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Stenlake Publishing - Robert Billinton – An Engineer Under Pressure


Robert Billinton – An Engineer Under Pressure



Author : Klaus Marx
ISBN : 9780853616764
Cover : paperback
Price : £12.95

Robert Billinton strode the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway like a colossus, managing an elephantine department as Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent with a brief to overview the Marine Department, the company’s engineering equipment, and 101 other matters that impinged on his expertise and required his attention.

He was the last of the autocrats to run his empire in true Victorian style and discipline, but times had changed with the new century, as his successor, Marsh found to his detriment. Robert’s widespread brief had its wings clipped by the new generation of company managers, who tightened up the laid back fashion in which things had been done, and he was a broken man in his final years. The demands on his attention were prolific and, despite a good staff team under his direction, the pressures on the man must have been immense.

Influenced by his experience with the Midland Railway, he nevertheless continued within the framework of practice set by Stroudley. To his credit he moved with the times, displayed a willingness to experiment and introduce new ideas, and kept the company abreast of modern developments. However, in many respects he was striving against a huge handicap: the cramped situation of the workshops at Brighton which were unable to keep up repairs of an expanding locomotive fleet. All too frequent breakdown of locomotives and lost time on services left the Directors and public deeply concerned and with no immediate remedy in sight. Though the responsibility was his, the blame lay with the circumstances and a lack of forward planning by the company.

A5 format, 152 pages, 120 photographs, etc.

Robert Billinton – An Engineer Under Pressure
£12.95