NEWSLETTER 41

Dear Members

We are still in the grip of Lockdown, but there is light at the end of the tunnel with the huge vaccine programme. In the last newsletter we said it would be interesting to know if members have received their Covid 19 jab. So far, Tony, Nigel, Phil F, Ian, Mike H and Phil B have and Keith was getting his this weekend. We would like to hear from the rest of you as it could influence the long awaited return to the club. You may like to say where you went to receive the vaccine, which one you had and were there any side effects.
 
What did you think of the Twickenham club newsletters, a little different to our own! We hope you are all still finding something of interest to read or look at in our own production.
 
Despite some more decorating, I am pleased to report that some of us have still managed to get on with some modelling or even playing trains, what have you all been up to?
 

Stay safe

Phil and Nigel

 

Please email all submissions to  phile_b51@yahoo.co.uk  or    nigel@slatford.co.uk

Locomotive Engineers with Irish Connections

As regular readers know, I have always had a strong interest in Irish railways, except for modelling them. I was looking for a new subject to contribute to our newsletter and the links to Irish locomotive works came to mind. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras Dublin was the second city of the British Isles and there was a lot of movement of professionals around the engineering world. A number of the engineers in this article also worked in Europe and the Americas.  
 
The largest locomotive works in Ireland was at Inchicore, a couple of miles out of Dublin’s Heuston station on the line to Cork. It was built by the Great Southern and Western Railway and is still in use today. Alexander McDonnell was Locomotive Superintendent from 1864-82 and produced a number of locomotive classes, among which were the J15 0-6-0 mixed traffic locos, of which two examples have survived into preservation. 186 was built in 1879 and is still in full running order, making it one of the oldest locos capable of main line work. 184 built a year later has not run for many years.  Another loco built in McDonnell’s time at the works was a railmotor, combined on the same frames with a carriage body, and later converted to an 0-6-0 tank, and this has been preserved. I have never managed to see it as it has moved several  times, never coinciding with my visits over the years. Currently it is at the Downpatrick Museum, having been restored to working order at Whitehead in 2007.  Amongst the smallest standard gauge locos in Ireland it has cylinders 10 x 18, 3ft-8in drivers and weighs 23 tons. The centre wheels are flangeless, in true Triang Hornby tradition.
McConnell left Inchicore in 1882 and moved to the North Eastern Railway as Locomotive Superintendent at Gateshead. He retired in 1884 and was succeeded by Wilson Worsdell.

John Carter Park was Locomotive Works Manager to McDonnell from 1865-73. Earlier in Park’s career he was at the LNWR Longsight works with John Ramsbottom, then a spell in Canada, before joining the GSWR. He left Inchicore to join the North London Railway, replacing William Adams on his retirement. Park held the Locomotive Superintendent’s post until his retirement in 1893. The NLR was absorbed by the LNWR in 1909. Their trains used to run from Broad Street to Potters Bar and Watford.
 
McDonnell’s replacement at Inchicore was his assistant John Aspinall, who had worked previously with the LNWR, moving to the GSWR in 1875.  Aspinall designed a successful 4-4-0 passenger loco which was perpetuated under successive superintendents. He was more interested in improving the efficiency of the work’s operational abilities and continued in this mode when he transferred to Horwich in 1886 with the Lancashire & Yorkshire. Only one class, a rebuild of an earlier L&Y design 0-6-0 is associated with his name. Aspinall was interested in the development of the vacuum brake at Inchicore, and later did a lot of work on developing the dynamometer car for the L&Y.
 
Aspinall had met H. A. Ivatt at Crewe before he moved to Inchicore. Ivatt moved to Inchicore in 1877 as Assistant to Aspinall and took over on his departure. It was during his time with the GSWR that Ivatt devised his wheel arrangement classification that he took to the Great Northern Railway at Doncaster in 1896. As a result, the GSWR had D classes for their 4-4-0s and the J15 mentioned previously was of course an 0-6-0. Ivatt developed Aspinall’s 4-4-0 design in the D14 class, examples of which were still in service in the late 1950s. Two other classes were the J11 0-6-0 tanks and F6 class 2-4-2 tanks used on Cork local passenger workings until the 1950s.
 
