Alfred Weeks Szlumper

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(24 May 1858 – 11 November 1934), was a British railway engineer. He was the President of the

Permanent Way Institution The Permanent Way Institution is a technical Institution which aims to provide technical knowledge, advice and support to all those engaged in rail infrastructure systems worldwide. Permanent Way is used to describe the course of a railway line, ...

and the Chief Engineer of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

and later the Southern Railway company.

Biography

Early life

Szlumper was born in

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, on 24 May 1858, the son of Albert Szlumper, a Polish tailor, and his second wife, Sally Harris. He had an older brother of the same name who died in 1856. After attending the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

, he served as

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

to his older half-brother, Sir James Szlumper who was also a noted railway engineer.

Early career

In 1880, Szlumper was appointed as engineering assistant on the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...

. He served for two years before moving to the

Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...

as a resident engineer.

London and South Western Railway

In 1884, he took a position as engineering assistant on the

. He led a series of projects to widen the main line in London and in the Woking-Basingstoke area. During this work he was promoted to resident engineer. In 1892 he presented a paper to the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

on his work reconstructing

Vauxhall station Vauxhall (, ) is a National Rail, London Underground and London Buses interchange station in central London. It is at the Vauxhall Cross road junction opposite the southern approach to Vauxhall Bridge over the River Thames in the district of ...

. In 1897 he was promoted again to divisional engineer for London and in 1914 he became Chief Engineer of the railway, replacing J.W. Jacomb-Hood. He oversaw the building of the

Bordon Light Railway The Bordon Light Railway was a short-lived light railway line in Hampshire that connected the Army Camp at Bordon, as well as the villages of Bordon and Kingsley, with the national rail network at Bentley on the main Farnham-Alton line, a distan ...

in 1902, the remodelling of

Clapham Junction station Clapham Junction railway station () is a major railway station and transport hub near St John's Hill in south-west Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is from and from ; it is on both the South West Main Line and Brighton Main L ...

which was carrying over 1,000 trains a day, and the first electrification scheme carried out by the L&SWR between 1913 and 1916. He also completed the major reconstruction of

Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...

in 1914–15. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Szlumper also worked for the War Office and the Admiralty. In 1920 he was made a

. In 1922 he was elected President of the Permanent Way Institution.

Southern Railway

In 1924, the London & South Western Railway became part of the larger Southern Railway, and Szlumper retained the post of Chief Engineer in the larger company. He oversaw the reconstructions of the

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

, Kingston and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

bridges and the

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...

goods yard.

Retirement

Szlumper retired in June 1927. During his career he was awarded the Miller Prize, the Trevithick and Telford Premiums by the Institute of Civil Engineers. He also won the

Telford Medal The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...

for his description of the "Widening and Improvement Works London and South Western Railway Metropolitan Extension". He died on 11 November 1934 in Richmond.

Family

His son,

Gilbert Szlumper Major General Gilbert Savil Szlumper, (18 April 1884 – 19 July 1969) was a British railwayman, and the penultimate general manager of the Southern Railway. He left the Southern Railway for war service in 1939, becoming director-general of tra ...

became the Assistant General Manager of the Southern Railway in 1925, and became General Manager in 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szlumper, Alfred 1858 births 1934 deaths English people of Polish descent English civil engineers People associated with transport in London British railway pioneers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire London and South Western Railway people Southern Railway (UK) people People from Milford Haven Alumni of the University of Wales