![Sturrock 0-4-2 suburban Tank Engine Great Northern Railway 246](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Sturrock_0-4-2_suburban_Tank_Engine_Great_Northern_Railway_246.jpg)
Archibald Sturrock (30 September 1816 – 1 January 1909) was a
Scottish mechanical engineer
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
who was born at Petruchie,
Angus, Scotland
Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agr ...
.
He was locomotive superintendent of the
Great Northern Railway from 1850 until c. 1866, having from 1840 been
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...
's assistant on the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
.
Archibald Sturrock is often remembered for his unsuccessful experiment with
steam tender
A booster engine for steam locomotives is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive or the lead truck on the tender. A rocking idler gear permits it to be put into operation by the drive ...
s. However, his principal achievement was the opening of the Great Northern main line and the establishment of GNR's reputation for a reliable and comfortable passenger service from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and beyond.
Career
Dundee Foundry
Sturrock was born in 1816. His father, who was agent to the
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
, was shocked when Sturrock, aged 15, took an apprenticeship at the
Dundee Foundry. Here he was involved with the construction of a locomotive for the
Dundee and Newtyle Railway
The Dundee and Newtyle Railway opened in 1831 and was the first railway in the north of Scotland. It was built to carry goods between Dundee and the fertile area known as Strathmore; this involved crossing the Sidlaw Hills, and was accomplish ...
and met
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...
, who was to become Locomotive Superintendent of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
.
Great Western Railway
Following a period with Fairbairns in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, and travel abroad, Sturrock persuaded Gooch to offer him a post in the Locomotive department of the GWR in 1840. In spite of a difficult initial relationship with
Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, Sturrock won his confidence and was appointed Works Manager at
Swindon Works
Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
History
In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...
. Sturrock worked with Gooch, who was based in London, designing and building the
Iron Duke and other GWR locomotives. When the recession of the late 1840s hit the GWR, a glowing reference from Brunel helped secure Sturrock the post of Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway in 1850.
Great Northern Railway
During his 16 years with the GNR, Sturrock designed over a dozen classes of both passenger and goods locomotives to meet the needs of the fast-growing railway, where the transport of coal and other minerals was as important to the profitability of the line as passenger traffic. Sturrock was accountable for around 40% of expenditure and he continually battled with the chairman and board to persuade them to purchase locomotives, wagons and carriages in time to meet the growing demands of the line. In 1850 when Sturrock joined the GNR, there were 340 employees in the Locomotive Department and the locomotive mileage was 609,092. When he retired in 1866, the employees numbered 3,834 and the mileage was 4,873,113.
Yorkshire Engine Company
Sturrock had a long and active retirement in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
. He was involved with the founding of the
Yorkshire Engine Company
The Yorkshire Engine Company (YEC) was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The company was formed in 1865 and produced locomotives and carried out general engineering work until 1965. It mainly built shunting engi ...
and chaired the business for several years. He died in London in 1909.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturrock, Archibald
1816 births
1909 deaths
19th-century Scottish people
People from Angus, Scotland
Locomotive builders and designers
Scottish inventors
Scottish railway mechanical engineers
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) people