Don Ashton (1939-2020)

The world of steam engineering lost one of its real giants when Don Ashton passed away on Easter Sunday. He was three days short of his 81st birthday, another victim of COVID19. His manifold contributions to steam and the preservation movement will be felt for many years to come. We take a look at Don’s life, with contributions from Paul Carpenter, Gerry Clarke and Dr Allan Wallace.

1977 - MLC meeting with (L to R) Alan Green, Philip Kennerley, Gerry Clarke and Don Ashton

Grammar school educated, he spent his early years with Dad and brother Eddie at Irlam Locks watching the ships on the Manchester Ship Canal and befriending the tug skippers and were often invited aboard for a trip to the next lock. After leaving school Don had various jobs which included waggon driving, working part time at a garage, as a trainee on the MSC tugs, repairing musical instruments for the band he played in, teaching at Urmston Grammar school and finally working with his younger brother for their own company “Woodwind”.

Early on Don had a fascination with steam locomotives, loved their syncopated exhaust beat and often before they even came into view, could distinguish between two or three cylinder locomotives.

This led Don to find out how these machines worked, quickly realising that the valve gear would explain a large part of their mechanical function. His interest in valve gears developed into a quest through which he discovered much inconsistency and lack of clarity in the written work then available.

Whilst working as a teacher at Urmston Grammar school, Don spent his nights helping Syd Roland, a friend and fellow model engineer who, had a business manufacturing miniature locomotives. Don would outline his ideas on paper for Syd to reproduce in metal. The information often proved sufficient for Syd to produce a really good working engine. Between them they produced some fine 5” gauge models starting with a LSWR class N15 then two Caledonian Railway Pickersgill 72 class Callie bogies, two Robinson class D10 ‘Director’, two LMS Stanier moguls, a GWR Saint, a BR Britannia. Most of these models were commissions for Steam Age in London. 

Working with Syd gave Don an insight to how his ideas worked out in practice. He also became a lot more involved in the manufacturing of the locos. There was much interest in the night time activities at Syd’s home and before long a small group of like-minded modellers came together. 

Following several years of correspondence with many of the modellers he came into contact with, largely in his pursuit of providing more clarity in valve gear specification and design, Don was  persuaded to arrange his notes and sketches and publish a book. He approached Dave Roberts, a member of U&DMES (the local model engineering society), who agreed to print the two books; Walschaerts Valve Gear for Model Engineers and Stephenson’s Valve Gear for Model Engineers.

The first copies were published in December 1976. For many people these books became the definitive works for understanding the two valve gears. In 1976 Don formed a company with three friends and over the next three years built a number of locomotives. 

Don never spoke about a having a preference for one particular CME or railway company. He did  follow the GWR’s innovation and developments, but also admired OVS Bullied’s unorthodox approach, especially his 0-6-0 Q1.

When Don received the first valve gear computer simulation programme from Prof Bill Hall he was delighted that it was now possible to look at the valve gear from a whole new perspective. Even though Don had spent many hours discussing valve gear with Bill Hall he had gone his own way and unfortunately his programme covered just a few suspension arrangements. Not long after receiving the Hall programme, Don explained he was communicating with Professor Alan Wallace in Australia, who was also producing a simulator. Another pioneer in this area was Charles Dockstader.

Don realised that the simulator could illustrate how even the smallest adjustments to certain areas of the gear could have a drastic effect on valve movement and performance. And, it was natural that  Don’s involvement with simulators would lead him back to his own valve gear publications. He combined Walschaerts and Stephenson’s into one book also updating them to incorporate computer simulation. He would always reflect on how the engineers in the heyday of steam would have loved these computer simulator programmes.

In 2010, he brought all his ingenuity to the full size loco world when he became  the brains behind the ’Night Owl’ project (www.4709.org.uk) His quiet brilliance shone for all to see and he really enjoyed himself. Everyone learned from Don – he even improved Swindon valve gears.

Alan Green with Don Ashton and Don Broadley in 2010

Don Ashton the man

Don helped so many people in so many ways. He would give his time to individuals or projects without second thought. He had a unique way of looking at life and would not accept impositions without challenge. I remember his bank manager being corrected when bank charges were first introduced; he thought his meeting was with just another customer but, unfortunately for him, it turned out to be meeting where honesty, integrity and customer loyalty were discussed - the upshot being the scrapping of the charges for that account. Without being rude Don would try and point authors contributing in the model magazines in the right direction if articles relating to valve gear were misleading. He would spend hours on the phone or in correspondence, trying to help people who had fallen foul of incorrect information.

He loved music and spent time encouraging people who were struggling, he attended teaching seminars all over the country. He arranged music for people, mainly saxophone quartets, and arrangements of his music became very popular. I think it was Ken Bruce I was listening to one morning, when he announced they were devoting the next twenty minutes to the English Saxophone Quartet playing arrangements by Don Ashton of Manchester. Some nights he would leave stating I won’t see you tomorrow I will be writing dots and spots, his way of saying I will be composing.            

Don was a member of the Scale Ships Society, he spent time attending meetings and involved himself in organising and attending exhibitions. His main love being tugs, Don would travel up to Scotland to spend a week or so with his friend, who was a tug skipper. Sometimes they would travel by tug all the way from beneath the Fourth bridge to Ardrossan. On several occasions Don was asked to write articles for various magazines explaining aspects of tug manoeuvres, operational safety and his experiences on the Salford docks.

Don will be sadly missed by so many people. He is another sad loss to the railway fraternity and model engineering. His contribution made him a legend, and we are fortunate in the fact Don decided to chronicle his work, so a future generation can look back to a time prior to computers when a lot of hitherto unwritten knowledge was laboriously unearthed. Don was a person who would become a lifelong friend to some fortunate people a person of selfless nature giving much asking for little.