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 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 ...

of the LNWR's Southern Division at

Wolverton railway works Wolverton railway works, known locally as Wolverton Works or just The Works, was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the route from London to Birmingham. The line ...

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 The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

, and its first chairman, discussing the issue of an institute in 1846 at Bromsgrove.;

Biography

McConnell was born at

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dái ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland, on 1 January 1815. In July 1841 McConnell joined the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway 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 Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...

, Buckinghamshire, England, on 11 June 1883.

Notes

Sources

* * ''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. * * * *
Glossary for the LNWR Society

Biography

See also

Notes

Sources

Further reading