The Sykes Family
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
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.
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 and was
a key figure in developing the Institution. 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
William Joseph Arnold
Born on 1 August 1907 in Camberwell, London. Father,
Joseph Charles Sykes was Managing Director of Railway
Signalling Company. Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Southern Region.
Author of several papers. Innovator of mixed traction systems and push &
pull working at high speeds. Won George Stephenson Prize. Awarded OBE (New
Year's Honours 1968). Died 1 March 1986,
Papers (Institution of Locomotive Engineers)
Operating experience with the diesel electric train sets on the Hastings
service of the Southern Region. J.
Instn Loco. Engrs, 1960, 50, 434-57. Disc.: 457-85. (Paper No.
611)
The electro-diesel locomotive. J.
Instn Loco. Engrs, 1963, 53, 40-67. Disc.: 67-94 (Paper No.
642)
High-speed propelling of trains on the Southern Region, British
Railways. J. Instn Loco. Engrs,
1965, 55, 154-95. (Paper No. 666)
The Bournemouth electrification. J.
Instn Loco. Engrs, 1968, 58, 445-88. (Paper No. 710)
Other papers
Electric locomotives of British Railways. Electric Railway Traction
Convention. J.IEE., 1950, 319-20
Technical limitations of conventional railways.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs.,
1966, 181, Part 3G: 8-12.
Southern Region electrification. Proc. IEEE, 1962, 109,
359-78
Contributions to discussion
On Brown in Proc. Instn Mech.
Engrs. 1961, 175, 282