THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST
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Midland Railway Locomotive Engineers
Marshall records that his namesake W.P. Marshall was born in St Albans on 28 February 1818 and died in Birmingham on 27 March 1908. He was eduicated by his father and at King's College, London. He worked in the drawing office of Robert Stephenson on drawings for the London & Birmigham Railway. From 1840 to 1844 he was Locomotive Superintendent of the North Midland Railway. In 1845 he became Locomotive Superintendent of the Norfolk Railway until he became Secretary of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1849 until he retired in 1877.
Thomas Kirtley was born in Tanfield in 1810 and died from a brain tumour in Brighton on 16 November 1847 where he was locomotive superintendent (Marshall). he had previously been locomotive superintendent of the North Midland Railway, founder of a locomotive building firm in Warrington and an engine driver on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway with his brother Matthew.
Matthew Kirtley was born at Tanfield in County Durham in February 1813, the son of a colliery owner. After a brief spell of tailoring, he joined the S&DR as a fireman in 1826, joined the L&MR briefly and became a driver on the Hull & Selby from where he was dismissed. Nevertheless, he is reputed to have driven the first L&BR train into London. In 1839 he was appointed Locomotive Foreman at Hampton on the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway, and two years later was made Locomotive Superintendent. Following the formation of the MR by amalgamation Kirtley becames its Locomotive Superintendent, probably through the influence of the Stephensons. Hunt: Backtrack, 17, 191
As first locomotive superintendent of the recently-formed Midland Railway, Matthew Kirtley's first task was to enlarge, improve, and standardize the ninety-odd locomotive stock handed down by the three constituent companies, while at the same time enlarging the facilities at Derby to enable the Company to become less dependent on outside enterprises both for the repair and the maintenance of its locomotives. His first locomotives followed previous patterns; for example, his first passenger machines were basically of the Jenny Lind type, but later in his career he built very sound locomotives of his own design; among these were his long lived 2-4-0 machines of the 800 class, and his double-framed 0-6-0, some of which survived until railway nationalization. In 1856, with C. Markham, Kirtley devised a firebox suitable for burning coal; this used the inclined brick-arch, later so well-known, with a deflector plate sloping downwards from the firedoor. By this means volatile matter escaping with the hot gases was combusted as it moved around the brick arch and mixed with air entering by the firedoor. Kirtley held office from 1844 to his death in 1873. Previously he had been locomotive superintendent of the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway, one of the constituents of the Midland. His brother Thomas Kirtley, who became locomotive superintendent of the LBSCR for a few months in 1847, was the last locomotive superintendent of another Midland constituent, the North Midland.
See: J. B. Radford, Derby Works and Midland Locomotives (1971).
Patents
12210/1848 Railway-wheels. 11 July 1848
Dow observed the beautiful finish of Samuel W. Johnson's engines on the Midland Railway adding: Of his designs it has been truly said: 'The precision of a Breguet watch and the beauty and finish of an Adam house went into a Johnson engine on the Midland.., no locomotives now have a finish by Johnsonian standards'
Johnson was born in 14 October 1831 at Bramley, near Leeds, and died in Nottingham on 14 January 1912 (John Marshall). He learnt to be an engineer with E.B. Wilson & Co., locomotive builders, where he encountered Sturrock, as a result of which he joined the Great Northern. Westwood adds that Johnson's father was an engineer who would shortly join the Great Northern Railway. Following a grammar school education Johnson was supervised by James Fenton whilst apprenticed to the E. B. Wilson Company where he and must surely have made the acquaintance of David Joy who was working on the Jenny Lind, for which design the young Johnson helped with the drawings. In 1859 he became Acting Locomotive Superintendent of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, and in 1864 he was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway. After two years north of the Border [the debacle surrounding his departure is described by Highet and quoted under Stroudley] he returned to England to succeed Robert Sinclair of the Great Eastern at Stratford Works. According to Thomas (North British) Johnson "took" five Neilson 2-4-0 express locomotives ordered for the E&GR to the ECR with him. Here, however, he remained for only seven years before moving on to Derby to take charge of the Locomotive Department of the Midland Railway, a post which was soon also to include the duties of Locomotive Engineer to the Somerset & Dorset Joint and Midland & Great Northern Joint Railways.
During his short period of office on the Great Eastern he initiated two notable designs, the first British 0-4-4 side-tank engine with inside frames, and the first English 4-4-0 express locomotive with inside frames and inside cylinders. Both types he repeated, with variations, on the Midland, and no less than 205 of the former were constructed between 1875 and 1900. Over sixty of them were still at work on L.M.S lines in 1948.
