Electric traction engineers
Agnew, William Alexander
Born in Newton Stewart in 1874 and died on 16 March 1958. Educated
Douglas Academy. Electrical engineering apprenticeship at King, Brown of
Edinburgh whilst studying at Heriot Watt College. Worked on hydro-electric
plant at Foyers on Loch Ness. In 1901 joined Glasgow Corporation Tramways
Department when system was being electrified. Wrote The electric tramcar
handbook for motormen, inspectors and depot workers (Ottley 2228). In
1904 moved to London to become Rolling Stock Superintendent of the Metropolitan
District Railway and became Mechanical Engineer in 1907. In 1921 he beame
Mechanical Engineer (Railways) to the Underground Electric Railways of London.
He was Chief Mechanical Engineer (Railways) in 1928 and continued in this
capacity through the formation of the LPTB until his retirement in 1935.
He was the author of Electric trains (Ottley 3106). Obituary with
portrait in J. Instn. Loco. Engrs., 1958, 48, 150. He was a
very active member of the Institution:
President in 1931: Address (included a
resumé of Weir Report). Also
in Marshall.
Barton, Howard Horatio Charles
Born 1900. Died 22 January 1964. Educated at Marlborough and Pembroke
College, Cambridge. Engineering cadet on London Underground Railways from
1923 and from 1925 became junior rolling stock assistant taking charge of
running maintenance on Bakerloo and Piccadilly Lines. In 1927 he was appointed
Sectional Assistant in charge of the Car Body Section of Acton Works and
this was foIlowed by his appointment as Personal Assistant to Col. E. Graham,
the Assistant Mechanical Engineer at Acton. In 1930 appointed an Assistant
Transportation Superintendent (Traction), Great Indian Peninsula Railway
where he gained wide experience in many aspects of electric traction and
railway operating. When returning to England on home leave in 1936 he visited
Ceylon, Malaya, China, Japan, United States and Canada and was able to see
something of the traction systems in use in Japan and the United States.
In 1938 appointed Assistant Mechanical Engineer (Railways), London Passenger
Transport Board, in which position he was responsible for all heavy electrical
and mechanical maintenance of electric rolling stock. In 1946 joined staff
of Merz and McLellan as Head of their Traction Department where his work
took him to a number of countries, chiefly back to India (this time not merely
to Bombay), to New Zealand, to Nigeria, to Rhodesia with additional visits
to the United States and Canada, to Australia and Belgian Congo, South Africa
and most countries in Europe. Principallv he was engaged on motor project
studies involving comparison of electrification with the alternatives of
steam and diesel as motive power and in these he became something of a specialist
in which his experience of railway operation led him to emphasise the importance
of traffic considerations and where appropriate rationalisation. He was able
always to talk to railwaymen in their own language. As sole or co-author
Barton read a number of papers to learned engineering societies, of which
that in 1956 to the Electricals, entitled The Potentialities of Railway
Elertrification at the Standard Frequency and that on Monorails in
J. Instn Loco Engrs, 1962,
52, 8-59 (Paper 631) attracted considerable attention. In addition
to being Member of Council and of Committees of Institution of Lcomotive
Engineers he was active on Committees of the Mechanicals and Electricals
and was a Member of the Institute of Transport. He also concerned himself
with all matters relating to railway signalling and was an Honorary Member
of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers. His interests were by no
means bounded by the field in which his immediate work lay. Whether as a
hobby or as an extension to his work, he was concerned with cinematography,
electronics, photography and being a special constable. At the time of his
death hc was actively engaged with a co-author in what was hoped to be an
important paper on automatic railways. Obit: J. Instn Loco. Engrs,
1963, 43, 661..
Behn-Eschenburg, Hans
Born in Switzerland on 10 January 1864; died near Zurich on 18 May
1938. Pioneer of high-voltage ac railway electrification; managing director
Maschinfabrik Oerlikon. Studied under H.F. Weber. In 1892 he entered MFO
which was being reorganized under Emil Huber-Stockar. Engaged in development
of transformers and traction machmery. Became chief electrical engineer in
1897. Introduced 3-phase induction motor in 1902. In 1904 introduced a practical
single-phase traction motor used on the Seebach-Wettingen Railway and later,
in 1913, on the Rhaetian, Lotschberg, and other Swiss main lines. 1911 succeeded
Huber-Stockar on the management and in 1913 became managing director.
Borgeaud, Gaston
Author of I. Loco. E. Paper 484.
. See R.A.S. Hennessey
Backtrack, 2012, 26, 176 (error in spelling as
Bordeaud).
Broughall, George
Former consultancy electrical engineer who was recruited to LNWR in
1918 by Cortez-Leigh. Died, and not replaced in 1928.
Broughall, J.A.
Responsible in 1946 for LMS electricity generating stations at Stonebridge
Park, Manchester, Formby and in Derby: Cox
Chronicles of steam.
Bruce, James Graeme
Joined London Transport in 1935, when aged 22: died in 2001. Associated
with the Metadyne rolling stock on the London Underground. See
J. Instn Loco. Engrs Paper No.
542. Author of several books on London Transport railways and on other
aspects of transport, especially in Archive. Author of Tube trains
under London...London Transport. 1977 and Steam to silver. London
Transport. Former covered underground stock; latter sub-surface (Metropolitan
and District. Tube trains under London had a Foreword by A.W.
Manser, former Chief Mechanical Engineer (Railways) to London Transport
in which he acknowledged debt to Agnew and
Graff-Baker. Contributor to literature on transport
history: author of posthumous article on ferries on the River Clyde in
Archive No. 33.
Burke, Dominic
Irish Christian Brother who developed an exhibition line to demonstrate
electric traction in Cork in 1889. The line led to an early involvement of
Charles Merz's skill in electric traction and his business partnership with
William McClellan. See Hennessey:
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 390 ..
Calder, G.S.W.
Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, British Railways Board.
Recruited by Emerson to work on Manchester-Sheffield/Wath
electrification following a break in his engineering training during WW2.
See Chairman's Address to
Railway Division
Carswell, Thomas P.
Patented (17 May 1886) a system for lighting trains by electricity
supplying the current through a third rail. System used on Glasgow City &
District Railway (Queen Street Low Level) between 1886 and 1902. See
Hamilton Ellis The North British
Railway and Jeffrey Wells,
Backtrack, 2011, 25, 182.
Carter, Frederick William
Born in Aston, Birmingham on 16 December 1870; died 29 May 1952. Educated
at Birmingham and Midland Institute and St John’s College, Cambridge,
Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, City and Guilds Engineering College,
South Kensington, 1896–1900; with General Electric Co., Schenectady,
USA, 1900–03; then with British Thomson Houston Co., Ltd, until retirement.
Worked on railway electric traction; papers on magnetic fields in air gaps
of dynamo electric machines, and air-gap coefficients; on design of transformers;
on the repulsion motor; on electric railway engineering in various aspects;
on stability of running of locomotives. Two Proc. Royal Society papers traced
(with difficulty): On the stability of running of locomotives. Proc. R.
Soc. Lond. A December 1, 1928 121, 585-611 and On the action of
a locomotive driving wheel. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A August 3, 1926 112,
151-7. Fellow of Royal Society 1932. Book:
Railway electric traction. London: Edward
Arnold 1922 not in Ottley available on Internet.
See R.A.S. Hennessey Backtrack,
2012, 26, 176.