Richard Maunsell became Superintendent at Inchicore in 1911. He was responsible for one not very successful 4-4-0 and a couple of 0-4-2 saddle tanks of the L2 class. He departed in 1913 for the South East and Chatham Railway, and was rather more successful there and later with the Southern Railway.
His main contribution to Irish railways came in 1923 when the MGWR bought 12 Woolwich Arsenal 2-6-0s with 5ft 6in drivers, to Maunsell’s N class design for the SE&CR of 1917. The Arsenal built one hundred of these locos in kit form as a government employment relief scheme. The GSWR locos were put into service in 1925, by which time the railways in the Republic of Ireland had been amalgamated into the Great Southern Railway. A further 15 locos with 6ft drivers were bought in 1925 and worked to the end of steam in the South.
 
G A Watson, born in Clones, County Monaghan, succeeded Maunsell in 1914, after a period at Swindon, where Churchward was having considerable success with his Star class 4-6-0. On his arrival, Watson threw out the planned work on more D class locos and built ten B2 4-6-0 four-cylinder locomotives. These were heavy and poor runners, having low boiler pressure and a complicated front end. They were later rebuilt as two cylindered locos and were much more successful. Watson’s time at Inchicore spanned the handover of control to the new Irish government and the subsequent civil war, during which the railways suffered very badly with much damage to locomotives, stock and track. Watson left in 1921 to join Beyer Peacock in Manchester, retiring soon after due to poor health.
 
In 1919 J R Bazin was the Acting Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at Doncaster, reporting to H N Gresley. He became Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GSWR at Inchicore in 1921. Following the amalgamation of the railway companies to form the Great Southern Railway he became its Chief Mechanical Engineer. Bazin’s first design, a 4-6-0, was an immediate success. It followed Maunsell’s idea that everything should be accessible, so outside cylinders and motion, a complete contrast to previous designs, in particular those emanating from Swindon. A combination of 6ft drivers, a good boiler and large valve ports made these excellent locomotives for dealing with gradients such as those leaving both Dublin and Cork on the ex GSWR main line.

In 1939 Bazin was authorised to build three 4-6-0 3 cylindered locomotives, named after Irish queens. These were by far the most powerful locomotives to run in Ireland and were very similar to the Royal Scots and Lord Nelsons in their main dimensions. They were hampered in their working lives by poor coal supplies, which had been a problem in Ireland from 1922 onwards. The first of the class, No. 800 Maeve, has been preserved and is at Cultra, where it dwarfs everything else.

Our story at Inchicore ends with Oliver Bulleid who arrived in 1949 following the reorganisation at nationalisation of the British Railways. He was not a popular character and is best remembered for his experiments with turf burning locomotives. His Leader design was adapted for turf burning, unsuccessfully, the locomotive awaiting scrapping outlasting his reign in office, which ended in 1958. Bulleid’s real success was the introduction of diesel locomotives and modern carriages. Under Bulleid the diesel replacement of steam was a relatively rapid affair. Ireland was well ahead with railcar design, the Great Northern Railway in particular had done much of the groundwork in the early 1930s. They had persisted with steam haulage of the main passenger services with no diesel locomotives.
 
Inchicore was not the only locomotive works of course, and at Limerick the Waterford and Limerick Railway employed the services of J. G. Robinson from 1884, elevating him to Locomotive Superintendent in 1885. Robinson started his career at Swindon under Armstrong, and on leaving the W&LR in 1900 he took over at the newly formed Great Central Railway. That post he held until the grouping and formation of the LNER.  
Robinson introduced a very smart crimson lake livery for the W&LR, similar to the Midland Railway’s shade of red. Nothing of Robinsons’s work in Ireland, or indeed anything of the rolling stock of the W&LR has survived
 
The Great Northern Railway consolidated its locomotive building and repair at a new works at Dundalk in County Louth. In 1881 James Park from Doncaster was appointed as its first works manager and Locomotive Superintendent. He introduced the 4-4-0 type which became the mainstay of Irish passenger locomotive types for the rest of steam haulage on the island. Park died in 1895 just as his 2-4-2 tank design was completed. One of these locos has survived and is at the Ulster Transport Museum at Cultra, east of Belfast.

