Alfred Luther Beattie (1852 – 2 May 1920), typically referred to as A. L. Beattie, was a pioneering locomotive engineer. Born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England,The Rock, September 2010 http://www.stpeterscaversham.org.nz/The%20Rock/1009.pdf he gained fame as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...

(NZR) between 1900 and 1913. During this time, Beattie designed the Q class, the first

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 ...

(''Pacific'')

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 ...

class in the world, and he was also one of the earliest people to use other

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

Early life

Born in 1852, his birth was registered in Hunslet as Alfred Luther Betty. He arrived in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

in 1876, when he joined NZR. In February 1897, Beattie was given the position of Locomotive Engineer at Addington Workshops in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

.McGavin, ''Steam Locomotives of New Zealand'', pg. 53. Unlike in some countries, where "locomotive engineer" is the title of regular train drivers, the title in New Zealand then referred to a specific position that oversaw the design and construction of new

s and the maintenance and enhancement of existing locomotives.

Career as Engineer

In April 1900, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Thomas Forth Rotheram, left NZR to work for the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respon ...

and was succeeded by Beattie. When Beattie was appointed to the position, the title was "Locomotive Superintendent", but it was restyled as Chief Mechanical Engineer early in his term, between July 1901 and April 1902. During his time in the role, Beattie designed a number of innovative and original locomotives. He retired after holding the position for 13 years and was succeeded by Henry Hughlings Jackson on 13 October 1913.

The Q class

Beattie was almost instantly faced with a problem upon appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer: New Zealand's railway network was expanding, traffic volumes were growing, faster speeds were required, and accordingly, a more powerful type of locomotive was required.History of Technical Innovation in New Zealand – The Steam Railways
/ref> Furthermore, although this new class was to haul the heaviest and fastest expresses, it was to burn low grade

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

coal from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

recommended a camelback design to solve the problem, but Beattie conceived the idea of an enhanced

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

U^B class locomotive with a two-wheel trailing

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

to support a wide Wootten firebox. This created a 4-6-2

under

Whyte notation The Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twenti ...

, and an order was placed with Baldwin for thirteen locomotives to Beattie's specifications in 1901. These locomotives became the Q class, and the first entered service on 24 December 1901 after being shipped across the Pacific Ocean. This voyage led to the 4-6-2 arrangement being nicknamed the ''Pacific'' type, and it became a popular arrangement worldwide.

The A class

Described as the "triumph of Beattie's term in office", the A class was designed in 1905 for service on the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

and the nearly-complete North Island Main Trunk Railway. It was a further development of the Q class and earlier

designs such as the U class, seeking to rectify faults with those designs and improve efficiency and hauling power. Beattie created the initial design before passing it on to Chief Draughtsman G. A. Pearson to complete, and when the first members of the A class entered service in 1906, they were considered to be the country's most handsome locomotives.

The X class

After pioneering the Pacific wheel arrangement, Beattie went on to pioneer the 4-8-2 ''Mountain'' type. The A class locomotives were not sufficiently powerful to tackle the steep grades on the North Island Main Trunk, and Beattie's solution was the 4-8-2 X class. Designed in 1908 for the opening of the Trunk, the first of eighteen Xs entered service on 9 January 1909, and they were some of the largest and most powerful locomotives in New Zealand.

Other locomotives

Beattie introduced a number of other classes during his term, though none so notable as the A, Q and X classes. These included

tank locomotive 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 (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...

s such as 1903's W^F class, 1910's W^G class, and 1913's W^W class.Leitch, ''Railways of New Zealand'', pp. 170 and 172. Beattie was also one of, if not the, first to employ the

4-6-4 , under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as ...

T arrangement – the 1902 conversions of three B class locomotives into the W^E class and the W^G and W^W are some of the earliest examples in the world of the 4-6-4T arrangement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, A. L. Locomotive builders and designers New Zealand people in rail transport 1852 births 1920 deaths 19th-century New Zealand engineers 20th-century New Zealand engineers New Zealand mechanical engineers