Robert Harvey Burnett
Robert Harvey Burnett (1838-1916) of Beyer, Peacock and Co
1838 Born in Ross, Scotland the son of Gregory Burnett, a Land Agent, and his wife Mary Gordon.
1864 Appointed as Locomotive Superintendent of the Metropolitan Railway.[1]
1917 Obituary [2]
ROBERT HARVEY BURNETT, born 18th May, 1838, at Ardross, Ross-shire, died in London 13th December, 1916.
On leaving Glasgow University in 1856, he became a pupil of Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Company.
In 1862 he was sent to Bilbao, Spain, to superintend the starting to work of a number of locomotives built by the firm for the Bilbao and Tudela Railway.
On his return in 1863, he made experiments in connection with the design of locomotives for the Metropolitan ("Underground") Railway, then approaching completion, for which Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Co. had the contract. He was appointed the first locomotive superintendent and resident engineer of the Metropolitan Railway and held that position for 8 years.
In 1872 he returned to Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Co., soon becoming Works Manager. In 1877 he resigned on account of ill-health, and after 12 months' rest, was appointed locomotive engineer to the Government Railways of New South Wales. He resigned in 1882, and after practising as a consulting engineer for some years, rejoined Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Co. in 1889, whom he represented in London at the time of his death.
Mr. Burnett was elected an Associate Member 6th February, 1866, and transferred to the class of Members 2nd May, 1871.
1917 Obituary.[3]
It is with the sincerest regret that the death of Mr. Robert Harvey Burnett, Vice-President, has to be announced. The sad event occurred on December 13th, 1916, after a few days’ illness. On December 2nd he presided at a Council Meeting, and a few days later contracted a chill, which prevented his attendance at the meeting on December 9th, to which event he was looking forward with much interest.
It is difficult to adequately express the geniality and kindness of the deceased. He was a true Scot, but, for all that, had a fund of humour, and many and varied were the anecdotes he could relate of locomotive “ chiefs ” of the old school, who have gone their way. Although in his 79th year, he was by no means old-fashioned ; on the contrary, his sympathy with modern ideas and inventions was sincere and profound.
Mr. Burnett was born in Ross-shire on May i8th, 1838, but at the age of eight his family removed to Hawarden, Flintshire.
He was educated at Hawarden Grammar School, The King’s School, Chester, and Glasgow University, where he attended the Natural Philosophy Lectures of Lord Kelvin (then Mr. William Thomson), together with the Higher Mathematical and Chemistry Courses.
He served his pupilage with Messrs. Beyer, Peacock & Co., Locomotive Engineers, of Manchester, and went through a complete course of training in their various workshops and drawing office during eight years, from 1856 to 1864.
In 1862 he was sent by them to Bilbao, Spain, to superintend the erection and trial-mileage of 50 locomotives constructed by the Company for the Bilbao and Tudela Railway, work which occupied close upon 12 months.
On his return in 1863 he was employed by Messrs. Beyer, Peacock and Co. to carry out the experiments necessary for deciding upon the best method of condensing the exhaust steam in the tunnels of the 12 locomotives, for which the firm had just received an order from the Metropolitan Railway Co., and also to determine the number of thermal units stored in the live fuel in the firebox and in the water in the boiler of a locomotive; in other words, the measurement of the pent up heat available for evaporating steam in a locomotive, for propelling its train through the underground portions of the line, during the time that the blast from the chimney was cut off by the condensation of the steam.
The knowledge gained from the lectures of Lord Kelvin on the measurement of heat and the number of units equivalent to a “ horse-power ”—then, only quite recently agreed upon by scientific men—enabled him to carry out these experiments to a final conclusion without any extraneous aid. The size of the boilers adopted for these Metropolitan engines, as well as the method of condensing, proved to be entirely satisfactory for the work they had to do when tested by actual performance in the underground portions of the Metropolitan Railway.
Mr. Burnett’s share in the matter led to his being appointed, on the recommendation of the Engineer of the Railway, Sir John Fowler, Locomotive Superintendent and Resident Engineer of the Metropolitan Railway, where he had charge during eight years of the Locomotive, Carriage, Permanent Way, Signals, and Workshops. During this period the length of railway worked by the Metropolitan Company had grown from four miles to over 20 miles. During his Superintendency he designed the famous St. John’s Wood engines. The engines—five in all, and built by the Worcester Engine Co. in 1868—were for the period remarkable for their dimensions. They had six coupled wheels 4ft. in diameter, with outside bearings, and cylinders 2oin. diameter by 24111. stroke. The boiler had an inside diameter of 4ft. 3ins. with a length of lift., and contained 176 tubes 2in. diameter. The firebox casing was 7ft. lin. long, 4ft. wide, with a depth of 5ft. 5ins. at the front, sloping to 3ft. 11ins, at the back. The grate area was 22.5 sq. ft., the total heating surface 1,165 sq. ft, the working pressure 140 lbs. per square inch, the tank capacity 1,000 gallons, and the engine weighed, in working order, 46 tons.
In 1872 he rejoined his former employers, where he had the management of their workshops, employing nearly 2,000 hands, until 1877. In 1878 he was appointed Locomotive Engineer to the Government Railways of New South Wales—600 miles of which were then open for traffic, constructed with a ruling gradient of 1 in 40, up and down, for several hundreds of miles on all the three main lines of the system, together with gradients on the Great Western main line of 1 in 33 for 17 miles, and of 1 in 30 for a length of three miles, over which heavy traffic had to be worked.
This post he held until 1882—by which time the length of the railways had grown to close upon 1,000 miles—when he resigned the position, owing to political interference which made it impossible to conduct the working department creditably to himself or with due regard safety of the travelling public.
He returned to this country in 1882, and after years spent in Westminster in consulting practice, turned again, for a third period, to Messrs. Beyer, Peacock & Co., when he had charge of the design department of their drawing office until 1905. He acted as Consulting Engineer to the Company until 1910, when he assumed the post of their London representative, in Victoria Street, Westminster, which position he continued to hold until his death.
He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in February, 1866, and transferred Full Membership in May, 1871. He was elected a Member of the Institution Mechanical Engineers in October, 1878.
He joined the Institution of Locomotive Engineers October, 1915, was elected a Vice-President in January, 1916, and again nominated for the office for 1917.
To mourn his loss he leaves a widow, daughter, and four sons, one of whom was recently severely wounded.
The funeral took place at Paddington Cemetery on December i6th, 1916.
1917 Obituary [4]