George Jackson Churchward - the Great Western Railway engineer
Listener's query
"My ancestor George Jackson Churchward was Chief Engineer for the Great Western Railway. How significant was he in the GWR's success?"
Brief summary
Following the Making History item about the 100 mph achieved in 1904 by the steam locomotive City of Truro, Clive Churchward, a descendant of its designer George Jackson Churchward (1857-1933), told us about the achievements of his ancestor.
George Jackson Churchward was a Devon man who went to work on the railway at the age of 16. Initially, he worked on the South Devon railway when it was still broad-gauge. At 19 he moved to the Great Western Railway (GWR) drawing office where, when he was 45, he became Chief Engineer. He was really running GWR from 1900, standardising boilers and wheels, and cutting the number of designs to a minimum. He also he revolutionised boiler design.
The first class of locomotives with which Churchward won success and world-wide recognition was the 4-4-0 'City' class, which soon became well known as the most powerful passenger locomotive. One of them, City of Truro, became the first engine in the world to haul a train at 100 miles per hour in 1904. He went on to build the 'County' class and the 'Star' class.
Churchward retired in 1922. He died on a foggy December day in 1933 when he was knocked down and killed by a GWR steam locomotive near the Swindon Works. He had apparently gone out to check the line and may have been unaware of an approaching train. The accident happened close to his home, Newburn House, which the GWR had allowed him to keep during his retirement.
Further reading
Colonel H.C.B. Rogers, G.J. Churchward - A Locomotive Biography (Allen & Unwin, 1975)
Brian Haresnap, Churchward Locomotives (Ian Allan Ltd, 1976)
Oswald Nock, GWR in the 20th Century (Ian Allan, 1971)
Denis Griffiths, Locomotive Engineers of the GWR (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1987)
Website
Place to visit
STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway
Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wilts SN2 2TA
Tel: 01793 466 646
Fax: 01793 466 615
Textphone: 01793 466 618
Website:
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Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 成人快手, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 成人快手 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听