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Stenlake Publishing - Ron Jarvis – From Midland Compound to the HST


Ron Jarvis – From Midland Compound to the HST



Author : John Chacksfield
ISBN : 9780853616184
Cover : paperback
Price : £12.95

In the layer of railway management below those ultimately in charge there were a large number of very competent persons, many of whom were outstanding in their particular sphere. Ron Jarvis was on such person. Starting as an apprentice at the Derby Works of the LMS he proved to those in high office that he was worth watching. He obtained a post in the design office at the end off his apprenticeship before being selected for a move to the Euston headquarters to work in a development team under Tommy Hornbuckle, then designing a 3-car diesel unit. The CME, William Stanier, noted his obvious abilities such that, during the Second World War Ron spent much time overseas; firstly, in Turkey overseeing the erection of a batch of ‘8F’ 2-8-0s and some 500 wagons; and secondly, in India as personal assistant to William Stanier on an exhausting machine tool mission. Following the war he stayed at Derby working under George Ivatt. During this time he was responsible for much spare-time effort in the preservation sphere before being posted to Brighton and put in charge of the three design offices of the Southern Region.

At Brighton he was involved in the final trials of Bulleid’s ‘Leader’, the rebuilding of the Bulleid Pacifics, and the BR Standard class ‘4’ 2-6-4T and 4-6-0, with his final steam design responsibility being the class ‘9F’ 2-10-0. He then moved onto electro-diesel and electric locomotive developments for the Southern Region. Returning to Derby he then spent the last years of his service largely on the design aspects of the power car for the HST125. He retired in 1972 and settled in Wales to devote his energies to the restoration of historic rolling stock on the Festiniog Railway. Throughout all this Ron was a keen photographer. Many of his photographs and also many of his brother Jim&rsquo0;s have been used to illustrate this biography. Ron died before he could put into practice his intention of writing his autobiography. However, the material carefully saved to achieve this was preserved by the family who passed it to the author to assist in this task.

A5 format, 176 pages, 160 illustrations.

Ron Jarvis – From Midland Compound to the HST
£12.95