James Edward McConnell (1815–1883) was one of the first locomotive engineers of the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
(LNWR). He was
Locomotive Superintendent of the LNWR's Southern Division at
Wolverton railway works from 1847 to 1862 and oversaw the design of the "
Bloomer" and "Patent" locomotives. He was also one of the founding members of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and its first chairman, discussing the issue of an institute in 1846 at
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...
.
[; ]
Biography
McConnell was born at
Fermoy,
County Cork, Ireland, on 1 January 1815.
In July 1841 McConnell joined the
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) was the first name of the railway linking the cities in its name and of the company which pioneered and developed it; the line opened in stages in 1840, using a terminus at Camp Hill in Birmingham. It ...
as foreman of locomotives.
Since the
Rainhill Trials in 1829, it had been accepted that the smoke emitted by burning coal was a nuisance. Railway companies accepted the need to burn
coke (a smokeless fuel) in their locomotives, but this was much more expensive than coal, and several locomotive engineers sought a method by which coal could be burned smokelessly. One such engineer was McConnell, who designed a boiler suitable for coal in 1852.
McConnell died at
Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, on 11 June 1883.
See also
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Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway
Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Locomotive Department was headquartered at Crewe from 1862. The Crewe Works had been built in 1840–43 by the Grand Junction Railway.
Locomotives i ...
Notes
Sources
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* ''Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives'', January 1961, part 3, page 58
*
* Jack, Harry (2001): ''Locomotives of the LNWR Southern Division – London & Birmingham Railway and Wolverton Locomotive Works.'' Sawtry, RCTS.
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Glossary for the LNWR Societyat steamindex.com
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, James
1815 births
1883 deaths
Engineers from County Cork
London and North Western Railway people
Locomotive builders and designers
British railway mechanical engineers
People from Fermoy
Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers