
on 28 June 1915. Letters from Martin
Humphrey and J.H. Brown in
Gt Western Rly J., 5, (37) 298 and (38), 359 was a fine tenor
and made an Edison type recording of God save the Queen in 1875 as
a time capsule. His family had originated as Sardinina landed gentry who
were dispossed by Napoleon. See Hennessey:
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 390 for his involvement in City &
South London Railway electrification..
Spittle, George H.
Distinguished Service Order conferred upon Major George H. Spittle,
R.E., Commandant of the 1st Army Signalling School (Assistant to the Electrical
Engineer of the Great Western Ry., Paddington). The investiture at the hands
of H.M. the King took place at Buckingham Palace.See
Locomotive Mag., 1917,
23, 238.
Stephen, W.D.M.
Signal engineer (latterly responsible for signal siting on Scottish Region:
brother of photographer.
See letter NBRSG Journal, (32), 32
Stevens, James
Developed semaphore signals
(Greenwood had installed the first railway
semaphore signal at New Cross): mechanism patented 11,612/1847: seemingly
(Vanns) same patent claimed a pneumatic
mechanism using a rubber tube
Stevens, John
The first firm to take up signal engineering was Stevens & Sons
of the Darlington Works, Southwark, founded in the 1830s by John Stevens:
see Deakin
Patents: 46/1870: tappet locking
Sykes, Frederick Henry
Patent below was presumably SYX system described by
F.J. Hookham in J. Instn Loco Engrs
Paper No, 181.
Patents: 1890/1896 Improvements in railway fog signalling apparatus.
Applied 27 January 1896. Published 10 October 1896.
Sykes, Joseph Charles
Born in 1871: died 5 January 1930 at his home in Dulwich.. Educated
King's College School and King's College, Lomdon. Pupil of William Kirtley
on LCDR at Longhedge. In 1897 he became Assistant Works Manager at W.R. Sykes,
and was Managing Director from 1910. He was Honourary General Secretary of
the Institution of Locomotive Engineers from 1923 until his death. Obituary
with portrait. J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1931, 21, 3-4.
Father of William Joseph Arnold Sykes. Present in
group photograph taken at Railway Centenary in
Darlington: J. Instn Loco, Engrs,
1925, 15, 576
Sykes, William Robert
Marshall notes
that Sykes was born in London in April 1840 and died in Whitstable on 2 October
1917. He was the inventor of the lock & block signalling system.
Floyd (Rly Mag, 1, 141)
notes that he had "a dry fund of humour". In 1854 he was working for
the Electric & International Telegraph Co. In 1861 he moved to Shepherds,
an electric clock & chronograph maker. In 1863 he joined the LCDR under
the telegraph superintendent, Mr Ruddall. By 1897 he had 25 patents which
included (1865) the hand lamp showing red green or white lights known as
"Clarke's Lamp" was invented by Sykes; in 1872 treadles for automatic signalling
(but article states was invented by Richardson for the ECR in 1848; in 1875
a device for linking signal cabins; in 1880 the lock & block system;
a signal selector (several signals operated by one lever) and electric fouling
bar. Nock, O.S. Railway enthusuast's
encyclopedia. Portrait with Willfred Acfield c1910 in
Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg. LMS
signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph departments
on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27.:. Patents listed
in Vanns (Page 26) and relate to lock and
block.
Patents
662/1875
1907/1880
Carpenter, George W. biography
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
Tattersall, Arthur Ewart
Signal Engineer, successively, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the
Great Southern and Western (Ireland), and then, from 1907, Signalling and
Electrical Assistant to the Engineer of the Metropolitan Railway. From 1921,
Signal Superintendent, Great Northern Railway, and then, after some intermediate
appointments, Signal and Telegraph Engineer, North-Eastern Area, L.N.E.R.
Finally, in 1936, he became Signal and Telegraph Engineer, Southern Area,
L.N.E.R. Tattersall, more than any other man, could be called the father
of modern railway signalling. Moved from being Signal & Telegraph Engineer
North Eastern Area to being Signal & Telegraph Engineer Southern Area
(Locomotive
Mag., 1936, 42, 42)
On the L.N.E.R. he pioneered the use of relay rather than lever interlocking,
and the introduction of thumb-switch control panels instead of interlocking
frames. He was responsible for the early panel interlockings at Thirsk and
Leeds, from the experience of which stemmed the great installations at Hull
and York; and in the Southern Area he was responsible for the sequence-switch
interlocking at Doncaster and for the complete resignalling of Liverpool
Street Station and its approach lines.
