David C. Curwen (30 November 1913 – 26 May 2011) was an English

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

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 ...

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

. Born in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, and educated at

King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...

, Curwen worked from 1935 to 1945 for

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

in Rochester as an aircraft engineer. In 1946, he established his own engineering firm, Baydon. In 1950 he married Barbara Willans, an actress. In 1951 he became

Chief Mechanical Engineer 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 ...

(CME) of the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...

in Wales for its first year of preservation. At the end of the 1951 season, he returned to

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

, Wiltshire where he went into partnership with A.E. Newbery to create Curwen and Newbery. He left the partnership in 1966 and established his own workshop at

All Cannings All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington. The southern part of the pa ...

, Wiltshire. He published his autobiography titled ''Rule of Thumb'' in 2006, and a review of his work was published as ''The Miniature Locomotives of David Curwen'' in 2008, by Dave Holdroyd.

Locomotives

Locomotives built by Curwen include the following: * ''William Bell'', a gauge

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

built in 1946/47 for the Hilsea Miniature Railway on

Portsea Island Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all th ...

* ''Robin Hood'', a gauge

built in 1946/47 for the Weymouth Miniature Railway that ran adjacent to

Radipole Lake Radipole Lake is a lake on the River Wey, now in the English coastal town of Weymouth, Dorset, once in Radipole, the village and parish of the same name. Along the western shore of the lake, and between Radipole and the town centre of Weymouth, ...

* ''Waverley'', a gauge 4-4-2 built in 1948. It was originally named ''Black Prince'' and used on a railway in Weymouth, Dorset. It was later in use at the

Isle of Mull Railway The Isle of Mull Railway was a gauge line, long, which ran from the ferry terminal at Craignure to Torosay Castle, on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. Originally it was known as the Mull and West Highland Railway (Mull and W ...

, and is now based at

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is a ridable miniature railway and the third railway of any gauge to run along the side of Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, England. Overview The railway runs for on the track bed of an old standard gauge North St ...

, in Staffordshire. * ''John H Gretton'', another gauge 4-4-2 built in 1948, based at the

Stapleford Miniature Railway Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive-hauled gauge railway at Stapleford Park, Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. Considered one of the finest examples of its type, the railway is now private but ...

in Leicestershire, rebuilt in 1969. * ''Isambard Kingdom Brunel'', a gauge

2-6-0 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, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

built in 1977 for the Age of Steam in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

where it ran on the Crowlas Woodland Railway. This locomotive now resides on Royal Victoria Railway in Southampton where there is a new-build twin locomotive named ''Sammy The Sergeant.'' * No. 5, nicknamed ''The Lawnmower'', a gauge lightweight locomotive built in 1952 for the Talyllyn Railway using a

Model T Ford The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

engine, transmission from the narrowboat of

L.T.C. Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Tel ...

and the wheels from a

slate wagon Slate wagons are specialized types of railway wagons designed for the conveyance of slate. The characteristics of this stone led to the development of small open cars that carried the slate in its various forms. These were first developed on t ...

. It worked the Fridays-only winter passenger service until 1953, when it was taken out of use with a failed gearbox. It was dismantled in 1954, and converted into a flat wagon. It was proposed to rebuild it as a memorial to Curwen, using a replacement engine and bodywork.

Notes

Source

* ''The Miniature Locomotives of David Curwen'', 2008 by Lawson Little and Dave Holdroyd People from Sydenham, London Locomotive builders and designers English railway mechanical engineers English mechanical engineers Talyllyn Railway 1913 births 2011 deaths British people associated with Heritage Railways {{England-engineer-stub