The second GNR Chief Mechanical Engineer of interest to us was George T Glover, who had learned his trade with the North Eastern Railway at Gateshead under W M Smith, the Chief Draughtsman. Glover served with the Royal Engineers in France during the 1914-18 war, returning to Dundalk.

The GNR had a fleet of 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 locomotives, but needed something more powerful for the increasing weight of the passenger trains that all railways were experiencing in the Edwardian era. His first design was the S class 4-4-0 of 1913, inside cylindered, Stevenson’s valve gear and superheated, with short travel large piston valves. With 6ft 7in wheels they were capable of a good turn of speed and were also good on the gradients of the main line. Numerous improvements were made including raising the steam pressure to 200psi and in their final form these locos saw out steam traction on the GNR lines. No. 171 Slieve Gullion was preserved and I have travelled many miles behind her. I have chosen a photo of her in the black livery, adopted during the First World War until 1933.

Smith was responsible for the compound designs of the NER and Glover’s most famous engines were the five 4-4-0 compounds of the V class. These were built by Beyer Peacock in 1932 and are similar to the Midland compounds, having a high pressure inside cylinder feeding the two outside low pressure cylinders. They were the first three cylindered locos in Ireland. To mark their introduction on the Dublin-Belfast express service a lined blue livery was introduced which went well with the teak carriages. No. 85 Merlin is still in working order and I have travelled behind it all over Ireland, but it is particularly suited to the hill climbing terrain for which it was designed, crossing the border country between Drogheda and Portadown. It has the distinction of hauling the Royal Train when the Queen visited Ireland in 2016, carrying headboards and regalia from a 1903 royal train.

The Midland and Great Western Railway ran from Dublin to Galway, Westport and Sligo. Its locomotive workshops were at the Dublin terminus of Broadstone. Unlike all the other railways this terminus was taken out of use in 1937 for passenger traffic and 1961 for all traffic. Two engineers, Edward Cusack and Walter Morton who both worked at Kitsons in Leeds. Cusack also worked for two years at Crewe before joining the MGWR in 1890. Cusack became Chief Draughtsman at Broadstone in 1900 until 1915, Morton taking over as Locomotive Engineer. Following the amalgamation to form the GSR, Broadstone was demoted to a locomotive maintenance and running shed, as also happened to the ex Waterford and Limerick’s works. That however remains in use as a diesel locomotive and railcar maintenance depot.  Nothing of the MGWR made it through to preservation.
 
The York Road works of the former Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, amalgamated into the Midland Railway and then the LMS, was under the control of Bowman Malcolm from 1876 to 1922. He was a local and his successor William Wallace had worked at York Road since 1906. He oversaw a programme of rebuilding of existing locomotives and left for England in 1930. In 1934 he became the Chief Civil Engineer of the LMS. Another contemporary of Wallace at York Road was Willie Wood, Deputy Accountant, who became the president of the LMS Executive from 1941-47.
 
Malcolm Spier took over as Manager and Secretary in 1930. He had served with the Caledonian Railway and York Road was under the supervision of Hugh Stewart, a home -grown talent, as mechanical and Civil Engineer. Spier needed larger locomotives for the heavier and faster trains of the 1930s and turned to Derby to make the 2-6-0 W class of 1933. This was assembled at York Road and was followed in 1946 by the WT class 2-6-4 tanks, as the workshops had been so badly damaged in the blitz that they were not capable of maintaining the loco fleet. Both classes were based on Henry Fowler’s 2-6-4 tanks of 1926, with significant input to the tank version from H G Ivatt, son of H A Ivatt. The WT class lasted until 1970 and No. 4 is still in full working order, having now been owned by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland for longer than it was in operational service.