Warburton (LMS signals No. 17 LMS
Journal (19), 47) suggests that Tattersall experimented with colour
light signals in 1913. Stanley
Hall Railway milestones and millstones..
Nock, O.S. Railway enthusuast's
encyclopedia
Johnson and Long include a major appreciation of Tattersall's contribution:
. A. E. Tattersall has been termed 'the father of modern railway signalling'
and was certainly responsible for giving the main impetus to miniaturization
in signalling along with signal box concentration. In the early 1930s, Tattersall
was responsible for introducing the first relay interlocking scheme of its
size in the world with continuous track circuits. It covered 25 miles of
multiple track between York and North- allerton with the central area controlled
from the route relay interlocking at Thirsk, where the operation of only
one panel switch could set up a complete route. Backed by his chief, John
Miller (on the LNER the Signal Engineer at York was responsible to the Area
Civil Engineer), he soon brought in the new Leeds West and Hull Paragon schemes.
On the very day when the Second World War began (3 September 1939) Tattersall
achieved another world 'first' in the signal box at Northallerton, where
the route set up for every train was indicated by a visual display in lights.
Modern marshalling yard design was pioneered on the LNER at Whitemoor near
March with power-operated points, track circuit protection, hydraulic wagon
retarders in the Up Yard and eddy current retarders in the Down Yard. Toton
Down Yard on the LMS followed, but the automatic regulation of the wagon
retarding force was to be a post-war development. Marshalling yards are unique
as meeting points for the mechanical, civil, signalling, and electrical
engineers, who share the responsibility in a comparatively small area for
producing and maintain- ing a multi-disciplinary tool of railway
operation
Patents
420,537 A new or improved route indicator for railway
signalling. 3 December 1934.
393,939 Improvements in track circuit signalling systems for railways
with British Power Railway Signal Co. and ; Samuel Lear Glenn. 8 June
1933.
381,678 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling apparatus
with British Power Railway Signal Co. 13 October 1932.
375,456 Improvements in or relating to single line railway systems
with Tyer & Co Ltd and James William Punter. 30 June 1932.
282,484 Improvements relating to railway signalling systems with
Frederick Downes. 19 December 1927.
269,815 Improvements in or relating to railway signal systems
with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd. and Alfred Ernest Hudd. 19 April
1927.
269,608 Improvements in or relating to railway signal systems
with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd. and Alfred Ernest Hudd. 19 April
1927.
259,303 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling systems
with Frederick Downes. 7 October 1926.
253,196 Improvements in or relating to track circuit signalling
systems for railways with British Power Railway Signal Co. 14 June
1926.
198,221 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling systems
with Automatic Telephone Mfg Co Ltd. and Alfred Ernest Hudd. 31 May
1923.
176,136 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling
apparatus. 1 March 1922.
176,743 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling
apparatus. 1 March 1922.
176,742 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling
apparatus. 1 March 1922.
176,741 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling
apparatus. 1 March 1922
168,104 Improvements in or relating to track circuit signalling
systems for railways. 22 August 1921.
161,207 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling systems
and apparatus. 14 April 1921.
153,374 Improvements in or relating to railway signalling apparatus.
1 November 1920.
Taylor. H.E.F.
Chief Draughtsman, LMS Eastern Division Signal & Telegraph
Drawing Office, Derby from 1947: promoted from draughtman..
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Terrell, George
Managing director Tyer & Co. MP. Elected President National Union
of Manufacturers. Locomotive
Mag., 1922, 28, 319
Thompson, Arthur Moore
Highly innovative signal engineer on LNWR. Patented (sometimes with
Webb) signalling apparatus for single line working
and for electric locking. Awarded Gold Medal at Paris Exhibition.
Locomotive Mag., 1900,
5, 145
Papers
The signalling of the London and North-Western Railway.
Proc. Instn Civ. Engrs, 1885,
82, 166-88. Discussion: 189-219.
