Edward Fletcher (1807 – 21 December 1889)
was an English engineer, and locomotive superintendent of the
North Eastern Railway (NER). He was born at
Elsdon in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...
.
Career
He was apprenticed to
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst f ...
beginning in 1825
and helped with the construction of
Stephenson's Rocket
Stephenson's ''Rocket'' is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be m ...
and the
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the "Crab and Winkle Line", was an early British railway that opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.
Early history
There a ...
. He helped with the construction of the
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...
, and then became locomotive superintendent of the
Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway in 1845. When the N&DJR became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1854, Fletcher became its locomotive superintendent until his retirement in 1882.
He was succeeded by
Alexander McDonnell.
Locomotive designs
Fletcher's locomotive designs for the North Eastern Railway included:
*
NER Bogie Tank Passenger
*
NER 901 Class 2-4-0
*
NER 1001 Class 0-6-0
Family
His nephew was the engineer
James Holden.
See also
*
Locomotives of the North Eastern Railway
References
External links
Edward Fletcher''LNER Cyclopedia''
''Steamindex''
1807 births
1889 deaths
Locomotive superintendents
English railway mechanical engineers
British railway pioneers
North Eastern Railway (UK) people
19th-century British businesspeople
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