The LNER Encyclopedia

Hi..I am descendent of the above and have tracked him through various census etc. Family legend..dont we all have one!.says he held some of the speed records in that era on the LNER. Looking for any known info obviously on him and the trains likely to have been used. I have made an assumption (erroneous?) that he probably drove a 2-4-0 Tennant and have an article on that by J N Maskelyne. I am loking for a scale model or any pictures to buy..I note there is a framed print by EW Fenton that has been mentioned on here..powers of the search feature.

Any help on my William gratefully received.

By way of intro I live in New Zealand, like trains (enjoyed Polish trains in 2008) and have a passing interst through my late father who regaled me of when he was a boy (1940s) he got shipped down from Middlesbrough to Norfolk with a label over him..10 changes I think he said.

The LNER was formed in 1923, so he wouldn't have worked for the LNER, but a constituent is possible.
If Middlesborough was the area, then the North Eastern Railway (NER) is probable (colliery/industrial lines are another possibility). By that period, the NER had a good monopoly in its territory, so I don't think there were any other options. The Stockton & Darlington was amalgamated in 1863 iirc.

A Tennant is unlikely unless at the tail end of his tenure. They were introduced in 1885:

http://www.lner.info/locos/E/e5.shtml

McDonnell had a couple of classes before that but he wasn't around long. So if he was with the NER, then he probably drove locomotives designed by Edward Fletcher, or purchased by one of the NER constituents. This latter category is quite a broad miscellania - and all were scrapped before the LNER was formed in 1923.
(the exception being the S&D design '1001' class 0-6-0 which were actually built during the NER period and one survived to 1923 to be promptly put in a museum!)


Richard

Thanx Richard..it would have been NER sorry.

William is in 1881 census in Newcastle aged 45 and is an engine driver(Rail). In 1871 he had been at Bromley in London. He may have still been driving in the late 1880s.

I had look at the Records in Kew but I think I would need someone to search those.

What am I looking for then please if it was 1881?