Irish locomotive
engineers
Steamindex home page
More correctly this is locomotive engineers in Ireland as many of them were Englishmen (there were also one or two Scots). .Thus it excludes notable Irish locomotive engineers, such as Beames and O'Brien, who were Irishmen, but contributed mainly to locomotive development in mainland Britain. With the very notable exception of Maunsell most such individuals appear to have been unsuccessful.
General sources
Doyle, Oliver and Stephen
Hirsch
Railways in Ireland, 1834-1984. 1983.
Published to celebrate
Nock, O.S. Irish steam,
1982)
Chapter 2: Irish locomotive men
See also Aspinall, Bulleid, Ivatt, Maunsell and Robinson
Akerlind, Gustav
Locomotive Superintendent of the Clogher Valley Railway. Appointed
in April 1889 at a salary of £150 p.a. and died, whilst still in service,
in 1922. He was of Swedish origin, and had been trained at Derby. He was
a fair but strict disciplinarian, developed the workshops at Auchnacloy and
introduced modifications to the existing Sharp Stewart locomotives to improve
their performance. The sole locomotive for which he had an influence upon
the design: an 0-4-4T supplied by Hudswell Clarke in 1910 was not a
success.
Appleby, Henry
Appleby's period as Locomotive Superintendent of the Waterford &
Limerick Railway was brief, but did lead to the appointment of
J.G. Robinson.
Armitage, Thomas
Locomotive Superintendent Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway 1872-5
thence to Waterford & Limerick Railway See
Johnston's Great Northern
Railway and. Rutherford,
Backtrack, 2006, 20, 434.
Ash, William James
Born in 1894; died 18 July 1963: educated in Dublin, served apprenticeship
at the Broadstone Works of the former Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland
from 1908 to 1912. In 1913 became Assistant to the Running Superintendent
and in 1915 was appointed Draughtsman and Inspector of Material which post
he held until 1918. From 1918 to 1924 Ash was Chief Draughtsman of the Midland
Great Western Railway and on the formation of Great Southern Railways was
Assistant Chief Draughtsman until 1928 when he was promoted to Chief Draughtsman.
In 1935 Ash was appointed Works Manager, Irish Railways and in 1943 he came
to England to accept an appointment as Senior Technical Assistant to the
Ministry of Supply. After WW2 went into partnership with Kenneth Ramsey Pearson,
Westminster, becoming sole owner of the business in 1951. .Obituarty:
J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1963, 53,
134..
Atock, Martin
Locomotive Superintendent Midland Great Western Railway in Ireland
1872 to 1900 when he retired
(Clements and McMahon). Went
to Broadstone, Dublin from Stratford. They credit Atock with being the designer
of sound, competent machines that served the MGWR well.
Marshall notes that Atock was son of
George Attock and was born in Preston in
(baptised 26 June 1836 at St John the Evangelist, Preston) and died in Killiney
on 28 Novemebr 1901. Soon after his birth the family moved to Stratford where
his father, George was Carriage & Wagon Superintendent of the ECR. Martin
became a locomotive draughtsman at Stratford, but in 1861 he became Locomotive
Superintendent of the Waterford & Limerick Railway. In 1872 he became
as noted Locomotive Superintendent of the MGWR.
Ellis (Trains we loved)
called him one of the gentlest and most courteous of locomotive
superintedents. Succeeded by Cusack..
Patents (source for following Patents and papers is Shepherd (below)
2716/1874 A combined machine or tool for boring, turning, and key
bed grooving.
1961/1878 An improved hydraulic gantry.
10826/1888 Improvements in the shells or barrels of locomotive
and similar boilers.
Papers
Tubing locomotive boilers, Trans. Instn Civ. Engrs Ireland, 1882,
14
The wheel base of railway carriages, Trans. Instn Civ. Engrs Ireland,
1891, 21
See Letter
Backtrack by Charles Bayes.
Shepherd, Ernie. The
Atock/Attock family: a worldwide railway engineering dynasty. 2009. 264pp.
(Oakwood Library of Railway History No. 150)
Barriington, S.
Engineer West Clare Railway: responsible for 4-6-0T No. 11
Kilkee. Locomotive
Mag., 1909, 15, 201.
Beaumont, H.J.A.
Beaumont was chief draughtsman at Inchicore when the 800s were being
designed (Phil Atkins e-mail).
Bell, R.
Locomotive Superintendent Irish North Western Railway from October
1850 until 1852, See Johnston's
Great Northern Railway
Blue, John
Locomotive Superintendent Irish North Western Railway for one month
in 1852, See Johnston's Great
Northern Railway. page 28.
Bracegirdle, Charles S.
Some time in charge of mechanical arrangements on Castlederg &
Victoria Bridge Tramway where he modified a Kitson tramway lcomotive
(see Locomotive Mag., 1903,
8, 87) before moving on to Donegal Railway
Bredin, Edgar Craven
According to Marshall Bredin
was born in Canterbury on 16 April 1886 . He was educated at Mountjoy
School in Dublin. In 1905 he was apprenticed to Fielding & Platt
in Gloucester and became a pupil at Inchicore in 1907. He was Shed Foreman
at Rosslare where his duties included the electricity generating station
and electric cranes. He was appointed Assistant Works Manager at Inchicore
in 1916 and Works Manager in 1925.
(Clements & McMahon) Bredin
was CME of the Great Southern Railway from 1937 to 1942 when he became General
Manager, and in 1945 General Manager of CIE. Bredin was noteworthy for
introducing the three modern 3-cylinder 4-6-0 locomotives with the names
of gaelic queens (the 800 class), Maeve and her two sisters. He died
in Dublin on 5 August 1950. The 500 class fitted with the Bredin-Burnell
feedwater heater is described with a detailed diagram in
Locomotive Mag., 1928, 34,
384-5.
Bredin's retirement house was recently? on the property market and announced
for sale on the Internet: The house is on the Carrick Shore of Lough Corrib
in a timbered setting with magnificent views of the Lough and surrounding
mountains.half way between the fishing villages of Cornamona and Clonbur.
The house came into Bredin's possession in 1933, whereupon some considerable
renovations were undertaken.
Patents
324,818 Improvements in and relating to mechanism used for the
transfer of road vehicles on to and from railway vehicles. Published:
6 February 1930. Application number: 3940/1929 Applied: 5 February 1929
308,008 Improvements in and relating to mechanism used for the
transfer of road vehicles on to and from railway vehicles. Published:
21 March 1929. Application number: 806/1928. Applied: 10 January 1928.
277,401 Improvements in and relating to feed
water heaters for locomotive and like boilers. with Albert George
Burnell. Published: 22 September 1927. Application number: 10816/1926.
Applied: 21 January 1927
Paper
The design of a modern locomotive. Rly Gaz., 1939, 71, 718.
Abstract of a paper presented to the Dublin University Engineering
Society. Bredin surveyed locomotive development and related this to his own
800 class. Also mentioned in
Locomotive Mag., 1939, 45,
343..
References to:
APPOINTMENT of E.C. Bredin as C.M.E., G.S.R.
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev.,
1937, 43, 121. illus.
(port.)
OBITUARY Edgar C. Bredin. J. Instn Loco. Engrs, 1950,
40, 592.
