Sir John Audley Frederick Aspinall (25 August 1851 – 19 January 1937) was an English

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 ...

who served as

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

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the ...

(GS&WR) of Ireland and

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(L&YR) of England. He introduced

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum bra ...

s to his locomotives in

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 ...

, a trend which was followed in Britain, and designed several

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s. He was also president 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 of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

Biography

Aspinall was born on 25 August 1851 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. He attended the Roman Catholic boarding school of

Beaumont College Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a public school in Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while lying, like the neighbouring Eton ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

before being apprenticed to engineers John Ramsbottom and Francis Webb 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 ...

in 1868. He was sent by Webb to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in 1872 where he was greatly impressed by the larger

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

in use there. In 1875, he moved to the

and became their works manager at

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

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

. Aspinall was promoted to

in 1883 and introduced a form of vacuum braking to his locomotives which was soon adopted by several other lines, including the London and North Western and Great Northern Railways. He was succeeded at Inchicore by

Henry Ivatt Henry Alfred Ivatt (16 September 1851, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire – 25 October 1923) was an English railway engineer, and was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1896 to 1911. Career London and North Western ...

and was to keep links with both Inchicore and Ivatt. He became the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the

in 1886. Continuing the work of his predecessor,

William Barton Wright William Barton Wright (13 November 1828 – 7 May 1915) was an English mechanical engineer, also tea plantation owner and mine owner. He was Locomotive Superintendent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) from 1875. During his ten-year ca ...

, he modernised the locomotive stock and continued Barton Wright's philosophy of standardisation, bringing in several of his own design. He was promoted to L&YR general manager in 1899, a position he was to hold until 1919. In this capacity he introduced electrification and greatly expanded the transport of coal. Aspinall served as president of the

between 1909 and 1910 and was interned in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914. Aspinall received a knighthood on 13 June 1917 for his contributions to the war effort and national transport system. He served as president of the

between November 1918 and November 1919. He was the first recipient of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers'

James Watt International Medal The James Watt Medal is an award for excellence in engineering established in 1937, conferred by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the United Kingdom. It is named after Scottish engineer James Watt (1736–1819) who developed the Watt steam ...

, receiving it in 1937. He died on 19 January 1937. His son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, was a barrister and first-class cricketer. He wrote seven

academic paper Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally publ ...

s and was the holder of fourteen

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

Locomotive designs

* GS&WR Classes 52 and 60, classes of 4-4-0 passenger locomotive serving the period 1883 to 1960. * L&YR Class 2 and Class 3, two designs of 4-4-0 steam locomotive. *

L&YR Class 5 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Class5 were 2-4-2T steam locomotives designed by Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) John Aspinall and introduced from 1889 for local passenger work. Later batches included progressive modifications such as ...

, a class of 270 steam tank locomotives with a 2-4-2T wheel arrangement. *

L&YR Class 7 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) Class 7 was a class of Atlantic passenger steam locomotives to the design of John Aspinall. Forty were built between 1899 and 1902. They were known as "High-Flyers" as a result of having a high-pitc ...

, a class of 40 steam passenger locomotives built between 1899 and 1902 with a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement. *

L&YR Class 21 The L&YR Class 21 is a class of small 0-4-0 ST steam locomotive built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway for shunting duties. They were nicknamed ''Pugs''. Construction history The class originates in the purchase of three saddle tank ...

, class of small 0-4-0ST steam locomotives for shunting duties. * L&YR Class 23, a class of 0-6-0ST steam locomotive used for shunting and for short-trip freight working, originally by

, rebuilt by Aspinall. *

L&YR Class 27 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Class 27 is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for freight work on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). Construction and operation Class 27 locomotives were designed by John Aspinall and ...

, a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for freight work. * L&YR Class 30, a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives, designed by Aspinall, built under

Hoy Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspinall, John Audley Frederick 1851 births 1937 deaths English railway mechanical engineers Knights Bachelor Locomotive superintendents Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Engineers from Liverpool People educated at Beaumont College

Biography

Locomotive designs

See also

References