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 The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

Biography

Sir William Stanier was born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

, where his father worked for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

(GWR) as William Dean's Chief Clerk, and educated at Swindon High School and also, for a single year, at

Wycliffe College Wycliffe College () is an evangelical graduate school of theology at the University of Toronto. Founded in 1877 as an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition, Wycliffe College today attracts students from many Christian denominations from ...

. In 1891 he followed his father into a career with the GWR, initially as an office boy and then for five years as an apprentice in the workshops. Between 1897 and 1900 he worked in the Drawing Office as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

, before becoming Inspector of Materials in 1900. In 1904, George Jackson Churchward appointed him as Assistant to the Divisional Locomotive Superintendent in London. In 1912 he returned to Swindon to become the Assistant Works Manager and in 1920 was promoted to the post of Works Manager. In late 1931, he was "headhunted" by Sir

Josiah Stamp Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, (21 June 1880 – 16 April 1941) was an English industrialist, economist, civil servant, statistician, writer, and banker. He was a director of the Bank of England and chairman of the London, Midland and Scot ...

, chairman of the

(LMS), to become the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of that railway from 1 January 1932. He was charged with introducing modern and more powerful locomotive designs, using his knowledge gained with the GWR at Swindon. Stanier built many successful designs for the LMS, particularly the "Black 5" mixed traffic 4-6-0 and the 8F 2-8-0 freight locomotive. His Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 No.6220 ''Coronation'' set a new British record of 114 mph, beating the previous record set by a Gresley A4. During WWII, Stanier worked as a consultant for the Ministry of Supply, and retired in 1944. He was knighted on 9 February 1943 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on his retirement, only the third locomotive engineer after

Edward Bury Edward Bury (22 October 1794 – 25 November 1858) was an English locomotive manufacturer. Born in Salford, Lancashire, he was the son of a timber merchant and was educated at Chester. Career By 1823 he was a partner in Gregson and Bury's steam ...

and Robert Stephenson to receive that honour. He was also president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for 1944, and was a vice president of the Stephenson Locomotive Society for a number of years until his death in 1965. He died in Rickmansworth in 1965. In 1906, he had married Ella Elizabeth, daughter of Levi L Morse. They had a son and a daughter.

Locomotive Designs

Duchess of Sutherland 6233 LMS 2 (43920141475)

William Stanier, with the backing of Sir

, chairman of the company, reversed the small engine policy, which the LMS had inherited from the Midland Railway, with beneficial results. Locomotive designs introduced by Stanier include: * LMS Class 2P 0-4-4T (designed in the Midland Railway design office) * LMS Class 3MT 2-6-2T * LMS Class 4MT 2-6-4T (3-cyl) * LMS Class 4MT 2-6-4T (2-cyl) * LMS Class 5MT 2-6-0 * LMS Class 5MT "Black Five" 4-6-0 * LMS Class 6P "Jubilee" 4-6-0 *

LMS Rebuilt Royal Scot Class The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Rebuilt Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives. 70 members of this class were rebuilt by the LMS and its successor British Railways (BR) from LMS Royal Scot Class engines by the rep ...

* LMS Class 8P "Princess Royal" 4-6-2 * LMS Class 8P "Princess Coronation" 4-6-2 Pacific * LMS Class 8F 2-8-0 * LMS Turbomotive

Legacy

Stanier's designs were a strong influence on the later British Railways standard classes of steam locomotives designed by R A Riddles, who adopted LMS design principles in preference to those of the other "Big Four" railway companies. There is a secondary school in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

called

Sir William Stanier School Sir William Stanier School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school located in Crewe in the English county of Cheshire. The school is named after William Stanier, a former railway engineer, and Chief Mechanical Engineer of the L ...

References

Bibliography

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External links