An interesting footnote to this article is the question of who had the most influence on Irish locomotive design. I would agree with the author of the book on LMS NCC locomotives that it was Beyer Peacock, who built more locomotives for the Irish market than anywhere else. Athough the various Chief mechanical Engineers and Locomotive Superintendents had their input, Beyer Peacock were behind many of the most successful designs, and in some cases improved considerably on the British prototypes when given a free hand in the detailed design.
Malcolm

NORTHERN GERMANY
AND THE BALTIC COAST 2016

Part 4

Friday 5th August

Today we moved on from Rostock after breakfast, leaving Rostock at 9.07 for Hamburg where we arrived at 11.40 and left our luggage at the left luggage store. An underground train then took us to Baumwell and a short walk took us to Miniatur Wunderland where our group was booked in at 12.30.

If you have been to Miniatur Wunderland you will no doubt understand that photo’s can never do justice to the incredible scenic modelling. If you ever get the chance to go then I can fully recommend it. From a model railway point of view you have to turn your mind from what you would expect to see at model railway exhibitions where the modelling is somewhat different and may at first appear somewhat better.

You need to close you mind to the railway aspects – trains circling, probably un-prototypical rakes to our eyes, nothing that appears to be running to any sort of a schedule – and just look at the whole overall picture. At first you tend to be somewhat critical of what you see. It is the sort of thing you might find at a seaside children's attraction. But look beyond the obvious and you see the unbelievably high standard of modelling. The scenes created with huge numbers of people are just incredible.

The photo’s can only ever show a miniscule part of the overall size, complexity and scale of the display. Perhaps the airport is the overall most amazing part and judging by the time we spent watching, this along with many others, is the highlight of the show. Planes are pushed back from the airport terminal building by a ‘tractor’ and then slowly make there way around the taxi ways to the runway. Then with full correct sound they accelerate down the runway before taking off and disappearing through a sky back scene.

Similarly planes appear through a back-scene at the other end and come into land before making their way to the terminal. All of this is fully computer controlled and the amount of electronic equipment is in itself worth a look. Some can be seen through windows at various places but it is possible to arrange a private visit in advance with suitable payment needless to say.

Towards the end you can see the modelling room which has several full time modellers. Their work benches will only make the rest of us envious. Large and sort of semi circular they are fully equipped with just about everything that you are ever likely to need when making a model. Our work benches, if we have one, just pale into insignificance.

New models and layouts are continuously being built and I believe now that there is a proposal to add another building to more or less double the size. I should add that the various scenes show different countries and more are being added including apparently at some time one of the UK.

We had to leave before 5.00 to return to the station to catch a train to Bremen arriving at about 6.30. The time we spent there was really not enough to see every thing properly and a couple of full days are really necessary to fully appreciate everything.

A final little interesting story here on our arrival was the near loss of at least one tour member. I should say here that our tour guide was German. He was not one to wait for the less able tour participants and some of the older and less able members had struggled to keep up with him all week.

On arrival at Bremen one person decided to take the lift down from the platform. The rest of us used the stairs and the tour guide immediately set off down the passage way to the exit. Phil wearing his UK Railtours hat at this stage decided that we should wait for the missing person. By the time he emerged from the lift the rest of the tour party had disappeared.

We headed to the exit and as we emerged we just caught a sight of the last of the party entering the Inter City Hotel next door to the station. If Phil and I had not waited for the stray member then it is almost certain that he would never have found everyone else.

Moral here is that a tour guide should ideally be at the back or at least ensure that all of the party is present before dashing off. Of course Phil is well versed in this and can usually be found at the back of any UK Railtours group!

