Everard Calthrop

Everard Richard Calthrop (3 March 1857 – 30 March 1927) was a British railway engineer and inventor. Calthrop was a notable promoter and builder of narrow-gauge railways, especially of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge, and was especially prominent in India. His most notable achievement was the Barsi Light Railway, but he is best known in his home country for the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway. Calthrop has been described as a "railway genius". Later in life he took an interest in aviation, patenting some early designs for parachutes.

Calthrop was born on 3 March 1857, the eldest son of farmer Everard Calthrop. He had six brothers, one of whom was Sir Guy Calthrop, general manager of the London and North Western Railway. The family lived at Deeping Fen, Lincolnshire, where Calthrop was born, and later at Sutton in the Isle of Ely. Calthrop was educated at Uppingham School.

Calthrop started work with Robert Stephenson and Company and then was apprenticed to the London & North Western Railway at Crewe in 1874. In 1879 he joined the Great Western Railway, where he rose to assistant manager of the Carriage and Wagon Works. In 1882 he went to India to join the Great Indian Peninsula Railway as a locomotive inspector.

Once in India, Calthrop came to see narrow-gauge railways as a way to help develop the country. This led him to chairing a Government committee to investigate light railways throughout India. He then published a pamphlet entitled A System of Standard Details as applied to the Construction of Rolling Stock in India. As a result of this pamphlet, the Indian Government adopted systems of uniformity of gauge and equipment throughout the country, and eventually adopted 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge as the standard narrow gauge throughout the country.

Calthrop requested leave in 1886 to investigate proposals for independent branch lines. He identified two schemes of particular interest, a 5-mile (8 km) tramway connecting the Hindu religious centre of Nasik with the railway, and a 21-mile (34 km) branch line to the town of Barsi. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway approved both schemes, and Calthrop surveyed both lines. In 1887, he registered the Indian Railways Feeder Lines Company in London to promote the construction of feeders to the railway. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway suggested that he either return to his duties as a locomotive inspector or, with their support, resign to further promote branch lines. His health was failing, and so in 1889 Calthrop resigned from the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Working as a consultant he then supervised the construction of the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge horse-powered Nasik Tramway, using his previous survey.

Returning to the United Kingdom in 1892, Calthrop established a railway engineering consulting practice in Liverpool, where three of his brothers had started a stockfeed company. Soon Calthrop had entered into a partnership with them and spent much of the next two years designing equipment for feed production. He took out a number of patents relating to the equipment and to refrigerated transport.

While Calthrop was resident in Liverpool, the Chamber of Commerce was concerned future expansion was being limited by the railway companies that linked that city with Manchester, and invited proposals for alternative methods for moving goods. Calthrop proposed a system of narrow-gauge railways linking the two cities, running along streets directly serving factories. His proposal was highly commended, but the proposed street running precluded its adoption.

Calthrop was also interested in road transport. He was a member of the Self-Propelled Traffic Association and in May 1898 was a judge at their trials for "motor vehicles for heavy traffic", held in Liverpool. The winner was a Thornycroft 4-ton steam wagon. Later he was a foundation member of the Royal Automobile Club.