Full Page Photo
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A DUKE Martyn J. McGinty AuthorHouse™ UK Ltd. 500 Avebury Boulevard Central Milton Keynes, MK9 2BE www.authorhouse.co.uk Phone: 08001974150 © 2011. Martyn J. McGinty. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. First published by AuthorHouse 04/25/2011 ISBN: 978-1-4567-7794-4 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-4567-7795-1 (hc) ISBN: 978-1-4567-7796-8 (e) Front Cover Photo: Th e Duke at Didcot (Courtesy P. Treloar) Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Th inkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only. Certain stock imagery © Th inkstock. Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Th e views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them. Born out of Tragedy and Riddles, his lineage traceable, unerasable, back through the great houses of Chapelon, Giffard, Stephenson, Belpaire and Watt, the Duke was laid to rust by the sea, a few meagre miles from the mills that shaped the steel that formed the frames that bore the machine that Crewe built. Time passed and the Duke was made well again by kindly strangers. “Crewe, Crewe where were you in my hour of want and rue?” sighed the Duke, returned from exile, among friends, embarrassing Harrison, Derby and the Jonahs to boot, for his hour had finally come. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although strenuous attempts have been made to identify and contact those with copyright to the artwork in this publication, in some instances these eff orts failed. In these cases if such individuals or establishments to whom the photographs are attributed recognise their work, I would very much welcome communication via e-mail: [email protected] In addition, I would especially like to thank Ron Mitchell, Graham and Keith Collier, Peter King and Peter Kenyon for their generous assistance with technical, historical, anecdotal and photographic content. For the computer-graphics contribution to the dust-jacket my thanks are due to James Hitchcock Lastly, I cannot adequately thank my long-suff ering wife Jessica without whose computer and typing skills this book would have fallen by the wayside. vi Contents Acknowledgements vi Prologue ix Introduction xi Creation 1 Use, abuse & disuse 37 Illustrations 45-54 Th e whys and wherefores of restoration 55 Rescue and rebirth 65 Re-creation 75 Th e improvements 83 A retrospective 90 Epilogue 98 Bibliography 103 Author’s note 105 vii Prologue In 1952 one of the most serious rail crashes in this country occurred in Harrow and Wealdstone station. I will not dwell on the horror of the incident – it has already been well documented. (Ghouls may wish to refer to Rolt or Nock.) Although I wasn’t there, I was at an impressionable age and I still fi nd it distressing to contemplate. Th ere is, however, one aspect of the event which is relevant. Two of the four locomotives involved were damaged beyond viable repair at a time when designs for a replacement fl eet of standardised locomotives were being drawn up by R. A. Riddles and his team. Authority was sought and granted to replace one of them (46202 Princess Anne) with a similar unit of comparable power classifi cation (8P). Come the hour, cometh the man: this was to be Riddles’ magnum opus, but, as we shall see (through no fault of the designer) it was inherently fl awed and eventually laid aside in 1962, much to my personal and intense disappointment. From the moment I had seen this locomotive mentioned in a 1956 Ian Allan ABC I was hooked. It was powerful, elegant and, above all, unique. I determined there and then that, living in Bath, the best way to get to see it would be to visit Euston whenever possible. Th is of course led to an exponential and irresistible expansion of my new interest in railways and of my horizons: in a couple of years I knew London better than I knew nearby Bristol and, equipped with a loco-shed directory, was wandering the length and breadth of the country………… Oh happy days! I saw the Duke several times at Euston and Camden and did not realise, in my naïve admiration, what a trial it must have been for the fi remen who struggled with its intransigence. So push came to shove, the scent of diesel was on the wind, and after a mere eight years ‘71K’ was cast aside, like a pair of old shoes, plundered for the laces. Years passed and for a while I became absorbed in more pressing matters – earning a living, putting a roof over my head and so forth. I ix heard about Barry scrap-yard and Dai Woodham but, like so many others, thought that things had gone too far with 71000. However, a small group of determined and far-sighted people shared a dream: to rescue, restore and possibly perfect this machine. Th is is the story of the fulfi lment of that lofty ambition: ‘Th e Impossible Dream’. x Introduction Before attacking the subject proper it is probably valuable to provide some insight into the mind and character of the designer, R. A. Riddles. His biographer, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, probably knew him as well as anybody, and this section draws heavily on his reminiscences of, and association with, Riddles. I have made considerable eff orts to discover details of Riddles’ early life (family, schooling and the like) but have been unable to glean anything certain. I admit that my endeavours have not been exhaustive but there again this is not intended to be a biography. On the whole though, one gets the strong impression that he was a rather private man who kept his home life very separate from his work and indeed why should he not? As a close friend of Riddles, Col. Rogers makes no mention of such matters at all and therefore I have inferred that this was Riddles’ wish. Accordingly, I have ceased probing and will leave things as they are. His training and practical experience started in 1909 with a premium apprenticeship at Crewe on the London & North Western Railway. Bowen- Cooke had just replaced George Whale as Chief Mechanical Engineer (to the chagrin of Richard Trevithick, the other candidate for the post, who then went to Wolverhampton). Bowen-Cooke was soon promoted and replaced by W. W. H. Warneford, who was impressed with Riddles and gave him much encouragement. Such kindly interest no doubt helped him to accept the eleven and threequarter-hour days, the unpaid evening classes from 7 – 9 and the scant remuneration of 4 shillings per week – the equivalent of about £50 per week taking relevant factors into account – (would an apprentice nowadays go to work for that?). He evinced a capacity for skilful and arduous work and for worming out the reasoning behind various practices that seemed anomalous. He observed that good management largely is getting the best out of workers xi by identifying their merits rather than thinking the worst of any man, and being able to pick the valuable opinion from the rag bag of many. Probably in his fi nal year he was moved to Rugby to broaden his experience and in 1914 he was granted leave to enlist in the Royal Engineers and went to France, where he was given a commission and, sadly, seriously wounded at the Western Front. Th is rendered him unfi t for further active service but had a totally unpredictable result: he was posted, in a supervisory capacity, to a works company engaged in building construction on Salisbury Plain. Th is fortuitous experience would stand him in good stead in years to come. When hostilities ceased, Bowen-Cooke off ered Riddles his old job back at Rugby. When Bowen-Cooke died in 1919, H. P. M. Beames, previously Works Manager, succeeded him, and from that moment onward Riddles was on the way up. (Beames had obviously had him in his sights for some while!) By the end of December 1920 Riddles was Assistant to Works Manager at Crewe - an almost ballistic ascent, but totally justifi ed. Reorganisation put him in charge of progress and inspection and culminated in his successful reorganisation and rebuilding of Crewe Works. Recognition of this came in promotion to Assistant Works Superintendent at Derby and Beames was the foremost in wishing him well. Come 1931 Riddles was back at Crewe in a similar position under F. A. Lemon as the result of a general shake-up and, shortly afterward, Stanier arrived. His transfer from Swindon to another railway company after nearly 40 years’ service is quite a milestone in railway history and deserves at least a short note. At some point after 1930, Sir Josiah Stamp, Chairman of the L.M.S.R., decided the company needed a thorough shake-up. Accordingly fresh blood was sought for the Operating Department. Sir Harold Hartley (Vice Chairman and F. A. Lemon, Works Superintendent (successor to Fowler who had been sidelined into research and development) realised that they had to have an outsider or set Crewe at loggerheads with Derby. So they cast their net realising that, valuable though he was, Stanier at Swindon was not realistically open to promotion from his position as Collet’s right- hand man because they were of almost equal age.