R. A. Riddles

Born	23 May 1892
Died	18 June 1983
Nationality	English
Employer	London & North Western Railway (apprentice, Crewe); London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Principal Assistant to the CME); Ministry of Supply (Director of Transportation Equipment, WWII); British Railways (Member for Mechanical & Electrical Engineering 1948–1953)

Robert Arthur Riddles (1892–1983) was a British locomotive engineer who served as Member for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering on the British Railways Executive from nationalisation in 1948 until his retirement in 1953, in which capacity he directed the design and construction of the twelve BR Standard steam locomotive classes that were the final expression of British steam locomotive design — and who had earlier designed the WD Austerity 2-8-0 that became the most widely-deployed British wartime locomotive.

Born at Hertford on 23 May 1892, Riddles was apprenticed at Crewe Works on the London and North Western Railway in 1909 and served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, an experience that gave him a lasting appreciation of the locomotive's strategic importance in modern warfare. He returned to Crewe and rose through the LMS under William Stanier, serving as Principal Assistant to the CME and deputy to Stanier during the critical years of LMS locomotive development that produced the Princess Royal and Coronation Pacifics and the Black Five 4-6-0.

Seconded to the Ministry of Supply in 1939 as Director of Transportation Equipment, Riddles designed the WD Austerity 2-8-0 — a deliberately simplified, robustly engineered freight locomotive capable of mass production in wartime conditions — of which 935 were eventually built, serving on military and civilian railways across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The matching WD Austerity 2-10-0, designed for the heaviest freight requirements, was equally successful. Both designs continued in service on overseas railways decades after the war's end.

At nationalisation Riddles oversaw the BR Standard programme: twelve classes from the 9F 2-10-0 heavy freight to the Class 2 2-6-0, sharing common components and drawing on best practice from all four of the former Big Four railways. The Britannia Pacific, the Standard 5 4-6-0, and the 9F were particularly successful designs. The 1955 Modernisation Plan's commitment to diesel and electric traction made the Standards the last new British steam locomotives — No. 92220 Evening Star, the last Standard built, was completed at Swindon in 1960, six years after Riddles's retirement. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon on 18 June 1983, aged 91.

Biography

Robert Arthur Riddles (1892–1983) was a British locomotive engineer best known as the last person to direct a coordinated national steam-locomotive design programme, the BR Standard classes of 1951–1960. He is also remembered as the designer of the prolific WD Austerity 2-8-0 freight locomotive of the Second World War, of which 935 were built for military service.

Riddles was born at Hertford on 23 May 1892 and apprenticed on the London & North Western Railway at Crewe Works in 1909. After service in the Royal Engineers in the First World War, where the strategic importance of the locomotive in modern warfare made a lasting impression on him, he returned to Crewe and rose steadily through the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, serving as Principal Assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer under Sir William Stanier and later under Charles Fairburn.

In 1939 he was seconded to the Ministry of Supply as Director of Transportation Equipment, in which role he designed the Austerity 2-8-0, a deliberately simplified, mass-producible 'rough-and-ready' freight engine, and the matching Austerity 2-10-0. The 2-8-0 was built in vast numbers by Vulcan Foundry and the North British Locomotive Company, serving in Britain, France, the Low Countries, the Middle East and beyond, and remaining in revenue traffic in some countries into the 1990s.

On the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 Riddles was appointed Member for Mechanical & Electrical Engineering on the Railway Executive, effectively CME of British Railways. Believing that coal-fired steam remained the most economic answer to British conditions, he commissioned the twelve BR Standard steam classes, including the Britannia Pacifics, the Class 5MT 4-6-0 and the 9F heavy-freight 2-10-0. Notable for shared parts, easy servicing and good crew accommodation, the Standards drew freely on his LMS background but incorporated the best practice of the other Big Four companies.

