James Cudworth (engineer)
He is notable for designing a successful method for burning coal in steam locomotives without significant emission of smoke, and for introducing the 0-4-4T wheel arrangement to English railways.
His parents were Quakers, and had married in 1810;[1][2] William Cudworth was a grocer and druggist,[3][4] whilst Mary I'Anson's family name was of Scandinavian origin.
After completing his apprenticeship, he became a chargehand at Stephenson's, before being appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the Great North of England Railway in February 1840.
[7] The committee had shared maintenance facilities for the three railways, but on its dissolution, the SER needed to provide its own workshops.
[15] In 1861, Cudworth introduced a class of 2-2-2 express passenger locomotives with 7 feet (2.13 m) diameter driving wheels.
These engines gave over 20 years service on the boat trains serving Folkestone and Dover, finally being replaced in 1884 by Stirling's F Class 4-4-0s.
[16] Cudworth was also responsible for the introduction of the 0-4-4T wheel arrangement for steam locomotives to English railways, with his 235 class of 1866.
[17][18] Cudworth had three main achievements on the SER: he planned the layout of Ashford Works and brought it to such a standard that the company was able to begin production of its own locomotives in 1853; with two of his classes (the "Standard Goods" 0-6-0 of 1855 and the 118 class 2-4-0 of 1859), practised locomotive standardisation on a scale unheard of on other contemporary railways; and, at a time when coke (a smokeless fuel, but expensive) was normal for railways, designed a successful coal-burning firebox.
In 1876, Watkin persuaded John Ramsbottom of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) to design several 2-4-0 passenger engines for the SER, unbeknown to Cudworth.
In April 1869 he reported that the Cudworth type cost £23-2-3d[b] per year (equivalent to £2,697 in 2023[a]) in maintenance, whilst the type with a brick arch cost £4-18-6d (equivalent to £574,642 in 2023[a]), and as a result, he gave instructions for the replacement of all Cudworth fireboxes when the locomotives next became due for heavy repairs.
[29] Between 1869 and 1876, all LCDR locomotives which had been fitted with the Cudworth firebox had these replaced by the brick-arch type,[30][29][26][28] which was not only cheaper to maintain but had lower first cost.
[31] James Cudworth married Priscilla Poulter on 15 May 1848, at the Friends Meeting House, Dover, Kent but they had no children.