Chapman, James Russell
Chief Electrical Engineer of Underground Electric Railways from its
formation in April 1902. According to Sherwood
(but misleadingly called "William" in some places) a brilliant American
electrical engineer brought to London by Yerkes.
(with S.B. Fortenbaugh and Z.E. Knapp — the "most brilliant electrical
engineers" in the world at that time — who had gained their experience
on the Chicago transit systems, notably on the Loop) Involved in design of
Lots Road, the Americal-style electricity generating station. Not mentioned
by Duffy. London Transport Museum
assisted with sorting out forenames noting several references in
books by Alan Jackson or Croome
and Jackson. Wolmar
(Subterranean railway) quoting from
Barker and Robbins stated:
"Chapman, in evidence to the committee, claimed that the matter was 'not
a question of engineering or the manufacture of apparatus, it is a question
of the endurance of the passengers. A passenger cannot be handled like a
bullet in a gun."
Cock, C.M.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, and received his technical training
and early experience in Australia at the Melbourne Technical School and with
the Victorian Railways. During WW1 served in the Royal Navy and saw active
service in the Pacific and in the North Sea. On demobilisation in 1919, he
joined the construction staff of Messrs. Merz & McLellan, Consulting
Engineers, in Melbourne, in connection with the electrification of the Melbourne
suburban railways, and a large power project for the Victorian Electricity
Commission. In 1924 he proceeded to India as one of the supervising engineers
of Merz & McLellan on the electrification of the GIPR suburban lines,
and the BBCIR suburban lines, and the main lines of the GIPR to Poona and
Igatpuri. In 1929, when the electrification was completed, he joined the
GIPR Transportation (Operating) Department and held appointments as Distribution
Engineer and Rolling Stock Engineer, before being appointed Traction
Superintendent and later Divisional Superintendent for the area including
Bombay. Between June 1941, and February 1942, he was loaned to the Royal
Indian Navy and served afloat, as Lt. Commander. It became necessary later
in 1942 to recall him to his post as Divisional Superintendent, GIPR, on
account of wartime pressure on the Indian railways.
In 1945 Mr. Cock moved to England and took up the post of Chief Electrical
Engineer to the Southern Railway. On the nationalisation of the railways
in 1948 he was appointed Chief Electrical Engineer to the Railway Executive,
and relinquished this post in 1950 to become General Manager of the Traction
Department of the English Electric Co. Ltd., and a member of the board of
the English Electric Export & Trading Co. Ltd. (J. Instn Loco.
Engrs., 1952, 42, 8:Presidantial biography with portrait).
Bonavia (British Rail: the first
25 years) noted that in May 1948 the BTC had arranged for a joint
British Railways and London Transport Committee, chaired by C.M. Cock, to
be set up to consider the system (or systems) of electrification to be adopted
in future projects, reviewing in particular the conclusions of the Pringle
Committee of 1927 which had proposed direct current at either 1,500 volts
with overhead collection for general use, and 750 volts third rail for certain
areas. The Cock Committee broadly confirmed this, but did not rule out the
possibility of using, as it put it, 'single-phase alternating current at
50 cycles or a lower frequency for secondary lines with light traffic, subject
to the proviso that it is not prejudicial to operation on adjacent lines
equipped with a standard system'. This opened the way for the decision taken
in 1951 to use the short Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham line, which the Midland
Railway had electrified many years ago on the 6,600 volts 25-cycle single-phase
system, as a testing-ground for electrification at the industrial frequency
of 50 cycles (Hz), which seemed to offer important advantages, especially
in cutting down the cost of the distribution network. This system had already
been tried in Hungary as early as 1934 and the SNCF was proceeding to install
it on an important main line in Eastern France. This probably implies that
Rogers gives excessive credence to Riddles involvement in the Lancaster/Morecambe
project. See Locomotive Mag.,
1950, 56, 172.. .
Papers
Motive power for railways. J.
Instn Loco. Engrs., 1952, 42, 281-305. [Presidential
Address]
Electrification at 50 cycles: Mercury arc rectifiers:
Morecambe/Heysham-Lancaster trial about to start. Mentions Aix-les-Bains
to La Roche-sur-Foron in France and even earlier system in Germany (1936)
between Freiberg and Seebrugg. "For various reasons, including economic
consideration, the British Transport Commission has accepted the 15,000 volt
d.c. system as standard for British Railways but the 50 cycles system has
not been ruled out for electrification of secondary lines with light
traffic"
The Deltic locomotive. J. Instn
Loco. Engrs., 1958, 48, 723-57. (Paper No.
591)
Cortez Leigh, Frederick Augustus
Born in Piura, Peru, in March 1873 to an Irish father, Henry Leigh
from County Wexford and Carmen Cortes del Castillo. Educated at the Catholic
Prior Park School in Bath and Manchester University. Appointed Electrical
Engineer on LNWR in 1910 and responsible for electrification from Broad Street
and Euston to Watford (M.C. Reed).
Member of LMS party who visited North America in 1930 and one whom visited
Italy with Hartley and Lemon to inspect its electric railways in June 1931
and concluded that main line electrification could not be justified in Britain.
(Jenkins: Sir Ernest
Lemon). R.A.S. Hennessey: An Inca
at Euston: F.A. Cortez-Leigh. Backtrack, 2012, 26, 455.
Papers
The electrification of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham
Railway. J. Instn Elec. Engrs., 1933, 73, 473-92.
COL. CORTEZ LEIGH, electrical engineer to the London, Midland
and Scottish Railway Co., read a paper to the Institution of Electrical Engineers
on April 6, which attracted a large audience. He described the experience
gained by working the electrical railway between Manchester and Altrincham,
a distance of about nine miles, since it was opened in May 1931. It appears
that notwithstanding the competition of a recently inaugurated express bus
service, the increase in the passenger traffic was 35 per cent. This is
attributed to the greatly accelerated service made possible by electrification
and to the increased comfort of travelling. Another reason is the great success
of the 1,500-volt mercury arc rectifiers, the first used in Great Britain
for railway work, for converting the alternating current supply into direct
current for the railway motors. It looks as if these devices would come into
general use, seeing that the 1,500 volt B.C. system was standardised by the
Pringle Committee in 1927. This will make it easy to merge into a general
scheme of main line electrification later. In the discussion, H.W.H. Richards,
electrical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway, compared the
straight electric drive adopted on this line with the Diesel electric drive
which has been much advocated lately. He calculated that the straight electric
drive takes forty per cent less power. Prof. W. Cramp referred to the wear
of the overhead conductors which are in contact with the pantograph collectors.
It has been found that the wear of the conductors when the wires are oiled
is about six times less than when there is no oil. Sir Josiah Stamp said
that the results obtained on this line have more than fulfilled expectations
(Nature contemporary report via Internet).
Dalziel, James
1876-1947. Chief Electrical Assistant on the Midland Railway. Together
with Josiah Sayers was responsible for high voltage
AC Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham electrification of 1908, and both travelled
with Sir Guy Granet to USA on fact finding mission to discover what to do
with recently acquired LTSR alias C2C. Author of several papers. See
R.A.S. Hennessey. 'Sparks' – the
electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008, 22, 564-9.