The BR Modernisation Plan of 1955 effectively superseded his strategy, switching investment to diesel and electric traction. Riddles retired in 1953, four months before the last of his Standards, Duke of Gloucester, was completed at Crewe. He took up consultancy work, including with Stothert & Pitt, and was active in the early preservation movement. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon on 18 June 1983, aged 91.

Locomotives designed

BR Class 81 — BR Class 81 (originally AL1) Bo-Bo electric locomotives — pioneering 25 kV AC overhead electric locomotives built 1959–64 for the West Coast Main Line electrification by AEI/Birmingham. 25 built. Withdrawn 1989–91. None preserved; 81002 was at the National Railway Museum but was scrapped in the 2010s.
BR Class 82 — BR Class 82 (originally AL2) Bo-Bo electric locomotives — built 1960–62 by Beyer Peacock/Metro-Vick. 10 built. Withdrawn 1981–87. 82008 preserved at Barrow Hill.
BR Class 83 — BR Class 83 (originally AL3) Bo-Bo electric locomotives — built 1960–62 by English Electric. 15 built. 83012 preserved at Barrow Hill.
BR Class 84 — BR Class 84 (originally AL4) Bo-Bo electric locomotives — built 1960 by GEC Traction. 10 built. Most withdrawn 1980–82. 84001 preserved at Barrow Hill.
BR Standard 2MT 2 — The smallest of the BR Standard tender locomotives, a light-axleweight 2-6-0 mixed-traffic Mogul of just under 50 tons, built at Darlington between 1952 and 1956. The design was lifted almost wholesale from the LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 of 1946, with a reduced cab to fit a universal loading gauge, BR Standard fittings, and a BR3 3,000-gallon tender. Sixty-five were built (78000–78064) and the class scattered across all six BR regions on branch and secondary work. Withdrawn between 1963 and 1967 with relatively short working lives. Four survive in preservation, including 78059, currently being converted into the extinct 2-6-2T variant as new-build 84030 at the Bluebell Railway.
BR Standard 3MT — Riddles' lightweight tank engine for branch and cross-country passenger work, a 2-6-2T mixed-traffic Prairie design built at Swindon between 1952 and 1955. Forty-five constructed (82000–82044) out of an originally planned 63, the order curtailed by the 1955 Modernisation Plan. Hybrid pedigree: chassis derived from the LMS Ivatt Class 4, boiler adapted from the GWR No. 2 fitted to the Large Prairies and 56xx Class. Service was scattered across the Western, Southern, and North Eastern Regions, with a notable late concentration at Patricroft. Withdrawn between 1964 and 1968 with service lives as short as nine years. None preserved, though new-build 82045 is under construction at Bridgnorth as the next number in the planned sequence.
BR Standard 5MT first — Reference to BR Standard Class 5 4-6-0 — see that entry.
BR Standard Class 2 — BR Standard Class 2 4-6-0 (Class 75000) and 2-6-0 (Class 78000) — derived from Ivatt's LMS Class 2 designs and built at Darlington and Crewe between 1952 and 1957. 65 of the 4-6-0s and 65 of the 2-6-0s. Several preserved; 75014 "Lost Vegan", 75069, 75078, 78018, 78019, 78022 etc. on heritage railways.
BR Standard Class 2MT (78000 series) — R. A. Riddles' light mixed-traffic 2-6-0 in the BR Standard programme, designed for cross-country and branch line work. 65 were built at Darlington Works between 1953 and 1956. Closely related to George Ivatt's LMS Class 2 design of 1946 and effectively a BR Standard development of it. The class lasted in BR service to 1967 and four are preserved.
BR Standard Class 3MT — BR Standard Class 3MT 2-6-0 (77xxx) and 2-6-2T (82xxx) — built at Swindon and Derby 1954–57. 20 of the 2-6-0s and 45 of the 2-6-2Ts. Several preserved on heritage lines.
BR Standard Class 4MT — British Railways' standard medium mixed-traffic 4-6-0, a smaller-axle-load BR Standard design intended to provide modern motive power for routes inaccessible to the Class 5MT. Eighty engines (Nos 75000–75079) were built at Swindon and Doncaster between 1951 and 1957. The 4MT 4-6-0 supplemented the contemporary BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T (80000 series) and 4MT 2-6-0 (76000 series) in providing comprehensive medium-power coverage across BR. Six are preserved.
