Thomas William Worsdell (14 January 1838 – 28 June 1916) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

locomotive engineer. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family.

Family

T. W. Worsdell – normally known as William – was the eldest son of Nathaniel Worsdell (1809–1886), and grandson of the coachbuilder Thomas Clarke Worsdell (1788–1862). His younger brother,

Wilson Worsdell Wilson Worsdell (7 September 1850 – 14 April 1920) was an English locomotive engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the North Eastern Railway from 1890 to 1910. He was the younger brother of T.W. Worsdell. Wilson was born at Monks Co ...

(1850–1920), was also a locomotive engineer. T. C. Worsdell had become a

at some point between 1812 and 1816, and his descendants, including Nathaniel, William and Wilson, were brought up in the Quaker faith. William was born at his parents' house in Liverpool on 14 January 1838. He began school at the age of two, and in 1847 was sent as a boarder to Ackworth, a Quaker school in Yorkshire, where he remained until 1852.

Career

He worked at 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

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lond ...

under John Ramsbottom but in 1865 moved to the United States to the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. In 1871 he was invited by

Francis William Webb Francis William Webb (21 May 1836 – 4 June 1906) was an English railway engineer, responsible for the design and manufacture of locomotives for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Webb was born in Tixall Rectory, near Stafford, ...

to return to Crewe. In 1881 he was appointed locomotive superintendent of the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

, but in 1885 moved to the North Eastern Railway, being replaced at the GER by James Holden. He retired from the NER on 1 October 1890 due to ill health and was replaced by his younger brother

. He died in

Arnside Arnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, historically part of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, England. The Lake District National Park is located a few miles North. Travelling by road, Arnside is to the south of Kendal, ...

on 28 June 1916.

Locomotive Designs

GER Class G14 The Great Eastern Railway (GER) Class G14 was a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotives. The Class G14 was designed by Thomas William Worsdell for the express service from London to Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk ...

2-4-0 *

GER Class Y14 The Great Eastern Railway (GER) Class Y14 is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive. The LNER classified them J15. The Class Y14 was designed by T.W. Worsdell for both freight and passenger duties - a veritable 'maid of all work'. Introduced in ...

( LNER Class J15 0-6-0) *

GER Class G15 The GER Class G15 was a class of ten 0-4-0T steam tram locomotives designed by Thomas William Worsdell for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the 1923 grouping, and received the LNER cla ...

( LNER Class Y6 0-4-0Tram) *

GER Class M15 The GER Class M15 was a class of 160 steam locomotives designed by Thomas William Worsdell and built for the Great Eastern Railway between 1884 and 1909. The original (F4) class of locomotives were fitted with Joy valve gear which was notorious ...

( LNER Class F4 2-4-2T)

Patents

Worsdell obtained a number of patents including several (in association with

August von Borries August Friedrich Wilhelm von Borries (27 January 1852 in Bad Oeynhausen – 14 February 1906) was one of Germany's most influential railway engineers, who was primarily concerned with developments in steam locomotives. Von Borries graduated from th ...

, a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n locomotive engineer) relating to

compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three stages were used in shi ...

s. T. W. Worsdell used the von Borries two-cylinder compound system in several of his designs for the North Eastern Railway. ;Worsdell-von Borries patents * GB190006487, published 16 February 1901, An improvement in starting valves for compound steam engines * GB190022906, published 2 November 1901, Improvements in valves for use in compound locomotives and other compound engines * US803981 (with Herbert Richard Lapage), published 7 November 1905, Compound locomotive

References

External links

T.W.Worsdell
at www.lner.info

at www.steamindex.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Worsdell, Thomas William 1838 births 1916 deaths Engineers from Liverpool English Quakers People educated at Ackworth School Locomotive builders and designers Locomotive superintendents English railway mechanical engineers Great Eastern Railway people North Eastern Railway (UK) people