James Stirling
James Stirling (1835-1917) of the South Eastern Railway
1835 October 2nd. Born the son of Robert Stirling at Galston, Ayrshire; brother of Patrick Stirling, and successor to him on the GSWR.
Spent two years with village millwright then apprenticed to his brother, following which he spent a year at Sharp, Stewart and Co in Manchester before returning to Kilmarnock where he had become Works Manager before his brother left for Doncaster.
In 1866 when Patrick Stirling left for Doncaster James was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent. Whilst retaining his brother's domeless boilers he did adopt the 4-4-0 type.
1878 He eventually left the GSWR for the South Eastern Railway at Ashford. At Ashford he retained the family liking for domeless boilers but introduced the A class 4-4-0, and later the F class 4-4-0. He also introduced the class O 0-6-0 and the Q class of 0-4-4Ts which dominated the suburban traffic of the SER. The R class of 0-6-0Ts survived well into Nationalization being responsible for the traffic on the steeply graded Folkestone Harbour branch: some even managed to retain the characteristic Stirling cab. But Stirling's successors fitted domed boilers.
1898 He retired
1917 January 12th. Died at Ashford
1917 Obituary [1]
JAMES STIRLING was born at Galston, Ayrshire, on 2nd October 1835.
He was educated privately and at the age of eighteen was sent to the village millwright, two years later commencing his apprenticeship under his brother, Patrick, then locomotive superintendent of the Glasgow and South Western Railway Co., Glasgow.
In the following year he was sent to Kilmarnock and passed through all the locomotive departments.
On the completion of his apprenticeship he was made a charge-man, and subsequently worked in the drawing-office.
With a view to varying his experience, he left Kilmarnock and went to Manchester, where he entered the service of Messrs. Sharp, Stewart and Co., as a working fitter.
A year later he returned to Kilmarnock and re-entered the drawing-office, subsequently becoming works manager, which position he held until 1866.
On his brother, Patrick, leaving to take up the position of locomotive superintendent of the Great Northern Railway, the directors of the Glasgow and South Western Railway appointed him as successor to his brother, which position he occupied until 1878.
During his service as locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent, he introduced a more powerful class of passenger engines, with 6 feet 6-inch coupled wheels and 18-inch by 24-inch cylinders. When the proposal to run trains in direct connexion with the Midland Railway came up, he built a still more powerful class of engine with 7 feet coupled wheels, a leading bogie and inside cylinders, 18 inches by 26 inches, with the valves between. This type of engine was for many years the standard design for express passenger work in Great Britain. In 1874 he introduced a steam reversing-gear for locomotives, and he was the first engineer to provide cushioned seats for third-class compartments.
In 1878 he accepted an offer to become locomotive superintendent of the South Eastern Railway, and held this position until his retirement in 1898. During that period many improvements in the locomotive power on the railway were introduced by him, among which may be mentioned a special type of bogie, and the steam reversing-gear which had been so successful on the Glasgow and South Western Railway.
He was the first engineer to use 19-inch cylinders with the valves between them.
When in Kilmarnock he was Hon. Secretary to the Scottish Locomotive Railway Engineers' Association, and when he removed to England, on the formation of the Association of Locomotive Engineers of Great Britain and Ireland, he was appointed Hon. Secretary, a position which he held until his retirement from the South Eastern Railway.
His death took place at Ashford, Kent, on 12th January 1917, at the age of eighty-one.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1880; he was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Justice of the Peace for Kent.
1917 Obituary [2]
JAMES STIRLING, born at Galston, Ayrshire, 2nd October, 1835, died 12th January, 1917, at Ashford, Kent.
In 1855 he entered the service of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company, with whom he remained, with the exception of 1 year which he spent in Manchester, until 1878, occupying various positions. From draughtsman he became works manager, and in 1866 succeeded his brother as locomotive superintendent.
In 1878 he became locomotive engineer of the South-Eastern Railway, and retired in 1898. He introduced many improvements in locomotives and other rolling stock. He was honorary secretary of the Scotch Locomotive Railway Engineers’ Association and the Association of Locomotive Engineers of Great Britain and Ireland.