Next day was to be yet another special day with a visit to a Railway Festival. More of this in part 5.
Keith

Phil received the following letter from Phil Fulton.

Dear Phil,
 
All's well with the Fultons and thank you and Nigel etc. for the
newsletters; I really enjoy reading them.
 
I just re-read No. 40 and saw Tony's response to your inquiry as to who
has received the jab.
 
It would be very interesting and morale boosting to know how the club
members are doing in this regard.
 
I received my first jab on Thursday 11th Feb. having had a phone call
from my GP's to arrange the appointment on the Tuesday.
 
I know this is early for my age group but I am glad I have now had it
and can, presumably, feel safe in just 3 more weeks.
 
Unfortunately, there is no progress on my layout but I have replaced my
laptop's HDD with an SSD and it is now a lot faster. So, that's good news.
 
Keep up the good work and I hope we can all meet again in a few months time.
 
Phil.

Which other members have had their first vaccination?
Nigel has, but he is very old!

BICKNELL'S BLOG

Despite having to paint the kitchen walls this week, I have managed to spend some time on the layout in the shed. Fortunately, the country town is on a lid over the tunnel and in view of the cold weather this was brought indoors and  completed on the dining room table. I then thought it would be a good idea to have some stalls in the market square.
 
After trawling the internet I found and ordered a laser-cut wood kit for four market barrows by Ancorton Models. Not having made any wood kits before and on seeing how small they were, I was a little apprehensive. However, after a search on You Tube I found a very good video showing how to make them. With confidence restored I made them last night and was very impressed at how easy they were to make but because of their size a little fiddly.
 
The following photos of the barrows with a one penny coin give some idea of their size. I was very impressed on how they all went together and very pleased with the end result and so have decided not to paint them.
 
Phil B

Note: I bet the penny came out of the club accounts.

GREAT RAILWAY ENGINEERS

BEYER

Charles Frederick Beyer  (an anglicised form of his original German name Carl Friedrich Beyer) (14 May 1813 – 2 June 1876) was a celebrated German-British locomotive designer and builder, and co-founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was the co-founder and head engineer of Beyer, Peacock and Company in Gorton, Manchester.
A philanthropist and deeply religious, he founded three parish churches (and associated schools) in Gorton, was a governor of The Manchester Grammar School, and remains the single biggest donor to what is today the University of Manchester. He is buried in the graveyard of Llantysilio Church, Llantysilio, Llangollen, Denbighshire North Wales. Llantysilio Church is within the grounds of his former 700-acre Llantysilio Hall estate. His mansion house, built 1872–1874, is nearby.

Germany
Beyer was from humble beginnings, the son of a weaver. Born in Plauen, Saxony, he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hand weaver's apprentice. He was taught to draw by a student architect convalescing in the district. His mother dreamt of him being an architect and she paid him to teach mathematics and drawing. Some of his pinned-up drawings were noticed by an "eminent medical gentleman", a "Mr Von Sechendorf" (who was visiting another family member),  and a place was procured for him at Dresden Polytechnic, an institute of technical education (it was said that his parents were poor and had no money to send their son to college, but were afraid of giving offence to the civil servant). Beyer supplemented a meagre state scholarship by doing odd jobs (a philanthropic lady was in the habit of giving Sunday dinner to the student with the highest marks that week. Beyer relied on the meal, and consequently made sure that he out-performed everyone else).

Upon completing his studies at the Dresden Academy, Beyer took a job in a machine works at Chemnitz, and he obtained a state grant from the Saxon Government to visit the United Kingdom to report on weaving machine technology. He visited Manchester, the world's first industrial city. It was the cotton mills that drove the local economy. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first steam hauled purpose built passenger railway had just opened and people were now able to travel faster than horses for the first time.
He returned to Dresden to file his report on the latest developments in cotton mill technology, and was rewarded by the Saxon government.

