Dugald Drummond | |
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![]() Dugald Drummond | |
Born | (1840-01-01)1 January 1840 Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland |
Died | 8 November 1912(1912-11-08) (aged 72) Surbiton, Surrey, England |
Resting place | Brookwood Cemetery 51°17′57″N0°37′25″W / 51.299236°N 0.623569°W /51.299236; -0.623569 |
Nationality | Scottish |
Occupation | Engineer |
Engineering career | |
Discipline | Mechanical and Locomotive |
Employer(s) | North British Railway Caledonian Railway London and South Western Railway |
Awards | Telford medal (1896/7)[1] |
Dugald Drummond (1 January 1840 – 8 November 1912) was a Scottishsteam locomotive engineer. He had a career with theNorth British Railway,LB&SCR,Caledonian Railway andLondon and South Western Railway. He was the older brother of the engineerPeter Drummond, who often followed Dugald's ideas in his own work.
He was a major locomotive designer and builder[2] and many of his London and South Western Railway engines continued in main line service with theSouthern Railway to enterBritish Railways service in 1947. He was awarded aTelford medal by theInstitution of Civil Engineers in 1896/7 for a presentation on 'high pressure in locomotives'.[1]
Drummond was born inArdrossan, Ayrshire on 1 January 1840. His father was permanent way inspector for the Bowling Railway. Drummond was apprenticed toForest & Barr ofGlasgow gaining further experience on the Dumbartonshire andCaledonian Railways. He was in charge of the boiler shop at the Canada Works,Birkenhead ofThomas Brassey before moving to theEdinburgh and Glasgow Railway'sCowlairs railway works in 1864 underSamuel Waite Johnson.
He became foreman erector at theLochgorm Works,Inverness, of theHighland Railway underWilliam Stroudley and followed Stroudley to theLondon Brighton and South Coast Railway'sBrighton Works in 1870. In 1875, he was appointedLocomotive Superintendent of the North British Railway.
Drummond was involved as anexpert witness in theTay Bridge disaster of 1879, being called to give evidence about the state of the track after the disaster. AlthoughLadybank, a0-4-2 locomotive of Drummond's design, had been booked to work the train it had broken down and was replaced byno. 224, a4-4-0 to the design ofThomas Wheatley, thus freeing Drummond to act as an independent witness.[3] He said that the entire train had fallen vertically down when the High Girders collapsed, from the impact marks the wheels had made on the lines. All the axles of the train were bent in one direction. The evidence helped disproveThomas Bouch's theory that the train had been blown off the rails by the storm that night.
In 1882 he moved to theCaledonian Railway. In April 1890 he tendered his resignation to enter business, establishing theAustralasian Locomotive Engine Works at Sydney, Australia. The scheme failed rapidly and he returned toScotland, founding theGlasgow Railway Engineering Company. Although the business was moderately successful, Drummond accepted the post as locomotive engineer of theLondon and South Western Railway in 1895, at a salary considerably less than that he had received on theCaledonian Railway. The title of his post was changed toChief Mechanical Engineer in January 1905,[4] although his duties hardly changed.[5] He remained with the LSWR until his death. His locomotives for this railway were usually capable, as long as they had no more than 8 wheels. However, his4-6-0 designs ranged from disastrous to mediocre. He also encumbered many of his LSWR engines with innovations which he had patented himself, such as firebox cross water tubes, and his smokebox steam drier, which only gave a very small degree of superheat. After his death, his successors improved the performance of many of his engines by fitting them with conventional smoke tube superheaters.
In addition to his post at LSWR, in 1895 Drummond was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent to theNational Rifle Association, with responsibility for rolling stock on theBisley Camp tramways. In 1897 he oversaw the design and construction of a new target truck for theRunning deer range, using targets that had been designed for the ranges atWimbledon by eminent animal painterSir Edwin Landseer.[6]
Drummond died on 8 November 1912 aged 72 at his home atSurbiton. A myth has developed that he died as a result of scalding received on the footplate. However C. Hamilton Ellis states that he had got cold and wet and demanded a hot mustard bath for his numb feet. He was scalded by the boiling water. He neglected the burns,gangrene set in and amputation became necessary. He refused an anaesthetic and died of the shock. He is buried atBrookwood Cemetery, which is adjacent to the LSWR mainline, in a family grave just a stone's throw from the former terminus of theLondon Necropolis Railway.
Drummond's daughter, Christine Sarah Louise was born in Brighton in 1871, soon after the family's arrival there from Scotland. She marriedJames Johnson, son ofSamuel Waite Johnson CME of theMidland Railway 1873–1904. Her third child, born in 1905 was named Dugald Samuel Waite Johnson after both of his grandfathers.
Drummond designed the following classes of locomotives:
Business positions | ||
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Preceded by | Locomotive Superintendent of the North British Railway 1875–1882 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Locomotive Superintendent of theCaledonian Railway 1882–1890 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Locomotive Superintendent of the London and South Western Railway 1895–1912 | Succeeded by |