Johnson had no phobias where domes were concerned and, in consequence, his bogie single driver express engines, amongst the most beautiful locomotives the world has ever seen, were better-looking machines than the domeless creations of Stirling. At the same time Johnson took no chances and, until the end of the century, he provided every one of his engines with two Salter safety valves on the dome and a lock-up safety valve, concealed under an elegant brass casing, on the firebox.
Before retiring in 1904 Johnson had designed his greatest masterpiece, a 3-cylmder express locomotive on W.M. Smith's compound system. Five of these engines appeared between 1901 and 1903 and more, slightly modified, were built by his successors, R. M. Deeley and Henry Fowler. Altogether 240 were constructed, the most successful comounds ever to run on British metals, and, in the author's opinion, the most handsome of all British 4-4-0s. They were numbered 900-939 and 1000-1199.
See: H. Ellis, Twenty locomotive
men (1958).
Nock, O.S. Steam
locomotive.
Radford,
J.B.: Derby Works and Midland locomotives: the story of the works, its
men, and the locomotives they built. 1971.
Nature of Johnson household in Nottingham from 1881
Census: Backtrack 14,
637. (includes a portrait)
One of the more scholarly of British locomotive designers, Richard Deeley was born according to Marshall in Chester on 24 October 1855 (but according to information received via Internet from searcher through Census information he was born in Derby, was in Alvaston? near Derby in 1861 Census and resident in Chester, recorded 1871 Census). Richard was the son of a Midland Railway accounts specialist. His father had served at one time in the accounts office of the Midland Railway but Richard, spent his' early years at Chester, where he received his grammar school education. In 1873 he became a pupil of B. Ellington, Managing Director of the Hydraulic Engineering Co in Chester. The following year he was selected to go to London to assist in the development of the Brotherhood three-cylinder hydraulic engine, and two years later, while still under 21, he was accepted as a pupil of Johnson, being given experimental work at which he so d!stinguished himself that in March, 1890, at the age of 35, he became chief of the testing department where the foundations of his notable research work and scholarly outlook on life were laid. He retained connections with this department when promoted first of all to the position of Inspector of Boilers, Engines and Machinery in March 1893 where he had a big hand in the design of boilers for Johnsons later engines. On January 1, 1902, he replaced John Lane as Works Manager and exactly a year, later took on the additional post of Electrical Engineer at a combined salary of £1,000 per annum. In July of the same year he was given a further post, that of Assistant Locomotive Superintendent in preparation for Johnson's retirement at the year end, and on January 1, 1904, he succeeded Johnson at a salary of £2,000 per annum
Deeley made notable contributions to compounding, in particular adapting Smith's system for Midland Railway requirements. Experiments that were not finally concluded until after his retirement,: confirmed that a superheated simple locomotive (Deeley's 999 4-4-0 series) was superior to an unsuperheated compound, but that a superheated compound was more economical than either. Among his other innovations was the introduction of smokebox number plates, much more practical than buffer-beam numbers for a railway that used them as train reporting numbers, and three 0-6-0 locomotives with 6ft driving wheels.
Radford described a Deeley scheme for a 4-6-0 four-cylinder compound engine which Sandham Symes, then Anderson's assistant, sketched out in November, 1907. It was a scaled up version of the 4-4-0 compound except for the introduction of 8óin diameter piston valves for all cylinders, and outside valve gear for the low pressure cylinders. This locomotive might have revolutionised Midland engine policy. The driving wheels were to be 6ft 6lin diameter on a wheelbase of 7ft 3in + 8ft 3in. The leading bogie, centred l1ft 2lin in front of the leading driving wheel had 3ft 3iin diameter wheels on a 6ft 7lin wheelbase, total wheelbase being 30ft !in. The inside high pressure cylinders located above the trailing bogie wheel, were 13in diameter and 2~in stroke at 2ft ctrs, and the outside low pressure cylinders were 21in diameter x 26in stroke at 7ft ctrs, driven by outside valve-gear piston valves centred between the bogie wheels. The boiler set to work at 220psi, had a firebox 9ft 6in long at top of the ring, a 16ft 6in barrel of 4ft 6iin inside diameter on the front rings, the first ring being tapered from 5ft inside diameter. Heating surfaces were tubes 1,804.58sq ft, firebox 165.5sq ft, total 1,970.08sq ft and grate area was 30.lsq ft. Tractive effort was 25,700lb adhesive power 33,688lb. (15.04 tons) with sanding. The boiler was pitched 8ft 8lin above rail level, and height to top of chimney 13ft 3in. Weights were bogie 20 tons 10cwt, leading driver 18 tons 10 cwt, driving 18 tons 10 cwt, trailing 18 tons 10 cwt, totalling an estimated 76 tons in all, the tender weighing a further 42 tons 18cwt 2qtr. being the same as eventually fitted to the Paget locomotive. Total wheelbase was 54ft 8lin and length over buffers 64ft 1in. But Deeleys piece de resistance never was built while
Westwood observes that this design for a compound four-cylinder 4-6-0 might well have been a great success and a great asset for the future LMSR, but it was not built; a less-than-holy alliance between the Midland's general superintendent, Paget, and Deeley's chief draughtsman, Anderson, resulted in the 4-6-0 being indefinitely postponed in favour of the unorthodox and unsuccessful locomotive known as the 'Paget Locomotive'. Deeley's resignation in 1909 was probably connected with this situation. He received a generous pension, and in his eightieth year published a book on meteorology.
