George Turnbull (engineer)
[3] In 1828 he sailed from Dundee to London to train under the famous civil engineer Thomas Telford building St Katharine Docks.In August 1836 George went to Bristol to see the 11⁄2-inch bar drawn between the River Avon's precipices for the future Clifton Suspension Bridge.Amongst other journeys, Turnbull's January 1837 diary records travel from Cardiff to his parents' Perthshire home: the mail coach to Bristol (with no then Severn Bridge or Severn Tunnel); all the next day Bristol to London "on Cooper's coach, sitting on the box seat outside with the coachman" (there was snow 10-feet deep near Marlborough); the steamer Perth for the 41-hour journey to Dundee; and then overland to Huntingtower, near Perth.In 1843 he was resident engineer for William Cubitt for the railway line from the Shakespeare Tunnel along the shore to Dover station (he entertained the Duke of Wellington, "pale, old and shaky on his legs", who visited the works) and built a pier and landing stages at Folkestone.Major constraints for Turnbull were the lack of both quality clay and local brick-building skills resulting in the change to importing nearly all ironwork from England (before the Suez canal) for the many bridges, rails, engines, etc as no Indian steel works existed.[6] In February 1868, Turnbull was offered £2000 to settle the claim by contractors who had built part of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway.He and others had a private train for four days "getting down and inspecting every bridge and large culvert" and making copious notes for the 389 km (242 mi) between Bhusawal and Nagpore.Applying his engineering skills, Turnbull wrote the prospectus for the Abbots Langley Water Company and was much involved with the village's drainage and sewerage scheme in 1885.
George TurnbullLuncartyPerth and KinrossPerthshireAbbots LangleyPerth Grammar SchoolEdinburgh UniversityInstitution of Civil EngineersEast Indian railwaysSt Katharine Docks, LondonWest Bute dock, CardiffMiddlesbrough DockDover railwaySeacombe wallGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)CalcuttaBenaresGangesHuntingtowerbleachfieldHector TurnbullWilliam SandemanDundeeThomas TelfordSt Katharine DocksAbingdon StreetRiver WandlePaddington CanalCubittWestminster AbbeyWest Bute dockCardiffWilliam CubittLord ButeClifton Suspension BridgeIsambard Kingdom BrunelSevern BridgeSevern TunnelMarlboroughMiddlesbroughStockton and Darlington RailwayStirlingsleepersShakespeare TunnelDover stationDuke of WellingtonFolkestoneBirkenheadSeacombeGreat Northern RailwayEast Indian Railwayterminus at HowrahSone RiverIndian MutinyCholeraPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation CompanySulkeaGreat Indian Peninsular RailwayMarseillesAlexandriaBombayBhusawalNagporeSt. Margaret's, WestminsterNeuchâtelEast Indian Railway CompanyCambridge University