John G. Robinson

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John George Robinson CBE, (30 July 1856 – 7 December 1943) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922.

Contents

Early life

Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, the second son of Matthew Robinson, a locomotive engineer, and his wife Jane, Robinson was educated at the Chester Grammar School, and in 1872 commenced an engineering apprenticeship with the Great Western Railway at Swindon Works, as a pupil of Joseph Armstrong. In 1878 he became assistant to his father Matthew Robinson at Bristol, and in 1884 joined the Waterford and Limerick Railway (which became the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway in 1896 [1] ) as their locomotive, carriage and wagon assistant superintendent. He was promoted to superintendent the following year.

Great Central Railway

A Robinson-designed GCR Class 8K 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive, built in 1912, in service at Langwith Junction shed on 7 August 1960 63664 LNER O4 2-8-0 locomotive.jpg
A Robinson-designed GCR Class 8K 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive, built in 1912, in service at Langwith Junction shed on 7 August 1960

In 1900 Robinson joined the Great Central Railway as locomotive and marine superintendent [2] and in 1902 was appointed chief mechanical engineer. He remained in that post until 1922, when prior to the Great Central's grouping into the London and North Eastern Railway he declined the post of chief mechanical engineer of the LNER, choosing instead to step aside for the younger Nigel Gresley. Robinson was awarded a CBE in 1920.

Robinson's first passenger locomotive design for the GCR was Class 11B (LNER Class D9) 4-4-0, of which 40 were built between 1901 and 1904, the last being withdrawn by British Railways in 1950. [3] Robinson followed in 1913 with the larger Class 11E (LNER D10) "Director" Class 4-4-0 locomotive, which was used on GCR express trains from London Marylebone to Sheffield Victoria and Manchester London Road. Ten were built, followed by eleven "Improved Director" (GCR Class 11F, LNER Class D11) locomotives during 1920–1924. [3]

Robinson's famous GCR Class 8K 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive was introduced in 1911 and many more were built for the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers in 1917. Some of these reliable locomotives, of which over 400 were built, remained in service with the LNER and later British Railways until 1966. [4]

Locomotive classes credited to Robinson

Waterford and Limerick Railway

YearTypeNos.GSWR ClassGSWR Nos.GSR ClassInchicore ClassWithdrawnNotes
1888–93 0-6-0 WLR 5 to 7 224224 to 226——1905–1909 [5]
1889–94 2-4-0 WLR 10, 22, 20, 23, 43, 44, 47, and 48 276263, 275, 273, 276, 290 to 293276G31907–1959
1891 2-4-2T WLR 13 and 14 266226 and 227267
491		F4
F5		1933–1935226 sold to CMDR 6 in 1913; to GSR 491 in 1925
1892 0-4-2T WLR 3 260260——1912
1893 0-6-0 WLR 45, 46, 49, and 50 233233 to 236235J221911–1951
1894 0-4-4T WLR 15 268268——1912
1895 0-4-4T WLR 51 and 52 294294 and 295295E21910–1954
1896–97 4-4-2T WLWR 16 to 18, and 21 269269 to 271, 274269C51949–1957
1896–97 4-4-0 WLWR 53 to 55 296296 to 298296D151928–1949
1897 0-6-0 WLWR 56 to 58 237237 to 239222J251934–1951
1899 0-4-4T WLWR 27 279279279E11953
1900 0-6-0 WLWR 2, 4, 11 222222222J251929–19504 and 11 sold before delivery to MGWR 141 and 142
IntroducedWheel ArrangementPurposeNotes
18892-4-0Express Passenger [6]
18912-4-2TPassenger Tankfor Limerick and Tralee line, 2 in class [6]
18950-4-4TTank Enginefor Limerick, Ennis and Tuam Line, 2 in class [7]
18964-4-2TTank Engine4 in class [7]
18964-4-0Express Passengerfor Waterford to Limerick boat trains, 3 in class [8]
18990-6-0Standard Goods Engine8 in class [8]