Burnell, Albert George
Innovator of feed-water heating system: Patents (checked EPO):
there are also two relating to gasolene. The 500 class 4-6-0 fitted with
the Bredin-Burnell feedwater heater is described with a detailed diagram
in Locomotive Mag., 1928,
34, 384-5.
GB 401,717 Improvements in electric storage batteries or accumulators
with Drumm Battery Co., Ltd. and J.J. Drumm. Priority 6 April 1937.
Published 20 November 1933.
Grids, envelopes, or tubes of the positive electrodes of the accumulator
of the parent Specification are made of nickel-plated rustless...
GB 391,458 Improvements in and relating to regeneration of positive
elements of alkaline storage batteries. Priority 28 October 1931. Published
28 April 1933
Oxides and hydroxides of nickel and cobalt forming the active material
of alkaline accumulators are treated with a moderately strong acid such as
citric acid to remove impurities such as compounds of iron, aluminium, calcium,
magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, barium, beryllium, and lithium. ...
...
GB 277,401 Improvements in and relating to feed water heaters for
locomotive and like boilers with Edgar Craven Bredin. Priority 1927-01-219
June 1928. Published 18 July 1929.1927-09-22
Feedwater, heating.- in a feedwater heater for locomotive &c.
boilers in which two pre-heaters, heated by exhaust steam from the cylinders
and by the flue gases from the boiler respectively are provided, the supply
of water to the ... ...
GB 315,543 Improvements in and relating to feed water heaters
with John Ralph Bazin. Priority 9 June 1928. Published 18 July 1929.
Railway locomotives, steam.- a vaporizer, for example a tubular boiler
is arranged in side channels in the smokebox of a locomotive, and forms part
of a closed circuit in which a suitable medium such as distilled water is
evaporated by ... ...
GB 493,515 Improvements in or relating to secondary or storage
batteries with Drumm Battery Priority 8 April 1937. Published 6 October
1928.
A battery electrode consisting of nickel and containing at least 99.4
per cent of nickel is subjected to a heat-treatment at about 125°C.
in an atmosphere of hydrogen. The Specification states the maximum amounts
of impurities allowable in the nickel, such impurities comprising cobalt,
iron, ... ...
Cabry, Joseph
Locomotive Superintendent MGWR from 1856 to 1862. Cabry was from North
East England and placed an order with Hawthorn before his departure in 1862
following accusations of corruption in the letting of contracts for rolling
stock and permanent way materials. See also Cabry
family...
Carter, W.J.
Locomotive superintendent, West Clare Railway (en passant
Locomotive
Mag., 1912, 18,
231)
Cleary, Patrick Leo
Died 26 May 1945 aged 44. Worked with the Great Southern Railways
of Ireland throughout his professional career, including his apprenticeship,
which he served in the Inchicore works at Dublin, from 1917 to 1923. During
this period he took courses in mechanical engineering at the City of Dublin
Technical Schools and the City and Guilds College, London. After six years’
experience in the drawing office he became a mechanical inspector in the
department of the chief mechanical engineer, and a year later was made works
assistant in charge of new work as well as repairs in the locomotive shops.
In 1942 he received his final appointment as works manager at Inchicore,
where he was in control of 2000 employees. IME obituary
Clifford, Charles
Died 5 September 1927 (Marshall)
Locomotive Superintendent Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (appointed
in May 1895 in succession to Park). Apprenticed to Dublin & Wicklow Railway
under Wilfred Haughton. In 1861 appointed to Irish North Western Railway
at Dundalk, eventually absorbed into GNR(I).
See Rly Mag., 1899, 5,
385. Portrait therein. Retired
(Locomotive
Mag., 1912, 18,
87 states "resigned") 1912: Rutherford,
Backtrack, 2006, 20, 434..
Coey, Robert
Born in Belfast in 1851 under the family name of Cowie (which was
changed by his sister Catherine and himself by deed poll to Coey). He graduated
in engineering. Two of his brothers served the BNCR/NCC and his brother James
Cowie became General Manager from 1899 to 1922. Coey enetered Inchicore
as a draughtsman in 1876 under
McDonnell, rising to Chief Draughtsman
in 1880 and Works Manager under Ivatt whom he succeeded
as Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent in 1896. He introduced 4-4-0s
with taper boilers in 1904 and a ponderous inside-cylinder goods engine in
1905. He experimented with superheating prior to his early retirement (due
to stress and migraine) in 1911. He moved to Scarborough with his family,
spent one year in Switzerland and three in Rome following WW1 and then ended
his days in Harrogate dying on 24 August 1934 (short obit
Locomotive Mag., 1934,
40, 287). He was succeeded by Maunsell.
Atkins, Philip. An Inchicore threesome.
Backtrack, 1997, 11, 396-9.
Chacksfield, J.E. The Coey/Cowie
brothers. all railwaymen.
An extensive biography
Connor, James
According to Rutherford (Backtrack, 2007, 21, 44) Connor
was the designer of the Hudswell Clarke 3ft gauge 4-8-0s constructed for
the Burtonport Extension Railway.
Connor, Patrick
Locomotive Superintendent of Dublin & Drogheda Railway as successor
to Sylvester Lees (he had been his assistant)
from 1848 until December 1860. Johnston page
16.
Conran, Thomas
Locomotive Superintendent of the Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway
from 1857 unril his death in February 1887.Followed by J.J.
Johnstone. See Rutherford
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 686. See also
Clements and McMahon Chapter
6
Cronin, Richard
In 1897 the Dublin & South Eastern Railway head-hunted
Richard Cronin from Inchicore to act as its penultimate Locomotive Superintendent
in succession to John Wakefield. He converted the
over-weight 0-6-2Ts (see Grierson) to tender locomotives.
He acquired second-hand 2-4-2Ts from the LNWR for the suburban services and
a 4-4-2T No. 20 King George was produced at the Great
Canal Street works. In 1917 ill health forced Cronin's resignation and Cronin's
successor was George Wild from the
GNR(I). Locomotive Mag., 1918,
24, 19.. See Shepherd.
The Queen's visit to Ireland. Rly
Mag., 1900, 7, 20.
Illus. of Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway 4-4-0 No. 55 Rathdown
decorated for Royal journey from Kingsbridge station to Kingstown Pier:
R. Cronin, Locomotive Superintendent is clearly identified.
Crosthwait, Henry William
Born in 1879, educated Dublin High School and Royal College of Science,
Dublin from 1896 to 1898. Then three years pupilage at Inchicore. From 1901
to 1908 Assistant Waorks Manager at Inchicore, then Locomotive Running
Superintendent GSWR. Served in Royal Engineers during WW1. From 1920 Assistant
to Locomotive Engineer for materials inspection. Retired in 1944 to Leamington
Spa. Died on 30 January 1956. Obituary: J. Instn Loco. Engrs., 1955,
45, 701..
Crosthwait, J.L.
Locomotive Superintendent of the Bangor & County Down Railway.
