Charles Reboul Sacré (4 September 1831 – 3 August 1889) was an English engineer, Engineer and Superintendent of the Locomotive and Stores Department of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Samuel Waite Johnson was his assistant between 1859 and 1864. Sacre retired in 1886 and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by shooting himself, reputedly due to the Penistone rail crash of 1884.

Early life

Charles Sacre was one of thirteen children born to John Joseph Berlot de Sacre. The family was of Huguenot origin. He was articled to

Archibald Sturrock Archibald Sturrock (30 September 1816 – 1 January 1909) was a Scottish mechanical engineer who was born at Petruchie, Angus, Scotland. He was locomotive superintendent of the Great Northern Railway from 1850 until c. 1866, having from 1840 ...

at the Great Northern Railway works at Boston, Lincolnshire in 1846, and upon the completion of the apprenticeship, he was appointed Assistant Locomotive Superintendent at Peterborough. (This was an out-station of the new central workshop at Doncaster, which opened in 1853.)

Career at the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

In 1858, he was appointed Chief Engineer and Locomotive Engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, commencing work at their Gorton works on 1 April 1859. His employees found him a friendly and approachable man, and he became popular with the work force. He was responsible for an outstanding series of double framed 0-6-0 goods engines, the largest of which were a class of sixty built in 1880-5. For the fast expresses that were being introduced on the

Cheshire Lines Railway The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...

, he designed a massive outside cylinder 2-2-2 with 7 ft. 6ins. (2.286 metre) driving wheels. Another successful design was an inside cylinder 4-4-0 with double frames. Several of the 0-6-0 and 4-4-0 locomotives lasted in service until the 1920s. In the realm of civil engineering, he suggested extending the then main line by a tunnel under the Humber to

Hull 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 affi ...

, but this brought him into conflict with Edward Watkin, the Company Chairman.

The Penistone Accident

Sacre was deeply affected by the Penistone rail crash, which happened on 16 July 1884. This was caused by the breaking of the crank-axle of No. 434, a 4-4-0 locomotive, and resulted in nineteen deaths (including Massey Bromley, the Locomotive Superintendent 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 R ...

and a close friend of Sacre). Although no blame could possibly be attached to Sacre, he felt responsible, partly because he had given in to pressure from Watkin to adopt the Smith non-automatic brake. In 1885 he decided to retire at the early age of 53, though he agreed to continue to act as a consultant to the railway. However, he gradually lost the will to live. On 3 August 1889, he shot himself with a revolver.

Professional life

He became a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1859, and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1867.

External links

bio of Sacre

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacre, Charles 1831 births 1889 deaths English engineers British mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers Suicides by firearm in England Great Central Railway people 1880s suicides Burials at Southern Cemetery, Manchester

Early life

Career at the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

The Penistone Accident

Professional life

Further reading

External links