Internal combustion locomotive engineers
steamindex home page
Abbott, John
The Motor Rail & Tramcar Co. Ltd. was formed in 1911 and the first
meeting of the directors, Mr. John Abbott (chairman) and accountant Mr. George
Gale, took place at the registered office at 79 Lombard St., London. At this
meeting George Gale was appointed company secretary at a salary of £100
per annum. John Abbott took one thousand shares in the new company, with
George Gale taking one hundred. The intention of the new company was to
manufacture and sell railcars and tramcars utilising petrol engines and the
Simplex gearbox. The first vehicles were built at the Phoenix Ironworks at
Lewes, Sussex. The arrangements for the use of these works cannot have been
ideal because by 1914 the company was looking for new premises and several
enquiries were made and sites visited. However, at a board meeting of October
1914 it was agreed that in view of the uncertainty of matters generally created
by the war, the idea of a new works was to be abandoned for the present.
However, the matter became urgent in 1916 after a meeting with the consulting
engineers of the War Office, Messrs. Rendall, Palmer & Tritton. The War
Office required Petrol Trench Tractors of 600-mm gauge that were
capable of drawing 10 to 15 Tons at 5 miles per hour and the MRTC tendered
for and was successful in gaining a contract to build the Tractors.
John Abbott had visited Germany in about 1911 and was alarmed at the stockpiles
of light railway equipment for army use, including internal combustion
locomotives. Worried that there was no British equivalent for use on temporary
military supply railways, he set about designing such a machine. The first
tractor was produced in 1915. Johns sons, Tom Dixon Abbott and John
Dixon Abbott were also involved in the design of the so-called Simplex Tractor,
and indeed they jointly submitted a patent application for the Tractor (No.
127399) in 1918.
Early in 1916 the MRTC entered into an agreement with the Bedford Engineering
Company to use its premises at Houghton Road, Bedford and by May of that
year had also opened its own office at 33 Houghton Road. John Abbott died
on the 23rd of August 1916 and his eldest son, John Dixon Abbott was elected
to the office of Chairman. The younger son, Tom Dixon Abbott had joined the
board only a month before the death of his father. John remained as Chairman
until 1957 and Tom would be actively involved until 1963.
Most of the workforce at Bedford was shared between locomotive and crane
manufacture and the first Simplex Tractor produced at Bedford took 3 months
to produce, but by the end of the year they could produce 20-25 per week
using a workforce of less than 20. Tractors could be produced at this rate
primarily due to the subcontracting of major parts manufacture. All major
parts except the frame were bought in and final assembly took place at Bedford
Engineering. Deliveries continued through 1917 and 1918, with over 700 tractors
of 20 Horsepower and 40 Horsepower types delivered in 1918. At the start
of 1918, a new site was purchased in Bedford, this being a former laundry
in Elstow Road. Later that year, it was also possible to purchase further
land at the front of the works, including the access road, and land at the
rear including a rear access point. The company office moved to 16 Elstow
Road in January. The first full batch of locos to be produced at the new
works comprised works number 1642 onwards.
The following year John Dixon Abbott resigned from his post of General Manager,
becoming Consulting Engineer to the company, a post that he retained during
all his remaining years as Chairman. The post of General Manager was subsequently
shared between Tom Dixon Abbott and a new appointee to the board, Alexander
Harris-Brown.
Akroyd, Herbert Stuart
Born in Halifax, Yorkshire on 28 January 1864; died Claremont, Western
Australia, 19 February 1927. Inventor of compression-ignition oil engine
later developed by Diesel. Educated St Bartholemew's Grammar School in and
City & Guilds of London Technical College, Finsbury. Received early practical
training in engineering works of his father, Charles Stuart Akroyd at Fenny
Stratford. On death of his father became manager of the works. Began experimental
work on oil engines in 1886 at Bletchley Iron Works which led to his discovery
of automatic ignition by hot compressed air, or compression ignition. This
was patented (7146) on 8.May.1890 and (15994) on 8.October.1890. In 1891
the sole right to manufacture and develop Akroyd oil engines was acquired
by Richard Hornsby & Sons of Lincoln and Grantham. With the introduction
of the engine in Germany the idea was taken up by Diesel who came to an agreement
with Maschinenfabrik Augsburg, Nürnberg (MAN) in 1893 for Germany and
with Krupp, Essen, for outside Germany. The diesel engine as evolved by MAN
in 1897 differed from the Akroyd engine in using highly compressed air to
inject and spray the charge of fuel oil while the Akroyd engine had a fuel
oil pump and spraying nozzle. John
Marshall.. Obituary (Proc.. Instn Mech. Engrs, 1927, 112,
577) lists him as Akroyd Stuart.
Rutherford Backtrack, 2008,
22, 52 notes application to narrow gauge locomotives for
the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich and for the Chattenden & Upnor Railway.
Died a disappointed man in Western Australia according to
Ronald M. Birse (ODNB) on 19 February 1927.
Body brought back to Halifax for burial.
Allen, Albert
Born Preston on 1 June, 1903; died 8 September, 1943. Author
of Institution of Locomotive Engineers
Paper 362: Rail cars in service in Northern Ireland: mainly concerned
with Great Northern Railway and County Donegal Joint Railway elected an Associate
in 1934, was He received his early education at St. Matthew's Boys' School,
Preston, and whilst serving his engineering apprenticeship with Atkinson
& Co., and Atkinson-Walker Wagons Ltd., Preston, attended the Harris
Technical College, Preston. From 1924 to 1930 he was technical and sales
representative for Atkinson-Walker Wagons, Ltd., Preston, and from 1930 to
1939 held a similar appointment with Walker Bros. (Wigan), Ltd. A keen and
capable I.C. Engineer,Before the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined His Majesty's
Forces and was gazetted Lieut. O.M.E. He was in France September, 1939, attached
to the 88th Field Regiment, R.A., to the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.
After 12 months at a home station, during which time he was given his Captaincy,
he sailed for India for service wilth mobile workshops. He was promoted to
Major in April, 1942.
Ambady, G.K.
Presented IMechE paper
on the economics of diesel versus steam traction on the North Western Railway
of India where he was an Assistant Electric Traction Engineer. Later he was
involved in developing an electrical business in Kerala
Attock, Martin Oldacres
Born in Lutterworth on 25 March 1909: son of George Henry Attock.
Educated at Rugby School then apprentice at the Willans Works of English
Electric between 1922 and 1930. Enjoyed a career commissioning English Electric
traction products on British railways, notably the LMS and overseas, notably
in Ceylon before WW2, and in several Commonwealth countries following it.
Products included the LMS standard diesel electric shunting locomotive, the
Bluebird diesel electric railcar tested on the LMS: on 26 January
1934 the car was run from Euston to Watford and back with Stanier at the
controls on the return and Fairburn and Gresley as passengers. The diesel
shunter was tested widely on the LMS including on the Glasgow Central underground
line. Interesting diesel electric articulated train sets were introduced
on both the Egyptian State Railways and Ceylon State Railways. Following
WW2 he was involved in the LMS diesel electric locomotives Nos. 10000 and
10001, single unit railcars for Ceylon, and Co-Co diesel electric locomotives
for the Malayan Railways and for Egypt. He retired in 1972 and died on 10
July 1982.
