John Grantham
| John Grantham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1809 Croydon, England |
| Died | 10 July 1874 Croydon, England |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Mechanical engineering |
John Grantham (1809–1874) was an English engineer, born at Croydon, who was involved in marine, railway and tramway engineering. He was the second son of another John Grantham. After leaving school, John (junior) worked with his father surveying routes for projected railway lines in England.
His father, John Grantham (1774-1833), was appointed as John Rennie's assistant to survey the River Shannon. He introduced steam navigation to the inland Shannon in 1827 and his steam boats plied the Shannon and the Grand Canal and were taken up by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. He is buried in the cathedral at Killaloe where there is a commemorative wall tablet. His son assisted him in the work.
Returning to England, he joined Mather, Dixon and Company in Liverpool and later became a manager and partner in the firm.
Mather, Dixon and Company closed in 1843 and Grantham began a practice as a Naval Architect and Consulting Engineer. He was involved in the design of several large iron sailing and steam ships, including Sarah Sands, Pacific, Antelope and Empress Eugenie. He became Engineer to the Whitehaven Steamship Company, and other companies, and was involved in the construction of vessels for Australia and Egypt. In 1859 he left Liverpool for London, where he continued to do work for the mercantile marine.
In 1860, became Engineer to the Buenos Aires Northern Railway, Argentina. In 1863, he created the first tramway in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 1872 he designed a steam tramcar. This was a four-wheel double-deck car with two vertical boilers in the centre. The boilers were of the Field type and each was 18 inches diameter and 4 ft 4 in high. The engine, placed under the floor, had two cylinders, each 4" diameter and 10" stroke. These drove a single pair of driving wheels, 30" diameter. The car could be driven from either end. The car was built in 1873 by the Oldbury Carriage and Wagon Company and the steam machinery was supplied by Merryweather & Sons.
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