He was elected a Member of The Institution 7th December, 1886.
1917 Obituary.[3]
It is with the greatest regret that we have to record the sudden death, on January 12th, of one of the oldest and best known of the past generation of locomotive engineers, who passed away at Ashford at the ripe age of 81.
Mr. James Stirling came of a family of ingrained engineering talent, and was born on October 2nd, 1835, at Galston, Ayrshire. He was the fifth son of the Rev. Robert Stirling, D.D., who was the inventor of the well-known Stirling hot air engine, a description of which is to be found in Rankine’s “ Steam Engine ” and in the Proc.Inst.C.E. Mr. James Stirling commenced his engineering career in a humble capacity by working for two years with a local millwright, but in April, 1855, he entered the service of the Glasgow and South Western Railway at their old works at Glasgow, which were then under the control of his elder brother, the well-known Mr. Patrick Stirling, late of Great Northern fame. The new works at Kilmarnock were at that time under contemplation, and Mr. James Stirling assisted in preparing and fitting them up. He served in all the departments of the works and in the Drawing Office at Kilmarnock, and afterwards, to gain outside experience, passed a year as a chargeman fitter at the works of Messrs, Sharp, Stewart and Co., of Manchester. On returning to Kilmarnock he was appointed chief draughtsman, and subsequently chief works manager, under his brother. When the latter, in 1866, accepted the appointment of Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Northern Railway, Mr. James Stirling became his successor as chief of the locomotive department of the Glasgow and South Western Railway, a post which he retained until the early part of 1878. He was the first rolling stock engineer to add padded cushions for the seats of third class carriages, and in 1868 con-structed a composite carriage of this type. Although his brother, Mr. Patrick Stirling, was a well known advocate of “ single ” express engines, and built these for the Glasgow and South Western main line traffic, Mr. James always held strongly to the four-coupled type of engine. He was the pioneer of the modern British 4-4-0 express engine with leading bogie and inside cylinders of large size, although two smaller engines of similar type but of much more antiquated design had been at work for a year or two on the North British Railway.
Mr. Stirling’s first 4-4-0 engine, which had 7ft. coupled wheels, 3ft. 7in. bogie wheels, and i8in. by 26in. cylinders, made its appearance in July, 1873, from Kilmarnock works. These engines were modern express engines in almost every sense of the term, and of the 22 engines of the class built between 1873 and 1877, 16 are still at work and doing good service. In May, 1874, brought out his well-known steam reversing gear, which was fitted to No. 95, one 01 the above class, and is still standard on the Glasgow and South Western and the South Eastern Railways. This gear ’has also been used on several other home and colonial railways. In one respect he followed the practice of Mr. Patrick Stirling in that all his engines for both railways, without exception, had domeless boilers. Although these were of large diameter for the period of their construction, and had ample steam and water room, the heating surface was always on the small side. Mr. Stirling, like his brother, maintained that it was of great importance to allow the steam every opportunity for rising, and that the crowding in of too many tubes was a detriment rather than an advantage.
In the early part of 1878 he was appointed Chief Loco-motive Engineer of the South Eastern Railway and left Kilmarnock for Ashford, where be resided until his death. For rather more than twenty years he remained chief at Ashford, and resigned the position in 1898, when the South Eastern and Chatham Companies were fused together. During this period he gradually replaced nearly all the older South Eastern engines by locomotives of much more powerful and modern types.
Amongst the most celebrated of his engines were the 117 standard 4-4-0 type with 7ft. wheels and cylinders igin. by 26in., and he was the first locomotive engineer to construct such large inside cylinders (for standard gauge) with the valves between them. The bogies of all his engines differed considerably from those adopted on other lines, having a somewhat shorter wheel base and two pins. Descriptions and drawings of these bogies can be found in the engineering papers for 1889, in which year one of his large express engines was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition and gained a gold medal.
From 1898 he lived in retirement at Ashford, but took the keenest interest in locomotive matters until the very last. His surviving son, Mr. James H. Stirling, is one of the earliest members'of this Institution. By those who knew him and who worked under him the memory of the late engineer is regarded with the greatest affection and respect