James Pearson (engineer)

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This article is about James Pearson, British railway engineer. For other people of the same name see James Pearson.

James Pearson was a 19th century English railway engineer. He is best remembered as the designer of the distinctive Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-2-4T locomotives.

1 Career
- 1.1 South Devon Railway
- 1.2 Bristol and Exeter Railway
2 Locomotives designs
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Career

[edit] South Devon Railway

James Pearson was the engineer responsible for the daily operations of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's ill-fated atmospheric equipment on the South Devon Railway. Trains only ran in service from 13 September 1847 to 9 September 1848, but he was retained while the equipment was disposed of.

[edit] Bristol and Exeter Railway

In May 1850 he became the Bristol and Exeter Railway's Locomotive Engineer. Under his control the railway set up new locomotive works at Bristol temple Meads. These opened in 1851 and built most of the railway's new broad gauge locomotives from 1859.

[edit] Locomotives designs

The most significant locomotives designed by James Pearson were:

1851 Bristol and Exeter Railway 2-2-2T locomotives - 7 small tank locomotives
1854 Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-2-4T locomotives - 8 locomotives with 9 feet wheels
1855 Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-4-0ST locomotives - 26 saddle tank locomotives
1856 Bristol and Exeter Railway 0-6-0 locomotives - 6 goods locomotives
1859 Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-2-4T locomotives - 2 locomotives with 7 feet 6 inch wheels
1868 Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-2-4T locomotives - 4 locomotives with 8 feet 10 inch wheels
1870 Bristol and Exeter Railway 2-4-0 locomotives - 10 passenger locomotives
1874 Bristol and Exeter Railway 2-4-0 locomotives - 3 convertible passenger locomotives

[edit] See also

South Devon Railway engine houses

[edit] References

The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part 2: Broad Gauge. The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0-906867-90-8.
Kay, Peter (1991). Exeter - Newton Abbot: A Railway History. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-872524-42-7.
MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, Volume 2. London: Great Western Railway.