Terry Miller (engineer)
Terence Charles Barry Miller, MBE (21 August 1911 – 1989) was an English railway engineer who rose to become Chief Engineer (Traction & Rolling Stock) for British Rail.
Terry Miller | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 August 1911 Barnet, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 1989 (aged 77–78) Hertfordshire, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Locomotive engineer |
| Employer(s) | London & North Eastern Railway, British Rail |
| Projects | InterCity 125 |
Career edit
Miller began his career with the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) as an apprentice, working under Sir Nigel Gresley. He rose up the ranks of LNER and continued his career under British Rail (BR) after nationalisation. In the 1956 New Year Honours list, he was awarded the MBE. At that time the Assistant Motive Power Superintendent of the Eastern Region of British Railways.[1] By the 1960s, when BR was withdrawing steam locomotives and dismantling facilities for them, Miller was one of several people who provided support to Alan Pegler in his attempts to run the preserved Flying Scotsman.[2]
He was appointed Chief Engineer (Traction & Rolling Stock) in 1968. It was in this position that Miller was credited with instigating the development of the InterCity 125, known as the High Speed Train (HST). At the time, BR was focused on developing an electric Advanced Passenger Train (APT), but by 1969 the APT project was significantly behind schedule. As a stop-gap measure, engineers devised plans for a 125-mile-per-hour (200 km/h) "High Speed Diesel Train", which Miller submitted to the British Railways Board (BRB) at the beginning of 1969; the submission won the endorsement of Henry Johnson, chairman of BRB. The HSDT eventually became the InterCity 125, introduced into service from 1975. Although the HST was intended to fill in for the APT, the APT project was eventually abandoned and it wasn't until 2017 that the first were withdrawn.[3][4][5]
Miller retired in 1973, three years before the HST entered service. He died in 1989.[6]
Legacy edit
In 2008, East Midlands Trains named HST power car 43048 T.C.B. Miller MBE in his honour.[6][7] Tim Shoveller, MD of EMT at time, and affectionately known throughout the railway industry as "Shovell Mouth", said that Miller was a giant on the railway industry.
In 2011, preservation group 125 Group launched "Project Miller", named in Miller's honour.[8] The project returned the remaining prototype HST power car, number 41001, back to working order at Neville Hill TMD in 2014 after years of static display in the National Railway Museum in York.[9][10]
References edit
- ^ "No. 40669". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1956. p. 19.
- ^ Roden, Anrew (2011). Flying Scotsman: The Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Famous Train. Aurum Press. ISBN 9781845137519.
- ^ Morse, Greg (2013). British Railways in the 1970s and 80s. Oxford: Shire Publications. ISBN 9780747814092.
- ^ Marsden, Colin (2001). HST: Silver jubilee. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9780711028470.
- ^ First GWR HSTs withdrawn from traffic Today's Railways UK issue 190 October 2017 page 89
- ^ a b "East Midlands Trains unveils first reliveried HST and names a powercar 'Terry Miller MBE'". East Midlands Trains. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ East Midlands salutes High Speed Train pioneer Terry Miller Rail issue 591 7 May 2008 page 10
- ^ Project Miller for 41001 Today's Railways UK issue 115 July 2011 page 70
- ^ Pioneer HST power car at Leeds to aid restoration Rail issue 694 18 April 2012 page 12
- ^ Historic Project Miller settles in at Ruddington The Railway Magazine issue 1355 February 2014 page 78