William Wilson (engineer)

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William Wilson
Plaque at Wilson's grave

William Wilson (born May 18, 1809 in Walbottle , England , † April 17, 1862 in Nuremberg ) was a British mechanical engineer and locomotive driver on the first German railroad .

Life

William Wilson was employed by George Stephenson as a mechanic from 1829 .

The first steam locomotive was supplied by Stephenson for the first railway line in Germany between Nuremberg and Fürth , which opened on December 7, 1835 , since no suitable locomotive was available in Germany at that time and at an acceptable price. At the request of the Ludwigs-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , Stephenson also provided the train driver and engineer in the person of Wilson for a period of eight months. He was supposed to instruct the staff in the operation of the locomotive as well as train successors and received a fixed-term contract for this .

Stephenson made a maximum working time of 12 hours a day a condition. The travel expenses were borne by the Ludwig Railway Company. In addition, Wilson took over the facility and later the management of a railway workshop . He received a high salary commensurate with his qualifications, which exceeded the earnings of the general manager of the railway company . His salary was initially 1500 guilders per year, plus a remuneration of 240 guilders.

Finally, on December 7th, 1835, William Wilson drove as a train driver on the first German railway with the Adler locomotive on the newly built line of the Ludwig Railway . After eight months he made no move to leave. Both because of his confident demeanor and because of his high qualifications, the contract with him was finally extended again and again. The passengers did not want to travel with anyone other than the “long Englishman”. If he didn't drive the locomotive himself , the income fell. From 1842 he alternated as a train driver with his second assistant Bockmüller. His health was badly damaged by his work, as he stood on the locomotive in all weathers in a coat and top hat , but without weather protection. It was not until the winter of 1845/46 that the train drivers were given leather coats as protection from the weather, eight years later the locomotives were provided with protective roofs.

Despite tempting offers from the Bavarian State Railroad , Wilson stayed with the Ludwigs-Eisenbahn. From 1859 he was no longer able to perform his service regularly due to a deterioration in his health. He was honored at the 25th anniversary of the Ludwig Railway. On April 17, 1862 he died of the consequences of his illness. He was buried in the St. Johannis cemetery in Nuremberg in the grave of St Johannis IIB / 040-170 with great sympathy among the population . The tomb has been preserved to this day.

A cul-de-sac near the Nuremberg marshalling yard was named after him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Alois Schmid / Katharina Weigand: Bavaria in the middle of Europe . CH Beck, 2005, ISBN 978-3-406-52898-9 , pp. 274 .
  2. ↑ Mück, Wolfgang: Germany's first railway with steam power. The royal privately owned Ludwig Railway between Nuremberg and Fürth . ( Dissertation at the University of Würzburg ). Fürth 1985 (2nd revised edition), pp. 156–157

literature

personal data
SURNAME Wilson, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish mechanical engineer and train driver on the first German railway
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Whale bottle
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1862
Place of death Nuremberg