John Farquharson McIntosh (1846-1918) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

engineer. He was

Chief Mechanical Engineer 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

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...

from 1895 to 1914. He was succeeded by

William Pickersgill William Pickersgill (1861 – 2 May 1928) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Caledonian Railway from 1914 until Railways Act 1921, Grouping in 1923. He was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Nor ...

Early life

Born in Farnell, Angus, Scotland, in February 1846, McIntosh would be famous for working at St. Rollox railway works, in

Springburn Springburn () is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its industrial expansion began ...

, in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Career

John F. McIntosh became an apprentice with the

Scottish North Eastern Railway The Scottish North Eastern Railway (SNER) was a railway company in Scotland operating a main line from Perth, Scotland, Perth to Aberdeen, with branches to Kirriemuir, Brechin and Montrose, Angus, Montrose. It was created when the Aberdeen Railwa ...

, at the

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

workshops, at the age of 14. In 1865 he passed out as a fireman and in 1867 he qualified as a driver and moved to Montrose. By this time he was employed by the

(CR) which had taken over the SNER in 1866. He lost his right hand in an accident in 1876 or 1877. At about the same time he became Locomotive Inspector for the northern section of the CR. He was later given responsibility for all locations north of Greenhill. By 1881 he was living in Perth. Several appointments followed – Locomotive Foreman at Aberdeen, Carstairs and Polmadie (Glasgow); Chief Inspector; Locomotive Running Superintendent and deputy to John Lambie. Lambie died suddenly on 1 February 1895 and McIntosh replaced him as

Locomotive designs

Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway is a heritage railway in Bo'ness, Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS), a registered charity, and operates a total of over of track (between Bo'ness and Manuel Juncti ...

* 812 Class, number 828 at the Strathspey Railway

Patents

He obtained

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 sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s for a

spark arrestor A spark arrester (sometimes spark arrestor) is any device which prevents the emission of flammable debris from combustion sources, such as internal combustion engines, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves. Spark arresters play a critical role i ...

and a gauge glass protector. ;List of patents * GB189823849 (with Archibald St Clair Ruthven), published 31 May 1899, Improvements in or relating to railway wagon brakes * GB190004019 (with Archibald St Clair Ruthven), published 16 February 1901, Improvements in or relating to railway wagon brakes * GB190207009 (with John Riekie), published 22 April 1903, Improvements in and connected with engine valve gear * GB190822998 (with Walter Reuben Preston), published 28 October 1909, Improvements in or relating to the smoke boxes of locomotive boilers

Family

He married Jeanie Fleming Logan, a close relative to author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

, and they had 3 sons and 4 daughters.Caley828.co.uk

Death

McIntosh died suddenly while working at St. Rollox railway works, on 6 February 1918, 22 days before his 72nd birthday. The cause of death was never confirmed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, John F. 1846 births 1918 deaths Locomotive builders and designers Scottish railway mechanical engineers British railway pioneers Scottish mechanical engineers Caledonian Railway people 19th-century British businesspeople