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George Jackson Churchward
George Jackson Churchward CBE (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.
Churchward was born at Rowes Farm, Stoke Gabriel, Devon, where his ancestors (the senior line residing at Hill House; his paternal grandfather, Matthew, was the younger son of the head of the family) had been squires since 1457. He was the first son in a family of three sons and two daughters, brothers John (b.1858) and James (b.1860) and sisters Mary (b.1863) and Adelina (b.1870). His father, George Churchward, a farmer, married his cousin, Adelina Mary, daughter of Thomas Churchward, of Paignton, Devon, a corn and cider merchant. He was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School, contained within the Mansion House on Fore Street, Totnes, Devon. His father's cousin, Frederick Churchward, head of the family, arranged private tuition at Hill House during the school holidays.
He started his engineering training in 1871 with John Wright, the Locomotive Superintendent of the South Devon, Cornwall and West Cornwall railways, at the Newton Abbot works of the South Devon Railway. While there, he and his fellow pupil Robert Neville-Grenville developed a steam-powered car based on the boiler from a Merryweather fire-engine.
When the GWR took over the South Devon Railway in 1876, Churchward had to move to the Swindon Works. In 1877, at the end of his pupilage, he moved to the drawing office, where he worked with "Young Joe" Armstrong to develop a vacuum brake. He was appointed Inspecting Engineer in June 1882, and six months later became assistant to the Carriage Works Manager, James Holden, taking over as Manager on Holden's departure in 1885. Ten years later he became Assistant Works Manager, and soon after Manager, of the locomotive works, and in 1897 became William Dean's Chief Assistant and natural successor.
After 5 years as Chief Assistant, during most of which time Dean was ill and delegating much of his design work to Churchward, in 1902 he formally succeeded Dean as Locomotive Superintendent. In 1900 he became the first mayor of Swindon.
In the 19th and early 20th century, railway companies were fiercely competitive. Speed meant revenue and speed was dependent on engineering. Churchward delivered to the GWR from Swindon a series of class-leading and innovative locomotives. Arguably, from the early 1900s to the 1920s the Great Western's 2-cylinder and 4-cylinder 4-6-0 designs were substantially superior to any class of locomotive of the other British railway companies. On one occasion, the GWR's directors confronted Churchward, and demanded to know why the London and North Western Railway were able to build three 4-6-0 locomotives for the price of two of Churchward's "Stars". Churchward allegedly gave a terse response: "Because one of mine could pull two of their bloody things backwards!"
The biggest engineering challenge of the GWR's operations was travelling over the South Devon Banks, a series of steep inclines linking Exeter and Plymouth in Devon, on the GWR's most important route. Although speed was a key competitive driver across the whole GWR route, the South Devon Banks rewarded sure-footed locomotive designs with good adhesion. The largest opportunity to any GWR CME was the resulting large loading gauge legacy of the GWR's conversion from Brunel's broad gauge track to standard gauge, allowing for wider and higher designs than any of the other later Big Four railway companies.
Churchward's design philosophy followed a number of streams of development, for which he thoroughly researched both competitor UK designs, as well as European and North American locomotives.
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George Jackson Churchward
George Jackson Churchward CBE (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.
Churchward was born at Rowes Farm, Stoke Gabriel, Devon, where his ancestors (the senior line residing at Hill House; his paternal grandfather, Matthew, was the younger son of the head of the family) had been squires since 1457. He was the first son in a family of three sons and two daughters, brothers John (b.1858) and James (b.1860) and sisters Mary (b.1863) and Adelina (b.1870). His father, George Churchward, a farmer, married his cousin, Adelina Mary, daughter of Thomas Churchward, of Paignton, Devon, a corn and cider merchant. He was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School, contained within the Mansion House on Fore Street, Totnes, Devon. His father's cousin, Frederick Churchward, head of the family, arranged private tuition at Hill House during the school holidays.
He started his engineering training in 1871 with John Wright, the Locomotive Superintendent of the South Devon, Cornwall and West Cornwall railways, at the Newton Abbot works of the South Devon Railway. While there, he and his fellow pupil Robert Neville-Grenville developed a steam-powered car based on the boiler from a Merryweather fire-engine.
When the GWR took over the South Devon Railway in 1876, Churchward had to move to the Swindon Works. In 1877, at the end of his pupilage, he moved to the drawing office, where he worked with "Young Joe" Armstrong to develop a vacuum brake. He was appointed Inspecting Engineer in June 1882, and six months later became assistant to the Carriage Works Manager, James Holden, taking over as Manager on Holden's departure in 1885. Ten years later he became Assistant Works Manager, and soon after Manager, of the locomotive works, and in 1897 became William Dean's Chief Assistant and natural successor.
After 5 years as Chief Assistant, during most of which time Dean was ill and delegating much of his design work to Churchward, in 1902 he formally succeeded Dean as Locomotive Superintendent. In 1900 he became the first mayor of Swindon.
In the 19th and early 20th century, railway companies were fiercely competitive. Speed meant revenue and speed was dependent on engineering. Churchward delivered to the GWR from Swindon a series of class-leading and innovative locomotives. Arguably, from the early 1900s to the 1920s the Great Western's 2-cylinder and 4-cylinder 4-6-0 designs were substantially superior to any class of locomotive of the other British railway companies. On one occasion, the GWR's directors confronted Churchward, and demanded to know why the London and North Western Railway were able to build three 4-6-0 locomotives for the price of two of Churchward's "Stars". Churchward allegedly gave a terse response: "Because one of mine could pull two of their bloody things backwards!"
The biggest engineering challenge of the GWR's operations was travelling over the South Devon Banks, a series of steep inclines linking Exeter and Plymouth in Devon, on the GWR's most important route. Although speed was a key competitive driver across the whole GWR route, the South Devon Banks rewarded sure-footed locomotive designs with good adhesion. The largest opportunity to any GWR CME was the resulting large loading gauge legacy of the GWR's conversion from Brunel's broad gauge track to standard gauge, allowing for wider and higher designs than any of the other later Big Four railway companies.
Churchward's design philosophy followed a number of streams of development, for which he thoroughly researched both competitor UK designs, as well as European and North American locomotives.