Hamilton Ellis (The Midland Railway) adds something to the strange relationship between Deeley, Paget and Fowler: "With the end of 1903, as already recorded, Samuel Johnson retired from the office he had held so constantly for so many years. At the end of his term, he was understudied by Richard M. Deeley. who had been works manager, and was responsible for boilers and electrical equipment. The large boilers on the last Johnson engines were some of his work. Next there came Cecil W. Paget, who was assistant works manager under Deeley, and became acting works manager when Deeley was appointed assistant locomotive superintendent, preparatory to taking over from Johnson. Deeley and Paget had visited America together to study and report on work shop practice in the States. In the background, but only just so, was Henry Fowler, who had been gas engineer and chief of the testing department at Horwich on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and had joined the Midland in a similar capacity in 1900. In a garrulous moment, Johnson remarked in a railway carnage that his successor was to be, not Deeley, but Paget. The statement got about, and was denied.
On January 1, 1904, Deeley became locomotive superintendent, Paget was made works manager, and Fowler assistant works manager. In spite of their work together. Deeley and Paget were an ill-assorted pair, though both excellent men. To make matters worse, while Deeley was Paget's chief, Paget was a son of Sir Ernest Paget, Bait., chairman of the Midland company, and had wonderful ideas of his own which he intended to put into practice at his earliest convenience. Already people wondered, without speaking, which was really the Sultan and which the Grand Vizier. the background still was Henry Fowler, the Lord in Waiting.
As far as locomotive design went, the change was at first extremely smooth. As we have seen, Deeley had been in very close collaboration with Johnson." He died near London (Isleworth) on 19 June 1944 leaving behind an extensive bibliography (see Atkins, Philip: Richard Mountford Deeley: author and polymath. Midland Rly Rec., (20), 11-12) on non-railway topics (this is not quite correct: a Deeley machine to test lubrication and lubricants was in routine use at Derby: see Archbutt J. Instn Loco Engrs 1921, 11, Paper No. 101), notably tribology (Lubrication and lubricants with Leonard Archbutt, 1912), geology, meteorogy and the Mountford family..
Valve gear
A modified form of Walschaerts valve gear (patent below) was developed by Deeley, and this was to cause Churchward problems as the valve gear initially fitted to the first GWR four-cylinder 4-6-0 appears to have infringed Deeley's design. The Deeley version is described by E.L. Ahrons. Some historical point in the deatils of British locomotive design. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1910, 16, 14-15.
Patents
4729 Locomotives [superheaters] 27 February 1906
16,372 Accepted 28 June 1906. valve gear
Cited by Holcroft: An outline of Great Western practice.
(1957)
Other literature
This was extensive and scholarly, but was not related to railways.
A genealogical history of Montfort-sur-Risle and Deeley of Halesowen. London: Charles Griffin, 1941. xiii, 96pp.
A manual of the principles of meteorology. London: Charles Griffin, 1935. xi, 285pp. Illus., 27 tables.
with Leonard Archbutt: Lubrication and lubricants. a treatise on the theory and practice of lubrication, and on the nature, properties, and testing of lubricants. Fifth edition,. London: C. Griffin. 1927. xxxii. 650pp.
Keith Horne suggests that the weight of the 999 class may have led to Deeley's resignation: see letter Backtack 13 page 453.
See: J.B. Radford,
Derby Works and Midland Locomotives (1971);
W. A. Tuplin, Midland Steam (1973).
The Deeley proposed 4-6-0 and the reasons for Deeley's departure from the MR are also covered in: Locomotive might-have-beens. Bob Mills. Backtrack, 2000, 14, 386-390.
