This is an absorbing read and takes you into the heart of the history-making era of the developing steam age and looks in on some of the industrial workings of some of the big Victorian railway companies and how they operated. Full of facts and detail together with some very well-researched photos and drawings.
Born in Dundee in 1816, to a banking family, Sturrock chose engineering as a career option and by 1840 he was assisting and working with Brunel and Gooch in establishing the GWR’s works both at Paddington and the new town at Swindon. Sturrock time there stood him in good stead and he subsequently applied for, and was appointed Locomotive Engineer, partly on Brunel’s recommendation, for the GNR and it was here that he designed the locomotives and carriages which established the company’s reputation for speed, comfort, and punctuality. He retired unexpectedly early from the GNR and went on to play a leading role in establishing the Yorkshire Engine Co which went on to build locomotives under contract to other railway companies, including the GNR.
Written by his great-great-grandson, Tony Vernon, this intimate biography offers an insight into Sturrock’s family life as well as his professional life.
Currently out of print and hard to locate on online booksellers, but it is currently available in Kindle format and occasionally on eBay. If you are interested in GNR locos this is a book to keep an eye out for and buy when available. It did not carry much of a premium when I obtained my copy, but I would not be surprised if it did, unless they reprint it.
