Frederick Charles Johansen

Silver gelatin photograph taken ca.1940s. Photograph of Dr. F. C. Johansen by unknown photographer.

Black and white photograph of Frederick Charles Johansen (1897-1966). 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 become the company's Deputy Scientific Research Manager by the time he reitred in 1949.

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. Retiring soon after nationalisation in 1948, he was subsequently appointed Scientific Director at W. & T. Avery of Birmingham, and was invited to officially open British Railways' new 100mph wind tunnel at Derby in 1953.