William Kirtley (1840 – 7 October 1919) was an English railway engineer, and was the

Locomotive Superintendent 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 ...

of the

London Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

(LCDR) in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1874 until the merger to form the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...

at the end of 1898.

Biography

William was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in 1840, the son of the locomotive engineer Thomas Kirtley (1810–1847). He was educated by his uncle

Matthew Kirtley Matthew Kirtley (6 February 181324 May 1873) was born at Tanfield, Durham. He was an important early locomotive engineer. Career Early years At the age of thirteen he began work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway; he was fireman on the Liv ...

of the

Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station. It now forms part ...

and later 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 am ...

, following his father's premature death. He served as a pupil at

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 ...

from 1854–1860, and from 1861 to 1864 he was Running foreman for the Midland Railway for the London District. In 1864 he was appointed superintendent of

. In 1874 he was appointed Carriage and Wagon Superintendent on the LCDR following the death of

William Martley William Martley (4 January 1824 – 6 February 1874) was the locomotive superintendent of the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in England from 1860 until his death. Biography William was born in Ballyfallon, in County Meath, Ireland, in 1 ...

, and served until the merger to form the

at the end of 1898, when he retired. He also served as consultant to the

Hull and Barnsley Railway Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in af ...

between 1883 and 1885, prior to the opening of the line.

London Chatham & Dover Railway Career

During his period at the LCDR Kirtley extended

Longhedge Railway Works (Battersea) Longhedge Railway Works was a locomotive and carriage works built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in the borough of Battersea, South London to serve their new London terminus at Victoria. The facility existed between 1862 until the mid-19 ...

and once again used it for new locomotive construction. He also introduced a new livery, numbering scheme and locomotive classification scheme to the railway. The railway under Kirtley was also one of the pioneers in using continuous braking by means of Westinghouse air brakes.

Locomotives

According to D.L. Bradley, Kirtley's locomotives were "well designed, robustly constructed, easily maintained, and capable of high mileages between general repairs. For the period their coal, water and old consumption was moderate while all performed their daily tasks well." His classes included 0-4-4 suburban

tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine ...

of the A, A1, A2, R, and R1 classes; Six coupled goods classes B, B1, and B2 classes; six coupled tanks of the T class; and

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

express passenger locomotives of the M, M1, M2 and M3 classes. Whilst working as a consultant for the Hull and Barnsley Railway he also designed twelve six coupled tank locomotives and twenty tender locomotives to similar designs and ten 2-4-0s.Bradley (1979) pp.9

References

External links

Biographical notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirtley, William 1840 births 1919 deaths English mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers English railway mechanical engineers People from Warrington South Eastern and Chatham Railway people