Davidson, Robert
Born in 1804 in Aberdeen, and died there in 1894: Scottish inventor
who built the first known electric locomotive in 1837. He was a prosperous
chemist and dyer, and was educated at Marischal College, where he studied
for one year on a scholarship . There he became interested in the new electrical
technologies and from 1837 made small electric motors. Davidson staged an
exhibition of electrical machinery at Edinburgh in 1840, and later at the
Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly in London. Amongst the machines shown were
electrically operated lathes and printing presses. His electric railway
locomotive was tested on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line in 1842. Above
from Wikipedia and John Thomas
Springburn story.
Body, J.H.R. A note on electro-magnetic engines.
Trans Newcomen Soc., 1933,
14, 103-7.
Aspinall, John. President's Address.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs.,
1909, 76, 423.
includes extract from Railway Times 10 April
1842.
Dawson, Sir Philip
Probably born in Paris on 6 October 1866, and died in Berlin on 24
September 1938. Educated at Ghent University (unverifiable Internet source).
Consultant to LBSCR who proposed the 6,600 V high frequency AC overhead
electrification of LBSCR which was not adopted by the Southern Railway. In
Railway mechanical engineering he listed himself as Consulting engineer to
the LBSCR and to the Great Eastern Railway as well as Vice President of the
Commission for the Electrification of Belgian State Railways. Continued to
advocate main line electrification through the 1920s and 1930s.
Duffy fails to give any
biographical information. Author of Electric traction on railways
in Railway Mechanical Engineering
(1923). See also R.A.S. Hennessey.
'Sparks' – the electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008,
22, 564-9 which adds that he became a Conservative MP and that
O.S. Nock was one of his
pupils..
Books (notes supplied by Robert Humm)
Electric Tramways & Railways.
London: Engineering, 1897,
Published by Engineering [the weekly magazine]. A rather grand
quarto production issued in half leather, 677 pages plus ads.Ottley has it
at #2186. Both the Ottley entry and the book itself are styled "entirely
revised and enlarged" which would normally indicate an earlier edition. He
does not believe such an edition exists and that the predecessor must have
been a series of articles in Engineering — which he does not
possess so cannot check. Contents are about two-thirds tramways but it includes
lines such as Liverpool Overhead, City & South London and several foreign
schemes.
Electric Traction On Railways. The Electrician Publishing Co., 1909.
Medium octavo format, 855 pages plus ads. This causes bibliographical
problems. Dawson may have been an electrical wunderkind but he was hopeless
at thinking up snappy titles as there are no less than three works of the
same name: a) the contribution in Modern Electric Practice (1905),
b) the book already referred to, and c) the contribution in Modern Railway
Working (1913). Ottley has the first at #3099 and the third at #2659
but manages to omit the second altogether.
Papers
Mechanical features of electric traction.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1897,
54, 43-123
Dolivo-Dobrowolski, M.
Born in St Petersburg in 1852 and died in Heidelberg on 13 November
1919. Pioneer of 3-phase ac. Studied at Darmstadt, Germany from 1881 to 1884.
Joined Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft, Berlin, in 1884 and pioneered
work on multi-phase ac. Invented the term 'drehstrom' (revolving current)
for 3-phase ac in 1888. Most of the basic principles of 3-phase ac technique
were developed by him. Spent most of his life with AEG, finally as a technical
director. Marshall.
H.M. Le Fleming (Concise
encyclopaedia)..
Douglass, J.
Chief Draughtsman, Electrical Engineer's Department at Horwich Works
on 1 January 1923: moved to London on 1 November 1925..
Warburton. LMS Journal, 2010
(32) 73.
Drumm, James
Clements,
Jeremy and McMahon, Michael. Locomotives of
the GSR. Newtownards: pp. 308-17 present an excellent
summary of the Drumm battery electric railcars which operated Dublin suburban
services between 1932 and 1949. The Drumm element was essentially an improved
battery and the Irish State helped to finance its development. There were
some accidents involved in charging the batteries and the mileages attained
in service were far lower than achieved subsequently by diesel traction.
Brief mention is made by Clement and McMahon of the Scottish experiment with
battery power on the Ballater branch in the 1950s..
Edmondson, Frank
Chief Engineer Manx Electric Railway in 1920s. Graduate of Owen's
College Manchester. Designed and built service locomotive for railway.
See Hennessey Backtrack, 2013,
27, 154.
Emerson, Alexander Hockley
President (1969-70) Institution Locomotive Engineers (Journal,
1969, 59, 5 (portrait facing page). Born at North House, New England,
Peterborough adjacent to the coaling plant. received early training as
Mechanical/ Electrical Premium Apprentice under Sir Nigel Gresley at
Peterborough, Doncaster, South Gosforth (Newcastle) and Grimsby (Immingham)
from 1926 to 1934. In 1935 served as a Senior Draughtsman in the office of
the Chief Electrical Engineer, LNER, King's Cross, first concerned with Outdoor
Machinery, New Works Projects and then on Railway Electrification Schemes.
This included the early reports and technical work for the Liverpool
Street/Shenfield, Manchester/Sheffield/Wath, South Tyneside Electrification
Schemes which were initiated before WW2. During WW2 was seconded to Dukinfield
factory near Manchester as Assistant Resident Engineer (Electrical Engineering)
and returned to the LNER in late 1943 to pursue Electrification Schemes and
other post-war projects which were being planned in the Chief Electrical
Engineer's office. In February 1950 appointed Resident Electrical Engineer,
Manchester, to take charge of the outside erection and supervision of the
building of the Manchester/Sheffield/Wath Electrification and the locomotives
for it. This was followed by his appointment as Electric Traction Engineer,
Manchester, on 17th September 1951, where he remained to complete the
electrification of these lines and set up the maintenance organisation for
this project, and integrated it with the organisations for the Manchester/Bury
and the MSJ&A lines on the London Midland Region. In July 1955 Emerson
moved to Derby to become associated with the main line electrification between
Euston, Manchester and Liverpool, first as Assistant Electrical Engineer
(Modernisation) and following as Electrical Engineer for the London Midland
Region. In 1963 he was appointed Assistant Chief Mechanical & Electrical
Engineer, LM Region, Derby, and in January 1966 Chief Mechanical & Electrical
Engineer, Euston and Derby, succeeding A.E. Robson, the immediate Past-President,
when the latter moved to the British Railways Workshops. See Maintentance
on the move (Chairman's Address, Rly
Div. J., 1970, 1, 3. (RDA 1/70)
Fortenbaugh, S.B.
Singled out by Tim Sherwood in his
biography of Yerkes as a key American electrical engineer in the replacement
of steam traction on the District Railway. Paper on conductor rail measurements
(Trans Am. Inst. Elec. Engrs, 1908, 27, 1215-29.
Graff-Baker, William Sebastian
Born to American (USA) parenets in 1889. Educated at Colet Preparatory
School, St. Paul's School and Cleobury Mortimer College; then attended John
Hopkins University. On return to England he took an electrical course at
the City and Guilds College; then became an Engineering Cadet at Ealing Common
Works of the Metropolitan District Railway. In 1913 he was appointed an assistant
to the Mechanical . Engineer of the District Railway and associated lines
in charge of lifts and escalators, until, in March, 1921 he was made Electrical
and Personal Assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer, being responsible,
in addition, for the equipment of new Rolling Stock. In December, 1921, he
was given charge of all Rolling Stock Depots with the title of Car
Superintendent, and a year later was appointed Assistant Mechanical Engineer,
which post he held until he succeeded W.A. Agnew (President in 1931-32) as
Chief Mechanical Engineer (Railways) to the London Passenger Transport Board
in 1935. From July, 1940, to June, 1941, Mr. Graff-Baker was seconded to
the Ministry of Supply as Deputy-Director-General of Tank Production. He
was a Major in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. Under his direction
Tube rolling stock with underfloor-mounted equipment was introduced and
Metadyne-controlled surface line stock, as well as automatically-controlled
high-speed lifts and the later designs of escalator. J. Instn Loco.