Thorrowgood, W.J.
Died 18 October 1928 aged 66. He joined LSWR at Guildford in July,
1877, as a junior clerk. He went to Godalming the same year, and shortly
afterwards was transferred to Wimbledon, and in July, 1879, to the Telegraph
Office at Waterloo. In July, 1899 he became Clerk-in- Charge, but after four
years in this position (in 1903) was appointed Chief Technical Assistant
in the Telegraph Department. On the retirement in 1907 of J.P. Annett, the
Telegraph and Signal Departments were amalgamated, and Thorrowgood was appointed
General Assistant for Signals and Telegraphs, succeeding A.H. Johnson as
Chief in an acting capacity in December 1918, the appointment being confirmed
as from 1 January 1920. He was appointed Signal and Telegraph Superintendent
of the Southern Railway in 1923, and retired in September 1927. He was a
member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers; the Institute of Transport;
the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (President for the year 1924,
after being a Member of Council for many years); and a member of the Signal
Section of the American Railway Association. He served as chairman of the
Railway Clearing House Signal Engineers’ Conference, and of the Railway
Clearing House Telegraph Engineers’Conference. He was also a Fellow
of the Permanent Way Institution, an Hon. Member of the Institution of Locomotive
Engineers (see Paper No. 197: Signalling
from a driver's point of view. J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1926, 16,
463-85. Disc.: 485-97), a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a
member of the British AstronomicaI Association, and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts. In connection with standardisation he served on the Railway
Standard Committee, also on several British Engineering Standards Association
Committees. He mas a member of the Ministry of Transport Committee on Light
Signals. During his tenure of office he was responsible for the installation
of many improvements of the greatest importance in connection with telephones,
signalling, epecially his pursuit of colour light signalling on the Southern
Railway .
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
via Nock)
The maximum regulating resistance and maximum shunt resistance of track circuits.
(April, 1918).
Renovation of Leclanche porous pots and the re-use of the interiors of spent
dry cells. (April, 1919).
Magnetic storms (April, 1921).
Some problems of automatic train control (July, 1921).
Automatic telephone switchboards, Waterloo, Eastleigh and Southampton (October,
1923).
Four aspect colour light signals. (March, 1926).
Four aspect colour light signals and power signalling in practice. (May,
1927).
Timmis, Ilius Augustus
Born 23 March 1839 at Begley, Worcestershire: eldest son of Thomas
Timmis, of Brazil and Liverpool. Educated at Cowley and apprenticed to Ryder,
cotton merchants, of Manchester. Soon became interested in engineering matters,
notably the use of steel studs for baling hoops in place of rivets; the
treatment, so as to make it inflammable, of brattice-cloth used in mines
for regulating the air; and the extraction of oil, etc., from waste and sponge
cloths. He was later connected with the manufacture of fire-bricks, and
successfully developed the deeper measures of clay which are now largely
used (see Archive 2015 (86) 30
et seq). In 1875 he took out a patent for improvements in steel-coil
springs, which are known all over the engineering world. Later, patents were
taken out from time to time embodying improvements in the manufacture and
fitting of springs as applied both to rolling-stock and to gun-mountings.
