Samuel Waite Johnson (14 October 1831 – 14 January 1912) was an English railway engineer, and was

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

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 ama ...

from 1873 to 1903. He was born in Bramley,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and educated at

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physicall ...

Career

Johnson learned to become an engineer at the locomotive builders E.B.Wilson and Company. In 1859 Johnson became Acting Locomotive Superintendent at the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

. In 1864 he was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. In 1866, after only two years in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

he replaced Robert Sinclair of the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Ra ...

(GER) at Stratford Works. There he stayed for seven years until moving to the

(MR) at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, where he stayed until his retirement in 1904. At the time of appointment to the Midland Railway on 1 July 1873, he was paid a salary of £2,000 per year (), rising to £3,500 in 1896 () where it remained until his retirement on 31 December 1903.

Locomotive designs

Great Eastern Railway

''See:

Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway was formed on 1 August 1862, when the Eastern Counties Railway changed its name. The ECR had originally been built to gauge, was converted to in September and October 1844. Robert Sinclair (locomotive engineer), Robert ...

Midland Railway

''See: Locomotives of the Midland Railway'' * 115 Class 4-2-2 ("Spinners") * Class 4 Compound 4-4-0 * 179 Class * 483 Class * 1116A Class 0-4-0ST * 1377 Class 0-6-0T * 1738 Class * 2228 Class 0-4-4T * 2441 Class 0-6-0T * Class 2 & 3 Goods engines 0-6-0 * 2501 Class – 30 2-6-0 locomotives built at the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades ...

, USA * 2511 Class – 10 2-6-0 locomotives built at the

Schenectady Locomotive Works The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901. After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New ...

, USA

Family

In 1857, Johnson married Emily Priestman in Chipping Ongar, Essex. By 1871 they had had four daughters and one son and were living in Hackney. By 1891 they were living in Nottingham. Emily died prior to 1911. S. W. Johnson's father, James Johnson, worked for the Great Northern Railway (GNR) for sixteen years before becoming engineer of the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was bas ...

(NSR). S. W. Johnson's son, also James Johnson, was locomotive superintendent of the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) from 1890 to 1894.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Samuel Waite English mechanical engineers English railway mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers Great Eastern Railway people Midland Railway people People educated at Leeds Grammar School 1831 births 1912 deaths