Over the years, many articles were written about Jack Davies and his various engineering projects. This is a small collection of those articles, reproduced from the original press cuttings with accompanying transcripts for ease of reading.
Southampton Evening Echo Sept 7 1965
Driver J. Davis from Malden, sits with every confidence behind one of the 3 1/2in. gauge models he brought to Southampton. The locomotive is the Adams T3.
25th November 1966
“All my own work” is how Mr. J. Davies of Egham, describes this operational scale model of one of the old American locomotives – as seen in many a Western film. Called the “Virginia” Mr. Davies built it himself.
The caption reads “Jack Davis with his fine model of an 1875 American J. W. Bowker locomotive. He saw the real thing in America before starting his five-year construction of the model.”
Herald & News, Friday 1st February 1974
Herald & News Archive Note:
There is an unmistakable flavour of the 1970s local press in the Herald & News coverage of Jack Davies — the retired engineer happily “playing with trains”. Yet the newspaper clearly recognised that there was rather more to the story. Just a week after its earlier article, Jack and his newly completed locomotive J. W. Bowker were given much more prominent coverage.
The headline — “Steaming away his retirement — that’s tank man Jack’s idea of perfect relaxation” — retains the paper’s light-hearted tone, but behind it was a considerable engineering achievement: a substantial working steam locomotive built by Jack himself. The accompanying photograph was taken in his sitting room at 11 Ayebridges Avenue, Egham, with J. W. Bowker — an appropriately domestic setting for a machine which had occupied so much of his retirement.
The Late Jack Davies
We have recently learned of the death of Jack Davies of Egham, Surrey. His friend Bob Clist wrote this tribute to Jack — we take the opportunity of publishing it here:
“It is with regret that I inform you and your readers of the death of Jack Davies on 28 January 1986 at the age of 85 years.
Jack started serious model engineering towards the end of World War II, since when he built many live steam locomotives, mostly in 3½ in. gauge. He also built a Hipp clock and a 1½ in. scale traction engine. In later years he built a few 5 in. gauge locomotives, often of some unusual prototype. Upon completion of his latest project Jack would often submit a short article about it for use in Model Engineer.
Over the years Jack joined several clubs and visited many more. An outing to a club was not just a car ride either. Fellow travellers were treated to a history lesson as the passing scenery prompted an anecdote from his memory which never dimmed with the passing years. Likewise, an evening’s chat was an education. Whilst he would not suffer fools for too long, he had a marvellous sense of humour. A fireside chin-wag was usually punctuated by a few jokes and quips whilst more serious things were being debated.
His wide knowledge and experience were freely available to anyone who cared to ask and many of us went to him with a problem about the size of Mount Everest. Jack would soon reduce it to a manageable mole hill.
During the last ten years he had several periods in hospital. In the last two years his eyesight began to fail but he completed the rebuild of a 5 in. gauge Princess Marina. At the time of his death he was overhauling his New York Central Minnie Ha-Ha.
Those of us who knew him were privileged and we won’t see his like again. He leaves behind him a wide circle of friends who have only happy memories of Jack Davies. He is survived by a son and two daughters to whom our sympathy is extended.
The late Jack Davies, seen here with his Long Boilered Stephenson locomotive, in his back garden. Jack is holding the Staines Society Cup, which was awarded to him for this locomotive.
Archive note: Following Jack Davies’s death, a number of his locomotives, including J. W. Bowker, passed to his son Alfred Sinclair Johnstone. Alfred, who was executor of Jack’s Will, subsequently gave the Adams T3 locomotive to Kevin Whitaker. The present whereabouts of J. W. Bowker and the Hipp clock are not presently known.