Engrs., 1944, 34, 210 (with portrait). David McKenna in his Management
of design. (Sir Seymour Biscoe Tritton lecture).
J. Instn Loco Engrs., 1966,
56, 318-29 noted that Graff-Baker was Chief Mechanical Engineer
of London Transport between 1935 until his death in 1952. Responsible for
the 1938 tube stock. Design philosophy: 1. Will it work? 2. Is it as simple
as possible? 3. Can it be easily maintained in service? 4. Can it be readily
manufactured? 5. Does it look well? .
Paper Min. Proc. Instn Civil
Engineers, 1933, 236, 82..
Harper, F.A.
Latterly Mechanical Engineer (Electrical) on LMS. within party of
LNER and LMS engineers which visited USA in 1945: photograph taken on Queen
Elizabeth by Cox (Locomotive panorama
V. 2): party (also mentioned in Cox
Chronicles of steam)
Heilmann, Jean Jacques
Developer of steam electric locomotives in 1890s in association with
Charles Brown. Originally envisaged as the
power unit to drive electric motors distributed through the train. The prototype
was named Fusée (Rocket). It ran on bogies, was fitted
with a Lentz-type boiler and produced DC electricity via a dynamo driven
by a two-cylinder compound engine. See
Rutherford's Railway reflections, Backtrack, 1998, 12, 333
and Duffy.
Hopkinson, Edward
Born 28 May 1859. Educated at Owens College and Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, where he was a Fellow. Information from Who Was Who. Worked
in association with his brother John. Both were major innovators on electric
traction. See Hennessey: Backtrack,
2008, 22, 390 for his major contribution to electric
traction.See R.A.S. Hennessey
Backtrack, 2012, 26, 176.
Hopkinson, John
Born 27 July 1849. Educated at Queenwood School, Owens College and
Trinity College, Cambridge. Brilliant mathematician (senior wrangler), but
his greatest contribution was to electrical engineering, and especially to
electric traction. From 1890 he was Professor of electrical engineering at
King's College, London. FRS. He died in a tragic Alpine climbing accident
together with his children. on 27 August 1898. Biography in ODNB by T.H.
Beare revised by S. Hong. Worked in association with his brother
Edward (who is not in ODNB).
See Hennessey: Backtrack, 2008,
22, 390 for his major contribution to electric traction.
Houghton, R.H.
Telegraph Engineer and Chief Electrical Engineer of LBSCR. His father
had served in similar capacity, but prior to major high voltage electrification.
Hennessey: Backtrack, 2011,
25, 6.
Huber-Stockar, Emil
Born Zurich-Reisbach; Switzerland, 15 July 1865; died 9 May 1939.
Trained in mechanical engineering at Federal Polytechnic, Zurich. Later entered
Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO). He visited North America with his friend
Sulzer, returning in 1892. 1892-1911 he progressed through MFO, reaching
the position of general director. During this period he initiated the
experimental single-phase electrification of the Seebach-Wettingen line,
so becoming a pioneer in single-phase traction on railways. In 1903 he was
appointed to a commission to study railway electrification. When the SBB
decided upon electrification in 1912 he was placed in charge of the programme,
and was responsible for the decision to use 15kV at 162/3Hz.
Received honorary doctorate at Zurich, 1925.
Jones, Herbert
Chief Electrical Engineer LSWR, then appointed Chief Electrical Engineer
of the Southern Railway. Retired in 1938. Mentioned by Rutherford in
Backtrack, 2008, 22,
100.
Kando, Kalman von
1869-1931. Kálmán von Kandó was a Hungarian who
worked with Ganz & Co. to develop three phase electric traction which
required twin wired catenary and motive power which could only operate at
a limited number of fixed speeds. Nevertheless, the Valtellina line of the
Rete Adriatica, Italy, employed this system and the Metropolitan Railway
toyed with employing this system on the Circle line! See
R.A.S. Hennessey. 'Sparks' – the
electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008, 22, 564-9 and
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1931,
37, 156 for Metropolitan Vickers contract for equipment for Budapest
to Vienna (i.e. frontier with Austria).
Kennedy, Alexander Blackie William
Born in Stepney, London on 17 March 1847, and died in his Albany (London)
home on 1 November 1928. Educated City of London School, following which
he was a marine apprentice at J. & J. Dudgeon of Millwall. He was Chief
Draughtsman at Palmers of Jarrow on Tyne, then at T.M. Tennant of Leith.
By 1874 he was professor of engineering at University College, London and
was eventually involved in consultancies with Donkin (to work on boilers)
and then with Jenkin. He resigned his professorship in 1889. One of his major
projects was the Waterloo & City Railway which instigated the use of
power cars. He was involved with the conduit system adopted for the tramways
operated by the London County Council. Other projects included the British
Aluminium Company's works at Kinlochleven and the GWR's sole electrification
project: the Hammersmith & City line. He was a consultant to both the
LSWR and LNWR. He was involved in several major committees: the Electrification
of Railways Advisory Committee which reported in July 1921 (this advocated
1500 and 750V DC) and Sir John Pringle's Electrifiaction of Railways Advsory
Committee of 1928 which led to the Weir Report See
R.A.S. Hennessey. 'Sparks' – the
electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008, 22, 564-9.
ODNB biography by E.I. Carlyle revised Graeme
J.N. Gooday.
Knapp, Z.E.
Singled out by Tim Sherwood in his
biography of Yerkes a s a key American electrical engineer in the replacement
of steam traction on the District Railway.
Leonard, Harry Ward
Born 8 February 1861 and died in New York on 18 February 1915 (Wikepedia):
inventor of Ward Leonard control system for electric motors: US Patent 463,802.
See also Duffy (especially
page 46 et seq). Hennessey,
R.A.S. The meta motors: a lost railway technology. Part 1.
Backtrack, 2009, 23, 612..
Lydall, Frank
Worked with Siemens Bros, subsequently Partner with Merz and McLellan.
See R.A.S. Hennessey Backtrack,
2012, 26, 176..
McClellan, William
Partner with Merz. See Hennessey:
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 390 .
McClintock, Sir William
Member of the Weir Committee
McMahon, Peter Valentine
Born 1868; died 1940. Engineer of the City & South London
Railway.
Manser, A.W.
Chief Mechanical Engineer (Railways) London Transport. Major influence
on the adoption of rubber in suspension for rolling stock. In the vote of
thanks to his Presidential Address R.A. Powell noted that his nickname "Joe"
had been bestowed on him by Graff-Baker because of his similarity in appearance
to Joe Stalin. Presidential Address Instn
Loco. Engrs..
Merz, Charles Hesterman
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne into Quaker family on 5 October 1874.
Educated at Bootham School and Armstrong College, Newcastle. Apprenticed
to the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Co. (NESCO) and at Robey's of
Lincoln. As a young man working in Cork he showed that by diversity between
lighting and traction rhe magnitude of the total load would be reduced. This
led to the North East Coast grid and to electrification of the North Tyneside
lines of the North Eastern Railway, and to the Shildon to Newport
electrification. Died in a WW2 air raid at his home in Kensington on 14/15
October 1940. See ODNB entry by R.A.S.