District Locomotive Superintendent, Waterford, GSWR. Brother of H.W. Crosthwait
above. Pioneer of diesel traction: see
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1933,
39, 168-9. Contributed to discussion
on paper on lubrication by Clayton
Curry, William
Locomotive Superintendent Dublin
& Drogheda Railway 1863 to 1876. Curry was appointed Locomotive
Superintendent to the merged railway, but in 1881 he became assistant to
J.C. Park, whom he served until his retirement in 1892. According to
Johnston, Curry had come to Ireland from
Carlisle and had worked for the Great Southern & Western at Inchicore
before joining the DDR. At the DDR he concentrated on rebuilding earlier
locomotives at the Dublin Works. Rutherford,
Backtrack, 2006, 20, 434.
Cusack, [Henry] Edward
Born on 6 November 1865. His father, Sir Ralph Smith Cusack was Chairman
of the MGWR from 1865 to 1905 and his brother-in-law, Major James William
Henry Claud "H.C." Cusack was Deputy Chairman of the MGWR from 1905, Edward
was educated at Clifton College, Bristol,Apprenticed for four years at Kitson,
followed by two years as an improver at Crewe. Appointed junior assistant
locomotive engineer at Broadstone (MGWR) in 1890. Locomotive Superintendent
of the MGWR from 1902. When Martin Atock announced his intended retirement
from the MGWR Henry Edward Cusack was appointed his joint first assistant
locomotive engineer with Basil Hope from the North Eastern Railway. Martin
Atock's son, Thomas, was appointed as second assistant. Cusack rose to take
the Chief Mechancial Engineers position from 1905-1915 and was replaced by
the young draughtsman W.H. Morton who rose to support him.[4] Engineering
Cusack oversaw the introduction of MGWR Class D on the transition from his
predecessor Martin Atock. The first attributed locomotive to his era was
the MGWR Class A, the largest 4-4-0 in Ireland at the time of introduction
in 1902. The smaller MGWR Class C 4-4-0 followed from 1909. His era also
saw the MGWR Class B goods 0-6-0, an attempt at a larger freight engine.
It is generally noted W. H. Morton is likely to have assisted Cusack with
practical design input.[4] Cusack was responsible for the design of a Royal
Train prepared for the visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1903
with a12 wheel saloon reputed to be the most luxurious in Ireland. As well
as 6 wheel carriages he also designed the coaches for the MGWR "limited mail"
express train in 1900. His coach designs typically had a distinct roof profile,
somewhat flat for most of top but tightly curved at the
sides Clements and McMahon.
: successor to Atock.
Patents with William Edward
Morton
9660. Applied 24 April 1912. Published 24 April 1913. Improvements
in or relating to superheaters for locomotives.
see also Locomotive Mag., 1915,
21, 103
Devereux, M.J.
See ILocoE Paper 561 Experiences
with diesel railcars. Author was Assistant Chief Mechanical
Engineer, Coras Iompair Eireann when paper presented, but
subsequently became CME.
Dods, Robert
Locomotive Superintendent of the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway
between October 1848 and March 1854, and of the Londonderry & Coleraine
Railway from October 1852.. Johnston page
32.
Domville, C.K.
Locomotive superintendent Belfast & County Down Railway between
1861 and 1880: see
Patterson.
Dudley, J.H.
Assistant Locomotive Running Superintendent. CIE: invloved in allieviating
problem of fuel shortage during WW2 (the Emergency). Parts of a 1948 report
contained within Clements and
McMahon
Dundas, William
Locomotive Superintendent of the Dublin & Drogheda Railway between
February 1861 and August 1863. Johnston page
18.
Dutton, C.H.
Chief draughtsman at Inchicore.
See Joynt Loco Mag., 1933,
39, 180
Eaton, John
Locomotive superintendent of the Ulster Railway from 1858: continued
to function at the Ulster Railway workshops at Great Victoria Street Belfast
after the railway became part of the GNR(I) and so-functioned until the work
was transferred to Dundalk in 1881 Retired in 1885, following a period of
ill-health which started in 1883.
Johnston..
(Lowe) and
Rutherford, Backtrack, 2006, 20,
434.
Egan, Gerald Forbes
With Dublin & South Eastern Railway when joining ILocoE in 1915.
Locomotive Superintendent Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway
from the 1920s until closure. See
Rly Wld, 1956, 17, 178.
Findlay, Robert
Formed an interegnum between Leigh and
Malcolm on the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway
between 1875-6. He was son of Sir George
Findlay of the LNWR.His name may be misspelt without a "d" in
Currie..
Firth, Thomas
Locomotive superintendent Belfast & County Down Railway between
1855 and 1861: see Patterson.
Norman Johnston's Locomotives of
the GNRI page 39 notes that a Mr Firth was in charge of locomotives
on the Ulster Railway from at least 1846..
Fry, C.L.
Assistant Running Superintendent, Great Southern Railways, Transport
Section. Had a model railway and tramway system at Dundrum. Co. Dublin.
Fry has designed and constructed the layout to a scale 7 mm. to 1 ft. in
a room 25 ft. by 15 ft. The railway system is double line throughout and
the walls of the room have scenery painted on them depicting villages, towns,
seaside resorts, etc. Automatic block signalling is installed. The rolling
stock includes locomotives of the latest types on the Great Southern Rys.,
L.M.S., L.N.E.R. and Southern, the latest Drumm Battery train, the Diesel
car train on the Great Northern of Ireland and several passenger and goods
vehicles. The tramway system is worked automatically from overhead wires.
Included in the rolling stock are scale models of the Dublin-Blessington
steam trams. Locomotive Mag.,
1940, 46, 113
Geoghegan, Samuel
Brewery Engineer at Arthur Guinness & Son's Brewery in Dublin
where he designed patent locomotives for internal use on the extensive narrow
gauge system. One was supplied by Avonside in 1882 and eighteen were built
by William Spence of Dublin between 1887 and 1921. Not in Marshall's main
work, but in his The Guinness
book of rail facts and feats, 1971 (pp233-5).
Papers
Description of tramways and rolling stock at Guinness's Brewery.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1888,
39, 327-62
Ginnetty, M.J.
Joined the MGWR as Chief Draughtsman in 1911, having trained on the
GNR(I). Later became Works Manager at Broadstone.
Glover, George Tertius
Marshall records
that Glover was born in London in the summer of 1870; and died Brampton,
Cumbria, 24 June 1953 aged 83. He was Locomotive Engineer of the GNR(I).
He was educated at Lancing College and the Royal School of Mines. He was
apprenticed with James Simpson & Co, London, and Neilson & Co, Glasgow.
In 1894 he entered the NER works at Gateshead as draughtsman
under W.M. Smith. He was later in the testing
and boiler inspection departments, and then with D. Bain at York Carriage
& Wagon works. In 1901 he was appointed manager of the C & W works
at Walker Gate. In 1903, under Vincent Raven, he was
given charge of all electric carriage stock on the Tynemouth
electrification, mechanical and electrical running and maintenance. He was
later appointed manager of Shildon wagon works, and in 1909 became locomotive
works manager, Gateshead.