Patent (note patent information verified via Espacenet:
excludes Patent application included by Shepherd)
803,945 Improvements in engine-driven electric generating plant,
with Paul Alistair Angus. and English Electric. Applied 15 December 1954;
published 5 November 1958.
Papers (note: the English Electric Journal citation came via Shepherd:
Shepherd's reference to J. Instn Loco.
Engrs, 1962, 62, Paper No. 640 is a problem as
the author did not list Attock as a co-author yet Attock js mentioned in
rge discussion as the inventor of the techniques used in the tests!).
The diagnosis of faults in roller bearings in traction service, English
Electric J., 1968, 23, (1).
Some ideas on the maintenance of diesel electric locomotives, with S. Fletcher,
J. Instn Loco. Engrs, 1960,
50 Paper No. 610
Shepherd, Ernie. The
Atock/Attock family: a worldwide railway engineering dynasty. 2009. 264pp.
(Oakwood Library of Railway History No. 150)
Baker, J.W.
Traction Erection at English Electric Preston
Pictured at Deltic roll-out Loco.
Mag., 1955, 61, 190
Batchelder, Asa F.
See Hennessey. Backtrack,
2015, 29, 519.
Batho, William Temperley
Died on 26 March 1934 of bronchial pneumonia in his sixty-eighth
year at Rio de Janeiro. He was educated in England and in Bonn, Germany,
and then entered his father's office, the late W.F. Batho. His apprenticeship
was served with Dubs & Co. of Glasgow and afterwards he was associated
for a period with Gaulcher & Co. Batho then joined the East Indian Railway
as a civil engineer and remained in India for several years. Upon his return
to England he took an active part in the formation of the Diesel Engine Co.
and was its managing director until merged with the firm of Carels Freres
of Ghent into The Consolidated Diesel Engine Manufacturers Ltd. with whom
he occupied a similar position. Batho was thus largely responsible for the
early commercial development of the Diesel engine in this country in which
work he was closely associated with the late Dr. Rudolph Diesel. In 1914
he joined Sulzer Bros., London, and has been in charge of the Diesel Department
there since. Upon the formation of Sulzer Bros. (London) Ltd. he was elected
to the board of directors, a position he occupied until his death. He was
a man of firm character, integrity and strong personality.
Locomotive Mag., 1934,
40, 125
Benz, Karl
Born in Mühlburg on 25 November 1844; died Ladenburg 4 April
19289. Educated University of Karlsruhe. Inventor of motor car.
Locomotive Mag., 1929,
35, 135 makes clear that although considered as major innovator
of automobile engineering was also interested in railways.
Binney, E.A.
Chief Engineer Traction Development Department at English Electric
Bradford Pictured at Deltic roll-out
Loco. Mag., 1955, 61, 190
Bush. H.D.
Worked for William Bearmore & Co. lectured at Crewe Technical
Engineering Society on advantages of electric transmission:
see Loco. Mag., 1933, 39,
73.
Chorlton, Alan Ernest Leofric
Born Audenshaw, near Manchester on 24 February 1874; died 6 October
1946 (Wikipedia 13012012). Crewe trained engineer (no mention of Crewe in
obituary: Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1947, 156, 245 which mentions
Mather & Platt and Manchester Univsersity) who contributed to the development
of the internal combustion engine and its application to railway motive power.
At the age of 24 he became a consulting engineer to Hubbard Textile Printing
Works in St Petersburg, Russia. He returned to England and the Salford Iron
Works where he rose to become general works manager and was largely responsible
for redesigning the Mather-Reynolds pump manufactured at the plant. In 1913
he moved to Ruston and Hornsby in Lincoln. During WW1 he was appointed Deputy
Controller of Aero Engines at the Ministry of Munitions In 1917 he was awarded
a Telford Premium medal by the Institute of Civil Engineers, and was made
a CBE for his wartime services. From 1918 to 1928 he worked for William Beardmore
and Company designing high speed diesel engines. These engines had various
applications ranging from use in railcars to the R101 airship. In 1929 he
was nominated as Conservative candidate for the parliamentary constituency
of Manchester Platting. Although unsuccessful on this occasion, two years
later he was elected as Platting's Member of Parliament, unseating the sitting
Labour member, John Clynes. He was elected President of the Institute of
Mechanical Engineers in 1933. At the 1935 election, Chorlton was elected
MP for Bury. In 1939 he announced he would not be standing for parliament
again, but remained Bury's member of parliament until he stood down at the
next election in 1945. Author of Oil engine traction published by
the Royal Society of Arts in 1932 and based on the Howard Lectures.
Contributed to discussion on
Bulleid's paper on Merchant Navy Class.
President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1933 (Presidential
Address, Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1933, 125, 127-40) and author
of many papers including:
The heavy-oil engine on road and rail. Proc. Instn Automobile Engrs.,
1929, 23, 502-40.
Examines the difficulty of combustion at high speeds; the Ackroyd
Stuart and diesel engines; the Lincoln engine; and the Beardmore engine;
See also Rutherford Backtrack, 2008,
22, 52 and J.M.
Doherty in Ransome-Wallis
Clayton, T.F.
Technical Inspector (Diesel), Motive Power Department, to be Assistant
Development Engineer, (Diesel Power Units), Locomotive Development Unit.
Appointment. Locomotive Mag.,
1957, 63, 20
Cleaver, Charles F.
Managing director of FWD in Slough which produced an early form of
railway road/rail truck tried on Derwent Valley Railway.
see Locomotive Mag., 1923,
29, 362
Collins, John
Commercial Manager at English Electric Liverpool.
Pictured at Deltic roll-out Loco.
Mag., 1955, 61, 190
Constantinesco, George
Romanian inventor of synchronizing mechanism for machine gun mounted
on propeller driven aircraft and torque converter for automobiles and
"locomotive": see Locomotive
Mag., 1925, 31,
310-11.
Courtenay, James
Engineer on the Ulster Transport Authority: innovated transmission
and control systems for the multi-engined railcars used mainly between Belfast
and Bangor. see Backtrack, 2013,
27, 550. and for dual-purpose ddiesel-hydraulic railcars for Belfast
to Derry/Londonderry service see
Locomotive Mag., 1958, 64,
22.
Cousins, R.J.
Worked for Ricardo: worked out mechenicalm controls from cab to engine
and gearbox in Fell locomotive. Had worked for Barnes Wallis on engines for
R100 airship. . Langridge
Under ten CMEs V. 2.
