L. B. Billinton
Lawson Boskovsky Billinton was the locomotive engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1912 for ten years until his retirement in 1922.
He was born in Brighton in 1882, the son of the locomotive engineer R. J. Billinton, and was apprenticed to his father at Brighton works. He served as a draughtsman and later district locomotive superintendent at New Cross. In 1911 he was appointed the railway's Locomotive Superintendent to succeed D. E. Marsh, after the enforced retirement of the latter.
Billinton was responsible for the design of a number of successful locomotive classes at Brighton including the E2 class 0-6-0T, of 1912, the K class 2-6-0 of 1913, and the L class 4-6-4T of 1914. In 1917 he was commissioned a Colonel in the Royal Engineers and served in Romania. He retired from the LB&SCR at the time of the formation of the Southern Railway, aged 40 at the end of 1922. He took up fruit farming at Bolney and died on 26 November 1954.
[edit] Sources
- John Marshall, (1978) A biographical dictionary of locomotive engineers, David & Charles.
- D.L. Bradley, (1974) Locomotives of the LB&SCR, Part III., Railway Correspondence and Travel Society.
- Klaus Marx, (2007) Lawson Billinton; A Career Cut Short, Oakwood Press ISBN 9780853616610
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by D. E. Marsh |
Locomotive Superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 1912–1922 |
Succeeded by Became part of the Southern Railway |