In 1912 he was appointed Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Engineer on the GNR, Ireland as successor to Charles Clifford. He was elected MIME 1914. At the end of 1916 he was commissioned in the REs and was active in France as CME to the transportation scheme inaugurated by Sir E. Geddes, retiring as Hon Col in 1918: he was known as Colonel Glover thereafter. L.S. Simpson encountered him in France Glover introduced the use of the Schmidt superheater on GNR locos, his first engines being the five class S 4-4-0s, five class SG 0-6-0s and five class T 4-4-2Ts, all built by Beyer, Peacock in 1913. His class U mixed traffic 4-4-0s of 1915 were the first engines in Ireland to have the Robinson superheater. His finest engines were the S class V 3-cyl compound 4-4-0s of 1932 (KPJ: he must have worked with W.M. Smith at Gateshead: also electronic comm from Phil Atkins to note that J.W. Smith was probably still active at Gorton Works at about the time the compound design was being developed) for the Belfast to Dublin expresses. He retired in 1933 and went to live at Park Barn, Brampton, Cumberland.
As a young man he had been an energetic climber in the Lake District, on Ben Nevis and in Norway. Apparently he has two climbing features which are still named after him, Engineer's Chimney on the slopes of Ben Nevis, dating from an 1899 climb, and Glover's Chimney on Great Gable, I've known for years he used to climb with the Abraham brothers, pioneer Lakeland climbers, of Keswick. (Phil Atkins). KPJ: surely he must have met Mervyn Ryan.
According to Atkins there is a series of anonymous articles on North Eastern Railway locomotives written by Glover and published in The Engineer.
See: Engineering 176 17.7.1953 p 76; Cumberland News 4.7.1953 p 3
[G.T. Glover, Locomotive Engineer, G.N.R. (I).] Loco. Rly Carr.
Wagon Rev., 1933, 39, 226.
A biographical note to mark his retirement.
MODERN locomotives of the Great Northern Ry. of Ireland. Loco.
Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1933, 39,160-1; 179; 214-15; 252-4.8
illus.
A survey of the stock extant in 1933.
Murray, K. The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) past, present &
future. [Dublin], G.N.R. (I), 1944. xii, 148 p. + 72 plates. (mcI. 2
folding). 82 illus., diagr. table, map.
Includes chapters on locomotive development and on Dundalk Works.
Nock, O.S. Irish steam,
1982)
Chapter 2: Irish locomotive men.
Patterson, E.M. The Great Northern Railway
of Ireland. >
Rogers, H.C.B. The Great Northern Railway (Ireland). Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon
Rev., 1948, 54, 141-3: 1949, 55, 6-8; 23-4; 104-6. 4 illus.
A locomotive history, with emphasis on 20th century
development.
Rutherford, Backtrack,
2006, 20, 552.
Godwin
First locomotive superintendent of the Belfast & County Down Railway
until 1854: see Patterson.
Grendon, Thomas
Owner of the Drogheda Iron
Works, sole major "private" Irish locomotive builder
Lowe..
Grierson, Thomas B.
Following John Wakefield's forced departure
in 1894 from the post of Locomotive Superintendent of the Dublin & South
Eastern Railway the Board decided that the Engineer, T.B. Grierson, should
handle both civil and mechanical engineering matters. He was responsible
for Kitsons supplying an 0-6-2T for freight duties which had an excessive
axle-load and from 17 December 1896 his activities were restricted to civil
engineering. He was succeeded by Richard Cronin.
See Shepherd. for Irish work. Grierson
turned up again as Maintenance Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent on
the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway from 14 March 1898, but
resigned in December the same year ((see
Backtrack, 2028, 32, 206) and set up as a consultant in
London (Atkins: Backtrack, 2013,
27, 218).
Haigh, Thomas
Locomotive Superintendent Irish North Western Railway from 1870-1,
See Johnston's Great Northern
Railway. page 28.
Harden, Thomas
Locomotive Superintendent Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway from
1853 until 1872: he had formerly been William Dargan's agent, See
Johnston's Great Northern
Railway. page 28.
Harty, Arthur W.
CME GSR from 1932 to 1937. Marshall states born in Cork in 1872 and
does not quote death. Educated Queen's Collegiate School in Cork and joined
GSWR in that City in October 1894, but completed his apprenticeship under
Ivatt at Inchicore. He was appointed Locomotive Works Manager at Limerick
in 1904 and became District Locomotive Superintendent at Waterford in 1908;
and to a similar position at Limerick in 1911; becoming Chief District
Superintendent of the Limerick and Waterford Districts at the end of 1916.
He was very a much a running man and ran that side of the Great Southern
Railways from 1925. Assessed on basis of his locomotives (see
Clements and McMahon) was
extremely conservative in his outlook. See
also locomotives.
[RETIREMENT of A.W. Harty].
Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev.,
1937, 43, 121. illus. (port.)
Haughton, Samuel Wilfred
Formerly with Dublin & Kingstown Railway: appointed Locomotive
Superintendent of the Dublin & South Eastern Railway on 7 October 1856
until his resignation in March 1864 when he was presented with £400
and a free pass. Operator of proprietory locomotives. After a brief spell
under Williiam Meikle (he resigned through ill-health, the post was occupied
by John Wakefield. See
Shepherd. He died in 1898: Fayle.
Locomotive Mag., 1945, 51, 20
Hope, Basil
Recruited from NER to MGWR in 1899 as first assistant locomotive engineer.
Clements and McMahon call
him lightweight. He departed the MGWR in 1907..
Hopkins, George
Joined the West Clare Railway as locomotive superintendent from the
M.G.W.R. in 1891: Locomotive Mag.,
1901, 6, 64.
Howden, George Bruce
According to Hendry Howden had joined to North Eastern Railway, and
then served the LNER before becoming Civil Engineer of the GNR(I) from 1929.
He quickly gained a well-earned reputation as result of his management of
the rebuilding of the Boyne Viaduct without interruption to a single train.
Howden was instrumental in ensuring the building of the GNR Gardner buses
by the company went ahead despite misgivings from some members of the Board
most notably from Sir Lingard Goulding. He was responsible for locomotive
policy from 1933 to 1939 when he became General Manager.
McIntosh was responsible for day-to-day locomotive
matters at Dundalk during this period. Co-inventor of Howden-Merdith wheel:
steel railway rims over pneumatic tyres.
Rutherford, Backtrack, 2006,
20, 552.
Hendry adds more
by noting that from 1944 Howden became General Manager of the Belfast &
County Down Railway, but failed to save the railway from its virtual demise.
In 1948 he was responsible for ordering twenty diesel power cars from AEC/Park
Royal (the firm which had served the GWR so well) and these were used in
association with former steam stock, painted to conform to the smart blue
and cream livery, to rejuvenate the Dublin to Belfast service. He held the
post of General Manager of the company until the formation of the Great Northern
Railway Board in 1953 when he was appointed the Senior Board Member representing
Northern Ireland. Mr.John F.McCormick succeeded him as General Manager. A
measure of his esteem within Ireland is that George Howden from 1950 he also
served as General manager of Coras Iompair Eireann. He became Chairman of
the Ulster Transport Authority, finally retiring in 1963 to his home at Craigavad
County Down. He died in January 1966 in his seventy-fifth year (latter
part off Internet)..
424,945 Improvements in and relating to wheels for railway and tramway vehicles. with Richard Walsingham Meredith. Publshed 4 March 1935. Applied 22 August 1934.
Hume, John
Locomotive superintendent Belfast & County Down Railway between
1848 and 1855: see
Patterson.
Humphreys, S.B.
General Manager Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway.