England
Despite two offers to manage Saxony cotton mills, Beyer was determined to return to Manchester. In 1834, aged 21 and speaking little English, he returned to Manchester, accompanied by his teacher, Professor Schubert, who introduced him to S. Behrens and Co, a well-known merchant in the city. While they could not help him, they obtained an interview for him with Sharp, Roberts & Co, (Atlas Works) where he impressed Thomas Sharp. However, Sharp risked alienating his workers by employing a German immigrant with a poor command of English; Sharp explained the situation to Beyer and offered him a sovereign to cover his travelling costs. Beyer refused the money exclaiming: "It is work I want", and insisting he was prepared to work for very little money. Impressed by Beyer's attitude, Sharp took the risk and employed him as a low-paid draughtsman, working under the guidance of head engineer Richard Roberts.

In 1852, when admitted to the Institution of Civil Engineers his proposer was Richard Roberts, seconded by Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

His neighbour, then 19 years old, and from Frankfurt, Germany: Arthur Schuster, destined to become the first Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics. He was Professor of Physics (1888–1907) when Owens College became the Victoria University of Manchester (Est 1904). In the First World War Schuster was accused of spying when he had possession of a radio that could receive signals from Paris and Berlin (he sued his accusers and gave the money to charity).
 
Sharp, Roberts and Co
The company manufactured cotton mill machinery and had just started building locomotives for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Roberts was a prolific inventor despite being self-taught, with no university education or training. His genius was constrained by his inability to clearly state his ideas on paper; he said of his draughtsman:
"There is a man who can tell every word I say, but cannot put my ideas upon paper; and here is another (Mr. Beyer) who scarcely knows English, but who can not only understand but also put into shape all that I mean."

Beyer's technical training in Dresden, coupled with his natural aptitude for drawing and design, made him a perfect partner for Roberts.

The latter's skills in designing cotton mill machinery did not translate into success in locomotive design, but he put his faith in Beyer and let him take over design and production of the company's new locomotives. Beyer designed the locomotives that made Sharp, Roberts & Co famous as locomotive builders. Roberts retired from the firm in 1843, and Beyer became chief engineer.

In 1842 Beyer designed a tender which became the standard for British railways. featuring outside frames. On 3 October 1846, one of his 0-6-0 "luggage" engines hauled a train of 101 wagons weighing 597 tons from Longsight in Manchester to Crewe, 29 miles at an average speed of 13.7 mph. This was a world record at the time. In 1847, a similar locomotive, ran 3,004 miles on the London and Birmingham railway with a coke consumption of only 0.214 lb per ton per mile. The next best locomotive burned 0.38 lb per mile, another record. By 1849, Beyer had helped produce over 600 locomotives.
In 1844 the King of Saxony visited the Atlas; Beyer showed him the works, and soon the Saxony government was ordering locomotives from the company. Beyer's main design features were placing the boiler line at a higher level which made for smoother running. He was the first to give the boiler freedom to expand. The shape and appearance of British railway locomotives owed more to Beyer, than any other designer.

On 5 November 1852 Beyer was naturalised in England. The following year (1853), despite being at the height of his chosen profession, vice-President of the IMechE and a friend of George Stephenson, Robert Stephenson, Sir Daniel Gooch, John Ramsbottom and others, he left the company. This move may have resulted after he was overlooked for a partnership (Mr C P Stewart was appointed a partner), or possibly because of his unrequited love for one of the Sharp nieces; nonetheless he spent six months touring Europe and contemplating study at Oxford or Cambridge.
 
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Richard Peacock resigned from his position as chief engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's locomotive works in Gorton in 1854. Confident in his ability to secure orders to build locomotives, Beyer's resignation presented Peacock with a partnership opportunity. However, this was not a limited company and all partners were liable for debts should the business fail; in a mid-Victorian economic climate of boom and bust, it was a risky venture. Beyer could raise £9,524 (nearly £900,000 in 2015) and Peacock £5,500 but still required a loan from Charles Geach (founder of the Midland Bank, and first treasurer of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers). Unfortunately, Geach died in November 1854, the loan was recalled and the whole project nearly died. To the rescue came Thomas Brassey who persuaded Henry Robertson to provide a £4,000 loan in return for being the third (sleeping) partner.

