OBITUARY

MR REID RAILTON

Brilliant designer of high-speed cars

Mr Reid Railton, an engineer of great distinction who played a crucial part in enabling such outstanding racing drivers as Sir Malcolm Campbell and Mr John Cobb to attempt exceptional speeds on land and water, died on September 1 in Berkeley, California. He was 82.

Born on June 25, 1895, the son of a stockbroker he was educated at Rugby School and went on to take a BSc at Manchester University. In 1915 he took up employment with Ley. land Motors, the bus and lorry manufacturers, and came under the spell of the brilliant J. G. Parry Thomas, then the firm's experimental engineer to whom Railton became assistant. Commissioned by Leyland to design a car they produced the Leyland Eight. Only a handful of this high-quality model was made but Railton benefited enormously from working in partnership with Parry Thomas. After the latter had left Leyland, Railton began work on a design of his own, a twso-litre, four-cylinder, overhead camshaft-enigined car called the Arab. By 1927 some 10 had been made but in that year Parry Thomas was killed on Pendine Sands dliving his famous car " Babs " while attempting to raise the land speed record (which he had once held at over 170 mph) from Malcolm Campbell and Railton, greatly upset at the death of his mentor, stopped making his own cars.

In 1923 Parry Thomas had set up the Thomas Inventions Development Company, Ltd, and had been backed by a New Zealander, Kenneth Thomson, who had as his assistant G. H. Kenneth Taylor, a fabricator of great ability. After Parry Thomas's death these two formed the company of Thomson and Taylor to complete various unfinished contracts. Railton joined them and his first commission was to bring to completion a marketable sports version of the Rilev Nine: the result was a stUniningly good-looking car so low to the ground that the driver could press his palm on to thle pavement.

In 1929. Malcolm Campbell. whose land speed record has passed-at over 231 mph-to Sir Henry Segrave acquired a 1.400 bhp Napier Lion engine. as used in a Schneider Trophy seaplane, and asked Thomson and Taylor and Railton to fit it into his car Bluebird.

The r efashionied Bluebird proved consistently successful. Campbell raising the record at Daytona Beach in America first to over 246 mp,h and then to more than 253 mph. But Campbell had his eye on 300 mph and somehow got hold of a 2,500 bhp Rolls-Royce " R " V-12 aircraft engine. Once again Railton had to make significant modifications to accommodate the new and larger power unit. Campbell surpassed 272 mph in 1933 hut in 1935, after further improvements-a new body, new rear axle and dual wheels

and tyres-Campbell achieved his goal on the Utah salt flats passing the 300 mph mark. He now turned his attention to walerspeed records...