Locomotive
Mag., 1903, 8,
371
Irwin, W.C.
Chief draughtsman at Inchicore.
See Joynt Loco Mag., 1933,
39, 180: who had only been acquainted with him during the last
two years of Irwin's life. "He was a man of a very exceptional type, highly
strung, intense in his interests, strict and exacting with his staff, and
a peculiarly neat and careful draughtsman. My short friendship with him is
a treasured memory. He helped me with his counsel, guidance and experience
in the deeper and more important matters of life. He was serious in everything
he undertook, but the rectitude of his character was tempered by a saving
sense of humour and by a heart whose capacity for sympathy could only be
realised by the few who were privileged to know him intimately. Unhappily
his health failed and he came to a sad and premature end in 1895."
Johnstone, John J.
Locomotive Superintendent of the Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway
from 1887 (had been with the West Cork Railway see Locomotive Mag.,
1939, 45, 275) replacing Thomas Conran Formerly
district superintendent at Bantry. Died on 29 January 1888 and replaced by
his son (below). See Rutherford
Backtrack, 2008, 22, 686..
Johnstone, James W.
Locomotive Superintendent of the Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway
from 1888 until the Irish Grouping when he retired on from the GSR on 11
February 1927 when aged 64. He had been apprenticed at Inchicore and later
worked for Dick, Kerr at Kilmarnock. See
Rutherford Backtrack, 2008, 22, 686. See also
Clements and McMahon Chapter
6
Joynt, Ernest E.
Chief draughtsman at the Inchicore works of the GS&WR under Coey,
Maunsell and Watson. He was responsible for a long series of articles (which
are an important source for the history of locomotive development at
Inchicore):
Reminiscences of an Irish locomotive works. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1932, 38, 104-6; 138-40; 171-3; 202-3; 257-8; 285-6; 316-1 7; 367-8; 395-7; 426-8: 1933, 39, 52-3; 96-7; 127-8; 151-2; 180-1; 212-13; 274-6; 312-14; 340-2: 1934, 40, 24-6; 90. illus.
Atkins (Backtrack 11 396) has produced a very interesting article concerning all four.
Leigh, Edward
Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast & Ballymena (Northern
Counties) Railway between 1868 and 1875 (he had previously been with the
Newry & Armagh Railway). Acquired locomotives from Sharp Stewart and
Beyer Peacock. Rutherford:
Backtrack, 2006, 20, 552-63..
Livesey, Robert Henry
Father of Robert Martin: Patent:
2138/1895 Means for facilitating the transfer of goods between
railways of different gauges. Applied 30 January 1895. Published
9 November 1895.
Livesey, Robert Martin
Marshall: born in Caernarfon
in 1874 and died in Perth, Western Australia on 28 December 1944: Marshall
spells the Martin Martyn, but the patents use the "i" version!. He was the
son of Robert Henry Livesey formerly of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway
and the County Donegal Railway. He was educated at Caernarvon Grammar and
Collegiate School. Began engineering training under his father, who was then
engineer and general manager, Donegal Railway. Completed pupilage in the
works and drawing office of Neilson, Reid & Co, Glasgow. Also studied
mathematics and engineering at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. On
completion of training he rejoined his father on the Donegal Railway but
soon returned to Glasgow and worked as improver at Barclay, Curie & Co,
shipbuilders, and as draughtsman in the millwright's drawing office of Neilson,
Reid & Co. After work as assistant engineer with Topham, Jones &
Railton on Bute Docks and Port Talbot Railway & Docks contracts he became
assistant to the CME of Gibraltar Naval Harbour contract. After a few months
he was appointed CME of the entire works at the age of 25. In 1903 he returned
to Britain and surveyed, designed and built aerial ropeways in the British
Isles and Algeria for J M Henderson & Co of Aberdeen. On 1 November 1906
he succeeded his father as engineer and locomotive superintendent on the
3ft gauge County Donegal Railways, and from 1 January 1907 was appointed
traffic superintendent as well. He was the first engineer to introduce
superheaters on narrow gauge locomotives in the British Isles, and probably
in the world. His numerous inventions included pressure lubrication of axle
boxes, a wagon brake which could be worked from both sides, an exhaust by-pass
arrangement, acetylene generator, concrete sleeper (1915) and other items.
In 1912 he read a paper to the
IME on rolling stock of the Irish narrow gauge railways. He resigned
in 1922 and went to India as engineer and manager of the Bombay municipal
water supply scheme involving construction of a pipe line 110 miles long.
Its completion in a year under the contract time displayed organizing ability
of a high order. In 1927 he settled in Australia and spent several years
in farming. From 1936 to his death he acted as designer and consultant to
the Swan Portland Cement Co of Perth,
See also
Patterson
Patents
8917/1915 Improvements in railway wagon
brakes. Applied 17 June 1915. Published 18 May 1916.
8916/1915 Improvements in and connected with railway sleepers.
Applied 17 June 1915. Published 4 May 1916.
12,928/1911 Improvements in forced feed lubricators. Applied
13 November 1911. Published 13 June 1912
McClure, D.N.
In 1922 appointed locomotive, carriage & wagon superintendent
of Clogher Valley Railway.
Locomotive Mag., 1922,
28, 319. Was formerly with Rio Tinto Co. at Huelva in Spain.
McIntosh, Harold
According to e-mail from Phil Atkins was not related to
John McIntosh of the Caledonian Railway. Worked
for George Howden on GNR(I), and became Locomotive
Superintendent in 1939 and Assistant Mechanical Engineer and Running
Superintendent from early 1934
(Locomotive Mag., 1934,
40, 63). Responsible for last 4-4-0 design anywhere and probably
for azure blue applied to GNR(I) locomotives which again according to Phil
was selected for its lack of sectarian associations.
Rutherford: Backtrack, 2006,
20, 552-63...
Malcolm, Bowman
Marshall states that
Malcolm was born in Chester in 1854 and died in Belfast on 3 January 1933
(see Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev.,
1933, 39, 29): see references cited by Marshall and
Rutherford, Backtrack, 20,
552-63 (p.555)). He started in the locomotive engineer's office of the
Belfast & Northern Counties Railway in 1870 where according to
Currie he had no formal training, and in
1876 was appointed locomotive engineer at the early age of 22. In 1903 the
B & NC system was acquired by the Midland Railway which, in 1906,
appointed Malcolm as civil engineer as well as head of the locomotive department.
At the same time Malcolm became civil engineer of the County Donegal Railways.
He was responsible for the design and construction of the large bridge over
the River Bann at Coleraine on the Belfast & Londonderry line, though
it was not completed until after his retirement. He adopted the
Von Borries 2-cyl compound system, especially
on tank engines for the narrow gauge lines, which gave good results, partly
because of the use of Walschaerts valve gear
(see Scott: Rly Wld, 47,
454). He contributed to the discussion of Sauvage's paper on locomotive
practice in France Proc. Instn Mech.
Engrs., 1900, 59, 416..
Marshall claims he was the first locomotive
engineer to use the Ross 'pop' safety valve (according to Scott Ross was
a Coleraine man) which he fitted to 2-4-0 No 57 in 1908; and was also the
first British engineer to use high-capacity wagon stock, some 30 ton bogie
wagons being introduced on the BNCR in 1891. He retired in September 1922
after 52 years on railways. He was MIME, MICE and Member of ARLE.
