Mike Baker 1935 - 2025

We were deeply saddened to hear of the death in October of Mike Baker, after a short illness.

Born in Hounslow in 1935, Mike joined Napier at their Acton works and soon began to work with Deltic engines – something he did for his entire working life. The word ‘expert’ is rather too freely applied these days but for Mike it was an epithet well-earned. His involvement with Deltics cannot be over-stated. As well as travelling most of the world to provide service support to the Royal Navy, other navies and users of static Deltic engines, Mike was heavily involved with both types of rail-traction Deltic, working regularly and frequently with BR on them providing guidance, advice and technical riding services on behalf of his employer. The Class 55 Technical Working Group meeting minutes contained many comments suggesting that ‘Mr Baker of Messrs Paxman will ride the loco and identify the fault’, and so he did.

He was – so far as we know – the last person to work on D5901 before the RTC disposed of it having been called in to rectify the effects of an exhaust fire, recounting that, “We put it on a load bank and blew all the shit out of it!”

In later years Mike became a regular recipient of calls from ‘new’ users of Deltic as the locos re-entered periods of intensive use on their second mainline career. He was instrumental in arranging for the Baby Deltic Project to store our recently acquired engine at MAN (as Paxman had become), Colchester and was a constant source of advice and encouragement during the rebuild of the engine.

Mike retired in the mid-2000’s after continuing his involvement with the 9-cylinder Deltic for the Royal Navy’s new overhauler; Roll-Royce Specialist Engines.

The Deltic world is poorer for his loss and we salute his massive contribution. Thank you.

Outside of work Mike was a dedicated family man and it is to his family that we offer our most sincere condolences for their loss.