Richard Maunsell

Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell CBE (pronounced "Mansell") (26 May 1868 – 7 March 1944) held the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the Southern Railway in England until 1937.

He was born on 26 May 1868 at Raheny, County Dublin in Ireland. He attended The Royal School, Armagh from 1882 to 1886. After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, he began an apprenticeship at the Inchicore works of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GSWR) under H. A. Ivatt in 1886, completing his training at Horwich Works on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (as Nigel Gresley had done before him). At Horwich, he worked in the drawing office, before occupying the post of locomotive foreman in charge of the Blackpool and Fleetwood District. From there, he went to India in 1894, as Assistant Locomotive Superintendent of the East India Railway, being subsequently District Locomotive Superintendent of the Asansol District.

He returned in 1896 to become works manager at Inchicore on the GSWR, moving up to become Locomotive Superintendent in 1911.

In 1913, he was selected to succeed Harry Wainwright as CME of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. When that line was incorporated in the new Southern Railway, he became Chief Mechanical Engineer of the latter, retiring in 1937, Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid taking over from him.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his efforts during the First World War.

Among his many achievements was the introduction of the 4-6-0 SR Lord Nelson Class locomotives and also the SR Class V or Schools Class, which were the ultimate and very successful development of the British 4-4-0 express passenger type. He also introduced pulverised fuel equipment and new types of valve gear.

• GB191419269 (with George Victor Valen Hutchinson), published 26 November 1914, Improvements relating to steam superheaters
• GB192985 (with James Clayton), published 15 February 1923, Improvements in or relating to condensers for lubricators of the condensation type
• GB202523 (with James Clayton), published 23 August 1923, A double-feed lubricator