BR Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T — British Railways' standard medium-power suburban tank engine, a 2-6-4T sister to the BR Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 (sharing the same 4MT classification but the tank-engine wheel arrangement). One hundred and fifty-five engines were built at Brighton, Derby, and Doncaster between 1951 and 1957 for outer-suburban and short-haul passenger services. About ten are preserved, the highest preservation rate of any BR Standard tank-engine class.
BR Standard Class 5MT — British Railways' standard mixed-traffic 4-6-0, the BR-era successor to the LMS Black Five and GWR Hall families, designed under the BR Standard programme by R. A. Riddles. One hundred and seventy-two engines were built at Derby and Doncaster between 1951 and 1957. The class incorporated all the BR Standard design principles, two-cylinder layout, accessible high-set running plate, exposed valve gear, and BR-pattern cab, and gave outstanding service across all BR regions. Six are preserved.
BR Standard Class 6 Clan — R. A. Riddles' lightweight Pacific in the BR Standard programme, intended as a smaller cousin to the Britannia for routes where axle loading prevented the larger Class 7 from being worked. Ten were built at Crewe in 1951–1952 and named after Scottish clans. The class was concentrated in Scotland and worked the Anglo-Scottish West Coast and Stranraer boat-train services. None of the original ten was preserved; a new-build engine, No. 72010 Hengist, is under construction.
BR Standard Class 7 Britannia — British Railways' first Standard Pacific design, a two-cylinder mixed-traffic 4-6-2 produced as the lead express engine of the 1951 BR Standard programme under R. A. Riddles. Fifty-five engines were built at Crewe Works between 1951 and 1954 to a deliberate brief of simple, accessible engineering, two cylinders, high-set running plate, exposed boiler bands, and outside Walschaerts valve gear with all moving parts visible from outside. The class worked as a top-link express and mixed-traffic engine on the Eastern, Western, and Southern Regions, including BR's last main-line steam working (the Fifteen Guinea Special of August 1968). Two are preserved.
BR Standard Class 8 Duke of Gloucester — The unique BR Standard Class 8 Pacific No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester, designed by R. A. Riddles and built at Crewe in 1954 as a one-off intended as a class. The engine combined Caprotti rotary-cam valve gear with three cylinders. Performance in service was disappointing because of design compromises in the draughting; the 1955 Modernisation Plan ended any prospect of a class. Withdrawn in 1962 and preserved by Bob Mears, the engine was returned to working order in the 1980s with substantial design improvements that revealed the original's latent capability.
BR Standard Class 9F — British Railways' heavy freight 2-10-0, the most numerous and arguably the most successful of the twelve BR Standard classes, and the last new British heavy freight steam design. Two hundred and fifty-one engines were built at Crewe and Swindon Works between 1954 and 1960. The 9F transformed BR heavy freight working in the late 1950s, performing duties beyond expectations including high-speed passenger work. The very last BR Standard ever built, No. 92220 "Evening Star" of March 1960, was also the last steam locomotive built by British Railways. Nine are preserved.
British Rail Class 85 — BR Class 85 (originally AL5) Bo-Bo electric locomotives — built 1961–64 by BR Doncaster. 40 built. Last withdrawn 1992; 85101 preserved at Barrow Hill.
WD Austerity 2-8-0 — R. A. Riddles's wartime austerity heavy freight 2-8-0, a simplified design produced at speed for the War Department in 1943, drawing on his earlier LMS 8F but stripped of every non-essential feature. Some 935 engines were built between 1943 and 1945 at the North British Locomotive Company and Vulcan Foundry. After wartime service across Europe, ~733 were repatriated to British Railways and worked heavy freight through to 1967. About 9 are preserved.