Sir James Milne, K.C.V.O., C.S.I. (4 May 1883 – 1 April 1958), was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

railway manager in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. He was General Manager of the Great Western Railway (GWR) from 1929 to 1947, and also deputy chairman of the

Railway Executive Committee The Railway Executive Committee (REC) was a government body which controlled the operation of Britain's railways during World War I and World War II. It should not be confused with the Railway Executive which was a division of the British Transp ...

(REC) from 1938 to 1947.

Early life

Milne was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in 1883. He attended

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and later moved to

to study Engineering at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

, graduating in 1904.

GWR

Milne joined the GWR 1904 as a pupil engineer (training to be a locomotive engineer) in the locomotive department. He later moved to

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

and gained operational and traffic experience. In 1912 Milne married Nora Rebekah Morse, daughter of

Levi Lapper Morse Levi Lapper Morse (24 May 1853 – 10 September 1913) was an English grocer and draper and Liberal Party politician. Family and education Morse was the son of Charles Morse from Stratton St Margaret, near Swindon in Wiltshire. He was educated ...

Government work

Milne joined the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

when it was set up in 1919 as Director of Statistics until 1921. He also served on the Geddes Committee on National Expenditure (1921–22) and the India Retrenchment Committee (1922–23), which was chaired by Lord Inchcape. Milne was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

(CSI) in 1923.

Return to GWR

Milne returned to the GWR as assistant general manager (to Sir Felix Pole) in 1922, and replaced Pole as General Manager in 1929. He continued Pole's work on the GWR's advertising and corporate image, introducing the Gill Sans typeface in advertising and the GWR monogram on advertising and rolling stock. He was knighted in 1932, and appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1936. During his tenure he helped set up

Railway Air Services Railway Air Services (RAS) was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the Big Four railway companies (the GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) and Imperial Airways. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up ...

, a joint venture between the major British railway companies and

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

. The GWR also investigated electrification but thought it not suitable or economic for its network. From 1938 Milne continued as General Manager but was also deputy chairman of the

(REC), a government body responsible for running British railways during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Milne was also a member of the Road Transport (Defence) Advisory Committee (1938). The REC's work continued after the end of the war through to nationalisation in 1948. In 1940 Milne was elected as a GWR director but could not take up the role as the REC was a government body. On 29 July 1944

Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

had to be closed because of large crowds trying to leave London for the August Bank holiday and to escape flying bombs. The GWR had locomotives and coaches available, but were not allowed to run extra trains because of wartime restrictions. Milne had to threaten to involve the Prime Minister,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, before the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

relented and allowed the extra trains to run.

Retirement

Pilning High Level up South Wales express geograph-2900329-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Milne strongly opposed state ownership of the railways, but was still offered the chairmanship of the

Railway Executive Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

of the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

(BTC), which was being formed to manage the proposed nationalised British Railways. Milne declined the offer and retired from the GWR at the end of 1947. In 1948 an ex-GWR locomotive, Castle class No. 7001 ''Denbigh Castle'', was renamed as No. 7001 ''Sir James Milne''. Milne died in 1958.

References

Sources

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External links

Photograph of James Milne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, James 1883 births 1958 deaths Great Western Railway people Engineers from Dublin (city) People educated at Campbell College Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester