Civil Engineering August 2021 | Vol 29 No 7

Civil Engineering August 2021 51 for rail motor vehicles and had constructed many, from small 6 horsepower inspec- tion trolleys up to a large 40-seater rail motor coach. In 1909 he was transferred to maintenance and in the same year was made assistant superintendent of the CSAR Transportation Department. In the same year, he published a technical paper on signalling in the South African Railways Magazine . After the extensive reorganisa- tion of personnel with the formation of the new SAR after unification in 1910, he was promoted in 1911 to the position of superintendent of signals, “responsible for all mechanical signalling work and the su- pervision and maintenance of such signals”. Dutton’s flair for invention started to show with the development of motorised trolleys for rail inspection. Many years later, in 1932, one of his collaborators, Mr Grunsell, recalled: “… the first trolley was not an out- standing success. The seats were ordi- nary office swing chairs, which were found to be quite unsuitable owing to their habit of lurching. Compared with the comfortable rail motor trol- leys which are today converted from ordinary road cars, the first efforts in this direction were crude, but they pioneered inspection equipment which has revolutionised official rail travel.” Dutton followed with an adapted trolley with a machine-driven drill which greatly improved the ease and speed of drilling rails and sleepers in the field, a chore previously done by hand. During 1912, he was instrumental in setting up the very first road motor service of the SAR&H between Bot River and Hermanus. After this achievement, he had the new road motor transport section added to his portfolio when he became superintendent (signals and motor transport) in 1914. In November of the same year, shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Dutton was relieved from duty for active service in the Union Defence Force. The details of his military duties remain sketchy, but during the first few months he was involved with experiments with different types of lorries, cars and tractors in the sandy terrain of the Kalahari Desert to advise the Southern and Eastern Forces on how best to proceed from Upington and Kuruman to the then German South- West Africa. He published some of these findings 12 years later in a general paper on the difficulties of motor transport over “veld” roads. It appears that Dutton re- turned to South Africa after the German South-West African campaign, as he at- tended the inauguration of the branch line extension from Motkop to New England during January 1916. Dutton’s roadrail work was mostly done in the post-war era. This was also the time of rapid technological develop- ment in almost all spheres of SAR&H activity, including road motor transport and signalling. Frank Dutton was listed as an associate member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in England in 1909. His status with this institution never changed to full member. In 1926, he applied successfully to be admitted as member of the newly formed Institute of Transport in England. His interest in motor transport is evidenced by him chairing the first an- nual general meeting of the Government Service Motor Club on 31 August 1922. His standing in this field was further recognised the following year when he was nominated by the Johannesburg City Council to a board of arbitration regarding a dispute with the owners of private buses in the city. In 1928, signals and road motor transport were separated and Dutton’s position reverted to super- intendent (signals) only. Dutton retired at the end of August 1932 at the mandatory age of 60. SOURCES SAR&H Magazine May 1909 F Dutton. A Trip to the Maldives. November 1909 F Dutton. Control of Intermediate Sidings on Single Lines. April 1911 F Dutton. A New Labour Saving Machine for Railways. March 1913 F Dutton. Motor Service from Bot River Station to Hermanus. November 1914 Personalia. March 1916 Motkop – New England, Opening Ceremony. February 1918 F Dutton. Road and Rail Transport – Some Aspects of Empire Problems (Part 4). July 1922 F Dutton. Cheap Transport: More About the Loco-Tractor System. October 1922 F Dutton. Transport Costs in South Africa: Animal, Road- Motor, and Rail Compared. January 1923 F Dutton. Why Branch Lines Do Not Pay. February 1923 First meeting of South Africa’s Committee. September 1923 William Hoy. Stronach- Dutton “Road-Rail” System of Light Rail Transport. April 1924 The SAR and the British Empire Exhibition. April 1924 Personalia. August 1924 South Africa at Wembley. August 1925 Personalia. August 1926 Institute of Transport. April 1927 F Dutton. Transport over Veld Roads. February 1931 Biographies of Principal SAR&H Officers. July 1932 Retirement: FH Dutton. December 1932 Retirement: Mr FB Grunsell. Other Dorricott, Edward (2016) Samuel Telford Dutton: Railway Signal Engineer of Worcester . Signalling Record Society. Dutton, F. Memorandum to the General Manager, dated 17 February 1926. Transnet Heritage Library. Cash, RG (2015) The Stronach-Dutton Roadrail System of Traction. Special Issue no 234 of The Narrow Gauge , Narrow Gauge Railway Society (UK). Cash, RG. Personal communication, June 2021. Special Correspondent. The Tshongololo of Springbok Flats. Newspaper clipping in the Dutton Album held by the Transnet Heritage Library. The Star. Dutton Railway Opened Today at Naboomspruit, dated 19 September 1924. The Star. The Naboomspruit Experiment, dated 16 September 1924. Frankel, S Herbert (1928) The Railway Policy of South Africa . Hortor’s Limited, Johannesburg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_ African_Dutton_road-rail_tractors , visited July 2020. For a complete list of references and foot- notes, please contact the author. Prepared by Johannes Haarhoff Retired, FSAICE johannes@haarhoff.org.za