{{Short description|British automotive engineer (1895–1977)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Use British English|date=May 2013}} {{Infobox person | name = Reid Anthony Railton | image = Thinktank Birmingham - Railton R.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 25 June 1895<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr. Reid Railton |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS237601059/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=9e7f7592|work=The Times |issue=60099 |date=3 September 1977 |page=14 |id={{Gale|CS237601059}}}}</ref> | birth_place = | death_date = 1 September 1977 (aged 82) | death_place = Berkeley, California | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = | education = Rugby School, Manchester University | employer = Thomson & Taylor | occupation = Designer of land and water speed record vehicles | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Reid Anthony Railton''' (25 June 1895 – 1 September 1977) was a British automotive engineer, and designer of land and water speed record vehicles.
==Biography== Reid Anthony Railton was the son of a Manchester stockbroker: Charles Withingon Railton and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth (née Sharman), Reid was born in Chorley, Alderley Edge, Cheshire and was christened on 13 August 1895 at the local parish church. He was educated at Rugby School and Manchester University. He joined Leyland Motors in 1917 where he worked with J.G. Parry-Thomas on the Leyland Eight luxury car. He left in 1922 to set up the Arab Motor Company where he was chief designer. Only about twelve cars were built, of which two low-chassis cars survive. One is in the Isle of Man and the other one (chassis number 6, engine number 10, registration UW 2) is now in Austria having been rebuilt and rebodied by David Barker in the early 1990s.
In 1927, on the death of his friend Parry-Thomas, Railton closed the Arab factory and moved to Brooklands working for Thomson & Taylor becoming their Technical Director with responsibility for John Cobb's 1933 Napier Railton car which took the Outer Circuit record in 1933 and Sir Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird Land Speed Record cars of 1931 to 1935. His greatest achievements were probably in designing the Railton Special car<ref>[http://www.birminghamstories.co.uk/story_page.php?id=4&type=fo&page=5&now=0 Birmingham Stories: "Britain makes the speed record its own"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213093314/http://birminghamstories.co.uk/story_page.php?id=4&type=fo&page=5&now=0 |date=13 December 2010 }}</ref> with which John Cobb set the Land Speed Record at {{convert|394.7|mph|km/h|1|abbr=on}} in 1947 and designing the E.R.A. racing cars built in 1933–34 at Thompson & Taylors at Brooklands. He also tuned the Hudson chassis used on the Railton car, named after him.
As well as cars he designed high-speed boats, including the jet-powered ''Crusader'' in which John Cobb was killed in 1952 while travelling in excess of {{convert|200|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} attempting to break the Water Speed Record.
In 1939 he moved to California to work for the Hall-Scott Motor Company. He died in Berkeley, California, on 1 September 1977 at the age of 82.<ref>{{cite news |title=Designer of record beating cars dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-wales-argus-railton/156269768/ |work=South Wales Argus |date=1 September 1977 |page=1}}</ref>
==Vehicles designed by Reid Railton== thumb|Sir Malcolm Campbell at the wheel of the "Bluebird", with crowd, 1926 - 1936 * Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird * Campbell-Railton Blue Bird * Crusader (speedboat) * Leyland Eight * Napier-Railton * Railton Mobil Special * Railton Special
==See also== {{commons category|Reid Railton}} * Railton (car) * Vehicles designed by Reid Railton
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book |title=The Motor Men |last=King |first=Peter |publisher=Quiller Press |location=London |year=1989 |isbn=1-870948-23-8}} * {{cite book |title=The Last Crusader |last=Stobart-Hook |first=Barry |agency= |year=2008 |publisher=Temple Press, April Cottage Publications |ref=Stobart-Hook, Crusader |isbn=978-0-9559147-0-6}} * {{Cite book |title=Reid Railton: Man of Speed. |last=Ludvigsen |first=Karl |authorlink=Karl Ludvigsen |year=2018 |publisher=Evro Publishing |isbn=978-1910505250 }}
== External links == * [http://www.theautochannel.com/vehicles/coll/sci/112bastard.html The Auto Channel] * {{cite web |publisher = Brooklands photo archive |title = Reid Railton (right) lowering the cockpit cover of the Railton Special over John Cobb's head, outside the workshops of Thomson & Taylor. |url = http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_C6/target47.html |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120720170856/http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/Gallery_C6/target47.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 20 July 2012 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Railton, Reid}} Category:British automobile designers Category:Brooklands people Category:People educated at Rugby School Category:1895 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Land speed record people Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:People from Alderley Edge