Cummins, Clessie Lyle
Born 27 December 27 1888; died 17 August 17 1968) was an entrepreneur
who improved existing diesel engines, created new diesel engine designs,
was awarded 33 United States patents for his inventions, and set five world
records for endurance and speed for trucks, buses and race cars. Cummins
began his career as a rural Indiana farm boy, and had no formal higher education
beyond the eighth grade. In the 1920s Cummins went to work for a banker named
William Irwin in Columbus, Indiana, as a chauffeur and mechanic.In 1919,
Clessie Cummins founded the Cummins Engine Co, Inc (now Cummins, Inc). At
the time of its founding, Cummins developed the first engine as licensee
of R.M. Hvid Co. This engine was a 6 horsepower (4.5 kW) model designed for
use on the farm. Cummins' former employer, Irwin, invested a great deal of
money in Cummins' company. However, Irwin was not satisfied with the company's
profits and threatened to cease investing. Sales of diesel engines to farmers
through the Sears-Roebuck catalog were not generating significant profits,
partially because farmers would purchase and use the engines during the harvest
period and then return them to Sears. Clessie Cummins secured a Packard limousine
(a vehicle with a large engine compartment) and fitted one of his best engines
into it. He and an assistant drove the vehicle to the 1929 auto show in New
York City, but were banned from any presentation. Cummins rented space across
the street from the Auto Show, and the "$1.39 for fuel, Indy to NYC" auto
become a popular feature of the show (despite not technically being included
in it). At that time, his employer and patron, Will Irwin, owned a controlling
interest in the Purity Supreme supermarket chain, in California. Cummins
convinced Irwin to install diesel engines in the fleet of trucks used to
deliver food and staples to the stores. The diesel trucks were far better
at managing the California mountains than the gasoline engines of that time,
and were much more durable and economical to run. The success at Purity Supreme
attracted considerable attention, and the over-the-road diesel truck industry
thus came into being. Thereafter, the growth of Cummins Engine came mainly
from supplying high-speed, high-torque engines, which buyers specified for
installation in semi-trailer tractors from most of the major manufacturers.
Wikipedia (13-2-2017) and
Locomotive Mag., 1932,
38, 261.-
Diesel, Rudolph
Christian Karl
Born in Pans 18 March 1858 when his parents were exiles from Bavaria;
died during passage of North Sea on 29/30 September 1913. Educated in Paris.
When war broke out in 1870 his parents moved to England, sending Rudolph
to school in Augsburg, He then entered Munich Technical College where he
graduated in 1879 and became assistant to Prof von Linde. After a short period
doing practical work at Sulzer Bros works in Winterthur, he was appointed
manager of the Paris works making von Linde refrigerating machinery. From
his student days he was engrossed with the idea of a prime mover with a much
higher thermal efficiency than the steam engine. He desigrled an engine which
he described in 1893 in his book Theorie und Konstruktion eines rationellen
Wärmemotors. An English translation followed in 1894. He was financed
by Krupp and the Augsburg-Nuremberg Co for the construction of an engine
to his design. The first diesel engine, a vertical stationary type, was built
in 1893. It was not a success. His second, built immediately afterwards,
while still not successful, proved his theories. His third, the first reliable
diesel, was built by the Augsburg Co in 1897. It was a 4-stroke engine developing
18hp. Other engines followed, each embodying improvements. A large number
of British, Continental and American firms took up the patents and many were
built and used all over the world before Diesel died. By 1912 Diesel had
established a successful 2-stroke engine, but it was not as economical as
the 4-stroke. The first marine diesel engine was built\in France in 1903.
Its first application to rail traction was in a Sulzer-Diesel loco completed
at Winterthur in 1913 and supplied to the Central Railway Department of the
Prussian-Hessian State Railway in March 1913. On trials it ran at speeds
up to 60mph. Diesel is believed to have refused to allow his engine to be
used for war purposes. On the night of 29 March 1913 he was on a steamer
to Harwich to visit works at Ipswich. He was last seen about 22.00, but at
Harwich the following morning he had disappeared.
Marshall
Dilworth, Richard McLean
Born in Seattle on 6 March 6 1885. He was discharged from the Navy
in May 1909, as a chief electrician. Gradually, without knowing it, he was
fitting himself to become the leading locomotive designer of his time. Att
the General Electric Company at Schenectady he worked as a machinist attached
to the outside construction force. In July of 1910 General Electric began
searching its records for men with special skills who might be useful in
handling gasoline-electric rail cars, and found Dilworth part machinist and
part electrician; a man who knew something about the Ward-Leonard control,
a bachelor who could be sent anywhere. Dilworth was called to Schenectady
for development work on a passenger and baggage car powered by an eight-cylinder
V-type petrol engine driving a generator, which in turn drove traction motors
on the axles. The railcars were aimed at the interurban lines which were
common throughout the USA.
Dilworth then "swore a horrible oath that he was going to stay with that
kind of motive power until it was pulling the Twentieth Century Limited,
which was at that time a new but well-known train running through Schenectady."
As it turned out, his dream was to come true. He stayed with it through
the years, as long as anybody would pay wages. Working on rail cars, in the
busy years from 1910 to 1914, General Electric built and sold 85 railcars.
Dilworth's first job was to help develop an engine for the cars, Later Dilworth
helped to shape the design of the first diesel engines for the first
streamliners, in association with Herman Lemp,
an electrical genius in the class of Steinmetz and Pupin, a man who had worked
earlier in the laboratory of Thomas Edison. Lemp was one of the senior engineers
in charge of Diesel development for G.E. Early in 1950 Dil worth retired
from Electro-Motive and for the next two years served the division as independent
consultant Biography bty XXX available as free e-book and
see also Hennessey. Backtrack,
2015, 29, 519...
Durtnall, William Peter
Born in Herne Bay in 1873; died Luton in 1947. Apprenticed to Willans
at Rugby, he was a junior helper on the Heilmann steam electric locomotives
of the 1890s. His early work as an electrical engineer was in London, including
installing the first electrical system in the Cannon Street Hotel. The "Paragon"
thermo-electric engine was developed and patented by Durtnall in the early
years of the 20th century. He proposed a number of applications, including
road, rail, marine and air transport. In 1906, Durtnall designed and constructed
the first vehicle to be propelled by polyphase alternating current, generated
on the vehicle itself. It took the form of a motor-omnibus that could travel
at three different speeds. During WW1 Durtnall transferred from the Royal
Navy Volunteer Reserve to a temporary commission as a Captain in the Royal
Air Force in April 1918. Post-WW1 he continued work on 'hybrid' drives, namely
coupling a high speed internal combustion engine to generators or alternators
that produced electricity for variable speed electric traction motors that
drove ship's propellors or wheels on automobiles and locomotives. During
1920-3 Hawthorn Leslie built a twin bogie Paragon locomotive. He spent his
later years in Luton, where died in 1947.See also
Duffy. and
Rutherford Backtrack, 2008,
22, 52 and Brian Reed British achievements in diesel traction.
Rly Mag., 1976, 122,
16; paper on Paragon design mentioned in
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev.,
1927, 33, 100.
Papers
The evolution and development of the internal combustion railway
locomotive. Trans. Instn Loco. Engrs.,
1914, 4, 5-51. (Paper No. 27)
Patents
244,137 Improvements in closed circuit electrical regenerative
motor systems. Applied 12 June 1924. Published 14 December 1925.
5394/1912 Improvements in and relating to internal combustion
prime-movers, with Geoffrey Tatton Bowles. Applied 4 March 1912.
Published 13 February 1913.
