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A History of British Railways' Electrical Research

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A History of British Railways' Electrical Research Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History Working papers in railway studies, number eleven A history of British Railways’ electrical research by A O Gilchrist Published by Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History National Railway Museum University of York Leeman Road Heslington York YO26 4XJ York YO10 5DD UK UK ISSN 1368-0706 Text Copyright A O Gilchrist 2008 This format Copyright IRS&TH 2008 i CONTENTS Text: page 1. Preface 1 2. Origins under the British Transport Commission (1960-1962) 2 3. Under British Railways Board – the Blandford House years (1963-1966) 4 4. The move to Derby (1966-1968) 7 5. The period of the Ministry programme (1969-1985) 10 5.1. Two short-lived projects 11 5.1.1. Plasma torch 11 5.1.2. Autowagon 12 5.2. Signalling 13 5.2.1. By inductive loop 13 5.2.2. By transponder 16 5.2.3. By radio 17 5.2.4. Solid State Interlocking 18 5.3. Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) 20 5.4. Radio communications 21 5.5. Mathematics and computer science 22 5.6. Business machines 25 5.7. Electric traction 25 5.8. Maglev 27 5.9. Electrification 28 6. The final years under BR management (1985-1996) 33 6.1. The completion of SSI 34 6.2. Train detection 35 6.3. Signalling policy 36 6.4. IECC 39 6.5. Control Centre of the Future 41 6.6. CATE 42 6.7. VISION 43 6.8. Electric traction 44 6.9. Electrification 45 7. Conclusion 48 Figures (listed overleaf) are placed after the main text. ii Figures: Figure 1 Organisation of British Railways Research Department, 29 March 1968. Figure 2 The “Project Manager” Organisation of British Railways Research and Development Division, 1 May 1972. Figure 3 The Organisation of British Railways Research and Development Division, April 1974. Figure 4 The Branch and Unit structure of British Railways Research and Development Division, introduced between 1978 and 1980 and shown here at September 1982. Figure 5 Organisation of BR Research and Development Division, April 1986. Figure 6 Organisation of British Rail Research, October 1989. Figure 7 Engineering Research and Development Organisation, 18 May 1992. Figure 8 British Rail Research Organisation, October 1993. Figure 9 British Rail Research Organisation, July 1994. Figure 10 British Rail Research Organisation, July 1996. A HISTORY OF BRITISH RAILWAYS’ ELECTRICAL RESEARCH by A O Gilchrist 1. Preface In March 2005 I completed a rather detailed history of “engineering research” on British Railways, in the sense understood within the Research Department for many years – namely research in the disciplines of mechanical and civil engineering.1 While preparing this, I hoped that a colleague might undertake a similar task on behalf of the electrical discipline. This has not happened. Therefore, with generous assistance from those involved, I have prepared a reasonably full account of the electrical research undertaken under the railway’s management – i.e. from the formal establishment of an Electrical Research Section by the British Transport Commission in July 19602 to the sale by the British Railways Board of its research assets in December 1996. Many former colleagues have helped me. I wish to thank especially Alan Wickens, Bob Sparrow, Donald Armstrong, Peter Law, Alan Betts, John Hawkes, Roy Harrison, John Birkby, Norman Shelley, John Rosser, Derek Watkins, Mike Furniss, Bill Parkman, Brian Hutchings, Malcolm Savage, Mike Kinsey, Tony Annis, Richard Gostling, Sandy Scholes, Peter Parkin, Mike McGuire, Alan Bradwell, Christopher Bull, Derek Linder, Alan Cribbens, Peter Lawrence, David Evans, Allan Wayte, Doug Holgate, John Hurley, Bob Holmes, Ian Mitchell and Brian Smith. 1 A O Gilchrist “A history of Engineering Research on British Railways”, Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History, York, working paper no. 10, 2006. 2 British Transport Commission minute 13/272 of 21 July 1960, National Archive AN 85 15. 2 ELECTRICAL RESEARCH 2. Origins under the British Transport Commission (1960-1962) During the later 1950s the desirability of conducting some electrical research “in-house” became a subject of discussion between the Chief Officers of the British Transport Commission. This seems to have been driven by three considerations: dissatisfaction with the performance of contractors in this respect; a feeling that some topics intimately associated with railway operation would require the railway’s initiative; and a desire to capitalise on opportunities emerging from the development of electronics. Concerned in these discussions were John Ratter, the Commission’s Technical Adviser, C C Inglis, their Chief of Research, S B Warder, the Chief Electrical Engineer and A W Woodbridge, the Chief Signal Engineer. All were