John Aspinall (engineer)

Sir John Audley Frederick Aspinall (25 August 1851 – 19 January 1937) was a British mechanical engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Southern and Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He introduced vacuum brakes to his locomotives in Ireland, a trend which was followed in Britain, and designed several locomotives. He was also president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Biography

Aspinall was born on 25 August 1851 in Liverpool to a Roman Catholic judge.

He became the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1886 and their general manager in 1899. In this capacity he introduced electrification and greatly expanded the transport of...
Read More