6758/1909 Improvements in and connected with electrical transmission
of power, and speed regulation, for automobiles, road or rail trams, locomotives,
hauling, hoisting, winding gear, and the like. Applied 20 March 1909.
Published 12 May 1910
23396/1908 Improvements in the generation of electrical power,
and means of speed regulation in electrical propulsion of ships, railway,
tramway, or other road or similar vehicles, locomotives, trains, and the
like. Applied 2 November 1908. Published 28 October 1909.
27096/1905 Improvements in motor systems with electric transmission
for the propulsion of railway, tramway, road or similar vehicles, boats and
the like. with Ernest William Hart. Applied 28 December 1905. Published
28 March 1907.
17248/1905 Improvements in and connected with the propulsion of
railway, tramway, road or similar vehicles, boats and the like, with
Ernest William Hart. Applied 25 August 1905. Published 5 July 1906
Evanson, H.
Accompanied Royal Scot non-stop London to Glasgow run on 1 June 1949:
LMR diesel inspector: see Locomotive
Mag., 1949, 55, 98-9.
Fell, L.F.R.
"The Colonel, as we affectionately came to know him, was a charming
character, a fine engineer, very knowledgeable about railway operation, and
had, until his death on 27 November, 1977, a lively inventive brain. He was
always enthusiastic and never got downhearted when bad luck intervened and
things went wrong. I believe he had been a cathedral chorister, and he had
received his engineering training at Doncaster Plant works. By the time I
knew him he had retired from the air force and was traction engineer in the
diesel section of Rolls-Royce at Derby." He had been a Doncaster Works
appreantice and a cathedral chorister.
Langridge Under ten CMEs
V. 2.
Ford, Adrian
Senior electrical inspector (locomotives) at Derby. Involved with
LMS Nos. 10000 and 10001: see Hunt,
LMS Journal, 2011, (33) 41=2.
Frankham, Harry
Diesel fitter at Willesden who became Mechanical Foreman in 1949 and
later moved to Camden. In 1954 he became District Diesel Instructor and in
1965 was Divisional Rolling Stock Inspector. Keith Miles
LMS Journal Issue 30 p. 13
who cites Ahead 1965 May
Gaebler, G.A.
German Federal Railways: reported on diesel multiple units on na global
basis at the International Railway Congress in Madrid in 1958.
See Locomotive Mag., 1958,
64, 81
Haworth, Harold Firth
Born in 1882, and received his technical education at Liverpool University
under Prof. Hele-Shaw, and subsequently at Zurich University. He obtained
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Basle University, Master of Science
at Victoria University and Bachelor of Engineering at Liverpool University.
He was appointed Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the City and Guilds
Engineering College until 1914, when he joined the London Electrical Engineers
Branch of the Royal Engineers. At the end of WW1 he returned for a short
time to the City and Guilds Engineering College, and in 1920 was appointed
to take charge of Technical Instruction of Engineer Apprentices at Leyland
Motors, including much experimental and research work. He was subsequently
appointed Chief Technical Officer, and retained this post until his death
on 18 June 1939. Developed LMS articulated streamlined railcar with Hornbuckle:
J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1939,
29, 260-84. Disc.: 284-303. (Paper No. 400) which had to
be presented by Ron Jarvis due to illness of both authors,
Chacksfield's Ron Jarvis p.
39 mis-transcribes name as Hayworth..
Hornbuckle, Thomas [Tommy]
Born in 1880. Served apprenticeship with Richard Horsby & Sons
of Grantham, developers and manufacturers of Ackroyd Stuart oil engine used
in narrow gauge railway locomotives in Woolwich Arsenal and in Chatham Dockyard.
Joined MR at Derby in 1901 as a draughtsman and was involved in the MR's
project to use electricity at the Company's new harbour at Heysham: this
included a power station, cranes and the railway to Lancaster at 6,600 volts
alternating current. Hornbuckle gained an external BSc from Nottingham
Univseristy. During the 1930s Hornbuckle was involved in assessing external
purchases of diesel shunting locomotives and railcars.
Backtrack, 18, 84.
Chacksfield's excellent biography
of Ron Jarvis (pp. 37-45 and also 95) mentions his subject's involvement
in the diesel railcar project and makes it clear that Stanier was closely
involved to ensure that it was lightweight.
Terry Jenkins notes that Hornbuckle
was Sir Ernest Lemon's brother-in-law and discusses the relationship between
Fairburn and Hornbuckle and the probably false interpretation of this
by Cox..
Contributed to discusssion on Graff Baker
ILocoE Paper 368 on maximum rretardation methods to prevent accidents.
Created Member ILocoE in 1934
(Locomotive
Mag., 1934, 40,
166).
Paper
with Haworth, H.F. A diesel train with
multiple axle drives. J. Instn Loco.
Engrs., 1939, 29, 260-84. Disc.: 284-303. (Paper No. 400)
Discussion on Simpson, T.F.B. Diesel locomotive building and
maintenance. J. Instn Loco. Engrs.,
1957, 47, 131-62. Page 170-1. (Paper No. 570)
At Derby Works, where speaker was Works Manager.Discussion: T. Hornbuckle
(170-1) gave a brief historical description of how the LMS developed diesel
shunting locomotives in the early 1930s, and the key influence of the Hunslet
demonstrator locomotive working on the LMS.
Participated in the discussion at an IMechE meeting on torque
converters in response to a paper by Haworth of Leyland on the Lysholm-Smith
torque converter. Proc. Instn
Mech Engrs., 1935, 130, 261-2
Also contributed to discussion of A. Allen's (Paper 347) Rail cars in service
in Northern Ireland. J. Instn Loco
Engrs, 1936, 26, 38-40.
Rutherford, Backtrack, 2002, 16, 515: skeletal diagram p. 516. notes that Hornbuckle, Clayton, Bulleid (then of LNER) and Hall of Sweindon were involved in proposals for one-man coal-fired shunting locomotive of Sentinel type..
In a subsequent article Rutherford
(Backtrack, 18, 172) notes that the result of the struggle
between Tommy Hornbuckle and Charles Fairburn was a foregone conclusion;
Fairburn was another of Sir Harold's proteges (as William Stanier had been)
and was earmarked for higher office. When Hornbuckle died in 1958, the editor
of Diesel Railway Traction wrote of him,"Almost inknown, even in name,
to those of the present generation engaged in diesel traction in England,
Tommy Hornbuckle, who died at the age of 77 on February 1st, was probably
the first vital force in time in the diesel conversion of British railways.
He had claims to be considered as the father of diesel locomotives on British
public railways, for though he was inconnected with the first two isolated
trials of diesel units on the old Group railways, he came into the picture
with the third, and fathered and forwarded the new units and their possibilities,
despite fresh and ruthless pressures on him, until his retirement eight years
later, when diesels for shunting were firmly established, and much consideration
had been given to railcars and even to line-service locomotives."
"[His] contribution ... far exceeded his work with pre-war shunters ... a
man with altogether exceptional engineering judgment, he had a breadth of
railway knowledge and appreciation that brought his own ... daily work ...
quietly into line with the general railway picture. ... Moreover, he was
able to train others ... several of Hornbuckle's young men ... now hold high
positions on British Railways."