Having come to London in 1879, he brought out, in conjunction with J.R. Hodgson,
a reversible lifeboat, for which silver medals were granted at the North
East Coast Exhibition at Tynemouth in 1882, and at the International Fisheries
Exhibition in 1883. These boats met with the approval of the Admiralty, Trinity
House, and the Board of Trade officials, before whom experiments were carried
out. In 1882 he interested himself in the question of working railway signals
and points by electric power, working in conjunction with C.C. Currie. The
method of transmission was that of a long-pull electro-magnet, which
he described in a Paper read at
IMechE in 1884. Early installations were fitted up in the works of the
Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., on the railways around Swansea
Harbour, and on the Great Northern Railway at Woodside Park Station; also
at the Inventions Exhibition at Earl's Court in 1885, and at the Paris Exhibition
of 1889, where he received silver medals. The automatic electric signals
on the Liverpool Overhead Railway, fitted in 1892, (Patent: 7827: 1891) were
operated by an improved long-pull electromagnet, and in 1895, with the permission
of the Metropolitan District Railway, he fitted up a complete installation,
the chief result of which was that he gave the use of the long-pull electromagnet
to the London and North Western Railway for embodiment in the "Crewe" system,
which they adopted as their standard for power working. In 1886 he went into
the question of train lighting by electricity, with the idea of making each
carriage as far as practicable independent, and at the same time making the
whole train under the direct control of the guard. Various patents were taken
out in this and subsequent years, which included the operation of brakes
by electricity (see Locomotive Mag.,
1932, 38, 223), and also electric communication between passengers
and guard. As a result, in 1888, he fitted up trains on the Compagnie
Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the Nicolas Railway of Russia, an experimental
one for Melbourne, and for the Central Northern, Argentine, which latter
also included some station lighting; in 1889, on the Central Argentine, in
New South Wales, on the North Western, Argentine, and on the Santa Fe and
Cordoba Great Southern, which latter also included some station lighting;
also on another Russian Railway, and for the Warsaw Railway; and in 1895
the West Australian Government Railways. In 1889 he took into partnership
Edgar William Timmis, under the title of I.A. Timmis and Son. There were
many other engineering matters he went into, such as armour-plates and shields
in 1873, spring-wheels for road locomotives in 1887, secondary batteries
in 1888, and incandescent electric lamps in 1889. He died on the S.S.
Etruria from pneumonia and heart failure on 18 December 1906 on his
way home from America after a business tour of nearly three months' duration.
Grace’s Guide. Letter from Russell
Weir Archive, 2015, (87) 31 notes became bankrupt in
1869.
Tonge, J.H.
Papers (Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Training of maintenance staff (May, 1922).
Towers, H.C.
Signal Engineer of Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railway. Assisted
in foundation of Indian Section of
Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers
Papers via Nock:
1. Signalling and Interlocking on the Metre Gauge System of the B.B.
& C.I. Rly., India (May, 1939).
2. Models for Training Railway Staff (March, 1941).
3. Construction and Maintenance Problems on the Bombay-Baroda and
Central India Railway (Metre Gauge System) 1940-43 (September,
1944).
4. Signalling Developments on the Bombay, Baroda. and Central India
Railways (October, 1950).
Turner, D.L.
Worked in British Railways Research Department. Paper
(Institution of Railway Signalling
Engineers via
Nock)
Wagon resistance in marshalling yards (December, 1959).
Turner, Dennis R.
Paper (Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Interference from electric power lines and traction circuits (January,
1953).
25000v AC
Tweedie, M.G.
Early member of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (elected
whilst serving in Army Signal Service of Royal Engineers in 1918. Hon. Secy.
of that Institution between 1921 and 1942. Had to retire from his position
in the Signal Department of the GWR at Reading when aged 55 due to ill-health.
Portrait on Plate 7 of
.Nock
Papers (Institution of Railway Signalling
Engineers via Nock)
British railway telegraphs, France 1914-1919 (January, 1920).
Electrical power for railway signalling & communications (December,
1926).
Tyer, Edward
Born London 6 February 1830; died Tunbridge Wells 25 December 1912.
Educated City of London School. Innovator of railway signalling equipment,
notably the electric tablet system introduced following the Thorpe accident
(near Norwich). Founder of Tyer & Co.
Marshall: See also
Deakin
Patent: GB 11045/1908 Improved apparatus
for exchanging tablets used in the staff or tablet system of railway
working. Applied 21 May 1908 Published 23 August 1909
H.J. Wynne's name also on specification in brackets. What is relationship
of this to other similar claims for devices?
See also ESPACENET for more patents and letter by David Stirling in
NBRSG Journal No. 26 page 39 for
No. 5 instrument
Another NBRSG Journal states
that first tablet instrument was patented in 1878.
Wagenrieider, B.F.
Papers (Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
1. Running signals (March, 1937).
2. Discs and miniature signals for shunting and setback movements (January,
1932).
3. Manual block working (February, 1946).
4. Frequency of signals (January, 1949).
5. Running line capacity (December, 1952).
Walker, Charles Vincent
1812-1882 (see
Bryan Morgan) According to Vanns was Telegraph Superintendent of South
Eastern Railway from 1845 to 1882. Successful experimenter in use of gutta
percha as insulating material for submarine cabes (Teleramics website). Major
developer of block working and inventor of Semaphore Electric Telegraph,
patented with A.O. Walker: 485/1865. Innovator of bell code system:
see Deakin
Wallis, A.B.
