The Life and Times of a Duke: N/A

By Martyn J. McGinty

This is the story of a quarter-century struggle to rebuild from scrap condition a unique locomotive, it being an essential part of the British engineering heritage.

It covers the unusual and efficient Caprotti valve gear in depth and solves the mystery of why the locomotive did not work properly in service. It was never improved until it was restored and its secrets revealed with a surprising conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456777968

Martyn J. McGinty

A good education, a 5-year apprenticeship in heavy engineering, a sense of humour and a lifelong passion for the simplicity and reliability of steampower, have all assisted the author in this study of steam locomotive operation in preservation. He lives in Bath, his home for 55 years. Now retired, he is able to indulge his other interests in literature, music and cookery.

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© 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: The Duke at Didcot (Courtesy P. Treloar)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

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. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Prologue

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Epilogue

Bibliography

AUTHOR’S NOTE

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.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although strenuous attempts have been made to identify and contact those with copyright to the artwork in this publication, in some instances these efforts 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: [e-mail]

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-suffering wife Jessica without whose computer and typing skills this book would have fallen by the wayside.

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 find it distressing to contemplate.

There 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 fleet 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 classification (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 flawed 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. This 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 firemen 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 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.

This is the story of the fulfilment of that lofty ambition: ‘The Impossible Dream’.

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 efforts 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 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 final 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. This rendered him unfit 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. This fortuitous experience would stand him in good stead in years to come. When hostilities ceased, Bowen-Cooke offered 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 justified.

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.

So Stanier went to Crewe (and, ironically, had his old master Beames as his deputy, the L.M.S.R. working in mysterious ways its wonders to perform). It wasn’t until the end of 1932 though that the man Anderson (Motive Power Superintendent) retired and this made possible a whole succession of changes in personnel, the last tremors in the ‘big shake-up’ to general good effect.

Stanier had been quick to spot Riddles and by 1933 had him as his assistant in London and doubled his salary! However, in 1937, as a result of internal politics, Riddles was swapped for Ivatt in Scotland - under protest, it effectively being a demotion. Riddles argued for and got the job title changed to Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Scotland. (An interesting result of these shenanigans was due to the Chief Officer (Establishments): he was insulted at having been kept in the dark and in revenge arranged an increase in salary for Riddles and even permitted him to charge for some of his removal expenses!)

In January 1939 Riddles took the Coronation Scot to tour America, a sortie fraught with stressful incidents, but returned triumphant in May to the anticlimax of St. Rollox. He need not have worried: the humdrum was soon enlivened by the clamour of the ’phone. Sir Harold Hartley, who had previously disappointed Riddles by sending him to Scotland, had, on the eve of World War II, recommended him as Head of the newly-formed Directorate of Transportation Materials. Riddles was initially rather deflated by the thought that the L.M.S.R. had let him go so easily, and at one stage expressed his wish to return. The response was to give him more to do and ever-increasing areas of responsibility. Riddles addressed this development with his customary flair for choosing (and getting) the right man to field for him.

One of his most urgent needs was a 2-8-0 of proven ability for freight work. Accordingly he approached Stanier and asked for the assistance of his Chief Draughtsman, T. F. Coleman. He needed him to discuss the production problems with the North British Locomotive Company (N.B.L.C.), who eventually built 158 2-8-0s to Stanier’s design. (Another 50 came from Beyer-Peacock in Manchester and a further 51 were sequestered from the L.M.S.)

That Riddles was at once practical and shrewd is evidenced by his brilliant ‘Austerity’ locomotive designs of which he anticipated adverse criticism. He remembered some sound advice he had been given years before – that the eye is naturally drawn to the chimney of any locomotive. Therefore, if one wants to focus criticism, use the chimney. Accordingly, he made it squat and disproportionate, and even this had an unexpected advantage: when he came to the 2-10-0 design his dumpy chimney was just right for the tightest loading gauge profile in Britain. Incidentally, the 2-10-0 was acclaimed one of the few masterpieces of locomotive engineering of its time. It would steam on 75% rubbish, go round tight curves with facility, cope with rotten lightweight track and was cheap and easy to build and maintain. (The North British Locomotive Company was the principal manufacturer and in recognition of his achievement and association with the company Riddles was presented with a gold copy of the key to Hyde Park Works in Glasgow.)

The N.B.L.C., incidentally, was a quite remarkable institution with enormous capacity in its three factories in Glasgow, the Hyde Park, Queen’s Park and Atlas works. They were the ideal producer of the first 50 Royal Scots at a time when the L.M.S.R.