Coming into contact ... with the pioneers of the British diesel locomotive building industry, Hornbuckle also had a not inconsiderable influence in this sphere among those who had ears to hear ... Indeed it is among the dwindling band of men who were in this field before 1939 that the memory of Tommy Hombuckle is likely to be maintained fresh and green; for, as untouched by railway internal frictions and jockeying for position as was Hornbuckle himself, these men could appreciate him more at his true worth. Largely because of his selflessness and his rejection of personal power as a thing to be striven after, Hornbuckle was greater than his physical works; and his undoubted technical ability, judgment and moral influence passed into men more than into things."
That was written by Brian Reed who himself had been involved in pioneer diesel traction at Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. in the 1920s. Stewart Cox related, "[There was] a personal contest between Hombuckle, the true originator, [of the diesel shunter development programme] and Fairburn, who developed these ideas far away from the intentions of their initiator. As a matter of fact, Tommy Hornbuckle was no match, either in position or capacity, for his formidable chief, and before long he retired from the fray, a somewhat embittered man..
Hughes, John O.P.
Designer of Vulcan Foundry English Electric 4-6-0 gas turbine locomotive
with drive via a gearbox rather than through electric transmission. Locomotive
described in Tufnell's Prototype
locomotives. Connection with Hughes mentioned in
Johnson and Long. and in
Bond's Lifetime with locomotives (p.
261). See also Edward Talbot
Backtrack, 2012, 26,
185.
Kettering, Charles Franklin
Born near Loudonville, Ohio, on 29 August 1876; died Dayton, Ohio,
25 November 1958. Pioneer of railway diesel traction in the USA. Graduated
in mechanical engineering at Ohio State University in 1904, Began with Star
Telephone Co, Ashland: later with National Cash Register Co, Dayton, Ohio.
Served 27 yrs as vice president of General Motors Corpn and as general manager
of research laboratories division. Responsible for GM diesel engines. Developed
high-speed two-stroke types up to 3,000bhp. His engines were specially developed
for rail traction. In 1935 he predicted that in twenty years no more steam
locosmotives would be built in the USA. In 1927 he formed the Charles F Kettering
Foundation for research into diseases including cancer.
Le Fleming in P Ransome Wallis
(ed.), The concise encyclopaedia of world railway locomotives and
probably elsewhere therein, but tome lacks an index and
John Marshall.
Kewney, Harold
Patents:
GB 645080 Improvements in or relating to controlling diesel
locomotives. with Andrew Barclay Sons & Company, Published 25 October
1950:., Applied 23 February 1948,
A device for preventing attempted reversal of a diesel locomotive,
before the locomotive comes to rest, incorporates a stop which is automatically
held in position in the path of ...
GB 813975 Control apparatus for internal combustion locomotives.
with Andrew Barclay Sons & Company, and Robert Ellis, Published 27 May
1959: -Applied 28 September 1957,
Control apparatus for an internal combustion locomotive having oil
pressure lubrication comprises a pressure sensitive switch 2 in the lubricating
system 1 which operates el ...
GB 140022 An improved flexible coupling for rotary shafts.
William Beardmore & Company, Published 18 March 1920 Applied
21 October 1919.
In a universal coupling for the shafts of turbines &c., trunnions
H on one shaft F engage a ring or the like J, which may be in two parts bolted
together and is provided with two trunnions L seated in blocks M. The bloc
...
GB 392219 Improvements in or relating to the heating of feed water
for steam boilers utilizing the heat of hot waste gases. with Sir W.G.
Armstrong Whitworth & Co, and Thomas Humphrey Matthews Published 15 May
1933: Applied 14 November 1931.
Feedwater heated in jackets 19 around the exhaust ...
Lemp, Heinrich Joseph Hermann
Born 8 August 1862 in Swizerland; died in Ridgewood, New Jersey on
31 March 31, 1954). Swiss-American electrical engineer; he is credited as
the inventor of the modern system of diesel electric traction co-ordination
and control. Born and educated in Switzerland, he emigrated to America aged
19, hoping to work with T.A. Edison. He joined Edison General Electric and
worked with Edison on electrical projects, including one of Edison's first
electric locomotives. A short while later he joined Elihu Thomson, of the
Thomson-Houston Company. That company became part of General Electric (GE),
to which Edison acted as consultant. He met Rudolf Diesel on his visit to
the USA in 1911, and was an invited observer at the trials of Diesel's
direct-drive 1,000 hp (750 kW) locomotive in 1912. The diesel engine was
too powerful for the mechanical gears. Lemp, with his colleagues, persuaded
GE that diesel traction had a future, but that a non-mechanical transmission
system was required. The proposed transmission was electrical, using the
diesel engine to power a generator that supplied current to the traction
motors. However, such a system would need a device to coordinate engine and
generator output. He invented one, patented in 1914. This patent provided
the basis for the systems used by many other locomotive and diesel makers.
GE did not enter the locomotive field then, but did authorize the purchase
of Junker's patent for high speed diesel engines,and the manufacture of some
small experimental locomotives. However, GE's later, successful locomotives
used Lemp's improved system, patented after World War I. The first GE diesel
electric locomotive was a demonstrator, made to Lemp's specifications by
a trio of GE, ALCO and Ingersoll-Rand, who made, respectively, the electrical
equipment, the body and the engine. This machine started trials around New
York City in 1924, sales of similar locomotives starting from 1925. His system
of control is also used in other applications apart from railways, such as
on giant earth-moving equipment. Wikipedia 2015-08-21. .
See also Hennessey. Backtrack,
2015, 29, 519..
Lyon, S.C.
Chief designer Rolling Stock Design at English Electric Preston
Pictured at Deltic roll-out Loco.
Mag., 1955, 61, 190
McClean, Herbert George
Probably born on 29 March 1902. Worked for Crompton Parkinson, but
switched to General Motors in 1946 and eventually moved to USA. Read several
to Institution of Locomotive Engineers and contributed to discussions, dinners,
etc. See Paper 382 The hammer-blow with
axle-hung electric traction motors.
Paper 454 The mechanical design of the
latest class F high-speed electric locomotives of the Swedish State
Railways. and Paper 582 American
experience as a guide to main-line diesel locomotive applications overseas.
Patents inn conjunction with General Electric and Cropton Parkinson.
McKeen, William R.
Former Supetrintendent of Motive Power on the Union Pacific Railroad
wher he developed his petrol (gasoline) railcar with an advanced looking
streamlined body, but a heavy engine and difficult clutch. Later he was set
up by Edward Harriman to manufacture these cars win what was a successful
financial business, but the cars were unreliable and some were converted
to electric drive. Cars were sold to the Victorian and Queensland Railways
in Australia. See Hennessey.
Backtrack, 2015, 29, 519.
Margetson, Oliver
Co-inventor with Percy Grierson Robinson of Still diesel/steam
locomotives: Patennt GB 200,586 Improvements relating to locomotives.
Applied 13 April 1922; Published 13 July 1923: see
Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29,
355.
