Thomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE (6 August 1816 – 19 April 1888) was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway.

Crampton married Louisa Martha Hall, who was a singer and a friend of Jenny Lind, on 25 February 1841.

[3] and Crampton gifted a stained glass window in St. Peter's church, Broadstairs in her memory.

[1] He died at his home, 19 Ashley Place, Westminster on 19 April 1888 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

[1] Crampton entered a career in engineering, initially with Marc Brunel and later with the Great Western Railway (GWR) in Swindon.

[1][4] Crampton worked as assistant to Marc Brunel and on joining the GWR in 1839,[5] then Daniel Gooch.

The broad gauge allowed a larger boiler diameter and higher centre of gravity for the same stability.

It is for the physical appearance of his locomotives that Crampton is remembered for today, with the driving wheel placed behind the firebox.

Another two locomotives were bought by the LNWR, including a 6-2-0 Liverpool built by Bury, Curtis and Kennedy in 1848 with 8 feet (2.44 m) diameter driving wheels.

[7] In 1854, Crampton became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and in 1855 he was responsible for the building of the Berlin waterworks.

In 1860, Crampton designed a tower for Holy Trinity church, Broadstairs, which Dickens had described as a "hideous temple of flint, a petrified haystack".

[5] Crampton entered a partnership with Sir Morton Peto and Edward Betts to undertake part of the construction of the London Chatham and Dover Railway.

When the partnership became insolvent in 1867, Crampton was made personally bankrupt,[9] but, unlike Peto and Betts, managed to retain his good reputation and continue in business.

Crampton was, wholly or partly, responsible for the railway lines built between Smyrna and Aidin; Varna and Rustchuk; Strood and Dover; Sevenoaks and Swanley; and Herne Bay and Faversham.