BOOK REVIEW - JOSEPH LOCKE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2018 :: RMTnews 19 R MT reps from all over Scotland attended the first joint mental health awareness training course between the union and Network Rail earlier this month. RMT equality rep and local health and safety rep Davie O’Donnell said that the five day course was expertly tutored by Andy Boyack from the union. “It was a real insight into the impact mental health issues can have on individuals, families and in the workplace. “With paid release negotiated on our behalf by RMT regional organiser Gordon Martin and a really positive contribution from Lindsay Saddler, Head of Maintenance Scotland Route and Kirsty Diamond from Network Rail Human Resources Department, this trailblazing event shows what can be achieved through positively working together which can only be a good thing for RMT members in Scotland,” he said. As part of his contribution Ms Saddler made it clear that she was keen to discuss other joint training opportunities with regional organiser Gordon Martin who will ensure this offer is taken up and used in members’ best interests. “I look forward to learning what other opportunities become available and would encourage representatives and members to apply to attend these courses as they really are a great opportunity to learn about issues people face and how to work collectively to overcome these problems. “Unity is strength and through working together we can all contribute to making Network Rail a safer and better place to earn a living,” said Davie O’Donnell. This biography deals with one of the most notable English railway engineers of the nineteenth century often ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Yet Joseph Locke is often overlooked as one of the three engineers that developed the railways from colliery lines into inter-city routes. The Locke family had been colliery overseers for generations and Joseph, once he had completed his rudimentary education at Barnsley Grammar School at the age of thirteen, seemed set to follow in their footsteps. However, at the age of nineteen he was taken on as an apprentice by an old friend of his father, George Stephenson, and sent to the new locomotive works at Newcastle. His enthusiasm and willingness to learn soon brought promotion, and he became a highly valued assistant engineer on the prestigious Liverpool and Manchester Railway. During his time there he wrote a pamphlet with Robert Stephenson, arguing the case for steam locomotives and had the embarrassing task of having to correct calculations for a tunnel being built under the direct supervision of George Stephenson. After its opening, he moved on to work on the Grand Junction Railway, at the start working alongside Stephenson rather than as his assistant. But before long, they had quarrelled and the directors handed the whole works over to Locke's control. By 1847 he had grown wealthy enough to buy Honiton manor in Devon for the equivalent of £80 million today, complete with the seat in Parliament on the Liberal Party benches that came with it. He held the Devon seat for the rest of his life. Locke continued as chief engineer on some of the most important lines in Britain, and his reputation grew to the point where he was also in demand for work in Europe, building major routes in France, the Netherlands and Spain. Locke's greatest legacy is the modern day West Coast Main Line (WCML), which was formed by the joining of the Caledonian, Lancaster & Carlisle, Grand Junction railways to Robert Stephenson's London & Birmingham Railway. As a result, around three-quarters of the WCML's route was planned and engineered by Locke. Published by Pen and Sword books RRP: £25 ISBN: 9781473872295 NETWORK RAIL MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS JOSEPH LOCKE Civil Engineer and Railway Builder 1805–1860 by Anthony Burton B O O K R E V I E W