Who was Thomas Crampton?

Unfortunately, Britain often fails to honour the memory of its most talented sons and daughters.

Thomas Russell Crampton was one of the most accomplished inventors and engineers of the Victorian era. By designing the Crampton steam locomotive, he may be justly described as the Father of the High Speed Train. Throughout his life he developed an astounding succession of new projects, and was granted many patents.

Thomas was born on 6^th August 1816 to John and Mary Crampton at Prospect Cottage, Broadstairs. His father, a successful plumber and architect, paid for his private education. He was later articled to John Hague from 1831 until 1839, when he became an assistant to Marc Brunel, father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and later to Sir Daniel Gooch. Under Gooch, he prepared the drawings for the ‘Firefly’ class of locomotive – the first for the Great Western Railway. This revolutionary line was built as straight and level as possible to a broad gauge of 7’and 0.25”, enabling large boilered, large wheeled locomotives to haul trains at over 60mph without becoming unstable.

Crampton believed that too much investment had already been made in the ‘standard’ 4’8.5” gauge to allow the long term success of the broad gauge. Accordingly, in his spare time, he designed the Crampton Locomotive, which was patented in 1843. It had a long boiler mounted on curved stretchers between the frames to create a low centre of gravity, and a large pair of driving wheels mounted at the rear behind a generous firebox. The Gooch valve gears were mounted externally, the cylinders and valves were mounted midway along the boiler directly under the steam dome, minimising loss of power  (see ‘What is a Crampton Locomotive?’).

Crampton worked on his locomotive concept, and, in 1846, the Whitehaven firm of Tulk and Ley undertook to build several locomotives. Two were destined for a Belgian railway which went bankrupt, but the South Eastern Railway took several on to run a successful high speed service from London to Dover via Redhill, Tonbridge and Ashford. The London and North Western Railway built several prototypes, including ‘Liverpool’ which was considered the most powerful locomotive in Britain and won a gold medal at the 1851 Great Exhibition, where a South Eastern Crampton and one of the Crampton – drawn G.W.R. locomotives were also exhibited.

Sadly, most British railways were unsuited to Crampton’s concept, having been built with numerous curves and steep gradients. However, the railways of northern France and Germany were built straight and level, and financed by powerful aristocrats who cared little for objections to routes taken. As a result, Crampton locomotives dominated the express trains for many years. ‘Crampton’ became the generic word for ‘express’, just as ‘Hoover’ has become the generic term for a vacuum cleaner.

Far from simply being a locomotive designer, he was a very capable civil engineer and project manager, being responsible for important railway building schemes in Britain and abroad. He worked for civil engineers John and George Rennie from 1844 to 1848 and then started his own civil engineering business. He entered a partnership for the construction of several lines of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, and also the East and West junction Railway. He was also partly responsible for the railways between Smyrna and Aidin, Varna and Rustchuck and the Mont Cenis Pass Railway.

Thomas Crampton could claim a prominent place in the technical history of Britain solely for his successful laying of the first underwater electric telegraph in the world. There had been previous unsuccessful attempts (including one by Daniel Gooch), but it was Crampton who designed the successful waterproof armoured cable and then was Chief Engineer of the project, supported by Charlton Wollaston as Electrician. Crampton was able to announce the sending of the first successful message between London and Paris at the closing ceremony of the Great Exhibition, and the cable remained in use until replaced in 1859.

Crampton always had a great interest in his home town of Broadstairs, and, in 1851, started the Broadstairs Gasworks Scheme which led to the successful introduction of domestic gas supplies and also streetlighting. He followed this by constructing the town’s waterworks, the storage tower of which is now the centre point of the Crampton Museum. Such was the success of this scheme that he was contracted to design and build the Berlin Waterworks, which opened in 1855.

Throughout his life, Crampton never ceased to design and innovate. He also invented a furnace which burned powdered fuel, a revolving furnace used in both iron and steel making, a system of cast iron military forts and improved brick-making machinery. Perhaps his most remarkable invention in later life was a hydraulic circular excavating tunnel boring machine, intended for the proposed Channel Tunnel.

In addition to all the works listed above, Thomas Crampton played a very active part in a wide range of professional bodies. He served on the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers, was vice President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Vice President of the Society of Arts, a Member of the Council of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians, a Member of the Societe des Ingenieurs Civils de Paris, a Member of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, or the Cleveland Institution of Engineers, of the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers and of the Smeatonian Society!

In recognition of his valuable services, he was made an Officier of the Legion d’Honneur by Napoleon III of France and was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle by Frederick William of Prussia. In shameful contrast, Britain has completely failed to honour him.

Thomas Crampton died at his home, Ashley Place in Victoria Street, London, on 19^th April 1888, aged 72, leaving his second wife, Elizabeth, six sons and one daughter. He was noted for his strong and independent nature, and also for his kind and genial nature and his ability to inspire and encourage.