Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell (26 May 1868 -7 March 1944) held the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Southern Railway in the England from the time of the 1923 Grouping until 1937.
He was born on 26 May 1868 at Raheny, County Dublin in Ireland. After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, he began an apprenticeship at the Inchicore works of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GSWR) under Henry Alfred Ivatt in 1886, completing his training at Horwich 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 the 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.
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.
Sources of Information
[1] Wikipedia