Cecil Walter Paget was born at Sutton Bonnington, near Loughborough on 19 April 1874 and died at Kings Newton near Derby on 9 December 1936 according to Marshall. He was son of the Midland's Chairman, George Ernest Paget and grandson of one of the original Board members. He was eduacated at Harrow (see Rudgard below) and was one of Johnson's pupils at Derby. In 1899 he was sent to the Baldwin Works at Schenectady to supervise the construction of a batch of 2-6-0s. On return he was rapidly promoted until appointed Assistant Locomotive Superintendent under Deeley.
Patents
23,714 Locomotives
Cylinder arrangements & valve gear
The Paget locomotive was yet another attempt to break from the orthodox Stephenson locomotive, and had no lasting results Paget at the time (1907) was works manager of the Derby Shops of the Midland Railway, and his project was built at his own expense It was a 2-6-2 with a firebrick firebox and eight inside cylinders, whose valves were operated by an arrangement of bevel gears, spur gears, and outside fly cranks. Because of the frequent seizure of the valves, tests were curtailed and the design was not developed. The development led to conflict with Deeley.
Radford notes that Paget's locomotive was completed in January, 1909, and made steaming trials soon afterwards. Immediately it struck a problem with differential expansion taking place between the sleeve valves and their liners, which broke in consequence. On one occasion the speed of 82 mile/h is claimed to have been reached, but this was never officially confirmed. It worked several test trains down to London and up to Manchester, and on one occasion it seized up at Syston whilst being drawn clear of the curve upon which it had become stuck and the valve gear had to be disconnected before being dragged away. The cause of the seizure was working the pistons without steam which caused them to crack in several places.
Hamilton Ellis (The Midland Railway) adds something to the strange relationship between Deeley, Paget and Fowler: "With the end of 1903, as already recorded, Samuel Johnson retired from the office he had held so constantly for so many years. At the end of his term, he was understudied by Richard M. Deeley. who had been works manager, and was responsible for boilers and electrical equipment. The large boilers on the last Johnson engines were some of his work. Next there came Cecil W. Paget, who was assistant works manager under Deeley, and became acting works manager when Deeley was appointed assistant locomotive superintendent, preparatory to taking over from Johnson. Deeley and Paget had visited America together to study and report on work shop practice in the States. In the background, but only just so, was Henry Fowler, who had been gas engineer and chief of the testing department at Horwich on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and had joined the Midland in a similar capacity in 1900. In a garrulous moment, Johnson remarked in a railway carnage that his successor was to be, not Deeley, but Paget. The statement got about, and was denied.
On January 1, 1904, Deeley became locomotive superintendent, Paget was made works manager, and Fowler assistant works manager. In spite of their work together. Deeley and Paget were an ill-assorted pair, though both excellent men. To make matters worse, while Deeley was Paget's chief, Paget was a son of Sir Ernest Paget, Bait., chairman of the Midland company, and had wonderful ideas of his own which he intended to put into practice at his earliest convenience. Already people wondered, without speaking, which was really the Sultan and which the Grand Vizier. the background still was Henry Fowler, the Lord in Waiting.
Rudgard (Presidential Address Instn Loco. Engrs) noted "I well remember the remarks of the late Cecil Paget—a locomotive enthusiast at an early age—who was at Harrow School, and who, when the time was available, would go into Watford, and, from a point of vantage on tile bridge near the running Shed, inspect the locomotives in the yard at Watford shed. On his returning to Harrow for a reunion twenty-five years after, Paget's steps took him to the same place and he saw almost exactly the same things as he had seen twenty-five years previously, namely same men, same open-wick torch lamps, same broken windows the only difference was that the locomotives were larger."
See : W. A. Tuplin, Midland Steam (1973).
Other refs
Clayton, James. The 'Paget' locomotive. Rly Gaz., 1945 (2
Nov.)
Leech, Kenneth H. Midland Railway 8-cylinder 2-6-2 No. 2299 with a
note on its designer. Rly Gaz., 1945 (2 Nov.)
See also Thompson letter (follows
from above)
Other Midland engineers
Francis Holt became Superintendent of the Workshops at Derby following Kirtley's death, and William Kirtley leaving to become Locomotive Superintendent of the LCDR in March, 1874. Radford describes him as a tall, gaunt man, somewhat peculiar in manner, having a mordant humour, but being on the whole a very capable officer, by no means disliked by the men. His one fault perhaps was that, coming from Beyer Peacock & Co's. Gorton Foundry, Manchester, he was obsessed with the idea that everything they did was the last word in engine construction and practice. In fact to him Beyers spelt "perfection", which was somewhat irritating to the proud men of the Derby Works! He took office in May, 1874 at a salary of £700 per annum, receiving £100 more than his predecessor. He died on 7 Jaanuary 1893 and was replaced by John Lane..
