Alexander McDonnell (engineer)

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Alexander McDonnell
Born(1829-12-18)18 December 1829
North Eastern Railway

Alexander McDonnell was an Irish

North Eastern Railway
in England, although resistance to his changes meant little progress was made before he left.

Career

McDonnell was apprenticed at Newall and Gordon in Westminster before working as an engineer at the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway – later to become part of the Great Western Railway.[2]

From 1864 to 1883 he was Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland at Inchicore. McDonnell reformed the GS&WR workshop practices and improved their speed and efficiency. He also introduced practices then in use at Crewe Works and standardised parts between locomotive classes.

McDonnell was noted for his ability to recognise, and employ, men of talent. By doing this, he initiated the "Inchicore school" of locomotive engineers, who would include

H.A. Ivatt, and R.E.L. Maunsell.[2]

From 1 November 1882, McDonnell was Locomotive Superintendent of the

North Eastern Railway (NER) in England; he succeeded Edward Fletcher, who had retired. He found that Fletcher's locomotives, although good, did not use standardised components. McDonnell decided that in future, locomotives would use shared standard parts where possible, and that locomotive design and construction would utilise the practices which he had used at Inchicore.[3] His first locomotive design for the NER, the '38' class 4-4-0, incorporated a number of unpopular features; and some popular features of Fletcher's engines were omitted. Worse, although the new locomotives were larger than Fletcher's most recent designs, they were no more capable.[4] His only other design for the NER, the '59' class 0-6-0, were also unpopular; in this case, the engines were of similar size to Fletcher's most recent 0-6-0, but were less powerful.[5] As a consequence, McDonnell resigned from the NER in September 1884, receiving a year's salary as severance pay.[4] McDonnell was not replaced immediately, the NER's locomotive department then being managed by a committee chaired by Henry Tennant.[3]

Locomotive designs

GS&WR

NER

See also

References

  1. ^ "Alexander McDonnell". steamindex.com.
  2. ^ a b "LNER Encyclopedia: Alexander McDonnell". www.lner.info.
  3. ^ a b Boddy, M.G.; Fry, E.V.; Hennigan, W.; Proud, P.; Yeadon, W.B. (July 1963). Fry, E.V. (ed.). Part 1: Preliminary Survey. Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Potters Bar: RCTS. pp. 10, 11.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-901115-52-5
    .
  5. ISBN 0-901115-12-6
    .
  6. ^ "LNER Encyclopedia: The McDonnell NER Class '38' 4-4-0 Locomotives". www.lner.info.
  7. ^ "LNER Encyclopedia: The McDonnell J22 (NER Class '59') 0-6-0 Locomotives". www.lner.info.
Business positions
Preceded by Locomotive Superintendent of the
North Eastern Railway

October 1882 – September 1884 		Succeeded by
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