Railways On Line - Railway Engineers = William Dean

Railway Engineers - William Dean

 [William Dean]

William Dean (1840-1905)

He first worked on the railways as an apprentice under Joseph Armstrong, locomotive superintendent of the Great Western's northern division. He took charge of Wolverhampton works when he was only 24, succeeding Armstrong at Swindon as Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Superintendent in 1877. He had to deal with a long period of gauge conversion up to 1892 by modifying to standard gauge, locomotives built for use on the GWR's broad gauge system.

He mainly built simple, robust and effective locomotives which included:

  • 280 0-6-0 Dean Goods engines during 1883-98, many used for overseas service during both world wars. This is the design for which he is best remembered because of its long working life
  • The elegant 4-4-2 singles express locos, a development of his 2-2-2 design of 1891, one of which averaged 72mph from Bristol-London in 1904.
  • Duke class 4-4-0 of 1895, highly successful on the heavily graded routes in Devon and Cornwall.

The larger coaches he designed, embodied his centreless, pendulum-suspended truck, lighter and less satisfactory than a true bogie, and included the prototype modern sleeping car, with transverse berths. From 1877 onwards, all broad gauge carriages were converted to standard gauge. In 1880 he began development of the GWR improved vacuum brake, which worked to a higher degree of vacuum than that used elsewhere. He also established the Swindon chemical and materials testing laboratory.

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Last revised: 28 October 1998