Alexander Newlands CBE M.Inst.C.E., (11 January 1870 - 28 August 1938) was chief engineer of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

from 1927 to 1933.

Family

He was born at Elgin on 11 January 1870 at

Lhanbryde Lhanbryde (Gaelic: ''Lann Brìghde'') is a village that lies east of Elgin in Moray, Scotland. Previously bisected by the A96, it was bypassed in the early 1990s and now lies to the north of this busy trunk road. It had a population of 1,88 ...

, Morayshire, the son of Alexander Newlands of Pondpark, Elgin, and Annie Grant. He married Bessie Hamilton McGilchrist, third daughter of the late Rev. John McGilchrist of Bowmore, Islay in 1900. They had three daughters. He died in Glasgow on 28 August 1938.

Career

He was educated at West End school, Elgin. He then served a pupilage with Messrs. Gordon and MacBey and in 1892 joined the Highland Railway in the engineering department in Inverness, and was engaged in parliamentary surveys for the Kyle extension of the Dingwall and Skye section of the line. In 1893, he was made resident engineer on these works which were completed in 1897. In 1897 he was made resident engineer on the widening of the Highland Main Line from Blair Atholl northwards to Dalwhinnie. In 1899, he was appointed Chief Assistant, and in 1901 Assistant Engineer, finally being promoted to Engineer in Chief in 1914. When the Highland Railway became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway System in 1921 he became Divisional Engineer in Inverness. In 1924 was transferred to the Crewe Division. He was appointed Chief Civil Engineer of the

on 1 February 1927, retiring on 1 July 1933. He served as a member of the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

Water-Power Resources Committee and of the Water-Power Section of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies. He received the C.B.E. in 1920. He was elected an Associate Member of The Institution of Civil Engineers in 1895, and was transferred to the class of Member in 1912. He was elected a Member of Council in November 1931. In 1926, he was President of the Permanent Way Institution. He was also a Member of the American Railway Engineering Association and of the

Institution of Water Engineers Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

. He was a Justice of the Peace for Inverness-shire.

Publications

*The Scottish Railway. A Sketch of their Growth and Development 1921 *The British Railways. 1936

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newlands, Alexander Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1870 births 1938 deaths Highland Railway London, Midland and Scottish Railway people Scottish justices of the peace Scottish civil engineers