Rod Clarke

Rod Clarke (born 1941) is a Canadian railway and aviation author, enthusiast and publisher.

Clarke is a retired professional engineer who was born in Hoyland Common, Yorkshire into a coalmining family and attended Ecclesfield Grammar School, Sheffield and Sowerby Bridge Grammar School. He graduated in Instrument and Control Engineering at City University, London, England. He was editor of the University newspaper and alumni magazine in 1961. He was employed with various engineering companies in the UK, working on instrumentation design for the Folland Gnat, and BAC Concorde, and flow metering for a Russian chemical plant. He came to Canada in 1966, initially working on the design of the KANUPP reactor at CGE, Peterborough. The last 27 years of his career were spent with Ontario Hydro. He set up the early environmental protection programs for Ontario Hydro nuclear plants, and (on periodic attachment with the IAEA in Vienna) wrote documentation providing guidance on nuclear environment programs in developing countries. He then moved to Pickering Generating Station A where he was Shift Supervisor, Operating Superintendent, and latterly Chief Engineer and Engineering Services Manager. He participated in a Canadian/IAEA/INPO advisory mission to the PAEC in 1994. He retired in 1998. He is a life-long aviation enthusiast and spent the years 1998 to 2006 working on the restoration of the Handley Page Halifax MkVIIA at RCAF Museum Trenton. He was responsible for the restoration of the autopilot, wing leading edges supports, cockpit pilot's chassis, and the design and construction of the new nose section. His major publications were a series of definitive articles on the history and experience of restoration of the Halifax aircraft in international Magazines such as Aeroplane Monthly (UK), Flypast (UK), and Flugzeug (Germany).

Clarke has long been appreciative of the achievements of Victorian engineers, and has a particular interest in the engineering and modelling of narrow gauge railways of the period 1860 to 1900. Based on an introduction to the subject in Canada by Omer Lavallée (former Chief Archivist of the CPR) and finding that there was virtually no technical information on the subject, he set out on 20 years of research on the narrow gauge railways of Ontario. The result is a major publication on the subject, "Narrow Gauge Through the Bush", which has been recognised as "One of the best books on the North American narrow-gauge to be published in recent years." by the Ffestiniog Railway Magazine; "A stunning achievement.....The research and the documentation are impressive." by the historian of the Toronto Railway Heritage Group; and "a 'tour de force' of railway engineering history.....a 'must' for all interested in Canadian Civil Engineering history" in a review in The Canadian Civil Engineer.

Clarke is a member of the Halifax Aircraft Association, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society, and the Gauge O Guild. Rod Clarke lives in Ontario. He is married with three children.

References

:* "Environmental Protection and Waste Management Programs for Nuclear Power Stations in Developing Countries"; Canadian Representative; IAEA, Vienna, Austria; 1979-1981 :* "Nuclear Safety Performance at Pickering NGS", T. R. Clarke; IAEA Conference on Nuclear Safety; Vienna, Austria, April 24-28 1995 :* "The 1994 Loss of Coolant Incident at Pickering NGS"; T. R. Clarke and others; 16th Annual Canadian Nuclear Society Conference; Saskatoon, June 4-7, 1995:* "A Home for a Halifax"; Rod Clarke; Aeroplane Monthly, pp24-29, June 2005:* "Trenton's Halifax in the Paintshop"; Rod Clarke, Flypast, p4, November 2005 :* "Restored Halifax Unveiled in Canada" Rod Clarke; Aeroplane Monthly, pp4-5 and pp36-37, January 2006:* "Halifax Unveiled in Canada" Rod Clarke; Flypast, p6, January 2006:* "Das Kronjuwel der Kanadier"; Rod Clarke; Flugzeug Classic, pp24-27, Marz 2006:* "The Ontario Narrow Gauge"; Canadian Rail, pp99-104, May-June 2007 :* "Narrow Gauge Through the Bush - Ontario's Toronto Grey & Bruce and Toronto & Nipissing Railways"; Rod Clarke; 392pp, pub. Beaumont and Clarke, with the Credit Valley Railway Company, Streetsville, Ontario, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9784406-0-2:* "Edmund Wragge" Rod Clarke - author; The Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers, Vol II; Institution of Civil Engineers, London, March 2008:* "New Railway book features old Caledon-area rail line"; Caledon Enterprise, February 15th 2008 :* "Orangeville features in history of pioneer railway"; Orangeville Banner , January 25th 2008

External links

* Charles Cooper's Railway Pages; "Narrow Gauge Through the Bush" http://www.railwaypages.com/index.php?t=2&id=33
* "Narrow Gauge Railway Photos by Rod Clarke"; http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/gallery/user.php?user_id=1092
* "Historic Railway Book Author in Lindsay"; Lindsay Post, February 4th 2008; http://www.thepost.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=883092
* [http://www.narrowgaugethroughthebush.com/ 'Narrow Gauge Through the Bush' R Milland Pages]