Edward Fletcher (1807 – 21 December 1889)
was an English engineer, and locomotive superintendent of the
North Eastern Railway (NER). He was born at
Elsdon in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
.
Career
He was apprenticed to
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
beginning in 1825
and helped with the construction of
Stephenson's Rocket
Stephenson's ''Rocket'' is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be mo ...
and the
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the "Crab and Winkle Line", was an early British railway that opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.
Early history
There a ...
. He helped with the construction of the
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...
, and then became locomotive superintendent of the
Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway
The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. Both companies were part of the group of business interest ...
in 1845. When the N&DJR became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1854, Fletcher became its locomotive superintendent until his retirement in 1882.
He was succeeded by
Alexander McDonnell.
Locomotive designs
Fletcher's locomotive designs for the North Eastern Railway included:
*
NER Bogie Tank Passenger
The North Eastern Railway (NER) Bogie Tank Passenger (BTP) locomotives were designed by Edward Fletcher in 1873. The locomotives were for hauling passenger services on branch lines. They had an 0-4-4 wheel layout and a total of 124 locomotives ...
*
NER 901 Class
The NER 901 Class was a class of steam locomotive of the North Eastern Railway, designed by Edward Fletcher. Between 1872 and 1882 55 of the class were built for the NER.
History
From their introduction, the 901 Class were used on the Newca ...
2-4-0
*
NER 1001 Class
The North Eastern Railway (NER) 1001 Class was a class of long-boiler 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed by William Bouch.
Technical data
A NER 1001 class locomotive weighed about , with a wheelbase of and diameter driven wheels. Its dia ...
0-6-0
Family
His nephew was the engineer
James Holden.
See also
*
Locomotives of the North Eastern Railway
The North Eastern Railway was formed by merger in 1854 and merged into the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping in 1923. Between those dates five men held the post of Locomotive Superintendent.
In addition many locomotives were inher ...
References
External links
Edward Fletcher''LNER Cyclopedia''
''Steamindex''
1807 births
1889 deaths
Locomotive superintendents
English railway mechanical engineers
British railway pioneers
North Eastern Railway (UK) people
19th-century British businesspeople
{{England-engineer-stub