Fredrick George Smith was a British

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

. He was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1872 and died in 1956. He was appointed manager of the

Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Based in Inverness, the company was formed by merger ...

's Lochgorm Works in 1903, and promoted to Assistant to the

Chief Mechanical Engineer Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

, Peter Drummond in 1903. After Drummond's departure for the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1911, Smith was appointed to replace him, albeit under the old title of Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent. His only design for the Highland Railway was the River Class, which was rejected by the Chief Engineer, causing his resignation. He went on to take a post in the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

and in 1918 entered the steel industry.

References

* * Locomotive builders and designers 1872 births 1956 deaths People from Newcastle upon Tyne {{Scotland-rail-transport-stub