Professional Engineering

This year marks the centenary of the foundation of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers (ILocoE). Allan Baker, a past chairman of the IMechE Railway Division, has written a comprehensive history of the ILocoE and the Railway Division, which was formed in 1969 when the two bodies amalgamated.  

Towards the end of the 19th century, locomotive engineers began to feel that a dedicated institution would be of great benefit to their profession. At this time, although papers on locomotives and rolling stock were read at the IMechE, and relevant information appeared in The Engineer and Engineering, there was no dedicated forum for the communication and discussion of technical papers relevant to the locomotive engineer.  

An attempt was made to fill this gap in 1909 with the formation of the Stephenson Society, which was intended to deal solely with the subject of locomotives. There were no formal membership requirements, but new members had to be introduced by existing members. The society quickly became popular, and a rift soon developed between the professional locomotive engineers and the interested amateurs. 

The professionals broke away, and on 4 February 1911 held the inaugural meeting of a group which they called the Junior Institution of Locomotive Engineers. They soon dropped the Junior, following complaints from the Junior Society of Engineers. The Stephenson Society became the Stephenson Locomotive Society, which is still in existence today.

May 1911 saw the reading of the institution’s first paper, “French locomotive practise,” by John Pelham Maitland, and in June members made a follow-up visit to the Northern Railway of France. This was the first of many such visits. In the first year alone visits were made to the Brighton Corporation pumping station, the Stratford works of the Great Eastern Railway, the London Underground Electric Railway works at Lillie Bridge, the Eastleigh works of the London and South Western Railway, and the Swindon works of the Great Western Railway. 

There was also an overseas visit, taking in the Alsace, Belgian and German State Railways and St Leonard, a private locomotive builder in Liège. 

In this first year another tradition was established, when the institution held a dinner for members – the forerunner of the ever-popular Railway Division annual luncheon.

The presentation and discussion of papers was always an important aspect of the institution’s activities. From the beginning, printed copies of papers were published. 

In 1915 it was decided to publish an institution journal, the first issue of which came out in January 1916. This proved to be a fantastic resource for the locomotive engineering profession; the income from advertising was also extremely valuable to the fledgling institution.  

The suggestion that the ILocoE and the IMechE should join forces was first made in the 1920s. There was crossover between the membership of the two institutions, with half of the ILocoE members also belonging to the IMechE. The secretary of the IMechE formally approached the ILocoE in November 1927 over the issue, but the two organisations were unable to reach agreement over a number of issues, including examinations for graduate members, qualifications of associate members, and financial issues.

In the 1950s the ILocoE’s membership numbers continued to increase, but during the 1960s they started to plateau, and finances became stretched. It became increasingly clear to the council that it was no longer feasible for the institution to continue as an independent body.  

Approaches were made to the IMechE, and a working party was formed, with representatives from both institutions. This group first met in March 1968. In March 1969, an amalgamation proposal was put to members of both institutions, but agreement was not reached until an emergency general meeting of the ILocoE on 29 May 1969, at which 744 of 844 members present voted in favour of amalgamation. 

The two institutions formally amalgamated in November 1969, following Privy Council approval, and the Railway Division of the IMechE came into existence. 

• Limited copies of Allan Baker’s work are available free to members. To request a copy email railway@imeche.org