#locomotive engineer

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"BOILER OF ENGINE EXPLODES, 2 TORONTO CREWMEN KILLED," Toronto Star. January 22, 1943. Page 2. ---- Metal Wreckage Hurled 200 Yards - Nearby Houses Shaken by Blast ----- PASSENGERS UNHURT ---- Special to The Star Peterboro. Jan. 22 - Two Toronto, crewmen of the Peterboro-Toronto C.P.R. train died almost instantly today when, according to CPR officials here, the boiler of the engine exploded. The men were pinned in the cab. The dead men are George Fry, Annette St.. engineer, and George Lines, Salem Ave.. fireman.

At least two of the coaches were derailed but there are no reports of passengers being hurt.

Witnesses said the explosion rocked farm houses in the neighborhood and sent the split and twisted boiler 200 yards through the air into a snowbank.

First to reach the scene was Ken Syre, a farmer living 100 yards away.

Blast Shook House "It was just about seven o'clock and I was getting out of bed to go to work when I heard a terrific. explosion that shook the house," said Syre. "I looked out the window... it was still dark out.. all I could see was a mass of flames. I got my lantern and waded through snow up to my waist to reach the engine. It was mighty dark and I had a whale of a time trying to get through.

"By the time I got there I found two soldiers and a civilian standing behind the cab. The four of us managed to get up to what was left of the engine and found one of the men pinned against the wreckage. We tried prying and every other method, but it was useless. We got as near as we could to the man. and when we saw he was beyond help all we could do was leave him there until the authorities arrived."

"We went back and found three of the cars off the rails and two members of the baggage car crew. pretty badly shaken up. They were taken to one of the farmhouses and soon recovered once they got first-aid."

18 Below Zero Syre said some of the passengers left the train and sought shelter in. nearby farmhouses. "It was mighty cold out there this morning-18 be- low zero. The passengers managed to get emergency heating equipment rigged up in the cars to keep them warm."

Another nearby farmer, Fred Staples, who lives 300 yards from. the accident scene, said his house. was badly shaken by the blast. "It was too dark to see much but after it got light the passengers started, coming to the farmhouses for shelter. At times they had to wander through snow almost up to their waists."

Syre said a dairy truck from Havelock managed to reach the side of the train with milk and other supplies and so far passengers had plenty to eat.

Some Shaken Up Other witnesses said many of the passengers received a shaking up, but none is believed to have suffered serious injury.

Another eyewitness said: "It sounded as though a bomb had exploded on one of the farms."

Wrecking equipment is reported on the way to Cavan, 15 miles west of Peterboro, to lift the damaged. engine from the rails. Passengers will be taken to Peterboro as soon. as another engine can reach the scene.

Not Regular Run "It wasn't his regular run," George Fry's wife said. "Some engineer booked off last night and they phoned George. It was very cold and he wanted to stay home. But he said the C.P.R. needed men, so, he went."

The Fry children, Jim, 8, and May, 6, don't know yet that their father is dead. "I am fixing their lunch and sending them right back to school." their mother said. "I don't want them to know about it any sooner.than I can help! They attend St.Cecilia's school."

Fry had been on Canadian Pacific engines since 1910, and had driven trains over most of the lines of this province. He had not been on the Peterboro run very long, his wife said. He had some relatives in England, who had not been in touch with the family for many years.

Mrs. Lines, Salem Ave., wife of the dead fireman, said: "My husband went up on the run last night. He hadn't been on it very long. He was home with me yesterday. and had early supper and took the late afternoon train."

A veteran of 26 years service with the Canadian Pacific Lines was 50. He had no children. Besides his widow, surviving him are two brothers. Albert, with the Canadian National Railways, and Fred. both of Toronto; and two sisters. Mrs. Sadie Moffet and Mrs. Mary Kay, both of Palmerston.

[rushingexpress]

hello TTTE and train tumblr, today I bring something to the table:

the flying scotsman ACTUALLY being drove and speeding down the tracks like a motherfucking beast! :D

// op note: sorry for blocking reblogs for now, irl stuff is getting too much and i just get the icky sensory overload of notifications of stuff. //

// also, yeah don't unmute the video if you don't want an annoying tiktok sound. //

[alteredstatesstuff]

old steam engine

[thomasbeyond]

Happy (belated) Free Comic Boom Day, everyone! 🎉

Here’s the final cover for Thomas: Beyond! #1, “Station Pilot”. As I previously mentioned, I planned to get the issue out by last Saturday, but I wasn’t able to complete it in time. I’m not sure when it’ll be ready, but stay tuned, as I’m still actively working on it!

[arlesdale]

Have an emotional support perpy for your troubles :D

[kumatajdg]

Commission for @seaswine of their OC Willard singing for some workmen!

[ohjeeztrains]

His tummy hurts :(

[trainmaniac]

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy

[redgriffinsphotos]

Praries and Panniers, Bodmin and Wenford Railway, 2013

[gordontheengineswifenirmal]

LMFAO I LOVE U THOMAS

Absolute gold.

Mood….

Sooooo goddamn satisfying mmmm trains

[theflyingkipper]

Gemi

[whirligig-girl]

A mellanoid Advanced Steam tank engine, for use in shunting, industrial shortlines, and branch lines. This particular class has variants designed for burning coal, oil, or biofuels. Note the large covered fuel bunker atop the saddle tank. Like most Advanced Steam locos, it has compound cylinders to expand the steam twice for more efficient operation.

The above loco is pictured with the same livery used by the Slaibsgloth Coal Mine engines, so this might indeed be one of those. However, here are some alternate liveries for fun.

Slorpholk Northern

Railway Series variant.

