Sir William Arthur Stanier (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was an English railway engineer, and was

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 ...

of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

Biography

Sir William Stanier was born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, where his father worked for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

(GWR) as

William Dean William, Will, Bill or Billy Dean is the name of the following people: Arts and entertainment * Bill Dean (1921–2000), British actor * Billy Dean (born 1962), American country music singer Sports * William Dean (Hampshire cricketer) (c. 1882� ...

's Chief Clerk, and educated at Swindon High School and also, for a single year, at

Wycliffe College Wycliffe College () is an evangelical Colleges of the University of Toronto, graduate school of theology of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded i ...

. In 1891 he followed his father into a career with the GWR, initially as an office boy and then for five years as an apprentice in the workshops. Between 1897 and 1900 he worked in the Drawing Office as a draughtsman, before becoming Inspector of Materials in 1900. In 1904,

George Jackson Churchward George Jackson Churchward (31 January 1857 – 19 December 1933) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922. Early life Churchward was born at ...

appointed him as Assistant to the Divisional

Locomotive Superintendent 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1912 he returned to Swindon to become the Assistant Works Manager and in 1920 was promoted to the post of Works Manager. In late 1931, he was "headhunted" by Sir Josiah Stamp, chairman of the

(LMS), to become the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of that railway from 1 January 1932. He was charged with introducing modern and more powerful locomotive designs, using his knowledge gained with the GWR at Swindon. Stanier built many successful designs for the LMS, particularly the "Black 5" mixed traffic 4-6-0 and the 8F 2-8-0 freight locomotive. His Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 No.6220 ''Coronation'' set a new British record of 114 mph, beating the previous record set by a Gresley A4. During WWII, Stanier worked as a consultant for the Ministry of Supply, and retired in 1944. He was knighted on 9 February 1943 and elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on his retirement, only the third locomotive engineer after

Edward Bury Edward Bury (22 October 1794 – 25 November 1858) was an English locomotive manufacturer. Born in Salford, Lancashire, he was the son of a timber merchant and was educated at Chester. Career By 1823 he was a partner in Gregson and Bury's stea ...

and

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

to receive that honour. He was also president of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

for 1944, and was a vice president of the

Stephenson Locomotive Society The Stephenson Locomotive Society (SLS) was founded in the UK in Autumn 1909 for the study of rail transport and locomotives. More recently, on 1 January 2017, the SLS became a private company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales ...

for a number of years until his death in 1965. He died in

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

in 1965. In 1906, he had married Ella Elizabeth, daughter of Levi L Morse. They had a son and a daughter.

Locomotive Designs

William Stanier, with the backing of Sir Josiah Stamp, chairman of the company, reversed the small engine policy, which the LMS had inherited from the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

, with beneficial results. Locomotive designs introduced by Stanier include: * LMS Class 2P 0-4-4T (designed in the Midland Railway design office) * LMS Class 3P3F 2-6-2T * LMS Class 4P4F 2-6-4T (3-cyl) * LMS Class 4P4F 2-6-4T (2-cyl) * LMS Class 5P4F 2-6-0 * LMS Class 5P5F "Black Five" 4-6-0 * LMS Class 6P "Jubilee" 4-6-0 *

LMS Rebuilt Royal Scot Class The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Rebuilt Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives. 70 members of this class were rebuilt by the LMS and its successor British Railways (BR) from LMS Royal Scot Class engines by the rep ...

* LMS Class 8P "Princess Royal" 4-6-2 * LMS Class 8P "Princess Coronation" 4-6-2 Pacific * LMS Class 8F 2-8-0 *

LMS Turbomotive The LMS Turbomotive was a modified LMS Princess Royal Class steam turbine locomotive designed by William Stanier and built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1935. It was inspired by the Swedish Ljungström locomotives first intr ...

Legacy

Stanier's designs were a strong influence on the later British Railways standard classes of steam locomotives designed by R A Riddles, who adopted LMS design principles in preference to those of the other "Big Four" railway companies. There is a secondary school in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

called Sir William Stanier School.

References

Bibliography

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External links