Benjamin Connor


Benjamin Connor or Benjamin Conner was Locomotive Superintendent of the Caledonian Railway from 1856 to 1876. He was born in Glasgow in 1813 and died there on 3 February 1876. Connor married Helen Dick and had five children: James, Cristina, Alexander, Benjamin and William.

Design

The Railway Gazette described Connor as a "very celebrated engineer" because of his 1839 design of the passenger locomotive which was an enlargement on the locomotives available at the time. A locomotive built from his drawings was exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition.

Career

Connor was apprenticed to James Gray of Glasgow. Later he worked for Murdoch, Aitken & Co, Glasgow, where he learned locomotive engineering. He moved to England, working in Liverpool and Manchester, and then returned to Scotland to work for W.M. Neilson. After this he worked for Robert Napier and Sons and learned marine engineering. He was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Caledonian Railway in 1856.

Locomotives