[edwards-exploit]

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

[maxwellscorner]

Train ship chart with my two OCs Mel and Ivan 🍯🖤

They wouldn't meet each other if it wasn't for a lot of coincidences, which made a little borrowed E4 meet and fall for a Russian Decapod left in a shed

Credits to @togetherness23 for the chart, it was a lot of fun doing this!

Mel is the most hopeless romantic engine working at FSA

[klein-sodor-bahn]

Frosty Winds

Posting Charlie without Henry would be a crime. So you guys get goodest boy

[karl-jensen]

Henry and the Great Western Fiasco, 1919

This drawing that I made on December of last year was based on Henry's old shape and who built him. To pair up with the drawing, I also made a headcanon concerning Henry's old shape and who built him and it just so happens to be related to a failed Pacific locomotive that a certain railway experimented on.

H E A D C A N O N T I M E .

The Great Bear

Our story begins in 1908 in Swindon Works when Chief Engineer George Jackson Churchward designed an experimental engine that can haul passenger and freight trains. This came in the form of Number 111, also known as The Great Bear. The engine turned out to be a failure due to some issues with its boiler, which resulted in the engine being converted into a Castle-class Locomotive in January 1924. Churchward was distraught at his optimistic ambition being turned into a failure, but when he had heard news that Scottish-born Chief Engineer Sir Nigel Gresley was going to design a Pacific Express Locomotive, he remarked with "What did that young man want to build it for? We could have sold him ours!"

Churchward vs. Gresley

Illustrations of Henry's old shape in the Railway Series featured a brass-tip on his funnel which was common on locomotives of the Great Western Railway meaning that the original illustrator Reginald Payne associated Great Bear to Henry. Hints are present as to why I made Henry a Great Western engine.

Seeing a brass-tipped funnel on Henry looked very odd to me. Doesn't it remind you of the Great Western Railway?

During the design process of the now famous A1 Pacifics of the London and North Eastern Railway, an unknown engineer sent out thieves to steal plans for Gresley's express locomotives. People say that the engineer was old Mr. Churchward who still could not recover from the failure of his experimental Pacific. A Blueprint was stolen, but it wasn't the latest design that Gresley had drawn up, but an earlier design that he drew up in 1915 when the Great War was at full swing. The drawing had a boiler that was quite small which made Gresley think about the consequences. However, a certain Swindon Engineer decided to build it to satisfy his needs. That man was George Jackson Churchward.

And so, the engine was built under the orders of Mr. Churchward. He had placed William Stanier as the technical advisor of his latest Pacific project. Stanier recommended that he redesign the engine and add a larger firebox, but due to Churchward's decisions it didn't happen. The engine was finally built in 1919 and was given a name - and that is Vanguard. However, Factory Workers would often call the engine Henry.

When Henry rolled out of the factory, he was given a nice healthy batch of Welsh Coal for testing. Great Bear wasn't pleased when Henry rolled out and thought that he'll outperform him. When the first trial run came, Henry was steaming properly while pulling a heavy train consisting of twelve coaches jam-packed with passengers. Great Bear envied him, but when Henry was put into regular passenger service, the same problems from Great Bear finally showed up when he was given a batch of regular coal. With this, Henry was deemed a failure and was planned for scrapping. However, when a Railway Director was buying a locomotive (specifically a 4-4-2 Atlantic), he received a Pacific-type locomotive in the form of Henry. His remarks were quite enraged and profanity-filled.

"I wanted an Atlantic. But that stupid, son of a bitch gave me that instead!"

— Sir Topham Hatt I, 1922

Henry was planned to be scrapped indeed, but when the Director saw Henry's sad expression, he had no choice but to give him a chance. The rest is history.

Mr. Stanier's Chance

After Henry's infamous crash with the Flying Kipper in January 1935. He was sent to Crewe Works to be rebuilt entirely. The engine was skeptical until he met a familiar face that he had seen years ago back when he was in Swindon.

"When I first met Henry at Crewe, I was very surprised to see him in such a beaten-up state. I had intentions in redesigning him prior to being built, but that impatient old man [Churchward] did not listen. Seeing him like this made me want to redesign him entirely, but would cost me plenty of money to create a new boiler and frame for him, as well as a new tender. Instead, I went for the cheaper alternative and turned him into a Black 5 instead of what was supposed to be a 'prototype' for the Coronation class."

— Sir William Stanier, 1948 Interview

Sir Topham Hatt did not have enough money to completely convert Henry into a Princess Royal or redesign him entirely. Instead, he decided to turn Henry into a Ten Wheeler. His smokebox and front wheels remained, but the trailing wheels were discarded. Everything else were parts from the Black 5, including his Tender.

"Being rebuilt entirely was a huge blessing for me, and many people sent me 'Get Well Soon' cards and flowers while I was at Crewe. My smokebox and wheels were retained while many of my old parts were scrapped or perhaps reused as spares. I now felt better after that fix up at Crewe, and I managed to share stories with Mr. Stanier, whom I first met in Swindon when I was in my old shape."

— Henry, 1963 Interview

During his rebuild, he met several Princess Royals that were being maintained. Mr. Stanier explained to him that he was the inspiration into building a Pacific locomotive.

"Seeing those beautiful engines made me want to cry, since they told me that I was the inspiration for their design. The Princess Royals were meant to be the success that Mr. Churchward wanted, but failed to achieve. I do envy him and wished that he had the patience to make his dream come true. Great Bear would have seen those beauties."

— Henry, 1963 Interview

The rest is history...

And as for the laconic version or the TLDR:

Henry was designed by George Jackson Churchward as a second attempt for a Pacific Locomotive for the Great Western Railway.