Mathews, Dennis Cyril Hubert
Born on 9 October 1898; died 12 September 1964. Studied at London
University and City and Guilds, London. Subsequently he worked as a traction
engineer with Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd. and Crompton Parkinson
Ltd. During WW2 he was a major in the Royal Engineers Transportation
Branch (Railways), and served in France and the Middle East. After the war
he joined Merz and McLellan as a consulting engineer on traction and from
1951 until his retirement at the end of 1963, was with the Traction Division
of The English Electric Co, Ltd., where he was primarily concerned with the
development of diesel electric locomotives. He was a Member of the Institution
of Electrical Engineers and a Member of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers
from 1944 ILocoE obituary.
Pictured at Deltic roll-out Loco.
Mag., 1955, 61, 190
Mensforth, Sir Holberry
Born near Bradford (Yorks.) on 1 May 1871. Died Hazlemere on 5 September
1951. Humble origins and educated via mechanics institutes. Briefly ran his
own gear cutting business, but joined B.H. Thwaite manufacturer of gas engines.
In 1903 he joined Westinghouse at Trafford Park in Manchester and became
General Manager thereat in 1917. He was recruited by Geddes to assist with
the smooth transition from munitions manufacture to peacetime work. Received
KCB in 1923. Briefly Chairman of English Electric, before being replaced
by his General Manager, George Nelson. Retired in 1943.
ODNB entry by Geoffrey Tweedale and
Rutherford article in Bactrack,
2008, 22, 100.
Nyberg, Henry
Director of FWD in Slough which produced an early form of railway
road/rail truck tried on Derwent Valley Railway.
see Locomotive Mag., 1923,
29, 362
Passey, G.H.
Of AEC and involved with GWR diesel railcars and early British Railways
development: see Langridge Under
ten CMEs 2 pp. 162-3
Patton, William H.
Resided in Pueblo, Colarado. Patented in association with Pullman
a design for a petrol battery electric raiilcar in 1889.
See Hennessey. Backtrack, 2015,
29, 519.
Paxman, Edward
http://www.nelmes.fsnet.co.uk/paxman/paxfamly.htm
Penney, Brian
Apprentice at Worcester depot from October 1950 and from 1954
at Swindon, then moved to drawing office. Worked on GWR diesel railcars and
subsequently on various diesel locomotives and railcars. Photographer.
Picard, Fernand L.
Director of Research at Renault. Paper on experimental gas turbine
locomotive. Proc. Instn Mech.
Engrs., 1954, 169, 820
Pieper, Henri
See Loco.
Mag... 1918, 24, 118-19. for
diesel electrtic system with electricity storage (dynamotor)
Power, S.R.D.
Associated with diesel traction on CIE; became Works Manager Doncaster
in 1960s. See discussion on Paper
684
Priestman, William Dent
Born in Sutton near Hull on 23 August 1847. Quaker educated at Bootham
School. Apprenticed at Humber Iron Works, thence at Gateshead Works of NER,
Worked for Sir William Armstrong & Sons. Offered a Partnership in R.&W.
Hawthorn, but his father acquired Holderness Factory in Hull on his behalf.
Here hevay oil internal combustion engines were developed. These were used
in barges, and according to Rutherford
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 52 in a single locomotive used on
the Hull & Barnsley Railway. Died in Hull on 7 September 1936.
ODNB entry by James Dent
Priestman.
Cummins, C. Lyle and Priestman, J.D. William Dent Priestman,
oil engine pioneer and inventorhis engine patents 1885-1901. Proc.
Instn Mech. Engrs, Part A: Power Process Engg, 1986, 200
A2, 69-80.
Raw, O.S.M.
Pupil at Armstrong-Whitworth in 1927-8. Subsequently worked on diesel
traction in Ceylon. Name makes searching difficult via Google, but contributed
to two papers on diesel traction: one by Fairburn on diesel shunters (see
1941, 31, 217) and the other by Brian
Reed (see ILoco E Volume 43 p.
405). Letter in Rly Wld,
1969, 30, 368 on ROD Army surplus locomotives reconditioned at
Armstrong Whitworth for export to China: at that time resided in Budleigh
Salterton..
Ricardo, Sir Harry
Born in London on 26 January 1885; died 18 May 1974. Ricardo was one
of the foremost engine designers and researchers in the early years of the
development of the internal combustion engine. He improved on the engines
that were used in the first tanks, oversaw the research into the physics
of internal combustion that led to the use of octane ratings, was instrumental
in development of the sleeve valve engine design, and invented the diesel
pre-combustion chamber that made high-speed diesel engines possible. Educated
at Rugby School and at Trinity College, Cambridge as a civil engineering
student. In 1904, he entere the University Automobile Club's event, which
was a competition to design a machine that could travel the furthest on a
quart of petrol. His engine was a single cylinder one and the heaviest entered,
but his motorcycle design nevertheless won the competition, having covered
a distance of forty miles. He was then persuaded to join the Professor of
Mechanism and Applied Mechanics, Bertram Hopkinson, working on research into
engine performance. He graduated with a degree in 1906 and spent a further
year researching at Cambridge.
Before graduation, Ricardo had designed a two-stroke motorcycle engine to
study the effect of mixture strength upon the combustion process. When he
graduated, a small firm, Messrs Lloyd and Plaister, showed an interest in
making the engine. Ricardo produced designs for two different sizes, and
the smaller one sold about 50 engines until 1914, when the war halted production.
In 1909 he designed a two-stroke 3.3 litre engine, for his cousin Ralph Ricardo,
who had started up a small car manufacturing company, Two Stroke Engine Company,
at Shoreham-by-Sea. The engine was used in a car called the Dolphin.
The cars were well made but it became apparent that they were costing more
to make than the selling price. The company had better luck making two-stroke
engines for fishing boats. However, in 1911 the firm folded and Ralph left
for India. Ricardo continued to design engines for small electric lighting
sets, that were produced by two companies up to 1914.
In 1915 Ricardo set up a new company, Engine Patents Ltd. to develop the
engine that would eventually be used in the first successful tank design,
the British Mark V. The Daimler engine used in the Mark I created excessive
smoke, which gave away its position. Ricardo was asked to look at the problem
of reducing exhaust gases and decided that a new engine was needed. Existing
companies were able to undertake construction of such an engine but not the
design, so Ricardo designed it himself. As well as having reduced smoke
emissions, the new engine was much more powerful than the existing ones.
The new six-cylinder engine produced 150 h.p., compared with 105 h.p., and
later modifications produced 225 h.p. and 260 h.p.
In 1917 his old mentor, Bertram Hopkinson, who was now Technical Director
at the Air Ministry, invited him to join the new engine research facility
at the Department of Military Aeronautics, later to become the RAE. In 1918
Hopkinson was killed while flying a Bristol Fighter, and Ricardo took over
his position. From that point on the department produced a string of experimental
engines and research reports that constantly drove the British, and world,
engine industry.
One of his first major research projects was on the problems of pre-ignition,
known as knocking or pinging. To study the problem he built a
variable-compression test engine: this led to the development of an octane
rating system for fuels, and considerable investment into octane improving
additives and refining systems. The great reduction in fuel use as a result
of higher-octane fuel was directly responsible for allowing Alcock and Brown
to fly the Atlantic in their Vickers Vimy bombers adapted with his modifications.
