Frederick Methvan Whyte (March 2, 1865 – 1941 Athens) was a mechanical engineer of Dutch background who worked for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He is most widely known as the person who developed Whyte notation to describe the different wheel arrangements of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s in 1900. In some railroad literature, he is referenced as "F. M. White," using the Anglicized spelling of his name. Further, some references also spell his middle name as "Methven."

Career

Education: Franklin Academy, 1889. Entered railway service May 1, 1889, since when he was consecutively to January 1, 1890, draftsman, Motive Power Department, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway; January 1, 1889, to February 1, 1892, Testing Department and Drawing Room,

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

; February 1, 1892, to June 1892, special testing work,

Mexican Central Railroad The Mexican Central Railway (''Ferrocarril Central Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1880, it opened the main line in March 1884, linking Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez, ac ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

; June 1892, to December 1894, general railroad engineering in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, chiefly with

Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Par ...

and in railway newspaper work; July 1895, to September 1896, draftsman, Northwestern Elevated Railroad, Chicago; July 1, 1897, consulting engineer, Chicago; July 1, 1897, to August 10, 1899, mechanical engineer,

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

and secretary, Western Railway Club; August 15, 1899, to November 1, 1904, mechanical engineer,

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

; November 1, 1904, to 1910, general mechanical engineer, same road; Lake Shore and Michigan Southern,

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...

, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, and

Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad The Chicago, Indiana and Southern Railroad is a former railroad which operated in the states of Illinois and Indiana during the early 20th century. The CI&S formed in 1906 from the consolidation of the two other railroads: the Indiana, Illinois ...

; September 15, 1905, to 1910, also general mechanical engineer Rutland Railroad; November 1, 1911, to 1913, vice-president, Hutchins Car Roofing. Whyte visited Australia in 1921 as one of three members of the Royal Commission on the matter of Uniform Railway Gauge, whose report was presented on 12 October 1921. He was greeted on arrival in Melbourne (then the Federal capital) by Prime Minister William Morris Hughes and travelled widely throughout the country by train. The other Royal Commissioners were R.K. White, a British engineer from India, and John Joseph Garvan (chair), a Sydney businessman.See the Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080642b.htm The Commissioners suggested five options for standardisation of Australia's railways. The two concrete results were (1) the construction of the standard gauge railway from Grafton to South Brisbane, opened in 1930 and (2) the extension of Commonwealth Railways' standard-gauge Trans Australia Railway from Port Augusta to Port Pirie in 1937. Both these railways eliminated sections of narrow-gauge () railway between Australia's capital cities.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whyte, Frederick Methvan 1865 births 1941 deaths American people in rail transportation American railroad mechanical engineers