William Robert Sykes

William Robert Sykes(1840–1917) was a British engineer fromLondon,known for his work in railway signalling and other safety devices. He is noted for the invention of the Sykes ‘Lock and block’interlockingsystem of points and signals.

Career

Born in London in April 1840, Sykes obtained a job with the Electric and International Telegraph Company in the Strand, at the age of 14. He was interested in clocks, and his knowledge ofclockmakingbecame blended with his knowledge of theelectrical telegraph.In 1861 he moved to Shepherds, an electric clock & chronograph maker and in 1863 he joined theLondon Chatham and Dover Railway(LCDR) under the telegraph superintendent, Mr Ruddall.He became interested in railway safety and by 1865 he had introduced three significant advances in this field. These were: an electricalrepeater,showing the position of signals out of sight of the signalman; an automatic recording device showing what block signals had been sent and received, and a short length of track circuiting atBrixton.In 1872 he devised a scheme where trains on theDistrict Railwayautomatically turned signals to red as they passed them.

Lock and block

In 1874 Sykes approachedJames Staats Forbeswith a scheme tointerlockthe signals and points of three successive LCDR signal boxes in outer London. This proved to be a success and resulted in his patented system known as ‘lock and block’. From 1875 theBoard of Tradebegan to commend the new system in its Railway Accident Reports and so it was gradually adopted by other British Railways. In 1882 the system was first installed in the USA where it was known as the ‘controlled manual blocking system.’ The system was also used in Russia and Japan.

Sykes also devised an electro-mechanical method of working points and signals which was tried outat Penge tunnel.

1899–1917

At the formation of theSouth Eastern and Chatham Railwayin 1899, Sykes retired from the railway and formed the W.R. Sykes Interlocking Signal Company. The company became part of theWestinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltdafter Syke’s death in 1917.

Sources

• Marshall, John (1978).A biographical dictionary of railway engineers.Newton Abbot, Oxford: David & Charles.ISBN0-7153-7489-3..
• "The Sykes Family".steamindex.William Robert.
• "W R Sykes".polunnio. 1973.Retrieved9 February2013.