Great Central Railway

IntroducedWheel ArrangementGCR ClassLNER ClassPurposeNotes
19010-6-0 9J J11Goods Engine"Pom-poms" [9] [10]
19014-4-0 11B D9Express Passenger [9] [11] [12]
19024-6-0 8 B5Express Goods"Fish Engines" [13] [14]
19020-8-0 8A Q4Heavy Goods"Tinies" [15] [16] [17]
19034-4-2 8B C4Express Passengertwo-cylinder 'simple' "Atlantics", the "Jersey Lillies" [18] [19] [20]
19034-6-0 8C B1 (B18 from 1943)Express Passenger [21] [22]
19034-4-2T 9K C13Suburban Passenger [23] [24]
1905-064-4-2 8D C5Express Passenger3-cylinder 'compound' "Atlantic" [25] [26]
19064-4-2 8E C5Express Passenger 8D with modified frames [26]
19060-6-0T 5A J63Dock Tank [27] [28]
19064-6-0 8F B4Express Passenger and Goods"Imminghams" [29] [30]
19064-6-0 8G B9Express Goods [31] [32]
19074-4-0 11C D9Express PassengerLarge-boiler rebuild of two 11Bs [11] [33]
19074-4-2T 9L C14Suburban Passenger [23] [34] [35]
19070-8-4T 8H S1Hump Shunting Tank for Wath Yard "Daisies" [17] [36] [37]
19084-4-2 8J -Express Passenger3-cylinder 'simple' "Atlantic" rebuilt from 8B, 'de-rebuilt' 1922 [26]
19094-4-0 11D D9Express PassengerLarge-boiler piston-valve rebuild of an 11B [11] [33]
19114-6-2T 9N A5Suburban Passenger Tank"Coronation Tank" [38] [39]
19112-8-0 8K O4Heavy Goods"R.O.D." [40] [41]
19124-6-0 1 B2 (B19 from 1945)Express Passenger"Sir Sam Fay" [42] [43]
19134-6-0 1A B8Express Goods"Glenalmonds" [44] [45]
19134-4-0 11E D10Express Passenger"Directors" [46] [47]
19142-6-4T 1B L1 (L3 from 1945)Heavy Goods Tank [48] [49]
19174-6-0 9P B3Express Passenger"Faringdon" 4-cylinder [50] [51]
19182-8-0 8M O5Heavy Goodslarge-boilered 8K [41] [52]
19184-6-0 8N B6Fast Mixed Traffic [53] [54]
19194-4-0 11F D11Express Passenger"Improved Director" [53] [55]
19214-6-0 9Q B7Fast Mixed Traffic"Black Pig" 4-cylinder [56] [57]

Preserved Robinson locomotives

Robinson GCR Class 11F 4-4-0 No. 506 Butler-Henderson on display at the National Railway Museum, York, in 2004 D11.No506.01.jpg
Robinson GCR Class 11F 4-4-0 No. 506 Butler–Henderson on display at the National Railway Museum, York, in 2004

Two Robinson-designed locomotives are preserved in the UK:

Three Robinson-designed locomotives are preserved in Australia

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References

Notes
  1. ↑ Jackson 1996 , p. 7
  2. ↑ Dow 1969 , p. 7
  3. 1 2 Casserley 1974 , p. 22
  4. ↑ Casserley 1974 , p. 78
  5. ↑ Haresnape & Rowledge 1982 , pp. 17–27
  6. 1 2 Hancox 1995 , p. 5
  7. 1 2 Hancox 1995 , p. 6
  8. 1 2 Hancox 1995 , p. 7
  9. 1 2 Hancox 1995 , p. 8
  10. ↑ Fry 1966 , p. 63
  11. 1 2 3 Boddy et al. 1981 , p. 62
  12. ↑ Smith 1993 , p. 4
  13. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 11
  14. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 29
  15. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 10
  16. ↑ Boddy et al. 1984 , p. 18
  17. 1 2 Russell 1997 , p. 5
  18. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 12
  19. ↑ Boddy et al. 1979 , p. 66
  20. ↑ Aves 2002 , p. 4
  21. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 14
  22. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 6
  23. 1 2 Aves 2000 , p. 8
  24. ↑ Boddy et al. 1984 , p. 31
  25. ↑ Boddy et al. 1979 , p. 83
  26. 1 2 3 Aves 2002 , p. 7
  27. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 16
  28. ↑ Allen et al. 1970 , p. 66
  29. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 25
  30. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 24
  31. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 26
  32. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 46
  33. 1 2 Smith 1993 , p. 5
  34. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 15
  35. ↑ Boddy et al. 1984 , p. 35
  36. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 27
  37. ↑ Boddy et al. 1977 , p. 22
  38. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 28
  39. ↑ Boddy et al. 1984 , p. 4
  40. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 29
  41. 1 2 Boddy et al. 1983 , p. 33
  42. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 30
  43. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , pp. 10–11
  44. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 31
  45. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 43
  46. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 32
  47. ↑ Boddy et al. 1981 , p. 76
  48. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 33
  49. ↑ Boddy et al. 1977 , p. 4
  50. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 34
  51. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 16
  52. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 35
  53. 1 2 Hancox 1995 , p. 36
  54. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 35
  55. ↑ Boddy et al. 1981 , p. 84
  56. ↑ Hancox 1995 , p. 38
  57. ↑ Boddy et al. 1975 , p. 37
Bibliography
Business positions
Preceded by Locomotive Engineer of the Great Central Railway
1900-1902		post renamed
New title
post renamed
 Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Central Railway
1902-1922		Succeeded by
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