LSWR Beattie well tank (Boys' Book of Locomotives, 1907)

Joseph Hamilton Beattie (1808-1871) was a locomotive engineer with the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

. Joseph Beattie was born in Ireland on 12 May 1808. He was educated in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and initially apprenticed to his father, a Derry architect. He moved to England in 1835 to serve as an assistant to

Joseph Locke Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as on ...

on the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

and from 1837 on the

London and Southampton Railway The London and Southampton Railway was an early railway company between London and Southampton, in England. It opened in stages from 1838 to 1840 after a difficult construction period, but was commercially successful. On preparing to serve Por ...

. After the line opened he became the carriage and wagon superintendent at Nine Elms and succeeded

John Viret Gooch John Viret Gooch FRSA (29 June 1812 – 8 June 1900) was the locomotive superintendent of the London and South Western Railway from 1841 to 1850. Born at Bedlington, Northumberland, John Viret Gooch (brother of Daniel Gooch) was the son of John a ...

as locomotive engineer on 1 July 1850.

Locomotives

Initially he designed a series of singles, but the weight of the

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

expresses led to the development of 2-4-0s. He continued to develop the design over the next 20 years. In addition he developed a series of 85 2-4-0 well tanks and 0-6-0s. His locomotives were amongst the most efficient of the time. Three of his most famous locomotive design, the 0298 Class 2-4-0

well tank A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomo ...

s, were in service for 88 years, until 1962. 2 have been preserved - see the Swanage Railway,

Bodmin & Wenford Railway The Bodmin and Wenford Railway (BWR) is a heritage railway, based at Bodmin in Cornwall, England. It has an interchange with the national rail network at Bodmin Parkway railway station, the southern terminus of the line. History The Great West ...

and the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Innovations

Beattie was a highly innovative engineer, introducing the country's first successful

2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. The notation 2-4-0T indi ...

locomotive, pioneering feedwater heating,

balanced slide valve The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into and emission of exhaust from the cylinder of a steam engine. Use In the 19th century, most steam locomotives used slide valves to control the flow of steam into ...

s and coal-burning fireboxes. Since the Rainhill Trials in 1829, it had been accepted that the smoke emitted by burning coal was a nuisance. Railway companies accepted the need to burn coke (a smokeless fuel) in their locomotives, but this was much more expensive than coal, and several locomotive engineers sought a method by which coal could be burned smokelessly. One such engineer was Beattie, who designed a boiler suitable for coal in 1853.

Death

On 18 October 1871, Beattie died of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

and was succeeded as locomotive engineer by his son William George Beattie.

References

* *Bradley, D.L., (1989), LSWR Locomotives The Early Engines 1838-53 and the Beattie Classes, Wild Swan *

External links

South Western Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Joseph Hamilton 1808 births 1871 deaths Engineers from Belfast Locomotive builders and designers Locomotive superintendents Deaths from diphtheria London and South Western Railway people British railway mechanical engineers 19th-century British engineers