John Whitton

John Whitton (1820, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an Anglo–Australian railway engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Government Railways, serving between 1856 and 1890, considered the Father of New South Wales Railways.^[2] Under his supervision, it is estimated that 2,171 miles (3,494 km) of railway around New South Wales and Victoria were completed. Whitton was responsible for the construction of parts of the Main Western railway line, in particular the section over the Blue Mountains and the Lithgow Zig Zag, and much of the Main Southern railway line.

John Whitton
John Whitton, 1867-1870, by Sydney & Melbourne Photographic Company
Born	1820 near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Died	20 February 1898^[1] Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia
Burial place	St Thomas Rest Park
Occupation	Civil engineer
Known for	Australian and English railway engineering
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth, née Fowler (m. 1856)

Biography

 

John Whitton bust at Central station

Indentured in England, Whitton gained extensive railway engineering experience prior to his arrival in the Colony of New South Wales in 1856. He was an engineer for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln railway line (1847), and supervised the building of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton line from 1852 to 1856.^[3]

Appointed in March 1856 as Engineer-in-Charge, Whitton arrived in Sydney and found the Colony with 23 miles (37 km) of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge railway, four locomotives, 12 passenger carriages and 40 trucks. An advocate of the 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge adopted by the South Australian and Victorian Railways, Whitton set about extending the railway into the city and resisted pushes for 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of cheaper, light tramways, such as horse-drawn lines with wooden rails, proposed by Governor William Denison. Whitton strongly opposed the government's uncritical acceptance of the lowest tenders for railway construction.^[3]

Whitton did, however, introduce cheaper so-called pioneer lines for use in easier terrain once the mountains had been crossed. Money was saved by building for lower speeds and the lightest of axleloads, with ash ballast, no fencing, etc. These pioneer lines retained the same gauge as the main system.

Whitton was accused of fraud, along with his brother-in-law, Sir John Fowler, and the charges were proved groundless. Following a select committee on railway extension that recommended the construction of cheap narrow-gauge railways, necessitating a break of gauge within the Colony, as well as at the border; estimates were prepared but Whitton, determined to sabotage the committee's recommendation, suspended all surveys and new work. Whitton overcame the engineering problems and in 1876 completed the Blue Mountains line that included two zigzags. In 1880-85 the unprecedented growth in railways, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of new track and nine million more passengers exposed existing inadequacies in administration of railways. A royal commission into railway bridges exonerated Whitton of the charges of faulty design and of using inferior materials. In 1888 Henry Parkes's Government Railways Act reorganized the department and made Whitton's position easier.^[3]

In 1886 and 1887 Whitton submitted drawings for a proposed suspension bridge across Sydney Harbour from Dawes Point Battery to Milson's Point. On 1 May 1889 the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge was opened; it was the final link in the railway system from Brisbane through Sydney to Melbourne and Adelaide and Whitton had fought for adequate finance for it.^[4]

However, by the end of his long tenure as Engineer-in-Chief, the British wrought-iron lattice truss bridge designs that Whitton employed had been superseded by lighter steel truss designs, following more modern American practice. The first Hawkesbury Railway Bridge was the first major rail bridge for which he had not specified the design. Whitton's successors would use steel truss designs for the other bridges built after he retired.^[5][6]

He was a member of the Hunter River floods commission 1869–70, the Sydney, City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board 1875–77, and the Board for Opening Tenders for Public Works 1875–87; he was a New South Wales commissioner for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880. Granted a year's leave on 29 May 1889, Whitton retired on 31 May 1890 with a pension of £675 and visited England in 1892. He had supervised the laying of 2,171 miles (3,494 km) of the track on which no accident had occurred attributable to defective design or construction. Parkes regarded him as 'a man of such rigid and unswerving integrity, a man of such vast grasp, that however, his faults may occasionally project themselves into prominence, it would be difficult to replace him by a man of equal qualifications'.^[3]

In international references, Whitton is recognised as one of approximately twenty of the greatest railway civil engineers in the first century of world railway construction.^[7]