Redmayne revised by Albert Snow. Creator of the National Grid and major
contributor to the development of railway electric traction in Britain, and
more especially throughout the world in association with William McClellan.
See Hennessey: Backtrack, 2008,
22, 390 :
Neele, Charles Wooward
1866-1936: obituary available from IEE electrtonic scriptorium at
a price. Last Electrical engineer Great Central Railway:
see Backtrack, 2012, 26, 720.
Nelson, George Horatio
Born in Islington, London on 26 October 1887. Educated at Finsbury
Technical College. Major electrical engineer and industrialist. He won a
Mitchell Exhibition and a Brush Studentship, becoming a premium apprentice
at Brush's Loughborough works. At 22 he was made chief outside engineer.
Appointed Managing Director of English Electric in 1930. Eventually became
Lord Nelson of Stafford in 1960. Died at his Stafford works on 16 July 1962.
ODNB entry by C.S. Nichols and
Rutherford article in Bactrack,
2008, 22, 100.
Öfverholm
S.B. Warder called him the "Churchward of Swedish electrification"
at the end of Erik Upmark's Sir Seymour Biscoe Tritton Lecture:
J. Instn Loco.
Engrs, 1958, 48,
42-3.
Parker, Thomas
Born in Coalbrookdale on 22 December 1843. Worked for Coalbrookdale
Co. and by 1867 was its manager and chemist. Patented an accumulator. Eventually
established his own company in Wolverhampton which manufactured electric
automobiles and electric locomotives including ones for gold mines in South
Africa, one in 1895 for the Kinleith Paper Mill at Currie to connect with
the Balerno Branch, and one for a hospital railway at Cheddleton in
Staffordshire. He was consultsant to the Metropolitan Railway and influenced
the choice of electric locomotives used for the longer distance services.
He moved to London in about 1899 but returned to Coalbrookdale in 1908 when
he retired. He died on 5 December 1915. Mainly from Grace's Guide
(online), but see also article by Hennessey
in Backtrack, 2013, 27, 154 and
Railway Wld, 1958, 19,
84
Parshall, Horace Field
Born in Milford, USA on 9 September 1865, died Bayonne on 12 December
1932 following surgery. Educated Cornell and Lehigh Universities; DSc from
Tufts College. Associate of Thomas Edison and worked for the General Electric
Co. In 1893 he moved to London to operate as a consultant to the electricity
generating and tramway industries. Author of papers on railway electrification
and standard works on electricity generation and transmission (many available
in electronic form). Designer of the three-phase rotary converter system
for the Central London Railway, being the first of its kind. Chairman of
the Central London Railway; designer of the Lancashire Electric Power
Installation; Chairman of the Lancashire Electric Power Company. (Who
Was Who; Times obituary)
Raworth, Alfred
Alfred Raworth was the son of John Smith Raworth, consulting electrical
engineer to the British Electric Traction Company and one of the pioneers
of Britain's electrical industry. He held a large number of patents relating
to the generation, distribution and utilization of electricity. Alfred Raworth
was educated at St. Aubyn's, Lowestoft and Dulwich College, and then served
apprenticeships with Browett, Lindley & Co. Ltd. of Patricroft, Manchester,
and the Brush Electrical Engineering Co., Loughborough. From 1903 to 1912
he acted as assistant to his father and showed himself to have a fertile
engineering brain, designing new equipment such as regenerative braking circuits
and stepless traction controllers. In March 1912 he was appointed chief assistant
to Herbert Jones, chief electrical engineer of the London & South Western
Railway and he helped to prepare a report to the directors on the electrification
of a substantial section of the company's suburban system.
Raworth, however, who had been intimately concerned with the project
was no longer around to witness the opening as he had joined the Royal Naval
Air Service and was commissioned as Lieutenant, RNVR. In February 1918, on
Walker's recommendation, the SECR obtained his release from the RNAS and
appointed him its electrical engineer.
The SECR had obtained powers for electrification as early as 1903,
at the same time as the GER, but like the latter company made no attempt
to implement any plans. Lack of capital and also doubts that any major economies
could, in fact, be made by electrification saw the idea in abeyance until
1912 when a report was commissioned from the Newcastle firm of consulting
electrical engineers, Merz & McLellan. Their report was issued the following
year and recommended a system of 1,500V dc using either overhead or third
rail collection. In the meantime the neighbouring LBSCR had begun overhead
electrification on an ac system of 6,600V at 25 Hertz and the view was held
by some on the SECR that the Brighton system should be adopted. All of these
ideas were shelved with the onset of WW1.but following the appointment of
Raworth the whole field was opened up again and after the Armistice he was
sent to the USA for three months to study the various electric railways and
equipment in operation.
His proposals were contained in a report to the SECR dated October
1919. Three stages were contemplated: firstly 94 route miles of London
inner-suburban lines — to be operated by EMUs, secondly, main line
extensions to Gillingham, Tonbridge, Oxted, Redhill and Dorking also using
EMUs and finally the replacement of freight and main line steam-hauled trains
by the use of electric locomotives in the electrified zone. The final total
was envisaged as 241 route miles.
Raworth's distribution scheme, however, was novel and most ingenious.
A company-owned generating station was proposed at Angerstein Wharf , Charlton
and power would be supplied at 3,000V dc. Four rails would be used, as on
the London underground lines, but on Raworth's system the central conductor
rail would be fed at -1,500V dc and the side conductor rail at +1,500V dc,
the return being through the running rails. This method of feeding current
(known as 3-wire distribution) used much lighter feeder cables and thus saved
on copper. With this system only one substation would be needed for the
inner-suburban electrification (instead of 26 for an equivalent 600V LSWR
arrangement) and only four would have been required for the complete project.
Stray leakage currents to earth, which were a potential problem with
telecommunications and scientific instruments (such as those at Greenwich
observatory), were thought to be negligible because the opposite polarities
of the conductor rails would cause them to cancel out. The LYR 1,200V dc
third rail Manchester-Bury line was investigated and the permanent way staff
interviewed. It was found that with side contact and protected rails the
high voltage was neither a danger nor caused extra maintenance problems.
Each EMU set was to have two 1,500V motors, one collecting from the positive
conductor and the other from the negative.
However ingenious Raworth's plan and however much cheaper it would
have been there were already many other influences around to thwart any 'best
option' solution. In March 1920, the Ministry of Transport appointed an
Electrification of Raliways Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of
Alexander Kennedy. Its brief vas to study the existing electrified railways
nd schemes in hand and to recommend a uni ormity of approach. There were
also the future railway amalgamations on the horizon and following the passing
of the Railways Act rf 19th August 1921, negotiations were commenced between
the various constituent companies. An Electricity Act of 1919 had made compulsory
approval by the Electricity Commissioners of any scheme for a generating
tation. There was a great body of opinion in and out of the electrical industry
that a national grid was necessary and that electricity users should purchase
their energy requirements from suppliers rather than building their own
specialist power stations.
The Angerstein Wharf project was rejected in 1922 and with amalgamation
approaching, the LSWR became hostile to the proposed SECR system; the prospect
of three completely different systems on the future Southern Railway filled
the provisional management committee with a good deal of unease. The BoT
Electrification Committee had come down in favour of 750V or 1,500V dc for
all future lectrification schemes (either third-rail or overhead). Once the
Southern Railway was in being, one of the first decisions made by the board
was to electrify the SECR suburban lines on the LSWR system, ie 600V dc third
rail.