members of the Commission’s influential Technical Development and Research Committee.3 A first step was taken in February 1957 when the Committee agreed to a proposal from Inglis and Warder to introduce a new post of Electric Traction Research Assistant into the Chief Electrical Engineer’s organisation. After a considerable delay (during which Professor Tustin of the Research Advisory Council expressed some impatience) Dr F T (“Freddie”) Barwell was appointed to this post. Dr Barwell took up his position, now titled Electric Traction Engineer (Research), in August 1958. He was in fact a mechanical engineer, well known to the senior staff of the British Transport Commission for his work at the National Engineering Laboratory on adhesion (limiting wheel/rail friction).4 Adhesion would continue to be an important subject of study for the Electrical Engineer because of its relevance to locomotive design. However Dr Barwell had much wider interests and his new role included a specific remit to survey the requirements for electrical research and to recommend action. His final proposals were ready by September 1959.5 They were presented to the Technical Development and Research Committee with a covering note by Messrs Warder, Inglis and Woodbridge in November 1959. The Committee accepted the “Phase 1” proposal to create a relatively small Electrical Research Section under the Chief Electrical Engineer’s responsibility. This recommendation was confirmed by the British Transport Commission in the following July. The establishment was set at 31 technical staff. Dr Barwell, as Electric Traction Engineer (Research), naturally took charge. Unsurprisingly, most subjects identified for research related to the traction interest. They included power equipment topics such as motor design and control. The adhesion studies, already mentioned, were proposed to continue. A third major strand related to the 25kV overhead electrification system recently selected as the standard for new work; studies were to include dynamic analysis of the catenary system, and the performance of insulators. However in addition, even at this early stage and despite the reporting line to the Electrical Engineer, signalling matters were identified as having important research potential.6 It was in this context that developments in modern electronics and modern computing methods were expected to show some of their best returns. Some members of the Chief Electrical Engineer’s staff transferred to the new Section, bringing their work with them. They included Dr H I Andrews, already established as Dr Barwell’s Assistant,7 and R G Sell, previously the Chief Electrical Engineer’s Assistant (Fixed Equipment). Sell, like Andrews, took the new title Assistant Traction Engineer (Research). It is probable that both 3 The relevant minutes and supporting papers of this committee are preserved at the National Archive as AN 97 291, 292, 301 and 302. John Ratter became chairman in October 1958; in January 1960 the committee was renamed simply Technical Committee. 4 A retrospective account of this work appears in F T Barwell and R G Woolacott “The NEL contribution to adhesion studies”, paper 9, Institution of Mechanical Engineers Convention on Adhesion, 28-29 November 1963. 5 He had given an interim presentation in January 1959. 6 This had the strong support – and was perhaps at the initiative – of the Chief Signal Engineer. The proposal to include signalling matters appears in the Warder-Inglis-Woodbridge covering note, not the Barwell paper. 7 Earlier, Dr Andrews, an electrical engineer, had been a prominent member of the LMS’s Engineering Research Section in Derby. His magnum opus there was the Mobile Test Unit, see H I Andrews “The Mobile Locomotive Testing Plant of the LMS Railway”, Proc. I. Mech. E., Vol. 158, 1948, pp 450-476. §2. ORIGINS UNDER BTC 3 brought subordinate staff with them, working on adhesion and electrification matters respectively. Of the external recruits, John Hawkes joined in September 1960 to provide general mathematical assistance; a significant early assignment for him was the application of digital computing to the construction of signalling control tables. Marcus Astle-Fletcher, the Section’s physicist, was already in post and contributing to the adhesion studies. Soon H H (Harry) Ogilvy joined and commenced a thorough survey of the requirements and opportunities for research in the signalling field. James Brown arrived from Metropolitan-Vickers (by then AEI Manchester) and started a very active programme of work on locomotive traction systems. A later recruit was Roger Morris, an engineer with a strong analytical bent, who would contribute particularly to the dynamic analysis of the pantograph/overhead system. In October 1960 the recruitment position was reported to be satisfactory; with a good quality of applicants, the “professional” staff
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