Thompson, His Life and Locomotives

Edward Thompson was the London & North Eastern Railways second Chief Mechanical Engineer, following the death of Sir Nigel Gresley in 1941. He was in office from 1941-1946, when he retired, after a long career as a mechanical engineer, working for several railway companies, including the North Eastern, Great Northern and after the grouping the London & North Eastern Railway. He was a very controversial figure, often maligned by railway historians for his reconstruction of several classes of steam locomotive, including the Gresley prototype pacific Great Northern, which many people still feel was unnecessary. However, there is more to Edward Thompson than his period as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway, in that he had a complex side to him, which might have originated from his experiences in WWI. This book, for the first time, sets out to explain both the man and his philosophy.