Raworth, no doubt, learned a great lesson from these events –
that engineering perfection may have to give way to pragmatism, compromise
and the acceptance of managerial decisions based on non-technical parameters,
he soon set about making the best of things under the new company he became
once again deputy of Herbert Jones who had been made chief electrical engineer
of the Southern. After completion of the electrification of the ex SECR suburban
lines in 1925, Raworth's new title became 'electrical engineer for
new vorks' and for the rest of his career he organized and guided the extending
web of the Southern's electrified lines as laid down by the overall policy
of the general manager and the board of directors.
Sean Day-Lewis Bulleid: last giant of
steam (pp. 129-30) calls Raworth a "dry, witty, testy and irritable
man".
Patents.
Tayler, A.T.H. 600/750V
DC electric and electro-diesel locomotives of the Southern Railway and its
successors. Trans. Newcomen Soc., 1996, 68,
231-65.
Ellson, George
discussion on Cox, E.S. Balancing of locomotive
reciprocating parts. J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1943, 33, 219-220.
(Paper No. 432)
Chief Engineer, Southern Railway, commented upon
the Merchant Navy class which had been designed without balance weights and
to experiments conducted on the a member of the two-cylinder H15 class from
which the balance weights had been removed. He also commented upon Raworth's
electric locomotive and on electric multiple units..
Not in Marshall
Raworth, Arthur Basil
Raworth, John Ernest
Raworth, John Smith
Duffy (page 83) notes
that John S. Raworth of Raworth's Traction Patents was a major influence
on the design of both the initial Metropolitan Railway locomotives supplied
in 1906 and the subsequent series supplied in 1922.and that this influenced
Southern Railway electric traction design under Alfred Raworth. IET website
notes that career began in the works and drawing offices of R. & W. Hawthorn
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Wren & Hopkinson of Manchester. In the late
1870s and early 1880s he represented Siemens Bros. in Manchester. He moved
to London in 1886 joining Brush Electrical Engineering in a senior position.
He died on 24 March 1917 aged 71.
Raworth patents (where AR=Alfred; AB=Arthur Basil; JE=John Ernest and JS=John sMith
473,180 Improvements in control systems for
electric motors. AR with English Electric. Published 4 October
1937
473,179 Improvements in control systems for electric motors.
AR with English Electric. Published 4 October 1937
473,137 Improvements in control systems for electric motors.
AR with English Electric. Published 4 October 1937
141,488 Improvements in the regenerative control of electrically
propelled vehicles or trains. AR. Applied 26 March 1919. Published 22
April 1920
19541/1911 Improvements in or in connection with the propulsion
of cycles. AR. Published 16 May 1912
17875/1910 Improvements in or relating to rotary pumps. JSR
with Thomas Browett. Published 27 April 1911.
21363/1907 Improvements in or in connection with the control of
electric motors. JSR and ABR. Published 9 July 1908
12443/1907 Improvements relating to the regulation or control of
electric motors. JSR and AR. Applied 29 May 1907. Published 28 May 1908
24923/1906 Improvements in or in connection with the control of
the electric circuits in systems of electric traction or haulage. JSR.
Published 6 February 1908
23075/1906 Improvements in controllers for electrically propelled
vehicles. JSR and AR. Applied 18 October 1906. Published 28 February
1907
15115/1906 Improvements in or connected with revolution counters.
JER. Published 28 March 1907
11238/1906 Improvements in induction motors. JER. Published
25 April 1907
1830/1906 Improvements in connection with the control of the electric
circuits in systems of electric traction. AR. Applied 24 January 1906.
Published 3 May 1906
24810/1905 Improvements in the electrical control and propulsion
of vehicles or trains of vehicles. JSR and ABR. Published 29 November
1906.
14630/1905 Improvements in controllers for electrically propelled
vehicles. JSR. Published 12 July 1906.
11614/1905 Improvements in or relating to controlling devices for
use in the electrical propulsion of vehicles or trains of vehicles. JSR
Published 19 April 1906
19751/1904 Improvements in or relating to motor propelled
vehicles. JSR. Published 13 July 1905
17975/1904 Improvements in the control of electrically propelled
vehicles. JSR. Published 18 August 1905
9565/1904 Improvements in electric tramway or railway vehicles.
JSR. Published 23 February 1905.
716/1904 Improvements in and relating to the control and propulsion
of vehicles propelled by electric motors. JSR. Published 31 December
1904
22901/1903 Improvements in or relating to means or apparatus suitable
for actuating and holding steering, braking, reversing, lifting and regulating
mechanism. JSR. Published 29 September 1904
22551/1903 Improvements in or relating to electric motors and
controlling devices for use in the electrical propulsion of vehicles or trains
of vehicles. JSR. Published 6 October 1904
10723/1903 Improvements in the control of electrically propelled
vehicles. JSR. Published 31 March 1904
5494/1903 Improvements in electric motors and regulating devices
for railway trains or vehicles actuated by electrical energy. JSR. Published
9 March 1904
3658/1903 Improvements in the motors and regulating devices for
electrically propelled vehicles. JSR. Published 11 February 1904
3657/1903 Improvements in regulating devices for electrically propelled
vehicles. JSR. Published 11 February 1904
2192/1903 Improvements in electrically propelled tramcars.
JSR. Published 28 January 1904
11911/1896 Improvements in connecting rods. JSR. Published
22 May 1897
8237/1896 Apparatus for indicating and recording variations in
the angular velocity or rotating bodies. JSR. Published 13 March 1897
24751/1895 Improvements in steam engines. JSR. Published 18
April 1896
19664/1895 Improvements in packing rings suitable for engine and
other pistons, buckets and valves for pumps and compressors, and for other
purposes. JSR. Published 12 September 1896
18972/1895 Improvements in steam engines. JSR. Published 5
September 1896
4442/1895 Improvements in steam engines. JSR. Published 25
February 1896
3506/1895 Improvements in steam turbines. JSR. Published
4 January 1896
3504/1895 Improvements in automatic expansion governors. JSR.
Published 21 December 1895
12476/1894 Improved system of switching and regulating apparatus
for central stations for the generation and distribution of electrical
energy. JSR. Published 8 June 1895
5913/1894 Improvements in alternating current generators. JSR.
Published 26 January 1895
1243/1894 Improvements in friction gearing. JSR. Published
8 December 1894
1242/1894 Improvements in or relating to steam turbines. JSR.
Published 3 November 1894
84/1894 Improvements in reduction gearing for steam turbines.
JSR. Published 10 November 1894
25090/1893 Improvements in the regulation and expansion of steam
in steam turbines. JSR. Published 3 November 1894
25086/1893 Improvements in the construction of steam turbines.
JSR. Published 17 November 1894
18170/1893 Improvements in electrical contacts. JSR. Published
28 October 1893.
17999/1893 Improvements in steam traps. JSR and William Geipel.
Published 28 July 1894
11384/1893 Improved method of and apparatus for regulating the
electro-motive force of electric generators. JSR. Published 14 April
1894.
