Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, CBE, MIMechE, MinstLE (23 May 1892 – 18 June 1983) was a British locomotive engineer.

Biography

LNWR and LMS

Riddles was born in 1892 and entered the

Crewe Works Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...

of the London and North Western Railway as a premium apprentice in 1909, completing his apprenticeship in 1913. While attending the Mechanics Institute classes he took a course in electrical engineering, feeling there would be a future for electric traction. During the 1914–18

Great 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 ...

he served with the Royal Engineers mainly in France, during which time he was badly wounded. He returned to the LNWR at Crewe, and, in 1920, became the "bricks and mortar assistant", with responsibility for the new erecting shop. When work on this was stopped, Riddles was placed in charge of a small production progress department and was sent to Horwich to study the methods used by the L&Y. From this, Riddles gained some backing and had significant influence in the re-organisation of Crewe, which took place between 1925 and 1927. In 1923, the LNWR became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, thus, on completion of the work at Crewe, Riddles was sent to the ex-

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

works at Derby, by now part of the LMS, to initiate a similar arrangement. In this task, he had the active support of the then Derby works manager, H. G. Ivatt. During the nine-day General Strike in May 1926, Riddles volunteered as a driver, taking trains from Crewe to Manchester and Carlisle. The experience gained, made him almost unique among CMEs; Riddles maintained that the practical knowledge of driving a locomotive that he gained, was an invaluable aid to his design work. In 1933, Riddles moved to Euston to become Locomotive Assistant to the new Chief Mechanical Engineer,

Sir William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier, (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was a British railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his ...

, and in 1935 became Stanier's Principal Assistant. In 1937, Riddles moved to Glasgow as Mechanical & Electrical Engineer - Scotland, the first to combine both engineering disciplines in a single title. However, Riddles was disappointed that C. E. Fairburn was at this time appointed as Stanier's Deputy.

Ministry of Supply

In 1939, with the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

having just started, he moved to the Ministry of Supply, becoming ''Director of Transportation Equipment'', and later designed the

WD Austerity 2-8-0 The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nic ...

and

WD Austerity 2-10-0 The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-10-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced during the Second World War in 1943. Background The Austerity 2-10-0 was based on the Austerity 2-8-0, and was designed to have intercha ...

locomotives.

Return to LMS

In 1943, he moved to the post of Chief Stores Superintendent at the LMS - it has been said that he was anxious to get back into the railway business. On the death of

Charles Fairburn Charles Edward Fairburn (5 September 1887 – 12 October 1945) was an English electrical engineer whose work mainly concerned rail transport. Born in Bradford in 1887, and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, his career included railway e ...

in 1944, he applied for the position of

Chief Mechanical Engineer Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

, but the job went to

George Ivatt Henry George Ivatt (4 May 1886 – 4 October 1972), known as George Ivatt, was the post-war Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was the son of the Great Northern Railway locomotive engineer Henry Ivatt. ...

, with Riddles being promoted to vice-president of the LMS.

British Railways

Upon the creation of the

Railway Executive Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in 1947, in preparation for the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, he was appointed Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He had two principal assistants, both of whom were also former LMS men: Roland C. Bond, Chief Officer (Locomotive Construction and Maintenance), and E. S. Cox, Executive Officer (Design). The duties of these three effectively covered the old post of

; they subsequently oversaw the design of the British Railways (BR) standard classes.

Retirement

Riddles retired in 1953, on the abolition of the Railway Executive, and became a director of Stothert & Pitt of Bath, Cranemakers. Riddles was succeeded as Chief Mechanical Engineer of BR by Roland Bond.

References

External links

LNER encyclopedia

R.A. Riddles at WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddles, Robert English railway mechanical engineers British Rail people Locomotive builders and designers British Army personnel of World War I 1892 births 1983 deaths