Jean Georges Luc Clarke
of France
Author of 'Rapport au Conseil d'administration du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans sur sa Mission en Angleterre et Belgique (December 1838)'[1]. This is an account of his mission in connection with the construction of the Paris to Orléans railway, including the purchase of locomotives and machine tools. He visited the main railway centres and locomotive manufacturers in England, and studied methods of working, including signalling, ticketing, luggage handling, track, sleepers, fuel, etc.
Small numbers of locomotives and machine tools were purchased. Five machine tools were bought from Sharp, Roberts and Co, a lathe and a planing machine from Whitworth, two lathes from Hetherington, a lathe from Fox of Derby, and a planing machine from William Collier and Co. The total cost of the machine tools was £2607.