The introduction of compressed air sanding gear which delivered a jet of air and sand directly at the space ; between tyre and rail instead of by means of the former gravity fed system, the value of which was extremely suspect and varied considerably with the prevailing conditions. This new air-sanding owed its origin to Francis Holt, at that time the Works Manager at Derby, and he had the system fitted to several engines, working on the heavily graded Settle-Carlisle line in 1886, the air being supplied from the Westinghouse braking system fitted to these locomotives.
The Westinghouse Company raised objections to this use of air from their system, claiming rightly that it could upset the brake, so Holt modified his device and used steam from the boiler instead of air . This system had a marked effect on the whole of British locomotive policy, and was ultimately commercially marketed by Messrs Gresham & Craven. Francis Holt died on January 7, 1893, and John Lane, still Inspector of Boilers, was promoted to fill the vacancy.
Ian R. Winship (Rly Mag. 1987, 133, 162) noted that Holt whilst on the South Staffordshire Railway had experimented with using the cylinders on a steam locomotive to act as the braking mechanism. The trials took place in 1855/6. According to Balkwill & Marshall this differed from the Chatelier system in using cold rather tahn hot water.
John Lane came with Johnson from Stratford to becoame Inspector of Boilers: he started at Derby on 5 August 1873 on a salary of £250 per annum. On the death of Francis Holt he also became Works Manager and his salary was increased to £600 per annum.
Nephew of Matthew Kirtley of the Midland Railway. Marshall states that he was born in Warrington on 14 October 1849 and died in London on 7 October 1919. His father had owned a locomotive manufacturing business in Warrington, but this had failed prior to William's birth. William was a pupil at Derby under his uncle, from April 1854. He held several posts on the Midland, including that of foreman at the Midland depot in King's Cross and from January 1864 Workshops Superintendent at Derby until he was appointed Locomotive Carriage & Wagon Superintendent on the LCDR in succession to Martley. Bradley records that at the Board Meeting on 12 March 1874 four candidates had been considered: two (Appleby and Lindsley were rejected as lacking experience - the other was Sacré), and Kirtley was offered the post at £800 per annum. He designed a powerful 0-4-4T (R class) which Bradley considered to be the best suburban tank engines South of London. This very thorough engineer was a consultant to the Hull & Barnsley Railway between 1883 and 1885..
Webb, Ben: Locomotive Engineers of
the Southern Railway. 1946.
Bradley, D.L.: The locomotive history of
the London Chatham and Dover Railway. London: RCTS, 1979.
Radford: There was Michael Bishop, messenger porter, but previously a driver, who was removed from the footplate for some indiscretion or other which he would never tell about. He deserves to be mentioned because he left behind not only writings on the early locomotives, but many "flamboyant" paintings of the earlier types, and which at one time could be seen in many homes and public houses in the locality of the station at Derby. Many of these were the only records of these locomotives built in these palmy days, but unfortunately few of these are left today. The author himself saw one at the former Midland Railway Institute, but this has now disappeared.
Fernie, John
The first Works Manager (General Foreman) at Derby Works, according to Radford, was a dour Scot, John Fergie who was appointed on 17 April 1853 at a salary of £350 per annum. He had come from Andrew Handyside & Co. of the Britannia Works in Derby. Fernie was responsible during 1858 for setting up a system of templates and gauges based on Whitworth's system.
James Newbould was the first Chief Draughtsman at Derby Works. Radford states that he was "a kindly man who had married "well" by taking the daughter of Kirtley's favourite foreman, William Marlow, as his wife. In these days Mr Newbould had the design responsibility for almost everything, from locomotives and turntables to hydraulic apparatus and water and gas installations.
Mr Newbould is said to have been "microscopical and accurate in all he did, punctilious to a fault", and he eventually became the first secretary of the Midland Railway Institute at Derby. He lived to be 94 years old, and never needed spectacles or an eyeglass, perhaps due to his habit of taking "forty winks" as soon as he got home after the days work, seated in a straight backed chair with his arms entwined round the uprights to prevent him from falling off it. Newbould retired from the post of Chief Draughtsman in January, 1898 having held this position for over 40 years, and his retirement was marked by the presentation of an illuminated address from members of his staff.
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