1963-1964: Stanley Bernard Warder

Stanley Bernard Warder (1901-1971)

President of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers

ILE Presidential information:

Mr. Stanley Bernard Warder, M.I.Mech.E., M.I.E.E., M.I.Loco.E., Chief Electrical Engineer, British Railways Board, was elected President of the Institution for the Session 1963-1964.

He received his technical training at the University of London, and served his apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering with Messrs. Johnson and Phillips, Charlton, after which he gained further experience with the British General Electric Company and the Swedish General Electric Company in handling contracts for railway electrification at home and abroad.

He joined the former Southern Railway in 1936 as Technical Assistant to the Electrical Engineer for New Works, and was appointed New Works Assistant to the Chief Electrical Engineer in 1943 in which capacity he was concerned primarily with plans for the development and reconstruction of the electrified
system. In 1947 Mr. Warder was appointed Assistant to the Chief Electrical Engineer.

Upon the nationalisation of the railways in January 1948, Mr. Warder became Electrical Engineer, Southern Region, and in October 1949, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer for the same Region. He was appointed Chief Officer (Electrical Engineering), Railway Executive Headquarters in 1950, and following the abolition of the Railway Executive in 1953, became Chief Electrical Engineer, British Railways Central Staff, British Transport Commission.

Mr. Warder contributed many papers on Electric Traction subjects to the proceedings of the various professional Institutions, as well as to the technical Press.

He was the recipient of the following awards:

• 1950/51 The Institution of Locomotive Engineers Award for his Paper “Electric Traction Prospects for British Railways”.
• 1961 /62 The Institution of Locomotive Engineers’ Frederick Harvey Trevithick Award for his Paper “Progress of 50-cycle Traction on British Railways”.
• April 1962 Society of Engineers Premium for his Paper “Railway Electrification at Industrial Frequency”.
• May 1962 The Institution of Civil Engineers Award of the Telford Gold Medal for his Paper “Electric Traction in the British Railways Modernization Plan”.

Mr. Warder took a major part in the A.C. Electrification Conference, 1960 and made a number of visits to countries overseas, including America, Canada and India, to study and report on Electrical Engineering developments.

Mr. Warder was elected a Member of the Institution in 1949 and was elected a Member of Council in 1951. 

IMechE Obituary:

Stanley Bernard Warder (Fellow), internationally known for his promotion of the 25kV traction system in the UK and overseas, died on May 28th 1971. He was Chief Electrical Engineer of the British Railways Board from its formation until he was seconded to the UK Railway Advisory Service as Consultant on Railway Electrification in 1965.

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