James Holden (26 July 1837 – 29 May 1925) was an English locomotive engineer. He is remembered mainly for the "Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0, his pioneering work with oil fuel, and his unique "Decapod".
Biography James Holden was born in Whitstable, Kent on 26 July 1837. He was apprenticed to his uncle, Edward Fletcher and, in 1865, joined the Great Western Railway, where he eventually became chief assistant to William Dean. In 1885 he was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway. He held office from 1885 to 1907 and was succeeded by his son Stephen (1908–1912), who enlarged the "Claud Hamilton" type into the capable Class S69 4-6-0 design. James Holden was a Quaker. His style of management was rather paternalistic, and trade unionism was not encouraged. Holden had little regard for trade unions and believed employers should voluntarily look after their men. He was responsible for erecting the first hostel (1890) for enginemen arriving in London with late trains from the provinces. Holden (who lived at Wanstead during his GER days) died in Bath, Somerset on 29 May 1925.
Locomotive development at the Great Eastern Railway
Overview While to some extent his work consisted in improving the designs of his predecessors, Holden was responsible for several designs of his own. He completely reorganised Stratford Works, which, together with a considerable degree of standardisation, brought Stratford to an exceptionally high position among British locomotive works in the speed and efficiency of its locomotive production. Some of the extensively-built locomotive classes may not have been outstanding in performance on the road, or in fuel economy, but they were rugged in design and with their massive working parts were reliable and easy to maintain.
Wheel arrangements During the first thirteen years of his tenure at the Great Eastern Railway Holden's locomotive designs did not utilise bogies. His predecessors had vacillated between 0-4-4 and 2-4-2 tanks for suburban and branch services, and between both 2-2-2 and 4-2-2, and 2-4-0 and 4-4-0 tender types for express passenger service, but Holden's designs had single axles with side-play rather than a leading or trailing bogie. At the beginning of his tenure the GER possessed some 75 bogie single or four-coupled engines, but by the end of 1897 their number had dwindled to twelve. Then, just as the bogie appeared to be doomed to extinction on the GER, Holden introduced over the next three years new 4-2-2 and 4-4-0 passenger and 0-4-4 tank classes.
Boiler, cab, valve gear Holden continued for thirteen years to fit his engines with stovepipe chimneys, and also with Thomas Worsdell's capacious cab, with its gracefully curved side-sheets. Although for a time he continued with the Worsdell three-ring boiler barrel, with the dome on the middle ring, before long he designed a two-ring boiler with the dome on the front ring, immediately behind the chimney. He substituted Stephenson link-motion for the Joy valve gear preferred by Worsdell.
Locomotive classes In Holden's first year at Stratford Works four separate locomotive classes were put in hand. These were 2-4-2 tanks, 0-6-0 tanks, 0-6-0 freight engines, and the first of a new 2-4-0 express passenger type. This latter was No. 710, prototype of the well-known T19 Class, which was to prove the mainstay of Great Eastern main line passenger service for many years. While the new engine closely resembled one of the Worsdell Class G14s, the boiler was slightly larger, with 1,230 sq ft (114 m2) as against 1,200 sq ft (110 m2) heating surface, and 18.0 sq ft (1.67 m2) as compared with 17.3 sq ft (1.61 m2) grate area; cylinders were 18 in × 24 in (460 mm × 610 mm), and weight in working order 42 long tons (43 t). Building of these engines continued for eleven years, from 1886 to 1897, until there were 110 of them in all. The first sixty, numbered from 710 to 779 inclusive, had the older three-ring boiler with the dome on the middle ring and a pressure of 140 psi (970 kPa). In 1892 there followed Nos. 700 to 709 and 781 to 790, in 1893 Nos. 1010 to 1019, in 1895 Nos. 1020 to 1029, and in 1897 Nos. 1030 to 1039, with the two-ring boiler and the dome well forward. Not until the last ten did the boiler pressure rise to 160 psi (1,100 kPa), but in course of time all the engines of the class were fitted with 160 psi (1,100 kPa) two-ring boilers.
Suburban passenger tanks
Six-coupled In 1889 one of Holden's shunting tanks engines was fitted with the Westinghouse brake and evaluated on passenger working. The 1889 experiment resulted in eighty of these tanks, slightly larger than Class T18 and classified as GER Class R24, being turned out from 1890 to 1896. They took over the whole of the suburban working between Liverpool Street and Chingford, Enfield Town, and Palace Gates. Twenty shunters of the same type emerged in 1890 and 1891. In addition, in 1889 and 1893, Holden built twenty smaller 0-6-0 tanks (Class E22) with 14 in × 20 in (360 mm × 510 mm) cylinders and a weight of 36+1⁄2 long tons (37.1 t), for light branch work. Some of the latter worked for years between Fenchurch Street and Blackwall with part of their side rods removed, so converting them to the 2-4-0 wheel arrangement. The R24 0-6-0s with their packed trains of 15 four-wheelers could reach speeds of up to sixty miles an hour. When the intensive suburban service of 1920 was introduced reliance was still placed largely on these 0-6-0s to maintain the new split-second timings, and they were quite equal to the task. By then their numbers had been further reinforced by the twenty built in 1900 and 1901 with 160 psi (1,100 kPa) boilers, and by a further twenty turned out in 1904, the latter with 180 psi (1,200 kPa) pressure, larger boilers giving 988 sq ft (91.8 m2) heating surface and 14.5 sq ft (1.35 m2) grate area, and side-tanks holding 1,200 imp gal (5,500 L; 1,400 US gal), which increased the weight to 42+1⁄2 long tons (43.2 t). Those built from 1912 onwards were decorated with flared-top chimneys, in place of stovepipes, and the high-roofed cab with side-windows which was now the Holden standard.
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