Thomas William Worsdell

Thomas William Worsdell (14 January 1838 – 28 June 1916) was an English locomotive engineer. He was born in Liverpool into a Quaker family.

Thomas William Worsdell
Born(1838-01-14)14 January 1838
Liverpool, England
Died28 June 1916(1916-06-28) (aged 78)
Arnside, England
NationalityBritish
EducationAckworth School
OccupationEngineer
Parent(s)Nathaniel and Mary Worsdell
Engineering career
Employer(s)London and North Western Railway; Pennsylvania Railroad; Great Eastern Railway; North Eastern Railway

Family

T. W. Worsdell – normally known as William – was the eldest son of Nathaniel Worsdell (1809–1886), and grandson of the coachbuilder Thomas Clarke Worsdell (1788–1862). His younger brother, Wilson Worsdell (1850–1920), was also a locomotive engineer. T. C. Worsdell had become a Quaker at some point between 1812 and 1816, and his descendants, including Nathaniel, William and Wilson, were brought up in the Quaker faith.[1]

William was born at his parents' house in Liverpool on 14 January 1838. He began school at the age of two, and in 1847 was sent as a boarder to Ackworth, a Quaker school in Yorkshire, where he remained until 1852.[2]

Career

He worked at the Crewe Works of the LNWR under John Ramsbottom but in 1865 moved to the United States to the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1871 he was invited by Francis William Webb to return to Crewe. In 1881 he was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway, but in 1885 moved to the North Eastern Railway, being replaced at the GER by James Holden. He retired from the NER on 1 October 1890 due to ill health and was replaced by his younger brother Wilson Worsdell.

He died in Arnside on 28 June 1916.[3]

Locomotive Designs

Patents

Worsdell obtained a number of patents[4] including several (in association with August von Borries, a Prussian locomotive engineer) relating to compound locomotives. T. W. Worsdell used the von Borries two-cylinder compound system in several of his designs for the North Eastern Railway.

Worsdell-von Borries patents
  • GB190006487, published 16 February 1901, An improvement in starting valves for compound steam engines[5]
  • GB190022906, published 2 November 1901, Improvements in valves for use in compound locomotives and other compound engines[6]
  • US803981 (with Herbert Richard Lapage), published 7 November 1905, Compound locomotive[7]

References
  1. Hill, Geoffrey (February 1991). The Worsdells: A Quaker Engineering Dynasty. Transport Publishing Company. pp. 7–8, 10. ISBN 0-86317-158-3.
  2. Hill 1991, p. 57
  3. Reed, Brian (1982). Crewe Locomotive Works and Its Men. David & Charles. p. 239. ISBN 9780715382288. Retrieved 26 January 2020 – via Google Books.
  4. "Joseph Armstrong. his son & William Dean". Steamindex.com. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  5. "Espacenet - Bibliographic data". Worldwide.espacenet.com. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  6. "Espacenet - Bibliographic data". Worldwide.espacenet.com. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  7. "Espacenet - Bibliographic data". Worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
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