Bronze paperweight

Paperweight, British Railways, ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway Scientific Research Laboratory, Derby, bronze 1/500 scale model of building with signatures engraved on base.

This bronze paperweight is a 1/500 depiction of the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway Research Laboratory building in Derby and was presented to Dr. Frederick Johansen (1897-1966), Chief Engineering Research Officer of the British Railways (BR) (London Midland Region) Research Department, upon his retirement in 1949. It was made by members of the engineering workshop and has been signed by his colleagues. The Research Laboratory became part of BR's Research Department in 1951, the forerunner of the Railway Research Division established in 1964.

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.

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.