Robert Absalom Thom

He was apprenticed in 1888 to the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR) at their locomotive works at Kittybrewster, just outside Aberdeen.[1][2] On completion of his apprenticeship in 1893, he became an inspector and then deputy works foreman.[1] He left the GNoSR in 1898, moving to the Neasden works of the Metropolitan Railway, where he was foreman; but he did not stay long, moving to join Thomas Beeley & Sons at Hyde Junction, east of Manchester, as works foreman.[1]

On 24 October 1902, he became the Locomotive Inspector of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (LDECR), at their Tuxford locomotive works;[2] the post was later renamed Locomotive Superintendent, and in mid 1906 his yearly salary was £350.[3][1]

The LDECR was absorbed by the Great Central Railway (GCR) at the start of 1907,[4] and he transferred to the GCR's Gorton locomotive works to work as Assistant to the locomotive superintendent John G. Robinson.[2][1]

At the start of 1923, the GCR became a constituent of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), and in the new organisation he was appointed District Mechanical Engineer for the former GC section.[1][5] One of his tasks was to produce a scheme for the renumbering of the former GCR and GNoSR locomotives within the block of LNER numbers which ran from 5000 to 6999.[6] In this he was assisted by Thomas E. Heywood, the former Locomotive Superintendent of the GNoSR, who was now Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Running Superintendent, LNER (Northern Scottish Area).[7] The GCR locos took numbers between 5001 and 6494, and the scheme adopted for the GNoSR locomotives was that 6800 should be added to the former GNoSR numbers.[8][9]

The LNER was a very devolved organisation. At the very top level, there were officers whose duties covered the LNER as a whole - such as Nigel Gresley, who was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER (and based at London King's Cross) - but below this, matters were dealt with on a very much more local basis. The LNER was divided into areas and sections, each of which corresponded with one or two of the larger pre-grouping companies. Each of these had its own Area Mechanical Engineer, or equivalent post, whose headquarters was at one of the main workshops, such as Cowlairs or Doncaster.[10][11]

In 1924, Thom became Mechanical Engineer of the LNER's Scottish Area, and in 1927 became Mechanical Engineer, Doncaster.[2][1] In both of these promotions, his replacement was Thomas Heywood, mentioned earlier in connection with the renumbering.[7] From 1 January 1934 Thom's duties expanded when his post was combined with that of Mechanical Engineer, Stratford, becoming Mechanical Engineer for the Southern Area of the LNER.[1] He retired in 1938,[2] and his former post was then split again: the new Mechanical Engineer, Doncaster was Edward Thompson, whilst F.W. Carr became Mechanical Engineer, Stratford.[12]