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, Exete ...

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

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and initially apprenticed to his father, a

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

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 an English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the ...

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. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...

and from 1837 on the

London and Southampton Railway London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

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

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth, with some parts (including the Nine Elms tube station, tube station) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It lies on the River Thame ...

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 (elder brother of Daniel Gooch) was the sec ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

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 2-2-2 and 2-4-0 well tanks and three classes of 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 is a steam locomotive which 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 locomotive a tender h ...

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

Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and Sout ...

, Bodmin & Wenford Railway and the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, 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 historical ...

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

Locomotive classes

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. In most of North America it b ...

locomotive, pioneering feedwater heating, balanced slide valves 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. However, James Livesey (1831-1925), while demonstrating in Antwerp Beattie's smoke-consuming locomotives for the Belgian Government Railway, finds that this engine does not let enough air in and does not consume as much smoke as it could.

Death

On 18 October 1871, Beattie died of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

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