Walter Chalmers was a Scottish engineer. He followed his father into the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

, starting as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

at Cowlairs railway works. In 1904 he became Chief Draughtsman and, from 1920 to 1922, he was Chief Mechanical Engineer.

Titles

Robert Chalmers (Walter's father) had held the title ''Assistant Locomotive Superintendent and Chief Draughtsman''. Walter Chalmers succeeded his father in the same role, but the title was abbreviated to ''Chief Draughtsman''. In 1920, he succeeded

William Paton Reid William Paton Reid, CBE (8 September 1854 – 2 February 1932) was apprenticed to the Cowlairs railway works of the North British Railway in 1879 and was Locomotive Superintendent from 1903 to 1919. He was appointed a CBE in 1920. He was born ...

who had held the role of ''Locomotive Superintendent'', but in line with other railway companies of the era, the title of the post was changed to ''Chief Mechanical Engineer''. His own successor in the deputy position was J P Grassick, whose job title was also changed from ''Chief Draughtsman'' to ''Locomotive Running Superintendent''.

Locomotives

Because

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

was imminent, Chalmers had little opportunity to develop new

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

types but he did supervise the rebuilding of the last eighteen locomotives of

NBR Class M 4-4-0 The NBR Class M (later LNER Class D31) was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive of the North British Railway. The class was created during the tenures of William P. Reid (Locomotive Superintendent) and Walter Chalmers (Chief Draughtsman) by r ...

(later LNER Class D31). He also designed a three-cylinder

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

mineral engine but this never got beyond the drawing board. Dimensions of LNER Class D31 (as rebuilt) Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, 1948 edition, part 4, page 18 * Weights: ** Locomotive, 46 tons 8 cwt ** Tender, 33 tons 9 cwt * Boiler pressure, 175 psi * Superheater, no * Cylinders, 18" x 26" * Driving wheel diameter, 6' 6" * Tractive effort, 16,515 lbf Seven D31s passed into

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ownership in 1948 but three of these were quickly withdrawn leaving BR numbers 62059, 62060, 62065 and 62072. The last D31 was withdrawn in 1952 and none was preserved.

Post-grouping

Chalmers continued to work for the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

after the 1923 Grouping but retired in June 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Walter Locomotive builders and designers Scottish engineers Year of death missing Year of birth missing 20th-century British engineers