In 1919 Ricardo was studying the phenomena affecting the combustion within
the petrol engine and the diesel engine. He realised that turbulence within
the combustion chamber increased flame speed, and that he could achieve this
by offsetting the cylinder head. He also realised that making the chamber
as compact as possible would reduce the distance that the flame had to travel
and would reduce the likelihood of detonation. He later developed the induction
swirl chamber, which was an attempt to achieve orderly air motion in a diesel
engine, the swirl being initiated by inclined ports and accentuated by forcing
the air into a small cylindrical volume. Finally he developed the compression
swirl chamber for diesel engines. This design embodied intense swirl with
a reasonable rate of pressure rise and good fuel consumption. The compression
swirl chamber design was called a Comet design and was subsequently licensed
to several companies for use in trucks, buses, tractors and cranes, as well
as private cars and taxis. A Comet combustion chamber was used in the first
AEC diesel buses operated in 1931 by London Transport. In 1922 and 1923 Ricardo
published a two-volume work The Internal Combustion Engine
In 1927 he formed Ricardo Consulting Engineers in Shoreham-by-Sea. Although
Ricardo did not invent the sleeve valve, in 1927, he produced a seminal research
paper that outlined the advantages of the sleeve valve, and suggested that
poppet valve engines would not be able to offer power outputs much beyond
1500 hp (1,100 kW). A number of sleeve valve aircraft engines were developed
following this paper, notably by Napier, Bristol and Rolls-Royce. Bristol
produced the Perseus, Hercules, Taurus and the Centaurus, Napier produced
the Napier Sabre and Rolls-Royce produced the Eagle and Crecy, all using
sleeve valves. In 1929 Ricardo was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
Ricardos work on the sleeve valve affected the development of British
aircraft engines in the 1930s and during WW2. He even enhanced the famous
Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in the Mosquito by giving it an oxygen enrichment
system to improve its performance. Ricardo assisted in the design of the
combustion chambers and fuel control system of Sir Frank Whittles jet
engine. In 1944 Ricardo was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers. In 1948 Ricardo was knighted in recognition for his work in the
field of internal combustion engineering. Wikipedia.
Bulleid sought advice from Ricardo for the Leader class which used sleeve
valves and for the CIE turf burner on the design of compact steam engines.
See H.A.V. Bulleid;'s biography
of his father..
Saccaggio, Pedro Celestino
Born in Italy at San Giorgio Canavese on 2 January 2 1876. Taken to
Argentina when six and died there on 2 August 2 1959. When twelve he began
work in the workshops of the Central Argentine Railway. CMS Buenos Aires
Great Southern Ry in 1926 when introduced three-cylinder Pacifics:
Locomotive Mag., 1926, 32,
240. Associated with the mobile power house method of diesel electric
traction and many patents associated with this and a system for inter-vehicle
couplings. His mobile power house system was described in
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1933,
39, 18:
GB 442,162 Improvements relating to diesel-electric generating sets.
Applied 3 August 1934. Published 3 February 1936:
GB 441,138 Improvements relating to the body or frame structures of engines,
particularly internal combustion engines. Applied 13 July 1934: published
13 January 1936:
GB 440,039 Improvements relating to the control of mixed power
installations. Applied 19 June 1934: published 19 December 1935:
GB 403,680 Improvements in and relating to the control of mixed power
installations. Applied 22 June 1932.: published 22 December 1933.
GB 403,636 Improvements relating to the body or frame structures of engines,
particularly internal combustion engines. Applied 22 June 1932.: published
22 December 1933.
GB 403,635 Improvements in and connected with power transmission gearing
for the running axles of vehicles. Applied 22 June 1932.: published 22
December 1933.
GB 359,980 Improvements in and relating to the regulation of electric
generators. Applied 30 July 1930: published 30 October 1931.
GB 359,030 Improvements in and relating to the regulation of electric
generators. Applied 17 July 1930: published 19 October 1931.
GB 316,351 Improvements in and connected with coupling devices for rail
vehicles. Applied 27 April 1928: published 29 July 1929.
GB 305,156 Improvements in electric power transmission controllers for
locomotive and other vehicles. Applied 1 November 1927: published
1 February 1929.
GB 301,339 Improvements in and connected with the propulsion of railway
trains or the like by electricity. Applied 27 July 1927: published
27 November 1928:
GB 301,004 Improvements in or connected with control mechanism for hydraulic
power transmission gearing. Applied 23 August 1927: published
23 November 1928:
GB 300,977 Improvements in or relating to fluid pressure transmission
mechanism for locomotives and other purposes. Applied 20 August
1927: published 20 November 1928:
GB 299,830 Improvements in or connected with toothed gearing.
Applied 2 August 1927: published 2 November 1928:
GB 299,352 Improvements in or relating to the cooling of liquids in locomotive
vehicles. Applied 23 July 1927: published October 1928:
GB 297,868 Improvements in and connected with transmission gearing.
Applied 29 June 1927: published October 1928:
GB 297,141 Improvements in and connected with transmission gearing for
the axles of railway vehicles. Applied 15 June 1927. Published 17 September
1929.
GB 173,991 Improved apparatus for operating the brakes of railway and
other vehicles and for other purposes. Applied 12 March 1921:
published January 1922:
Late work by him: Locomotive Mag.,
1958, 64, 17.
Robinson, Percy Grierson
Co-inventor with Oliver Margetson of Still diesel/steam locomotives:
Patent GB 200,586 Improvements relating to locomotives. Applied 13
April 1922; Published 13 July 1923: see
Locomotive Mag., 1923, 29,
355.
Schur, Thomas
Some design considerations of main line diesel
locomotives. ILocoE Paprt 597
Spanner, E.F.
See ILocoE Paper 521 by Dymond on
gas turbine locomotives where criteria for successful train heating boilers
were set out by E.F. Spanner on page 305.
Also A1A Locomotive Society
website.
Stead, J.H.
Managing director Drewry Car Co. Ltd. had been associated with Company
for thirty years prior to daeth from pneumonis following influenza. Obituary
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev.,
1933, 39, 93.
Still, William Joseph
GB 17177/1913 Improvements in or relating to internal combustion engines.
Published 26 August 1914
Sulzer, Carl
Born in 1865, died at Winterthur on 30 October 1934. He was the eldest
son of the distinguished engineer, Henry Sulzer, and after training in the
Winterthur works studied at Lausanne and Dresden under Zeuner and Lewicki.