Currie stated that "he was the most outstanding personality in the annals
of the Northern Counties Railway, and famed throughout the world for the
success of his compound locomotives. Malcolm was a stern disciplinarian and
expected men to follow the high precepts of his own life. The notices he
issued are often full of the virtues of temperance".
Portrait page 34 of Currie (Vol. 1); Retirement Locomotive Mag., 1922, 28, 288. Proc IME V 124 6.1933 pp 778 9; The Locomotive 2.1933 p 29; RM 9.1971 p 474; See Ellis: Midland Railway
MacNamara, Denis
See Loco. Mag., 1933,
39, 180: Joynt wrote: Mr. MacNamara was one of
those in Inchicore for whom I early conceived a strong attachment. His character
was attractive by virtue of its simplicity and goodness. Not even the most
malevolent could point to anything in his life or conduct which could be
termed a vice. He was an extraordinarily clever man, of an inventive and
painstaking genius, a great amateur of the sciences. He was a pioneer
experimenter in photography and phonography, electrical phenomena, the Rontgen
Rays and wireless telegraphy. Before the Great War he used to set the time
office clocks by the Eiffel Tower time signals. He made the model locomotive
which stands in the hall of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers in
Westminster, and the model dining car which figured in the last Paris Exhibition
and other shows. His house was full of his handiwork, one of the best examples
of which was a Wimshurst machine which could produce a spark nine inches
long and which he utilised for his X-ray experiments. His talents and knowledge
were freely made use of by the Railway Company but shockingly badly rewarded.
He had travelled far in Europe—to Rome, Milan, Paris, Brussels, Lourdes.
I myself had two holidays with him on the Continent. A brighter or more
interesting compagnon de voyage it would be difficult to find. Had
his lot been cast in a country different to ours. he would have achieved
great worldly success. In Ireland, however, bounce count for much and intellect
and loyal service count for little, and Mr. MacNamara's chief reward for
a long and useful career was the possession of a quiet and peaceful conscience,
a thing the value of which cannot be reckoned in terms of the gold standard.
He died 31 December, 1926.
Melling, John
First locomotive superintendent D&KR.
See also elsewhere
Meredith, Richard Walsingham
Dick Meredith was appointed as GNRI Works Manager on January 1st 1926
following an earlier career with the Great Southern & Western Railway
at Inchicore Works, Dublin under R.E.L.Maunsell. Meredith was a keen proponent
of diesel engines and was the GNR official most clearly identified with the
development of railcars and railbuses in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The GNR buses produced at Dundalk were principally the creation of Dick Meredith
and he jointly patented with George Howden the steel/pneumatic railbus tyre
used on early GNRI railbuses. He was a quiet thoughtful man of great intellect
who enjoyed travelling and fishing in the River Dee near Dundalk. He was
appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GNR in the early 1950s. Retirement
came in 1957 when aged 65 and the break with all transport matters was absolute.
He died at his Dublin home in December 1971.
Miller, George Mackay
Born London 7 December 1813; died Dublin 4 January 1864 from pneumonia.
Apprenticed to Lloyd of Southwark. Civil and locomotive engineer. Worked
on Liverpool & Manchester Railway under John Dixon, and then on London
& Birmingham Railway under Robert Stephenson. In 1839 became resident
and locomotive engineer on the London & Greenwich Railway. In 1844 became
engineer for Jamaica Railway and on his return in 1847 became resident engineer
and locomotive superintendent of Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland.
In 1849 he was made chief engineer being responsible for all aspects of
engineering on this railway. Obituary Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs., 1865,
16, 16.. Marshall.
Miller, R.G.
Locomotive Superintendent of the B&CDR from 1880 to 1919 (by which
time according to Patterson he was a bearded patriarch). He had been trained
at Crewe, and after working on the LNWR was sent to the Dundalk Newry and
Greenore Railway. (Nock, O.S. Irish steam,
1982). See also Patterson's The
Belfast & County Down Railway.
Morton, William Herbert
According to Marshall he was
born in Leeds on 7 December 1877 and was apprenticed at Kitson & Co.
and was also educated in engineering at Leeds University and at Leeds School
of Science & Technology. He was employed at Kitson until appointed chief
draughtsman of the MGWR in 1900. Locomotive Superintendent MGWR from 1915.
Clements and McMahon consider
him to have been a sound business man. He acquired nineteen hopper wagons
from a Belgian manufacturer for a Spanish railway which were used for locomotive
coal and ballast; he acquired two Cowans & Sheldon 20 ton travelling
cranes from the Ministry of Munitions which had been intended for the British
Army and twelve kits for Maunsell Moguls. CME GSR from 1929 to1932 following
which he became General Manager. He died in Dublin on 24 November 1960. He
was a member of the Association of Railway Locomotive Engineers prior to
Bazin being proposed by Gresley and would have been aware of the standard
designs being prepared for manufacture following WW1. Thus it is obvious
why he acquired the Woolwich Moguls. Gave vote of thanks to Bredin following
his lecture to the Dublin Engineering Society (when he mentioned pogrress
in diesel traction: Locomotive
Mag., 1939, 45, 343..
Patents
with Cusack
9660/1912. Applied 24 April 1912. Published 24 April 1913.
Improvements in or relating to superheaters for locomotives.
see also Locomotive Mag., 1915,
21, 103
[APPOINTMENT of W.H. Morton as C.M.E., G.S.R.] Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon
Rev., 1929, 35, 161.
Moulang, Francis Daniel
F D Moulang was born in Clerkenwell, London in March 1874, the second
son of Daniel Moulang, a Dublin jeweller; Daniel and his family later returned
to his native Dublin where Francis Daniel was brought up. He was educated
first at Merchant Taylors’ School and later at the City of Dublin Technical
School where, in 1894, he was awarded the Mayor’s Prize. Moulang was
also Premium Apprentice and Draughtsman in the Locomotive and Carriage Works
at the Inchicore works of the Great Southern & Western Railway of Ireland.
In 1898 he was awarded a Whitworth Exhibition Scholarship – then worth
£50, one of the earliest Irishmen to receive one. He was married to
Sarah Fulcher in 1899 and they removed to England where he joined the locomotive
drawing office of the Midland Railway at Derby. There he assisted MR Chief
Mechanical Engineer in the design, operation and development of Midland
three-cylinder compound locomotives; actually superintending the making of
the patterns for the cylinders of the first five engines of this class and
of subsequent MR superheated classes. There is evidence that some experimental
work had been carried out on compound engines at Inchicore and this experience
may have influenced the nature of his employment on the Midland and later
the LMS.
In 1916, as a temporary wartime measure, he joined the motive power section in the capacity of District Locomotive Superintendent at Toton, but he never returned to the drawing office, becoming successively District Locomotive Superintendent at York (1921) and later at Buxton. In January 1930 he succeeded Bolderston as DLS at Wellingborough which by that time had both Bedford and Kettering as sub-depots.
