David Coe (1852-1932)
1932 Obituary[1]
"The Late Mr. David Coe.—The sudden death of Mr. David Coe, at Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on February 22 last, removes from our midst a civil engineer who had spent many years in Mexico, where he was engaged on the construction of railways. Born on September 21, 1862, he served a pupilage of five years, from 1874 to 1879, under Mr. John Snape, engineer of the Powell Duffryn Coal Co, Aberdare, South Wales. In 1879 he was appointed assistant engineer in the construction department of the Alexandra Docks and Railway Co, Newport, Mon., and continued to occupy that position until 1893. In this latter year he proceeded to Mexico to take up the appointment of assistant engineer on the Interoceanic Railway, then under construction. Three years later he became chief assistant engineer and was placed in charge of the reconstruction and maintenance of the permanent way. In 1899, he was made resident engineer on the southern division of the National Railway of Tehuantepec, then being reconstructed. After serving several years as divisional engineer, he was appointed chief engineer of the railway in 1904, a position he occupied until 1908. In 1911, Mr. Coe was appointed resident engineer on the construction of the projected National South Eastern Railway of Mexico, from Santa Lucrecia (Vera Cruz) to Campeche, Yucatan. He continued to occupy this position for a number of years, but eventually returned to his native country, and settled at Hengoed, Cardiff. Mr. Coe became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on February 3 1891, and was elected to full membership on December 22, 1903."