William Adams

Born	15 October 1823
Died	7 August 1904
Nationality	English
Employer	Miller, Ravenhill & Salkeld (apprentice); Sardinian Marine; North London Railway (Locomotive Superintendent 1854–1873); Great Eastern Railway (Locomotive Superintendent 1873–1878); London & South Western Railway (Locomotive Superintendent 1878–1895)

William Adams (1823–1904) was a British locomotive engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent of three successive railways — the North London (1854–1873), the Great Eastern (1873–1878), and the London and South Western (1878–1895) — and who is principally remembered as the inventor of the Adams bogie, a sliding side-control bogie that became the standard British locomotive bogie and whose principles underpinned railway vehicle guidance for over a century.

Born in London on 15 October 1823, Adams was apprenticed to the marine engineering firm Miller, Ravenhill and Salkeld and served as an engineer with the Sardinian Royal Marine before returning to Britain in 1853 and taking up the North London Railway appointment the following year. At Bow Works in 1865 he patented his bogie design: a four-wheeled truck pivoting under the locomotive's leading end, with a spring-controlled side movement that allowed the bogie to lead the locomotive smoothly into curves while automatically returning to the straight-ahead position — a mechanism that transformed the riding qualities of locomotives at speed.

Adams's Great Eastern tenure produced capable 0-4-4T and 0-6-0T suburban tanks. His finest work came at the LSWR at Nine Elms: the 415 Class Adams Radial 4-4-2T of 1882 was a handsome and effective suburban and branch tank whose design proved so well-suited to light branch-line work that three examples lasted in service on the Lyme Regis branch in Dorset until 1961 — nearly eighty years after their construction. The T3 Class 4-4-0 of 1892 gave the LSWR capable motive power for its West of England expresses. Adams retired in 1895 in failing health and was succeeded by Dugald Drummond. He died at Putney on 7 August 1904.

Biography

William Adams (1823–1904) was a British locomotive engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent on three major railways, the North London (1854–1873), Great Eastern (1873–1878) and London & South Western (1878–1895). He is now most often remembered for the 'Adams bogie', a sliding side-control bogie that gave reliable steady running on locomotives at speed and was widely adopted across British railways.

Born in London on 15 October 1823, Adams was apprenticed to the marine engineering firm Miller, Ravenhill & Salkeld and served as an engineer with the Sardinian Royal Marine before returning to Britain in 1853. The following year he was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the North London Railway at Bow, where in 1865 he patented the bogie that bears his name.

His Great Eastern years saw the introduction of the 0-4-4T and 0-6-0T types that defined GER suburban work. At the LSWR he produced his finest designs, in particular the 415 Class 4-4-2T 'Adams Radial' (1882), examples of which lasted on the Lyme Regis branch until 1961, and the elegant T3 Class 4-4-0 of 1892, used on the West of England expresses.

Adams retired in 1895 in failing health and was succeeded at Nine Elms by Dugald Drummond. He died at Putney on 7 August 1904.

Locomotives designed

209 Class — Robert Sinclair's 1859 Eastern Counties Railway (later GER) 2-4-0 passenger class, built at Stratford works for ECR/GER expresses through the 1860s.
265 Ironclad Class — Samuel W. Johnson's 1876 GER 4-4-0 passenger class, nicknamed "Ironclads" for their substantial appearance. Worked GER expresses on the Great Eastern main line.
527 Class — Johnson's 1878 GER 2-4-0 express class.
61 Class — Samuel W. Johnson's 1875 GER 0-4-4T suburban class, built at Stratford for GER London suburban services.
K9 Class — Samuel W. Johnson's 1877 GER 0-4-2T branch tank class.
LSWR / SR O2 Class — William Adams's small 0-4-4T tank engine for the LSWR, sixty engines built at Nine Elms Works between 1889 and 1895. Originally built for branch and suburban work on the LSWR mainland; from 1923 onwards 23 engines were transferred to the Isle of Wight to replace the island's worn-out pre-Grouping fleet. The IoW O2s worked the island's railway network through to its progressive closure in the 1960s. One survives, W24 Calbourne, preserved at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
LSWR 0395 Class — William Adams's 1881 LSWR 0395 class 0-6-0 goods, built by Neilson & Co. of Glasgow for the LSWR. 70 were built between 1881 and 1886; many lasted into BR days on goods and shunting work.
LSWR 415 Class (Adams Radial) — William Adams' 4-4-2 radial tank, designed in 1882 for London suburban services on the London and South Western Railway. Notable for the Adams radial axle, which allowed the leading and trailing pony trucks to swing in arcs and so reduced flange wear on tight curves. 71 were built between 1882 and 1885. Three engines famously survived into the BR era to work the Lyme Regis branch in Devon.
LSWR 415 Radial Tank Class — William Adams's 1882 LSWR 415 class 4-4-2T — "Radial Tanks" so called because the leading and trailing axles were carried in radial axleboxes that allowed them to swing as the engine traversed curves. Built for LSWR London suburban services. By the 1920s most had been withdrawn, but three lasted in service on the Lyme Regis branch in Devon, where their unusual capabilities suited the line's tight curves. Two are preserved: 488 at the Bluebell Railway and 30583 (a non-LSWR rebuild by the East Kent Railway, since acquired by the LSWR) is at the Bluebell.
LSWR A12 — William Adams's 1887 LSWR A12 "Jubilee" class 0-4-2 — named for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. 90 built between 1887 and 1895, the LSWR's standard mixed-traffic engine of the late Victorian era.
LSWR X2 Class — Adams's 1888 LSWR X2 class 4-4-0 — the LSWR's standard express engine of the late 1880s, built at Nine Elms.