Richards, Henry Walter Huntingford
Electrical enginer of the LNER: recruited from the Southern Railway
in 1924. Had George Stephenson Gold Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers
and the Webb Prize. Had previously been employed by LBSCR whre he had been
involved in 6.6kV AC electrification. Involved with Manchester Sheffield
Wath electrification. After Thompson replaced Gresley, Richards became Chief
Electrical Engineer of the LNER. Hughes:
LNER Photograph of him on Queen Elizabeth en route to/from
visit to USA in 1945 in Cox Locomotive panorama
2. Bonavia A history of
the LNER. V. 3 p. suggests that his report led to the late LNER proposal
that diesel electric traction should be evaluated on the Edinburgh to London
service.
Paper
Primary considerations relating to steam, electric, and diesel-electric traction.
Min. Proc. Instn Civ. Engrs.,
1933, 236, 23-81. (Paper 4908).
Sayers, Josiah
Telegraph Superintendent of Midland Railway and co-instigator of
Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham electrification with James
Dalziel. See R.A.S. Hennessey. 'Sparks'
– the electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008, 22,
564-9.
Siemens, Ernst Werner von
Born in Lenthe near Hanover on 13 December 1816 and died in Berlin
on 6 December 1892. Educated at Gymnasium in Lübeck. Improver of telegraphy
including invention of duplex system and gutta percha insulation for long
distance cables. Improvements to dynamo and first parctical electric railway
demonstrated at Berlin Trades Exhibition in 1879. Worked with his brother
William. Biography in Marshall.
Hugh M. Le Fleming in P.
Ransome-Wallis, Concise encylopedia of world railway locomotives
(1959)
Siemens, Charles William [Karl Wilhelm]
Born in Lenthe near Hanover on 4 April 1823 and died in London on
19 November 1883. Educated at Gymnasium in Lübeck and Göttingen
University. Went to United Kingdom in 1843 to introduce electro-plating (a
joint invention with his elder brother Ernst) at Elkington & Mason in
Birmingham. He returned in 1844 with another joint invention, the chromatic
governor, installed in the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. He remained in
Britain and in 1858 established Siemens Bros. for manufacturing cables,
electrical instruments and machinery. He developed the Siemens-Martin method
of steel making using a regenerative gas furnace with Pierre Emile Martin.
He took a prominent part in the generation, transmission and exploitatioin
of electricity for lighting and traction, including on the Portrush &
Giants Cuaseway Tramway. Biography in
Marshall.. ODNB entry by H.T. Wood revised
by Brian Bowers which notes that he was a "born inventor" and a "shrewd
and capable man of business". President of the IMechE. His IMechE. obituary
(Proc., 1884, 35, 69-71) lists the following papers: Regenerative
Condenser, 1851 ; Expansion of Isolated Steam, and Total Heat of Steam, 1852;
Pendulum Chronometric Governor, 1853; Screw and Spiral Water-Metere, 1854
and 1856; Regenerative Furnace, 1857; Covering Telegraph Wires with India-rubber,
1860; Regenerative Gas Furnace, 1862; Liquid Chronometric Governor, 1866
; Presidential Address, 1872; High-pressure Vessels, 1878 in addition to
those listed below.
Papers
On Le Chatelier's plan of using counter-pressure steam as a break
[sic] in locomotive engines. Proc.
Instn Mech. Engrs., 1870, 21, 21-36. Disc.: 37-59 + Plates
1-5.
On a steam jet for exhausting air etc. and the results of its application.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs.,
1872, 23, 97-110. Disc. 110-17 + Plates 13-20. 20 diagrs.
Sprague, Frank Julian
Born in Milford (Connecticut) on 25 July 1857 and died in New York
on 25 October 1934 (Marshall). Inventor
of control system for multiple-units, and control systems for lifts.
See also Duffy
Sprague was one of the early developers of electric motors and electric traction.
His unflagging spirit and courage both as an inventor and as a financial
manager had much to do with the successful development and operation of the
electric trolley, the constant speed motor, the multiple unit, regenerative
and remote control systems, and considerable equipment for elevator operation.
Sprague early demonstrated his financial ability borrowing money to attend
the United States Naval Academy. It was while attending the Academy that
the telephone was invented and his interest was aroused in things mechanical
and electrical. He carried on experiments in his free time, and in 1885 he
resigned from the Navy and began his career as an electrical engineer, assisting
Edison for one year. During this time he devised a mathematical system for
determining the characteristics of central station distribution of electricity.
Then he established his own enterprise, the Sprague Electric Railway and
Motor Company, and immediately began the application of motors to all kinds
of stationary work, equipping the first electrically trained gun on the S.S.
Chicago. In 1887 he undertook a contact with the City of Richmond
to plan, finance, and put into operation a street railway, the first successful
system to be operated. Within two years his firm had received more than a
hundred contracts for similar work all over the USA, and in Italy and Germany
as well.
Among Sprague's achievements are the introduction of electric high speed
and home elevators — in 1892 he formed the Sprague Electric Elevator
Co., which became part of the Otis Elevator Co. — the development of
the automatic signalling and brake train control systems, and the invention
of the method for operating elevators on the same rails in a common shaft.
He took a keen interest in electrical traction in general, advocating underground
rapid transit through the whole period of its development in New York City,
and serving on the Grand Central Electrification Commission for the
electrification of railways. Sprague was also a pioneer in design and production
of miniature electric power units suitable for machine tools, printing presses,
dentist's drills, and labor-saving conveniences in the home.
Sprague was fairly active in the American Institute for Electric Engineers
(AIEE), serving at various times as committeeman, and as vice president in
1890-92. He represented the AIEE and the Inventors Guild on the U.S. Navy
Consulting Board, and was engaged in developing fuses and air and depth bombs
during World War I. He was a member of many technical societies, president
of the New York Electrical Society, the American Institute of Consulting
Engineers, and the Inventors Guild, and the recipient of many awards. He
received the Edison Medal in 1909, "For meritorious achievement in electrical
science, engineering and arts as exemplified in his contributions hereto."
Mainly from IEEE website.
See also Sprague's own paper:
Sprague, Frank J. The genesis
of multiple-unit system of electric train control. Trans. Newcomen Soc.,
1932, 13, 117.
Swift, H.H.
Assistant to Richards, Electric Engineer of the LNER where involved
in both Manchester to Sheffield and Liverpool Street to Shenfield
electrifications (Moody).. Previously with
English Electric. After Nationalization rose to become Chief Mechanical &
Electrical Engineer of the Southern Region.
Hughes LNER.. Also authorized
rebuilding of Bulleid Pacifics. (Geoffrey
Hughes: letter Backtrack, 1997, 11, 688).
Thury, René
Born in Switzerland on 7 August 1860; died 23 April 1938. In 1884
built an experimental rack railway in Territet, a suburb of Montreux, to
connect a hotel, several hundred feet up the mountain slope, with the town.
Went to the United States where he worked for T.A.Edison. He was known for
his work with high voltage direct current electricity transmission and this
led to him being known in the professional world as the "King of DC". He
was responsible for many inventions in electrical engineering, especially
those concerned with the series coupling of electric motors. For many years
he worked at Dick, Kerr & Co.
Le Fleming in Ransome-Wallis
Concise encyclopedia (1959) and Wikipedia (2012-11-07)
Traill, William Atcheson
With his brother Dr Anthony Traill, and the
Hopkinsons responsible for developing the early
electric Giant's Cuaseway Railway near Portrush in Ireland.
See article by Vickers, Backtrack,
2003, 17, 635. and ODNB entry also by Vickers, and ODNB entry
for Anthony Traill by E.J. Gwynn revised by C. Curthoys. William was born
at Bushmills in 1844 and died there on 5 July 1933
(Marshall states 6 July and Portstewart).