Thorley (A Breath of Steam, 1975) paints a vivid picture of Francis Daniel Moulang, by that time (1930) aged 55, “of rubicund complexion, rolling gait and southern Ireland ancestry”. After more than forty years Thorley still regarded the arrival of this man as the greatest turning point in his life, “This strange man with his delightful Irish brogue” provided the means whereby Thorley himself began to realise the depth of his own ignorance on so many matters pertaining to locomotives. Thorley wrote, “Moulang was a Whitworth Exhibitioner and could bring a quality of mind and attitude to bear on engineering fundamentals which made everyone in the engineering world whom I had met so far appear rather dull by comparison”. This was not to belittle the great skill and knowledge of people like Thorley’s father and Gibson, who were both highly competent mechanics; but they did not always know why they achieved success by doing certain things in certain ways. Early in their relationship Moulang had asked Thorley about his aims, work and progress, giving Thorley the opportunity to confide fears of stagnation to someone who, it was felt, had a sympathetic appreciation of the aspirations of a young man. His comment had been quite brusque and brief: when told about taking the National Certificate examination in the following April, he had said: “Come and see me when you have passed and I will see what I can do for you”. Thorley did not speak to him again until he received notification in the following August that he had passed the NC examination. Moulang was as good as his word. “Thenceforward I had a training in motive power maintenance and running which was always interesting, often exciting but always directed to the things which mattered”.
Francis Daniel Moulang retired from the LMS in 1935. He died in May 1958.
Murphy, Stephen
Locomotive Superintendent Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway
(oldest railwayman in Ireland).
Locomotive
Mag., 1903, 8, 371.
See Loco. Mag., 1906, 12,
99-100.
Needham, R.
Locomotive Superintendent Irish North Western Railway from 1852 to
1858, See Johnston's Great Northern
Railway. page 28.
Ogilvie, R.
Briefly Locomotive Superintendent Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway:
1852-3: he resigned due to lack of equipment. See
Johnston's Great Northern
Railway.
Ohren, Aubrey
See Loco. Mag., 1933,
39, 180: Joynt wrote: He was of English nationality
and was turning grey when I first knew him. He had then been in Ireland for
nearly fifty years, but he was just as English the day he died as when he
first arrived. The men in the shops, however, gave his name the Irish form
of "Horan." There are two kinds of English gentlemen that I like to meet.
One is the person who has travelled in many lands, and who, whilst retaining
his British characteristics, has had his native exclusiveness toned down
by a healthy internationalism. The other is the delightfully insular and
narrow Englishman who feels that all is well with the world as long as a
Conservative government is in office, to whom loyalty to the throne is a
religion; who regards Americans as mongrels, and the non-English-speaking
races as "lesser breeds without the law." Mr. Ohren was an Englishman of
the latter type, but he was a perfect gentleman who would have been at ease
in any society. He was of very cultured tastes, a lover of poetry, music
and the arts. As a draughtsman he was methodical and beautifully neat.
Park, James Crawford
Marshall states that born in
Liverpool on 1 July 1838 and died in Dundalk (where he had established a
locomotive works in 1887) on 27 May 1895. Premium Apprentice Crewe 1855 to
1861 (Reed). Locomotive Superintendent Great Northern Railway (Ireland):
appointed 1880. Formerly Patrick Stirling's Chief Draughtsman at Doncaster.
Johnston entitles his chapter on Park:
Doncasterising the GNR(I). Manifestations of this extended to the combination
of apple green for the locomotives with teak for the carriages, and to the
general appearance of the locomotives. Responsible for 4-2-2 design introduced
in 1885. See also Rutherford,
Backtrack, 2006, 20, 434.
Fryer, Charles. Single wheeler locomotives. 1993. Chapter 3
Patrick, Malcolm
Locomotive running superintendent in 1915; served in RAOC. Eengineer,
NCC, 1933-46 (died in 1946
Locomotive Mag., 1946,
52, 158): see Currie (v. 2)
and Locomotive Mag., 1933, 39, 251.
Pemberton, Frederick
Locomotive and Carriage Superintendent Dublin & Wicklow Railway:
appointed June 1854; resigned 1856; according to Shepherd subsequently Locomotive
Superintendent St Petersburg and Moscow Railway
(Shepherd). Locomotive Superintendent
Irish North Western Railway from 1858 to 1870, See
Johnston's Great Northern
Railway. page 28. Fayle.
Locomotive Mag., 1945, 51, 20
Pim, Richard
Second Locomotive Superintendent D&KR (1840-3)
(Lowe)
Ramage, Robert
Locomotive Superintendent of MGWR from 1862: he had been Chief Draughtsman
under Ben Connor at the St. Rollox works of the Caledonian Railway. Ramage
favoured the 0-4-2 type and a further six came from the Glasgow firm of Diibs
& Company in 1867. Nos 67 to 72 were eventually named after towns served
by the Midland. Ramage submitted a report on the locomotive stock situation
to the board early in 1867, following which he was requested to immediately
prepare plans and specifications for six or eight passenger engines. Despite
the apparent urgency, the order for the six engines was postponed until after
March 1868, at which time it was decided that engines be named as well as
numbered.
Rawlins, James
Locomotive Superintendent D&KR 1843-
(Lowe)
Reen, Maurice J.
Locomotive Superintendent Cork & Macroom Direct Railway.
See Locomotive Mag., 1908, 14,
33.
Rowe, James
Clements and McMahon page
181: Chief draughtsman on W&LR: moved with Atock to MGNR in 1872.
Died in 1899. See also Locomotive
Mag. 1939, 45, 275 for drawing supplied by him of West Cork
Railway 2-4-0T
Rowland, Ellis
Appointed Locomotive Superintendent of Belfast & Ballymena Railway
in 1847. Currie Northern Counties Vol.
1..
Russell, Norman G.
Chief engineer Ulster Transport Authority from 1 February 1964; previously
deputy from 1956; joined transport service in 1934: not even clear whether
he was a road transport engineer, but see
Backtrack, 2014, 28, 708 for "his" diesel electric multiple
units.
Shanks, T.H.
Locomomotive Superindent Cavan & Laeitrim Railway in
1905: Locomotive Mag., 1905,
11, 125.
Speir, Malcolm
According to Currie Speir instigated
the design of the W class 2-6-0 for the NCC (although clearly the detailed
design work was performed at Derby): see
Speir. Currie considered that Spier's treatment of
Stewart was deplorable..
Stewart, Hugh Percy
Marshall states that he was
born in 1870 and died in Belfast on 2 October 1933 aged 63. Grandson of Charles
Stewart, Secretary of the BNCR between 1857 and 1887. Began his career on
the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway, apprenticed to Bowman Malcolm
and regarded as Malcolm's "bright young man"
(Currie). After time at Harlands &
Wolff and as Engineer on Bates & Sons' steamers he returned to the NCC
in 1910 as works manager, Assistant Locomotive Engineer in 1915, Wallace's
mechanical assistant in 1922
(Locomotive Mag., 1922,
28, 288) and Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent in 1930. He
retired on 30 June 1933. According to Currie he had not seen eye to eye with
Spier: Scott says letter sent
by Speir was "tantamount to the sack".
See also Aspinwall.
OBITUARY [H.P. Stewart, Locomotive Superintendent, NCC]. Loco.
Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1933, 39, 345.
