George Armstrong (engineer)

George Armstrong (5 April 1822 – 11 July 1901) was in charge of standard gauge steam locomotives for the Great Western Railway at Stafford Road Works, Wolverhampton from 1864 to 1897. He was the younger brother of his colleague Joseph Armstrong but thanks to the special requirements of the GWR at a time when it was split in two by the broad and standard gauges, the brothers were able to work largely independently of each other. George is best remembered for his 0-4-2 and 0-6-0 tank engines; these were long-lived, and even when life-expired they were replaced by Collett and Hawksworth with remarkably similar locomotives, the well-known 1400, 5700 and 1600 classes.

George Armstrong was born on 5 April 1822. His gravestone states that the place was Bewcastle, Cumberland, and this information is repeated by Marshall. However, Holcroft writes that the family went to Canada in 1817, not returning until 1824, and that consequently George was born overseas. It was presumably in 1824 that the family took up residence near Newcastle at Newburn-on-Tyne, a few miles from George Stephenson's birthplace and at that time at the centre of avant-garde steam locomotive engineering. George later recalled chasing the famous locomotive Puffing Billy on the Wylam Waggonway, and how this inspired him to become an engine driver.

With the exception of two visits to France, George's engineering career followed very much in the footsteps of his brother Joseph, who was five years older than he was. At the age of 14 he started work at nearby Walbottle Colliery, which at that time was a horse waggonway with stationary engines to haul trains up the inclines. Here he worked for the engineer Robert Hawthorn.

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