Robert Sinclair (locomotive engineer)

Robert Sinclair (1 July 1817 – 20 October 1898) was born in London but came from a Caithness family. He became Chief Mechanical Engineer of several British railways and also worked in France. He retired to Italy, where he died.^[1]

Robert Sinclair
Born	(1817-07-01)1 July 1817 London, England
Died	20 October 1898(1898-10-20) (aged 81) Italy
Nationality	British
Education	Charterhouse School
Engineering career
Discipline	Mechanical engineering

Career

Early years

He was apprenticed to a shipbuilder and later worked for Robert Stephenson, the Grand Junction Railway and the Paris and Rouen Railway.^[1]

Chief mechanical engineer

He was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Caledonian Railway (CR) from 1847–1856, the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) from 1856–1862 and, following a merger of railways, of the Great Eastern Railway (GER) from 1862–1865.^[2]

Consulting engineer

Sinclair resigned from the GER 1865, and became a consulting engineer. In this capacity, he designed a fast 2-4-2 locomotive for the Great Luxemburg Railway, and an outside cylinder 2-4-0 for the East Indian Railway. The Luxembourg 2-4-2 design was later adapted into a 2-4-2T for commuter services on the GER.^[3]

Locomotive designs

• Caledonian, see Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway
• ECR/GER, see Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway

Innovations

Sinclair was an early user of:^[1]

• the Giffard injector
• the use of steel for railway axles and wheel tyres
• roller bearings for carriages