Everard Calthrop

Early life and career

Everard Richard Calthrop was born on 3 March 1857, the oldest of seven boys. His father, also named Everard, was a farmer. One of his brothers, Sir Guy Calthrop, later became the general manager of the London and North Western Railway. The family first lived in Deeping Fen, Lincolnshire, where Everard was born, and later moved to Sutton in the Isle of Ely.

He attended Uppingham School. After school, Calthrop began his career with Robert Stephenson and Company, then in 1874 became an apprentice at the London & North Western Railway in Crewe. By 1879 he had joined the Great Western Railway, eventually rising to assistant manager of their Carriage and Wagon Works. In 1882 he moved to India to work as a locomotive inspector for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway.

There, he became convinced that narrow-gauge railways could aid the country’s development. He chaired a government committee studying light railways across India and wrote a pamphlet called A System of Standard Details as applied to the Construction of Rolling Stock in India. This led the Indian government to adopt uniform gauges and equipment, eventually making 2 ft 6 in the standard narrow gauge. In 1886, Calthrop took leave to explore proposals for independent branch lines.

He focused on two: a 5-mile tramway to the Hindu religious centre of Nasik, and a 21-mile branch to the town of Barsi. Both were approved by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and Calthrop surveyed them. In 1887 he set up the Indian Railways Feeder Lines Company in London to push for feeder lines. The railway company gave him a choice: return to his inspector duties or resign with their backing to pursue branch lines.

His health was poor, so in 1889 he resigned. Working as a consultant, he oversaw construction of the horse-powered Nasik Tramway, built to 2 ft 6 in gauge using his earlier survey.

Development of narrow-gauge concepts and the Barsi Light Railway

During his time in India Calthrop developed his ideas on the construction of narrow-gauge railways. He surmised that the axle load on the axles of all rolling stock, including locomotives, could be equal, allowing a maximum loading of goods wagons. He settled on a loading of 5 LT per axle, which was light enough to allow railway lines to be built with 30 lb/yd rail. It also allowed the loading of one 20 LT capacity 4-wheel standard-gauge wagon to be carried on a single bogie narrow-gauge wagon.

Further, he argued that using a track gauge of 2 ft 6 in gave the greatest capacity as a percentage of capital cost. He estimated a 2 ft 6 in gauge railway could be built to four times the length of a standard-gauge railway for the same capital cost. Calthrop had been engaged in negotiations with the Indian government for concessions to build a railway from Barsi Road to Barsi since 1887. In 1895, negotiations reached a satisfactory conclusion, and Calthrop formed a new company to build the Barsi Light Railway, and employed himself as consulting engineer.

The railway became a showcase for his ideas. Five 0-8-4T locomotives, with even distribution of axle load, were constructed to Calthrop's specification by Kitson & Co. The goods rolling stock was constructed on common 25 x 7 ft pressed steel underframes, reducing tare weight and maximising potential wagon loads. Calthrop recognised the importance of railways in warfare, and designed the rolling stock to facilitate the movement of troops and equipment.

Rolling stock rode on pressed-steel Fox bogies, using the Timmis system of double coiled springs. The line was constructed with rail inclination, then a new idea, which involves tilting the rail a few degrees to make its surface more nearly parallel with that of the tyre. Inclination is now applied universally to railways. The rolling stock could accept 100 ft radius curves.

Prior to shipment of the rolling stock to India, Calthrop and the manufacturer (Leeds Forge Company) conducted tests on a specially-built test track located at Newlay, near Leeds. The line was opened for inspection by railway officials and journalists, and a number of reports were published in the technical railway press.

Involvement in other railways

With the success of the Barsi Light Railway, Calthrop was in demand as a consultant for other narrow-gauge railway projects. The Barbados Railway opened in 1883 as a 3 ft 6 in gauge railway from Bridgetown to St Andrew, Barbados. By 1897, the railway and its rolling stock was in very poor condition. Further, much of the railway had been constructed with rail too light for the locomotives.

A new company was established in 1898 to rebuild and operate the railway, and Calthrop was engaged as consulting engineer. Calthrop arranged for the railway to be rebuilt in 2 ft 6 in gauge, and had Baldwin Locomotive Works build four new locomotives, two 2-8-2T's, a 2-6-0T and an 0-6-0T. Calthrop appeared at the Light Railway Inquiry for the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway on 3–4 August 1897, and spoke particularly on the proposed open level crossings and the use of transporter wagons.

Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

Calthrop claimed it only took three minutes to transfer wagons, based on his experience on the Barsi Light Railway. However, the order was not made until 8 September 1899, and in early 1900, the proprietors reached agreement with the Cambrian Railways to build the line. Their engineer, Alfred J. Collins, took charge of the engineering requirements, with consequent conservative 4-wheel wagons and other provisions. In 1898 Calthrop corresponded with the government of the colony of Victoria, Australia, regarding proposals for the construction of narrow-gauge lines in that colony.

Fayoum Light Railway

Subsequently, on his advice, the gauge of the railways as built was changed from 2 ft 6 in to 2 ft 6 in. Calthrop was appointed to advise on engineering matters for this 2 ft 6 in gauge Egyptian light railway, construction of which began in 1898. The railway comprised seven, mostly roadside, branch lines with a total length of 97 mi. The Fayoum Light Railway served an irrigation district south of Cairo, centred on the provincial capital of Medinet-el-Fayum.

Calthrop used pictures of rolling stock from the railway to illustrate a chapter he wrote for the book Pioneer Irrigation and Light Railways. Calthrop was one of several foreign concessionaires involved with the initial development of 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Serbia after 1898.

Private life

Everard Calthrop married Isabel Mary Earle, daughter of the Reverend Walter Earle, a family friend, on 19 November 1890 at Bilton Parish Church in Rugby. The couple had four children: Everard Earle (known as Tev, born 1892), Keith de Suffield (born 1894), Isabelle Iris (born 1895), and Betty Marion (born 1899). Tev became a Colonel in the Royal Engineers, while Keith served in the Royal Engineers before becoming Assistant General Manager and Mechanical Engineer of the Barsi Light Railway, a role he held until 1932.

Calthrop was deeply interested in breeding Arabian horses. After renting a villa on Goldings Road in Loughton, Essex, he bought a permanent home called Goldings on Clays Lane, complete with stables and 40 acres of land. There he bred horses and developed his own training methods, rejecting the harsh breaking techniques common at the time in favour of gentle approaches.

When the First World War began, he had his horses humanely destroyed rather than let them be taken by the British army. After the war, he returned to his horses and wrote a respected book, The Horse, as Comrade and Friend, published in 1920. He was an active member of the Arab Horse Society, earning commendations for his stallion Fitz at the society’s first show in 1919.

The effort of developing and promoting his parachute left Calthrop exhausted, both financially and physically. His declining health forced him to resign as consulting engineer for the Barsi Railway in 1925, though he stayed on as a director.

He died at his home in Paddington, London, on 30 March 1927, with his son Tev at his side. He was seventy years old. A blue plaque was unveiled at Goldings in June 2008 to commemorate him.

Did You Know?

• The Barsi Light Railway opened in 1897 and was extended to 202 miles by 1927.
• He was a judge at trials for 'motor vehicles for heavy traffic' in Liverpool in May 1898.