Whitton was survived by his wife, one son and two daughters, he died of cardiac disease on 20 February 1898 at Mittagong, and was buried in the cemetery of St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney. His estate was valued for probate at £10,396.^[3]

Significant completed works

Whitton's works in both New South Wales and Victoria are extensive and include railway stations, railway bridges, viaducts, railway yards, and other infrastructure where he has designed projects and/or they have completed under supervision. 25 items of his work are listed on the NSW Heritage Register as significant under the Heritage Act, 1977 (NSW). An additional 37 other works are listed as significant in various local government areas.^[8]

Listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register

Railway bridges, viaducts and other infrastructure Bridge / viaduct / infrastructure name Use(s) Year completed Image Albury-Wodonga Railway Bridge over the Murray River Main Southern railway line 1884 Bathurst rail bridge over the Macquarie River Main Western railway line 1876   Bowenfels rail viaducts Main Western railway line 1870^a Bredbo River railway bridge Bombala railway line 1889 Civic Railway Workshops, Newcastle Main Northern railway line 1886 Como railway bridge, Oatley over the Georges River Footbridge & sewer main carriage^b 1885   Cowra rail bridge over the Lachlan River Blayney-Demondrille railway line 1887   Dubbo rail bridge over the Macquarie River Main Western railway line 1884   Dundee rail bridge over the Severn River Main Northern railway line 1886 Lithgow Underbridge Main Western railway line 1869   Lithgow Zig Zag Main Western railway line 1869   Menangle rail viaduct over the Nepean River Main Southern railway line 1863   Michelago rail bridge over the Ingalara Creek Bombala railway line 1889 Narrandera rail bridge over the Murrumbidgee River Hay railway line 1884 Picton railway viaduct over Stonequarry Creek Main Southern railway line 1867   Sunnyside rail bridge over Tenterfield Creek Main Northern railway line 1888 Tamworth rail bridge over the Peel River Main Northern railway line / Barraba railway line 1882 Woolbrook rail bridge over the Macdonald River Main Northern railway line 1882 Yarraford rail bridge over Beardy Waters, near Glen Innes Main Northern railway line 1886 ^a A sandstone viaduct built for the original single track line over Farmers Creek. A second viaduct was completed in 1921 after Whitton retired. ^b Uses as a railway bridge on the Illawarra railway line until 1972.

Railway stations Railway station Railway line(s) Year completed Image Albury Main Southern railway line 1881   Bathurst Main Western railway line 1876   Eskbank^a Main Western railway line 1882   Gundagi Tumut and Kunama railway lines 1886   Jerilderie Tocumwal railway line 1885   Mudgee^[9] Gwabegar railway line 1884   Newcastle Newcastle railway line 1880   Petersham^b Main Suburban railway line 1885   Redfern Main Suburban railway line 1884   ^a Now disused as a railway station. ^b The heritage listed Victorian Italianate station in Terminus Street, Petersham on the north side of the railway line, no longer serves as the main railway station.

Listed by local government authorities

Railway bridges, viaducts and other infrastructure Bridge / viaduct / infrastructure name Use(s) Year completed Image Erskineville (Macdonald St) Underbridge Illawarra railway line 1884 Erskineville (Victoria St) Underbridge Illawarra railway line 1884 Gatekeeper's Cottage, Medlow Bath Main Western railway line 1867 Knapsack Viaduct, Lapstone Main Western railway line 1865   Lapstone Zig Zag^[10] Walking track and Skarratt Park^a 1867 Lithgow (James St) Underbridge Main Western railway line 1869   Marrangaroo stone viaduct over the Middle River Main Western railway line c. 1870 Munna underbridge over the Cudgegong River, near Gulgong Gwabegar railway line c. 1882 Sandy Flat underbridge over the Bluff River Main Northern railway (closed section) 1886 Unanderra Station Master's residence Illawarra railway line 1887 Victoria Bridge over the Nepean River, Penrith^[10] Road and pedestrian use^b 1867   Wallerawang underbridge over the Coxs River Main Western railway line 1870 Woy Woy railway tunnel Main Northern railway line 1888 ^a Formerly the bottom road of the zig zag on the Main Western railway, the Glenbrook Tunnel Deviation led to the 1892 closure of the Lapstone Zig Zag.^[11] ^b The Victoria Bridge was converted from supporting the Main Western railway to road and pedestrian use in 1907.