Paper (Institution of Railway
Signalling Engineers via
Nock)
Rotary interlocking block (April, 1922).
Wheatstone, [Sir] Charles
Born in Gloucester in February 1802; died Paris 19 October 1875.
Developer, with Cooke of electric telegraph.
Marshall: See also
Deakin.
Patents (via Woodcroft):
7390/1837 Giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means
of electric-currents transmitted through metallic-circuits. 12 June
1837.
8345/1840 Giving signals and sounding alarums at distant places, by means
of electric-currents. 21 January 1840
9022/1841 Producing, rregulating, and applying electric-currents,
7 July 1841
10655/1845 Electro-telegraphs and apparatus relating thereto; partly
applicable to other purposes. 6 May 1845.
Williams, C.D.
Patent with C. Davidson (3286/1873) for automatic train control which
sounded a gong, shut off steam and applied brake:
Vanns.
Williams, Llewellyn Wynn
Patentee with William Bryson of Patents one
of which related to tablet exchange apparatus; both associated wi8th the
Railway Appliance Works of Irvine. See
Christensen: Brysons catcher, LMS J (38) 12..
GB 15078/1908 Improvements in and relating to receiving
and delivering devices for tablets, staffs, and the like on railways.
Applied 16 July 1908 Published 11 March 1909
GB 15159/1909 Improvements in and relating to burners for oil
lamps. Applied 29 June 1909 Published 23 June 1910
Williams, Sydney
Williams joined the Signal Department of the LNWR at Crewe. On 2 September
1929 he was appointed Assistant (Signals) Outdoor, Derby, with a salary of
£450, prior to which he was a draughtsman at Crewe. On 1 January 1931
he was appointed Development Assistant (Outdoor), with his salary increased
to £550. When the New Works section was formed in 1937, responsible
for the new power schemes at Rugby, Crewe, Wigan, etc, his salary was increased
to £700. On 23 August 1943 he became Indoor Assistant (Signals) Watford
HQ (at The Grove) on £900. On 1 October 1944 appointed Signal Assistant,
Watford, on £1 000. On Nationalisation in 1948, he was Assistant to
S & T Engineer, London Midland Region, eventually becoming S & T
Engineer LMR, replacing E. G. Brentnall. He retired on 30 September 1957.
LMS Journal. 2010 (30), 57..
Wilson, Henry Raynar
Born Sheffield on 12 May 1862. Died London 19 April 1936. Joined Midland
Railway, but at age 27 became Signal Superintendent of the LYR. In 1901 he
resigned from LYR and joined Hall Signalling, but his business interests
eventually failed. Many publications listed by
John Marshall, and there are presumably
patents. Obituary Locomotive
Mag., 1936, 42, 165
Wood, William
Joined North Staffordshire Railway as premium pupil. In 1911 appointed
Assistant Telegraph Superintendent of North British Railway and succeeded
A.F. Clement as Telegraph Superintendent in 1912. Subsequently his remit
extended to all electrical work connected with siganlling. This work continued
within the LNER's Scottish Area, but in 1933 he succeeded Michod under Bound,
and upon the retirement of Bound became the Chief Signal & Telegraph
Engineer LMS from August 1944) Retirement 31 August 1944:
Locomotive
Mag, 50, 139.
. Warburton, L.G. and Instone, Reg.
LMS signals No. 14 – The organization of the signal and telegraph
departments on the LMS Railway. LMS Journal, 2006 (15), 13-27.(with
portrait):
Woodward, Thomas
Signal Superintendent, Midland Railway.. See
Warburton, L.G. Bernard William Cooke.
LMS Journal, 2008 (24), 46-56
Wright, J.I.
Recruited by LMS in 1930s: apprenticed Railway Signal Co. in Liverpool
and graduate of Liverpool University.
Warburton: LMS Journal (1),
17..
Papers
with Birchenhough
The design of signal structures (January, 1937 Institution of Railway Signalling
Engineers via Nock).
Updated 2017-12 -16