Bronze plaque

Plaque, George Stephenson Research Prize of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Obv: Bust of Stephenson with 0-2-2 Locomotive engine Rocket built by George Stephenson 1829 and laurels at base, bronze finish. Presented to F. C. Johansen, 1936.

George Stephenson Research Prize awarded by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers to Frederick Charles Johansen (1897-1966) for his 1936 paper entitled 'The Air Resistance of Passenger Trains'. Dr. Johansen's reasearch influenced the design of Nigel Gresley's Classes W1 and A4 and William Stanier's Princess Coronation Class locomotives, and presaged modern research into the engineering and design of high-speed trains.

In 1932 Johansen was employed as a scientific research officer by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), working within its Scientific Research Department. He had been appinted Chief Engineering Research Officer following the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, and retired the following year.

Before being employed by the LMS, he worked at the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, London, and specialised in elements of fluid motion, specifically air-resistance. His work brought him into contact with engineers from aviation firms Hawker and Supermarine, as well as locomotive engineer Nigel Gresley. Johansen was consulted on the design and form of the London and North Eastern Railway's W1 'Hush-Hush' 4-6-4 experimental locomotive, which entered service in 1929. Further work included consultation on the design of the streamlined casing on Gresley's Class A4s. These entered service in 1935, three years after Johansen had begun work for the LMS.

A paper detailing his research, 'The Air Resistance of Passenger Trains', was presented at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1936, for which he was awarded the Institution's George Stephenson Research Prize. Working for the LMS, he was responsible for establishing a wind tunnel at Derby, and tests resulted in the ballistic-style casing used on the company's 'Princess Coronation Class' locomotives of 1937. During the Second World War, he undertook experiments on reinforced concrete railway sleeper. After retirement from British Railways (BR), he was subsequently appointed Scientific Director at W. & T. Avery of Birmingham, and was invited to officially open BR's new 100mph wind tunnel at Derby in 1953.