He was a geologist and joined the Geological Survey of Ireland in 1868. Anthony
was born at Ballylough on 1 November 1838 and was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin. He eventually became Provost of Trinity College where he died on
15 October 1914. In 1912 William conducted a party of engineers over the
Giant's Causeway Railway: Proc.
Instn Mech. Engrs, 1912, 83, 809..
Trench, A.H.C.
Rly Mag., 1927, 61, 496/7 notes that appointed an Inspecting
Officer of Railways. Educated at Charterhouse and Royal Military Academy
Woolwich. Commissioned in Royal Engineers in 1903. In 1911 appointed Assistant
Electrical Engineer at the Delhi Durbar. Photograph p. 497. Secretary
to the Weir Committee: Colonel: Inspecting Officer accident reports c1936-c1950:
related to Chief Engineer of LMS?
Uebelacker, C.F.
Paper entitled The selection of rolling stock appeared in special
issue on electric railways of Cassier's Magazine in August
1899..
Upmark, Erik
Director General of the Swedish State Railways and presenter of the
Sir Seymour Biscoe Tritton Lecture: Development of electric traction in Sweden
and its influence on rolling stock.
J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1958,
48, 20-
Volk, Magnus
Born in Brighton on 19 October 1851; died in Brighton on 20 May 1937.
Builder of the first electric railway in Britain. Son of a German clock maker.
Began in his father's workshop, continuing it himself when his father died
in 1865. In 1881 he was awarded a gold medal for a street fire alarm and
in 1882 he equipped his house with the first telephone and first electric
light in Brighton. In 1883 he installed electric light in the Brighton Pavilion
and built a 2ft gauge electric railway along the beach using a Siemens dynamo
and a 2hp Crossley gas engine. The first section opened on 4 August 1883,
eight weeks before the Portrush-Giant's Causeway Tramway in Ireland. In 1884
the gauge was changed to 2ft 9in and the line was extended and reopened on
4 April 1884. His most extraordinary venture was the Brighton & Rottingdean
Seashore Electric Tramroad with a car like a ship on long legs which ran
through the sea at high water. The line was about 2¼ miles long and
ran from 28 November 1896 to January 1901. An attempt to extend the Brighton
Electric Railway to Rottingdean in 1902 failed for lack of capital. Alan
A. Jackson, VoIk's Electric Railway, Brighton, 1883-1964. 1964. (Ottley
1420). Marshall.
Skelsey. 'England's Edison': Magnus Volk
and his electric railways. Backtrack, 2013, 27, 86. (picture
of Volk on page 86).
Warder, Stanley Bernard
Warder received his technical training at the University of London,
and served his apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering with Johnson and
Phillips, Charlton, after which he gained further experience with the British
General Electric Company and the Swedish General Electric Company in handling
contracts for railway eIectrification at home and abroad. He joined the former
Southern Railway in 1936 as Technical Assistant to the Electrical Engineer
for New Works, and was appointed New Works Assistant to the Chief Electrical
Engineer in 1943 in which capacity he was concerned primarily with plans
for the development and reconstruction of the electrified system. In 1946
he was a member of the four man delegation sent by the Southern Railway to
North America to examine diesel traction (Bulleid
on Bulleid). In 1947 Warder was appointed Assistant to the Chief Electrical
Engineer. On nationalisation in January 1948, he became Electrical Engineer,
Southern Region, and in October 1949, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer
for the same Region. He was appointed Chief Officer (Electrical Engineering),
Railway Executive Headquarters in 1950, and following the abolition of the
Railway Executive in 1953, became Chief Electrical Engineer, British Railways
Central Staff, British Transport Commission.
See Locomotive Mag., 1950,
56, 172..
He contributed many papers on Electric Traction subjects to the proceedings
of professional Institutions, as well as to the technical Press. Awards received
are the following:- 1950/51 The Institution of Locomotive Engineers Award
for his Paper “Electric Traction Prospects for British Railways”.
1961 /62 The Institution of Locomotive Engineers’ Frederick Harvey
Trevithick Award for his Paper “Progress of 50-cycle Traction on British
Railways”. April 1962 Society of Engineers Premium for his Paper
“Railway Electrification at Industrial Frequency”. May 1962 The
Institution of Civil Engineers Award of the Telford Gold Medal for his Paper
“Electric Traction in the British Railways Modernization Plan”.
Mr. Warder took a major part in the A.C. Electrification Conference, 1960
and made visits to countries overseas, including America, Canada and India,
to study and report on Electrical Engineering developments. Warder served
on various outside committees and councils, as follows: Electrical Research
Association :- Council, Finance & General Purposes Divn. 6-Industrial
Applications Committee, Committee. Permanent Member of Conference Internationale
des Grands Reseaux Electriques. Also, Committee 19-Influence of A.C. Electrified
Railways on Power Transmission Lines. International Union of Railways-U.I.C.
Vth Commission Committee of Heads of Departments. British Standards Institution:
– Electrical Industry Standards Committee, Committee, International
Electrotechnical Commission. Mechanical Industry Standards British National
Committee of the Mr. Warder was elected a Member of the Institution of Locomotive
Engineers in 1949 and was elected a Member of Council in 1951. He had been
a Vice-President since 1957.
Pearson Man of the rail (p. 150)
noted that Warder, who had the senior professional post in his field
in British Railways, was a sturdy man of about middle height with a florid
face He loved his job and thoroughly enjoyed doing big things and being
important. The 'I.s' in his memoranda were numerous, and he never attempted
to conceal his egoism. I always found him easy to get on with; but he did
not like the general staff idea. He had many battles to fight, and he used
his electrical engineering jargon to good effect in beating off opposition.
His actual costs often soared beyond the estimates for his projects and he
was constantly having to explain increases. He and I struggled with more
than one report on this aspect. But he weathered all the storms and managed
to come up smiling. He was a likeable man.
Weir, William Douglas
Born on 12 May 1877 in Glasgow, the eldest of three children of James
Weir (1843–1920) who with his brother George had in 1873 founded a marine
engineering and maintenance company. James patented several inventions (including
the Weir feed-pump), which in 1886 the brothers began to manufacture in a
machine shop and smithy at Cathcart near Glasgow. These premises were developed
into the Holm Foundry, and the business of G. and J. Weir was formed into
a limited liability company in 1895. William Douglas was educated at Allan
Glen's School and at Glasgow High School. At sixteen he entered an apprenticeship
in the family business. He was successively director (1898), managing director
(1902–15), and chairman (1910–53) of G. and J. Weir. He was made
Viscount Weir in 1938 (presumably in association with the Glasgow Exhibition
of that year). He was an administrator in both World Wars and chaired the
Weir Committee on railway electrification, prior to which he had chaired
a Committee which led to the formation of the National Grid in 1925. The
Weir Committee on railway electrification reported in 1931: the other members
were Wedgwood of the LNER and Sir William
McLintock. . He died on 2 July 1959, at Eastwood Park, Giffnock in greater
Glasgow. The bare bones of this entry came from an
ODNB biography by Richard Davenport-Hines,
who does not mention either railway electrification or the Glasgow Exhibition.
See also R.A.S. Hennessey. 'Sparks' –
the electrical consultants. Backtrack, 2008, 22, 564-9.
The ODNB should consult Hennessey's work and other literature to produce
a more balanced entry..
2012-11-08