George Whale

George Whale (7 December 1842 – 7 March 1910) was an English locomotive engineer who was born in Bocking, Essex, and educated in Lewisham, London.

[1] In 1858 he entered the LNWR's Wolverton Works under James Edward McConnell, and when in 1862 the LNWR Board decided to concentrate locomotive construction and repair at Crewe Works under John Ramsbottom, Whale was one of around 400 workers transferred from Wolverton to Crewe.

[2] In 1865 he entered the drawing office at Crewe Works, and in 1867 joined the LNWR running department under J. Rigg.

[3][4] On 22 April 1903, the Board announced that Whale had been chosen to succeed Webb, who was to retire at the end of July 1903.

[7] In 1904 he introduced the 4-4-0 Precursor class, an entirely new design which was in production within nine months of Whale's appointment; by June 1906, there were 110 in service.

The first to appear were converted from Class B, which Whale considered to have an excessive front overhang: the principal change was the addition of a pony truck, making a 2-8-0; they remained as four-cylinder compounds, and between August 1904 and October 1908, 36 locomotives were converted.

Between November 1904 and March 1906, 15 locomotives were converted, using cylinders of 19+1⁄2 inches (500 mm) diameter; these retained their original boilers and were later designated Class C.[24] Between March 1906 and March 1909, 62 locomotives were converted, these were also given 19+1⁄2-inch (500 mm) cylinders but were provided with larger (Experiment class) boilers and were later designated Class D.[25] In December 1906 the original Webb 0-8-0, no.