William Herbert Morton (14 September 1877–1947) was a British locomotive engineer who rose to the position of general manager of the

Great Southern Railways The Great Southern Railways Company (often Great Southern Railways, or GSR) was an Irish company that from 1925 until 1945 owned and operated all railways that lay wholly within the Irish Free State (the present-day Republic of Ireland). The p ...

(GSR) in Ireland. He previously held the chief engineering positions for GSR and Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR). While Morton's only attributed design during his tenure of the top engineering positions was the

MGWR Class F The MGWR Classes F, Fa and Fb are a group of similar classes of 0-6-0 steam locomotives of the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland which were designed and built between 1921 and 1924. The locomotives could be used to handle goods and also ...

his business acumen, management qualities, influence on the upgrading of existing designs notably with regards to

superheating In thermodynamics, superheating (sometimes referred to as boiling retardation, or boiling delay) is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling. This is a so-called ''metastable state ...

and his influence on acquiring bargain surplus stock was of considerable benefit to the Irish locomotive fleet.

Life

Morton had had an apprenticeship with Kitson and Company, Leeds and further education at the University of Leeds and Leeds School of Science and Technology. He rapidly attained the position of assistant Works Manager at Kitsons'. In 1900 he was appointed Chief Draughtsman at the Midland Great Western Railway in Ireland and quickly rose to be Works Manager at Broadstone Works. He was promoted to the position of first assistance locomotive engineer under Edward Cusack, contributing significantly to many designs and pioneered work on

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There ar ...

development. He succeeded Cusack in 1915 as Locomotive Superintendent. His sole design was the

, however keen practical management skills and bargain surplus purchases, most notably the purchase of kits of parts for 12 Woolwich Moguls. On the merger of the MGWR to form the GSR Morton initially was initially not preferred as Chief Mechanical Engineer, that role falling to J.R. Bazin of the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the ...

. Bazin had the advantage of already being based at Inchicore which was to be the lead works for the GSR. The need to balance senior roles between the companies may also have been an influence. When Bazin retired in 1929 Morton succeed him as Chief Mechanical Engineer for the GSR and focused on general fleet improvement including widespread rebuilds with superheating. From 1932 until retirement in 1942 Morton was appointed to the position of General Manager, a position he held until retirement in 1942.

Engineering

Morton is particularly noted for his application of

to improve the performance of the existing locomotive fleet. He investigated superheating whilst at the MGWR and was supported by

Cusack Cusack is an Irish family name of Norman origin, originally from Cussac in Guienne ( Aquitaine), France. The surname died out in England, but is still common in Ireland, where it was imported at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in ...

in 1915 in lodging a patent. The GSR Class 101, the numerically largest locomotive class in Ireland, was a particularly significant successfully example of improvement with superheater rebuild. Morton's only locomotive design while in the top job was the

. Typically of Morton the design seemed optimised to make use of cheaply available war surplus supplies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Walter H. 1947 deaths Locomotive builders and designers Midland Great Western Railway Locomotive superintendents 1877 births