Henry Edward Cusack (1865-1954) was a Locomotive Superintendent of the

Midland Great Western Railway The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irela ...

(MGWR).

Life

Edward Cusack was born on 6 November 1865. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, England. His father, Sir

Ralph Smith Cusack Sir Ralph Smith Cusack was chairman of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) of Ireland for forty years from 1865 to 1905. Life Cusack was born on 16 November 1821, the son of James William Cusack, a Dublin surgeon, and Elizabeth Bernard. ...

was Chairman of the MGWR from 1865 to 1905 and his brother-in-law, Major Major James William Henry Claud "H.C." Cusack was Deputy Chairman of the MGWR from 1905. His mother was Elizabeth Barker He served a four-year apprenticeship with Kitson and Company,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, followed by two years at

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

, then returned to Ireland as a junior draughtsman in 1890. He married Constance Louisa Vernon in 1892. When

Martin Atock Martin Atock, also formerly known as Martin Attock, was an English railway engineer, who is best known as the Locomotive Superintendent of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) from 1872 to 1900. Life Atock was born in June 1834 in Presto ...

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 Mechanical Engineers position from 1905-1915 and was replaced by the young draughtsman W. H. Morton who rose to support him.

Engineering

Cusack Cusack is an Irish family name of Norman origin, originally from Cussac in Guienne ( Aquitaine), France. The surname died out in England, but is still common in Ireland, where it was imported at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in ...

oversaw the introduction of MGWR Class D on the transition from his predecessor

. The first attributed locomotive to his era was the MGWR Class A, the largest

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four pow ...

in Ireland at the time of its 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. Cusack was responsible for the design of a Royal Train prepared for the visit of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

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 the top but tightly curved at the sides.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusack, Henry Edward 1865 births 1954 deaths Locomotive builders and designers Midland Great Western Railway Irish civil engineers Irish people in rail transport Locomotive superintendents Irish railway mechanical engineers 20th-century Irish engineers 19th-century Irish engineers Engineers from Dublin (city)