Roderick D. Donaldson
Roderick D. Donaldson (1883-1933)
1934 Obituary.[1]
Roderick D. Donaldson was born 1883, elected a Member in 1923, and received his early education at Brighton College and the City and Guilds Central Technical College, South Kensington.
In 1901 he went to America and served his engineering apprenticeship at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia. In 1904 he returned to England and joined Robert Stephenson and Co., Darlington, as an improver and draughtsman. Two years later he entered the Running Dept, of the then Great Central Railway at Sheffield. In 1909 he went to India as Assistant Locomotive Supt. on the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, was promoted District Locomotive Supt. in 1912 and Works Supt. of Locomotive Central Shop at Ajmer in 1918.
The following extract from the “Editorial” of the B.B. and C.I. Rly. Magazine reflects his character:— “The responsibilities of the post of Locomotive and Carriage Supt. have been during the past year very heavy and the strain upon Mr. Donaldson, whose conscientious devotion to duty was phenomenal, was such that for several months past he had been experiencing indifferent health. Mr. Donaldson is an officer whom it will be difficult for the railway to replace; over a period of 24 years he has shown an ability in dealing with the problems of this department and a facility for getting the best work out of his staff, which made him a very valuable asset to the railway.”
He died suddenly on October 24th, 1933, in Ajmer Hospital.