MAN BEHIND THE LENS
Engineer and enthusiast
Steve Morris looks back on the distinguished career of the late Brian Penney.
Brand new Class 22 No. D6304 at Market Drayton, June 18, 1959. These were built by the North British Locomotive Company, delivered light engine to the Western Region with a Glasgow crew bringing them down to Crewe and a Wolverhampton Stafford Road crew taking them on to Swindon. Two Stafford Road tutor drivers handled the Western Region move, Vic Hayward and Frank Wenham, both great characters and with Frank pictured leaning out of the cab in this shot. The route from Crewe was via Nantwich to Market Drayton, Wellington and Wolverhampton, then on to Swindon via Banbury and Didcot.
LAST year we lost a true railwayman with the passing of Brian Penney at the age of 90. Brian was among the last of his kind, a career locomotive engineer who had experience of steam, diesel-hydraulic and diesel-electric traction spanning more than 50 years.
He began his career as an apprentice at Worcester depot in October 1950, getting involved with diesel power in the shape of the ex-GWR railcars that operated from there. His apprenticeship continued at Swindon Works in September 1954, during which time he obtained a Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering, the first step to becoming a fully fledged chartered engineer later in his career.
February 1956 saw a move to the drawing office at Swindon Works as a draughtsman, followed by military service – which resulted in a period working for the Royal Engineers – before returning to Swindon’s drawing office in August 1958. This was when he became much more involved in diesel traction, working on installation drawings for the electrical equipment on the D800 ‘Warship’ class.