James Moore (engineer)
| James Moore | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1826 Britain |
| Died | 19 November 1887 Lismore, New South Wales |
| Nationality | English |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | civil engineer |
| Projects | Hobsons Bay railway line Victoria |
James Moore (1826–1887) was an engineer responsible for the first steam railway to operate in Australia.
James Moore C.E. was born in about 1827 in England, a nephew of Sir William Cubitt, under whom he was engaged on the South Eastern and Great Northern railways in Britain, and presumably learnt his trade there. Moore moved to Australia in the 1850s to take up a position with the first railway project in the country.
Moore was appointed as Chief Engineer for the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1854, replacing a William Snell Chauncy, who had resigned the engineership of the line under a cloud as the work on the railway pier had proven useless. It was said of Moore that he was a man of whose abilities rumour speaks favourably. Moore was responsible for completing the railway line between the city and Sandridge, as well as the main deep-water pier on Hobson's Bay at Sandridge. He can also be credited with the first locomotive in the Australian colonies when he attached a pile driving steam engine to one of the heavy railway trucks, to assist in construction of the line.
At the opening of the line in September 1854, he was presented with an engraved watch with the inscription: "James Moore, Esq. Engineer of the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway by the Commissioners as a token of their esteem and in commemoration of his having opened the first Railway in the Australian Colonies Sept. 12th 1854". However, not long after this he was replaced on 12 December 1854, by William Elsdon, possibly due to some perceived incompetence.
Little is known of Moore's later career, although he is noted as having been late resident engineer of the Windsor and Richmond Railway (in New South Wales) and then superintendent of works on the Southern extension of the New South Wales Great Southern Railway into the town of Goulburn.
...
Wikipedia