Career
Previously he had been locomotive superintendent of the Dundee, Perth and Aberdeen Junction Railway (1859-1863) and assistant to Alexander Allan on the Scottish Central Railway (1863-1865). Outdoor superintendent, Caledonian Railway (1865-1876) and assistant/deputy to the incumbent and ailing Conner. In common with many of his professional contemporaries he described himself as a civil engineer in 1861 and 1871 but as a mechanical engineer (locomotive superintendent) in 1881.
On his own account, he was responsible for the management of the design of:
10 x 2-4-0
30 x 0-4-2 (Caledonian Railway 670 Class)
10 x 4-4-0 (Caledonian Railway 179 Class)
12 x 2-4-0T (Tank locomotive)
1 x 2-2-2WT
15 x 2-4-2T
1 x 0-4-0CT (Crane tank)
6 x 0-6-0ST
About 30 of these locomotives saw their way into the stock of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, some possibly gaining an extended lease of life due to the demands on the railway caused by the Great War.
All had outside cylinders. Most of his engines had a reasonable service life for the period but were ill-suited for the age of standardisation that swept the country from the mid-1870s onwards.
Seen more as a running man than a designer and innovator, and with failing health and support from the board of directors that had appointed him, he was sidelined in a reoganisation of his department and appointed consultant, before resigning his £850/annum post in April 1882. He died shortly afterwards.
