David C. Curwen (30 November 1913 – 26 May 2011) was an English

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by Diesel engine, ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

. Born in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, and educated at

King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

, Curwen worked from 1935 to 1945 for

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

in Rochester as an aircraft engineer. In 1946, he established his own engineering firm, Baydon. In 1950 he married Barbara Willans, an actress. In 1951 he became

Chief Mechanical Engineer Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

(CME) of the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway () is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol railway station, Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 to carr ...

in Wales for its first year of preservation. At the end of the 1951 season, he returned to

Devizes Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...

, Wiltshire where he went into partnership with A.E. Newbery to create Curwen and Newbery. He left the partnership in 1966 and established his own workshop at

All Cannings All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington. In 2011 the parish had ...

, Wiltshire. He published his autobiography titled ''Rule of Thumb'' in 2006, and a review of his work was published as ''The Miniature Locomotives of David Curwen'' in 2008, by Dave Holdroyd.

Locomotives

Locomotives built by Curwen include the following: * ''William Bell'', a gauge

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

built in 1946/47 for the Hilsea Miniature Railway on

Portsea Island Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. The island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all the i ...

* ''Robin Hood'', a gauge

built in 1946/47 for the Weymouth Miniature Railway that ran adjacent to

Radipole Lake Radipole Lake is a lake on the River Wey, now in the English coastal town of Weymouth, Dorset, once in Radipole, the village and parish of the same name. Along the western shore of the lake, and between Radipole and the town centre of Weymouth, ...

* ''Waverley'', a gauge 4-4-2 built in 1948. It was originally named ''Black Prince'' and used on a railway in Weymouth, Dorset. It was later in use at the Isle of Mull Railway, and is now based at Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, in Staffordshire. * ''John H Gretton'', another gauge 4-4-2 built in 1948, based at the

Stapleford Miniature Railway Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive-hauled gauge railway at Stapleford Park, Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. The railway is now private but still attracts thousands of visitors during its two ...

in Leicestershire, rebuilt in 1969. * ''Isambard Kingdom Brunel'', a gauge

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. T ...

built in 1977 for the Age of Steam in

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

where it ran on the Crowlas Woodland Railway. This locomotive now resides on

Royal Victoria Railway The Royal Victoria Railway runs for around through Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley, Hampshire, England, with views of Southampton Water. It is run entirely by volunteers. The line is built to the popular gauge of and runs every weeken ...

in Southampton where there is a new-build twin locomotive named ''Sammy The Sergeant.'' * No. 5, nicknamed ''The Lawnmower'', a gauge lightweight locomotive built in 1952 for the Talyllyn Railway using a

Model T Ford The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

engine, transmission from the narrowboat of

L.T.C. Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures, including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Te ...

and the wheels from a slate wagon. It worked the Fridays-only winter passenger service until 1953, when it was taken out of use with a failed gearbox. It was dismantled in 1954, and converted into a flat wagon. It was proposed to rebuild it as a memorial to Curwen, using a replacement engine and bodywork.

Notes

Source

* ''The Miniature Locomotives of David Curwen'', 2008 by Lawson Little and Dave Holdroyd People from Sydenham, London Locomotive builders and designers English railway mechanical engineers English mechanical engineers Talyllyn Railway 1913 births 2011 deaths British people associated with Heritage Railways {{England-engineer-stub