Richard Mountford Deeley (24 October 1855 – 19 June 1944) was an English engineer, chiefly noted for his five years as

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 ...

(CME) of the

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 ...

. Richard Deeley is recorded as being born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

His father had been an accountant with the

and Richard attended

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Chester.

Career

In 1873 he became a pupil of B. Ellington at the Hydraulic Engineering Co in Chester, and two years later he became a pupil of

Samuel Waite Johnson Samuel Waite Johnson (14 October 1831 – 14 January 1912) was an English railway engineer, and was Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway from 1873 to 1903. He was born in Bramley, Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar ...

Derby Works The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby station. Th ...

. In March 1890 he became chief of the testing department at Derby, then progressed to the position of Inspector of Boilers, Engines and Machinery (March 1893), and to Derby Works Manager in January 1902, adding the post of Electrical Engineer a year later. In July 1903 he also became Assistant Locomotive Superintendent, subsequently replacing Johnson as Locomotive Superintendent on 1 January 1904.

Compound locomotives

He made significant contributions to

compounding In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of a custom formulation of a medication to fit a unique need of a patient that cannot be met with commercially available products. This may be done for me ...

, adopting Smith's system for his Midland Compound 4-4-0 locomotives. However, the refusal of the company's board to sanction development of larger locomotives, and friction with the new senior managers, led him to resign his post at the end of 1909. After this he continued to work and publish on engineering problems in both railway and non-railway applications.

Patents

* GB190516372, published 28 June 1906, Improvements in valve gear for locomotives or similar coupled steam engines * GB190604729, published 31 January 1907, Improvements in locomotive superheaters * GB190605839, published 7 March 1907, Combined spark arrester and ash ejector for locomotive engines * GB190910561, published 30 September 1909, Improvements in locomotive boiler stays and the like * GB190923872 (with

Walter Reuben Preston Sir Walter Reuben Preston (20 September 1875 – 6 July 1946) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, serving as MP for the Mile End from 1918 to 1923, and Cheltenham from 1928 to his resignation in 1937. Early life and educat ...

), published 13 October 1910, Improvements in slide valves for motive power engines

References

External links

*
Richard Deeley at Worldcat
People from Derby English mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers Midland Railway people English railway mechanical engineers 1855 births 1944 deaths {{England-engineer-stub