Railways On Line - Railway Engineers = Edward Thompson

Railway Engineers - Edward Thompson

[Edward Thompson]

Edward Thompson (1881-1954)

He worked in both industry and the railways before being appointed carriage and wagon superintendent of the Great Northern Railway in 1912. This was followed by area Workshop manager of the LNER, mechanical engineer at Stratford Works in 1930 and finally Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway in 1941 upon the death of Sir Nigel Gresley. He retired in 1946.

While at Stratford, he successfully rebuilt many of the Great Eastern Class B12 4-6-0s and Class D16 4-4-0s during 1932-3. As CME he had to rectify the wartime problems with Gresley's conjugated valve gear, which resulted in the drastic and expensive rebuilding of these and other engines.

Locomotive and other designs included:

  • Class B1 4-6-0 mixed traffic engines from 1942 of which 410 were eventually built
  • Class L1 2-6-4 Tanks from 19xx
  • Steel panelled corridor carriages from 1945, following extensive surveys of public opinion.

Personal anamosity between Thompson and Gresley has been the subject of much conjecture in railway circles.

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Last revised: 16 October 1998