Sutcliffe. Ingham
Born in Bradford in 1880. Died Bangkok on 4 January 1932 where from
1919 to 1930 he had been chief mechanical engineer and superintendent of
workshops on the Royal State Railways of Siam. He then set up as a consultant
in what is now Thailand. (Obituary Proc. Instn Mech Engrs., 1932,
122, 735-6). Before that had served as locomotive superintendent of
the Kowloon Canton Railway (see
Loco. Mag., 1916, 22, 189) and as Locomotive Superintendent
of the 3 ft gauge Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway from 1911 to 1915.
Designer of the 4-8-4T locomotives (supplied by Hudswell Clarke) which were
intended for use on the Burtonport Extension.
Rly Wld, 43,
626. His application to join the ARLE in 1913 was turned down as the
LLSR was considered to be too small a railway.
(Hughes). Note on move
(Locomotive Mag, 1916,
22, 63) to Hong Kong observed that he had been connected with
the Great Southern & Western and Great Northern Railways in Ireland.
Heavy locomotives for the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Ry.
Locomotive Mag., 1912,
18, 207-8.
Thompson, John
Locomotive engineer, NCC: 1946-9: see
Currie (v. 2)
Tyndall, Cecil Francis
Appointed Chief Motive Power Engineer Coras Iompair Eireann in 1949
and retired in 1953. May have died 13 January 1977 (grave Dublin).
Wakefield, John
Appointed as eventual successor to Haughton as
Locomotive Superintendent of the Dublin & South Eastern Railway
(see Shepherd). Prior to that he must
have been at Inchicore as Colburn Plate 34 credits GS&WR 0-4-2 to John
Wakefield. Ahrons (British steam railway locomotive page 177) adds
a 2-2-2. Appointed in May 1865 at a salary of £350 per annum. Responsible
for building several locomotives at the Great Canal Street Workshops beginning
with three 2-2-2WTs for suburban services. Three more were built between
1877 and 1882. This was followed by a 2-4-0T. Wakefield design culminated
with a 2-4-2T of which No. 11 was St. Kevin. Information on his
experiments with an expansive form of valve gear were given in
a IMechE paperr by George Miller.
Wakefield, William
Nephew of John Wakefield whom he succeeded in 1882 as Locomotive
Superintendent of the Dublin & South Eastern Railway. A
searching enquiry in 1894 led to Wakefield being pensioned off, before whidch
he had added larger locomotives to the system. He was succeeded briefly by
Grierson and finally by Richard
Cronin. See Clements and
McMahon..
Watson, Edward A.A.
Edward Abraham Augustus Watson was born in Clones County Monaghan
on 23 August 1881, a son of the manse. He was educated partly at Portora
School, Enniskillen. His father became rector of Maguiresbridge. His engineering
education took place at the American Locomotive Company and on the Pennsylvania
Railroad at Altoona. In 1906 he became a piecework inspector in the carriage
works at Swindon, and within a year was an Assistant Works Manager under
F.W. Marrilier. According to Holcroft (via Atkins
(Backtrack 11 396) was
levered out of Swindon and became Works Manager at Inchicore where he apparently
irritated Maunsell about Great Western locomotive practice, about which he
must have known very little (as would become clear once he designed his own
locomotives). At the end of 1913 Watson took over from
Maunsell, and promptly cancelled work on existing
designs and started work on a 4-8-0T and a 4-6-0 draughted by George V.
Hutchinson, a Galway man. There were many delays to the introduction of the
4-6-0s by which time Joynt had either retired, or been
forced to do so by Watson. Watson "invented" a superheater (see below). Not
surprisingly, considering his geographical background, Watson was highly
hostile to Irish Nationalism, and in 1921 (perhaps as a replacement for
Clayton, whom Maunsell was eager to retain) Watson
became General Manager of Beyer Peacock, established himself with his wife
in a substantial Cheshire mansion, when it was discovered that he had stomach
cancer and died very quickly, aged 41. R.H.
Whitelegg succeeded him at Beyer Peacock. At Inchicore
John Bazin succeeded Watson and was forced to attempt
to improve the Watson 4-6-0s. Brief obituary:
Locomotive Mag., 1922, 28,
288.
Patents
BP 111,576 6 December 1917.
Atkins, Philip. An Inchicore
threesome. Backtrack, 1997, 11, 396-9.
Appointment to GS&WR recorded with portrait and biographical sketch in
Loco. Mag., 1913, 19,
274.
Watson, L.J.
Joined the GNR(I) in 1879 and was Chief Draughtsman at Dundalk Works
from 1892 until 1933. Portrait on page 68
of Johnston.
Waugh, Henry
Locomotive Superintendent of the Waterford & Tramore Railway from
1860 until his death, aged nearly eighty in 1908.
Locomotive Mag., 1942,
48, 56.
Wild, George
Succeeded Cronin in 1917. Came from GNR(I) at Derry (Londonderry).
Responsible for 2-6-0s supplied by Beyer Peacock in 1922.
Locomotive Mag., 1918,
24, 19..
Wilson, Edward (Midland Great Western Railway)
Woods, John
See Loco. Mag., 1933,
39, 180: Joynt wrote: Johnny Woods was at the other
extreme of character from Mr. Ohren. He loved neither letters. music or the
arts. He dwelt very far from that region where aspirations ascend and
inspirations descend. His thoughts were materialistic, and, if popular belief
was justified, chiefly concerned with lucre, of which he was understood to
have amassed a goodly store. His real or fancied accumulations were a perpetual
source of banter in the office. Mr. John Power, the works manager's chief
clerk, never passed his board without going through the pantomime of clearing
imaginary piles of coin from the table into his trousers pocket. Woods, however,
always took this chaff in the most perfect good part He enjoyed the reputation
of being a sort of financial expert, and was frequently consulted by members
of the various offices on money matters, particularly in connection with
the completion of income tax forms. He was a master in the subject of
"deductions" and "allowances," and was always willing to advise as to what
emoluments a person who took an easy view of such matters might safely omit
from his return of "total income from all sources." The tax collector he
regarded as an unscrupulous and implacable rogue, one to be watched and
outwitted. Should any of his declared income escape taxation, Woods would
say, ."That's their mistake, not mine; let them find it out. Should he be
mulcted sixpence too much, he would fight tooth and nail with the authorities
till he secured a refund. Woods was a small sized man, with steel grey hair
resembling wire, fleshless and meagre of person. He was engaged entirely
on carriage and wagon work, but his drawings were far from being models of
technique. En rèvanche, he knew every stick in the coaches and wagons.
His shrill voice was dreaded by the coachbuilders almost as much as that
of the gaffer when he went to the shop to see how a new job was getting on.
He was well liked by all in the office. With all his reputation for "nearness"
he possessed an equable temper, and everyone was sorry when he left the service
to manage a farm which was bequeathed to him in the midlands.
Yorston, Alexander
Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast & Ballymena Railway/Belfast
& Northern Counties Railway from 1849 to 1868.
See Currie who noted that "He was ageing
and he did not leave the locomotive stock in any too good order". According
to Sekon (Evolution of the steam
locomotive) Yorston devised a mid-feather firebox for burning coal
which was patented by Sharp Stewart in 1855. (requires checking at BL). He
was followed (briefly) by Robert Finlay or by
by Edward Leigh.
2021-02-09