Roland Curling Bond (5 May 1903 – 20 December 1980) was a British locomotive engineer.

Biography

Bond was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

in 1903, and became interested in railways when staying in Yarmouth during the

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 was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

. Bond joined the Midland Railway in 1920, from 1923 part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) until 1925. He was an apprentice under Henry Fowler. He then became assistant works manager at the

Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossin ...

. In 1931 Bond returned to the LMS, becoming an "assistant works superintendent" at

Horwich Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...

. In 1933, moved to assistant works superintendent at Crewe. On the outbreak of the

World War II 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 opposing ...

in 1939, Bond was sent to Scotland as acting mechanical and electrical engineer, acting for

R.A. Riddles 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 of the London and North Western Railway as a pr ...

. In 1941, he moved back to Crewe to become "works superintendent" and helped drive efficient locomotive and munitions work there. In 1948, on the formation 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 ...

, Bond was appointed chief officer (Locomotive Construction and Maintenance), reporting to Riddles, who was now "Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering". On the abolition of the Railway Executive in 1953, Bond became chief mechanical engineer, BR Central Staff and later in 1965 general manager, BR Workshops. He was succeeded as Chief Mechanical Engineer in October 1958 by John Frederick (Freddie) Harrison. Bond retired in 1970 and died in 1980, aged 77.

References

External links

Roland Bond
at steamindex.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Roland Curling 1903 births 1980 deaths People educated at Tonbridge School Engineers from Ipswich British mechanical engineers British Rail people

Biography

References

Further reading

External links