Roland Curling Bond was a British locomotive engineer.

Biography

Bond was born in Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 in 1903, and became interested in railways when staying in Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

 during the Great War. He was educated at Tonbridge School

Tonbridge School

Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...

.

Bond joined the Midland Railway in 1920, from 1923 part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

 until 1925. He was an apprentice under Henry Fowler

Henry Fowler (engineer)

Sir Henry Fowler, KBE was a Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway and subsequently the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.- Biography :...

. He then became Assistant Works Manager at the Vulcan Foundry

Vulcan Foundry

Vulcan Foundry was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire .-History:It was originally opened in 1832 as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...

.

in 1931 Bond returned to the LMS, becoming Assistant Works Superintendent at Horwich

Horwich

Horwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway close to the...

, and in 1933 moving to Assistant Works Superintendent at Crewe

Crewe

Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...

. On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Bond was sent to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 as Acting Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, acting for R.A. Riddles. In 1941 he moved back to Crewe to become Works Superintendent and helped drive efficient locomotive and munitions work there.

In 1948, on the formation of the Railway Executive, Bond was appointed Chief Officer (Locomotive Construction and Maintenance), reporting to Riddles, who was now Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. On the abolition of the Railway Executive in 1953, Bond became CME, BR

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 Central Staff and later in 1965 General Manager, BR Workshops. He retired in 1970 and died in 1980, aged 77.

External links

• http://www.steamindex.com/people/bond.htm