Beyer and the Great Western Railway
Robertson's investment would be the start of a long friendship between Beyer and Robertson (Beyer became the godfather of Robertson's daughter Annie born in 1854). The civil engineer was responsible for the lines of the Northern division of the Great Western Railway (Brunel was the South) and a friend of Sir Daniel Gooch, its chief locomotive superintendent. He could therefore procure orders for the GWR. The first order was for ten Beyer, Peacock express 2-2-2 tender express engines of standard (rather than broad) gauge – the first standard gauge locomotives ordered by the GWR (Swindon were still building broad gauge engines). The locomotives were to be built to Gooch's own design which saved time in the drawing room. Joseph Armstrong was Gooch's successor as chief mechanical engineer at Swindon locomotive works and knew Beyer's engines. He was chief locomotive superintendent when Shrewsbury and Chester Railway ordered Beyer-designed Sharp, Stewart locomotives. Ten years later, when the GWR needed a new 0-6-0 goods engine, he allowed Beyer to design the locomotives himself. The GWR "Beyer Goods" locomotive proved to be an outstanding performer and some were still running 80 years later. Beyer's godson Sir Henry Beyer Robertson, born in 1864 would (many years after Beyer's death) become a director of the Great Western Railway, continuing the "family's" connection with the GWR.

Gorton Foundry
A 12-acre site was chosen in Gorton village, two miles from the centre of Manchester, on the opposite side of the Manchester Lincoln and Sheffield Railway line to Peacock's previous works. Beyer designed the works, planning them so well for possible expansion that, during its 112-year history, no buildings needed to be demolished to make way for new or extended buildings – in stark contrast to Beyer's previous Atlas works in central Manchester where land was expensive with no room to expand. Beyer also established a foundry, designed and manufactured the machine tools needed to build the locomotives, and stayed at Gorton Foundry and supervised the design and production of the locomotives. Peacock meanwhile dealt with the business side, often travelling the continent to secure orders.

Beyer and elegant design
Charles Beyer took great pride in the look of his locomotives, often spending hours with his pencil drawing a dainty curve and taking pride in the aesthetic appearance of his work. One particular 2-2-2 locomotive "D. Luiz" was exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition. This locomotive was built for the South Eastern Railway of Portugal. It was similar to the locomotives then being delivered to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It was awarded a medal, noted for its beauty of form, and did much to promote the company.
Beyer chose German-trained engineers rather than British because there were no engineering schools in UK at that time that were comparable to those in Germany. There were several German immigrants on the staff. The company became one of the most famous locomotive builders in the world noted for its precision engineering, quality of workmanship, beauty and longevity. It made all three partners very rich men.

London's underground railway
Beyer appointed and worked closely with Hermann Ludwig Lange (1837–92), in 1861. A native of his home town, Plauen, Saxony (now Germany), Lange trained as an engineer in Germany, became chief draughtsman in 1865, and chief engineer after Beyer's death. Lange was heavily involved in the development of the world's first successful condensing locomotives for the Metropolitan Railway. The Metropolitan initially ordered 18 tank locomotives, of which a key feature was condensing equipment which prevented most of the steam from escaping while trains were in tunnels, and have been described as "beautiful little engines, painted green and distinguished particularly by their enormous external cylinders." The design proved so successful that eventually 120 were built to provide traction on the Metropolitan, the District Railway (in 1871) and all other 'cut and cover' underground lines. This 4-4-0 tank engine can therefore be considered as the pioneer motive power on London's first underground railway; ultimately, 148 were built between 1864 and 1886 for various railways, and most kept running until electrification in 1905. Metropolitan Railway No 23 which entered service in 1866 was not withdrawn until 1948 after 82 years. It is now an exhibit in the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.
 
