Phil Girdlestone

1955 - 2016

Based on Ffestiniog Railway Magazine Obituary

Phil began his FR career as a fireman at the age of 15 in 1970. His nickname at Boston Lodge was "Doris". He trained as a metalwork teacher and took a teaching post in Tipton. He spent holidays at Boston Lodge, in the works or on the footplate. He became a FR driver and joined the works paid staff as Technical Assistant in 1979. By 1983 he was appointed Works Superintendent at Boston Lodge. He was able to start converting Linda from oil to coal firing using the producer gas system. To advance his career he joined Hugh Philips Engineering Ltd in South Wales. There he was involved in the modernisation of Sudan Railways locomotives and in 1988 he designed new boilers for Brecon Mountain Railway's locomotives.

Later in 1988 he took up the post of Chief Mechanical Officer with the Alfred County Railway in South Africa. He rebuilt a NG/G16 with a producer gas firebox. He went on to be involved in rebuilding steam locomotives in Australia and Russia. His firm, Girdlestone Associates, built a Garratt based loosely on the WHR's K1 for a railway in Tierra del Fuego.

He wrote two books: Here be Dragons (2017), which is an account of his time working on modernising steam locomotives, and Camels and Cadillacs (2014), about the South African "25 Class" locomotives.

He is buried in South Africa and a portion of his ashes were returned to his brother in the UK and scattered on the memorial at Boston Lodge. In many ways his career of work with many different railways on several different continents was more akin to that of a 19th century railway engineer than to one born in the latter half of the 20th century.

References

Girdlestone P (2014) Camels and Cadillacs: The South African Railways 25 Class, Stenvalls, South Africa, ISBN 9172661852, 9789172661851

Girdlestone P (2017), Here be Dragons: A Journey with Steam to the End of the World, Camden Miniature Steam Services. ISBN 190935838X, 9781909358386