A short period in the Sulzer designing office was followed by a visit to
America, where he was employed by the Brown & Sharpe Co. Upon his return
in 1891 he undertook the design of workshop equipment and tools in the Sulzer
works, the developrnent of which demanded specialised tool equipment. In
1895 when he became a partner in the business, the Sulzer steam engine was
approaching its zenith, and her had a considerable share in the management
of this branch and in the evolution of large units for direct coupling to
electric generators. He was responsible for several installations in Britain,
notably those for the Metropolitan Electric Supply Co., Willesden, Harland
& Wolff Belfast, Singer Manufacturing Co., Clydebank, and the Charing
Cross Electrical Supply Co., Bow. Under his lead a complete change took place
in the steam engine era in 1909 by the successful evolution of the "Uniflow"
engine with its considerably increased revolution speed, forked frame and
simplified valve gear, the first engines of which type were supplied to the
Hafod Copper Works of Messrs. Vivian at Swansea. The experience with this
design proved of great value in the modernisation of the ammonia compressor
with which Dr. Sulzer was intimately connected, in collaboration with Professor
Linde. He took a prominent part in the design and manufacture of steam boilers
and high pressure pipe lines for hydraulic power stations, pressure vessels,
gas holders, etc., in this respect closely following in the footsteps of
his father. The introduction of the valve-type water level indicator was
due to him. He was largely responsible for the adoption of the corrugated
"Fox" flue" for Cornish and Lancashire boilers and the efficient arrangement
of superheaters. Increasing steam pressure led to the manufacture of the
vertical single and double bank straight tube boiler which was taken upon
Dr. Sulzer's advice after exhaustive tests in 1890, and later, under his
guidance, a boiler of 1,500 lb. per square inch pressure was designed, from
which the Sulzer Monotube steam generator was evolved. Dr. Sulzer also took
a keen interest in the development of the centrifugal pump for irrigation
purposes, Pumps for de-watering became equally prominent, and as an example
of Dr. Sulzer's perseverance the big installation at Codigoro should be
mentioned, where stringent guarantees had to be given, which experts at that
time considered unobtainable; but, in co-operation with Professor Prasil
of Zurich, irnpellers were designed which enabled the guarantees to be complied
with. The turbine pump was also developed, and the first high-lift mine pumps
for Horcajo and the Victor Rauxel pit in Westphalia are of interest. When
the Sulzer organisation was converted into a limited company in 1914 Dr.
Sulzer became chairman and, leaving the technical side on the business more
in younger hand, devoted much of his time to social and political duties
for his country. Locomotive Mag.,
1934, 40, 394
Tayler, Arthur T.H.
Tayler had been on Southern Railway Chief Electrical Engineer's staff
since 1942 and was sent on an exchange course to English Electric Company
to study diesel engines, and on return to the Southern Region was put
in charge of the maintenance of the Region's diesel-electric shunters. Author
of Newcomen Society paper: 600/750V
DC electric and electro-diesel locomotives of the Southern Railway and its
successors and long letter in
Backtrack (1998) on British
Railways traction policy. Also wrote a book on North American
railways..
Books
Class 47 diesels. with W.G.F. Thorley and T.J. Hill. London: Ian Allan, 1979.
96pp.
This was Thorley's book, but he died
before it could be completed: Tayler completed the task.
Sulzer types 2 and 3. London: Ian Allan, 1984. 96pp.
Trutch, Charles Joseph Hyde
Of the Sir W.G. Armstrong & Co. Diesel-electric Traction
Dept awarded gold medal by the Institute of Transport for paper: The oil
engine and the railways. See Locomotive
Mag., 1931, 37, 356 and
discussion on ILocoE paper.
Tufnell, R.M.
Author of several books on diesel
traction and on locomotives in general.
Letter in Backtrack, 1998, 12,
637 notes that he was on the LMS during the ten years up to 1939,
in the Electrical Engineers Department. There we felt the same frustrations
with the management and the only electrification we managed to get done during
that period was the miniscule line from Manchester to Altrincham, now part
of the 'Metrolink'. We electrified the main line many times on paper at 750
volts, at 1,500 volts and at 3,000 volts, all de but it was not until the
advent of the mercury are rectifier that it became at all possible. The Weir
report of 1931 gave us great hopes, but it was only realised on the Southern
and how we envied its progressive General Manager. On the LMS we were still
living under the shock of the O'Brien episode and everyone kept a very low
profile.
It was Ivatt's design of bogie that made the Brush Class 31s so successful
as he was our consultant and full of interesting tales about the early days
of No. 10000: it was such a shame that it was scrapped, but perhaps one day
a replica may be made. Incidentally, the English Electric diesels were not
made at Rugby, but at Preston. Rugby built the larger 15in bore engines for
marine and industrial use, though it was there that the high speed (l,500rpm)
'U' engine was developed. That was originally intended for the HST and I
had many discussions with Terry Miller about that. Unfortunately lack of
development money caused the cancellation of that engine - typically British.
The German engines on the Western Region were also considered, but perhaps
fortunately not chosen. Some twenty years later I wrote a paper entitled
'The Engine that never ran a Mile' and, basing it on Kettering's famous paper
on the development of the GM 567 engine, it was awarded the Institution's
silver medal for the best paper of the year.
Vandervell, Charles Anthony
Born Paddington in 1871; died 30 August 1955. Technical education
at University College, London. In 1892 he established a business at Willesden
Green, for the manufacture of accumulators. In 1908 he transferred the business
of C. A. Vandervell and Co. to Acton, and there rapid development was made
in the production of the constant current dynamo. Just priior to WW1 Vandervell
began work on the production of self-starters, the first push-button silent
starter being fitted to his own car. Subsequently, similar starters were
fitted to tanks and other fighting vehicles. The development of ignition
equipment for commercial vehicles followed, and in 1926, the business of
C. A. Vandervell and Co. was merged into the Joseph Lucas organisation, in
which Mr. Vandervell continued to serve as a director until his retirement
in 1946. Throughout his long career, he commanded the respect of all who
knew him, for his vast technical knowledge and also for his practical application
of it. He was energetic in the affairs not only of his own business but also
in that of the Norton Motor Cycle Company, in which he had an interest. In
his later years he became also a director of Vandervell Products, Ltd., the
bearing company founded by his son, Graces Guide. Commentators in Langridge
Under ten CMEs notes connection with ACV railcars
Wakley, William Jefferson
Man behind the Drewry Car business. Eager member of Institution of
Locomotive Enginners: great attender at dinners and similar social events
Discussion on ILocoE Paper 292 by
Pudney.
Wilkin, Anthony Vivian
Born in 1901; died suddenly on 11 January 1963. General Manager of
English Electric Companys Diesel Engine Division. Educated at Huish
School, Taunton, received his early training at Taunton and Chester Technical
Colleges followed by four years pupilage from 1919 to 1923 at the Works of
Sandycroft Limited, Chester. In 1923 appointed Technical Representative,
Ruston and Hornsby Ltd. and in 1932 he left to take charge of the Diesel
Engine Department of Belliss and Morcom Ltd. Joined The English Electric
Company in 1943 as Manager of the Diesel Engine Sales Department, becoming
General Manager of the Diesel Engine Division six years later. He was a member
of the Boards of the English Electric Export and Trading Co. Ltd. and of
W. H. Dorman and Son. Ltd. For twelve years he served on the Council of the
British Internal Combustion Engine Manufacturers Association, for two
as Chairman of the Council and for eight as Chairman of the Finance and General
Purposes Committee. Obituary: J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1962, 52,
657.
2016-01-28