Personal Life
Beyer was a bachelor and had no children. A rich man, he began to spend his wealth on building schools and churches. Education was his main priority. He supported the Ragged School as well as church day and Sunday schools, scholarships for The Manchester Grammar School (where he was governor) and at University level with Owens College (effectively creating a pathway by which a child from a poor background – such as Beyer's – could graduate with a University degree in engineering, previously mainly restricted to those who could afford such an education).
He was also a major donor to the Church of England. In 1865 Beyer provided most of the cost for the construction of St Mark's Parish Church, West Gorton, as well as bearing the full cost of building the associated day school (in 1880 this church formed a football team which became Gorton AFC, then Ardwick AFC and finally Manchester City Football Club). In 1871 he bore the whole cost of rebuilding the old parish church of St Thomas in Gorton, subsequently renamed St James’ Parish Church. He was an original member of Gorton Conservative Association, now St James Conservative Club, Gorton Lane.
Less than two weeks before his death, Beyer added a codicil to his will to provide money to build a third parish church and its associated rectory and he specified that it should be called All Saints'.
All Saints' was destroyed by fire in 1964 and subsequently demolished; a new church was built on the old site in 1975 and renamed Emmanuel Church. In 1968, St Mark's and All Saints' churches were united into one parish; St Mark's was demolished in 1974, leaving the two churches today represented by Emmanuel Church and All Saints' Primary School.
Beyer also did major improvements to Llantysilio parish church, and left money in his will to augment the stipend of the vicar.
 
Beyer became a British Subject in 1852 and was based in Manchester ever since emigrating there in 1834 at the age of 21. Of his personal life, Ernest F. Lang wrote:
"Mr Beyer remained all his life a bachelor. Whilst with his old firm he had fallen in love with Miss Sharp, a daughter of one of the partners, but she, although strongly attracted towards Mr Beyer, gave preference to another suitor. This was his first and only romance. Gorton Foundry was destined to become and remain his chief preoccupation in life."
Stolen from Wikipedia

I have just found this on the UK model shop site, may be of local interest to you.
 
 

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'I can't come out yet, Dear: I'm washing the baby.'

If you have missed one of our Newsletters you can find them on our website www.dhmrs.co.uk

QUIZ
Answers in the next issue.

1) What are the five colours of the Olympic rings?

2) In football, which team has won the Champions League (formerly the European Cup) the most?

3) How many players are there in a rugby league team?

4) Which horse is the only three-time winner of the Grand National?

5) Since 1977, where has snooker's World Championship taken place?

6) In tennis, what piece of fruit is found at the top of the men's Wimbledon trophy?

7) Who won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019?

8) In bowling, what is the term given for three consecutive strikes?

9) How many world titles has Phil Talyor won in darts?

10) In golf, where does the Masters take place?

ANSWERS TO THE LAST QUIZ

Q1 What is the length of the Victoria Line?
B: 21km
 
Q2 How many stations does the Victoria Line serve?
A: 16 
 
Q3 What was the proposed name for the Victoria Line?
C: Viking Line
 
Q4 Which station would you head to if you wanted to get to Electric Avenue?
A: Brixton 
 
Q5 The Victoria Line was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, but in which year?
B: 1969 
 
Q6 Which station on the Victoria Line gets its name from the area it serves, which is believed to be named after a historically documented figure?
B: Pimlico 
 
Q7 Below which station’s platforms is an air raid shelter comprised of two tunnels?
C: Stockwell
 
Q8 What world’s first does the Victoria Line boast?
B: The first automatic passenger railway
 
Q9 Who or what is Seven Sisters station named after?
B: Seven elms 
 
Q10 The Victoria line is the UK’s most frequent train service and the world’s second, behind which other city?
A: Moscow Metro 
 
Q11 The Victoria line is the second shortest on the network, behind which other line?
C: Waterloo & City line
 
Q12 Do you know the name of the station that lies between Oxford Circus and Victoria?
A: Green Park