Railway stations Railway station Railway line(s) Year completed Image Bungendore railway station Bombala railway line 1885   Capertee railway station Gwabegar railway line 1882 Coolamon railway station Hay railway line 1881   Cooma railway station Bombala railway line 1889 Dubbo railway station^[12] Main Western railway line 1881   Greta railway station Main Northern railway line c. 1889   Gunning railway station Main Southern railway line 1875   Millthorpe railway station Main Western railway line 1886   Mittagong railway station Main Southern railway line 1870   Moss Vale railway station Main Southern railway line 1867   Muswellbrook railway station Main Northern railway line 1869   Narrandera railway station Hay railway line 1891 Picton railway station Main Southern railway line 1863   Scone railway station Main Northern railway line 1871   Singleton railway station Main Northern railway line 1863   Uralla railway station Main Northern railway line 1883   Wagga Wagga railway station Main Southern railway line 1879   Werris Creek railway station Main Northern railway line 1880

Legacy

The town of Whitton in Leeton Shire, where the Hay extension of the Great Southern Line reached in 1881, is named in honour. Whitton Park in Glenbrook and the May 1980 built John Whitton Bridge that carries the Main Northern line over the Parramatta River also bear his name. The bridge at Meadowbank stands next to an earlier iron lattice railway bridge that was constructed under his direction.^[13] A memorial dedicated to Whitton is located on the Lapstone Zig Zag walking trail and commemorates his substantial seven-span, sandstone Lapstone Knapsack Viaduct. A plaque bearing his contribution to New South Wales Railways was unveiled on 17 July 1985 at Central station,^[14] together with a bust on Chalmers Street, adjacent to the station.^[2]

In 2009 a rail activist group proposed the establishment of the Whitton Line, running from Port Macquarie to Albury via Narrabri, Dubbo, and Griffith.^[2]

Gallery

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  Memorial plaque at Lapstone

•  

  Memorial cairn between Emu Plains and Lapstone

See also

•  Railways portal
•  Biography portal

• Works of John Whitton

References

1. "JOHN WHITTON". The Evening News. No. 9582. New South Wales, Australia. 21 February 1898. p. 4.
2. . Improve Sydney Public Transport. Improve Sydney and Regional Railways. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
3. Singleton, C. C. "Whitton, John (1820–1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
4. Sharp, Stuart (January 1999). "Lessons from History - The Contribution of John Whitton". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 19–27.
5. "Gundagai Rail Bridge, Including Timber Viaduct Approaches | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
6. "Yass Town rail bridge over Yass River | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
7. "Great Zig Zag Railway and Reserves". NSW State Heritage Register. Government of New South Wales: Office of Environment and Heritage. 30 September 1997. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
8. "Statutory Listed Items" (Advanced search 'John Whitton'). NSW Heritage Register. Government of New South Wales: Office of Heritage and Environment. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
9. "Mudgee Railway Station, yard and locomotive yard". Heritage Council of New South Wales. 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
10. . Penrith City Council. 4 April 2006. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
11. "G024 : Lapstone Zig Zag". State Heritage Register. Government of New South Wales: Office of Environment & Heritage. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
12. "Dubbo Railway Precinct". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning and Environment. Retrieved 22 June 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
13. "Walkway Plan for Meadowbank Bridge" Railway Digest March 1997 page 9
14. "John Whitton" Railway Digest September 1985 page 267

Further reading

• Lee, Robert (16 November 2008). "John Whitton: Engineer-in-Chief to the New South Wales Government Railways; Some notes on his life and career". Short history. Zig Zag Railway. Retrieved 27 March 2012.