William St. John Galwey

William St John Galwey (1833-1891)

Railway Achievements in India

• 1857; East Indian Railway Company (EIR) as a Sub-Assistant Engineer. He was to have joined the staff employed on the works of the Soane Bridge, then in charge of Mr. Samuel Power, but the Indian mutiny having broken out, he could not proceed up country, and so remained for the rest of that year in the office of the Chief Engineer, the late George Turnbull, in Calcutta.
  • c.1858; Posted to EIR Monghyr district surveying the site for construction of the EIR Jamalpur locomotive workshops and facilities.
  • 1862; Promoted to Resident Engineer in charge of the works of the EIR Jamalpur locomotive works.
  • 1863; Appointed to take charge of a portion of the survey of the proposed EIR First Chord Line, which was to shorten the distance between Calcutta and the North West Provinces by about 70 miles.
  • c.1864; Attached to the office of the then EIR Chief Engineer, Mr. Samuel Power, who was preparing plans for a railway bridge across the River Hooghly and for a terminus in Calcutta, in place of that in Howrah. In connection with this scheme, Galwey accompanied Mr. Power to England early in 1865. The project, although approved, was not carried out.
  • 1865; Whilst in England, however, he was employed under Mr. Power, in preparing plans and estimates for the above mentioned EIR First Chord Line, 228 miles in length. On these plans and estimates the contract was let to the Brassey, Wythes and Perry Partnership, and the work was commenced in 1866
  • 1865; Engineer in charge of EIR Junction District including Kurraballie or Colliery branch, promoted 1867 to District Engineer
  • 1870; Engineer in charge of EIR Burdwan District, then Assanol engine-changing station facilities construction
• 1872; State Railways Department Executive Engineer and deployed to :-
• 1872; Punjab Northern State Railway, between Chenab and Jhelum rivers.
• c.1873; Punjab Northern State Railway in charge of construction of the Jhelum Bridge and assisted by the young engineer Hugh Lewin Monk. The bridge comprised fifty girder-spans of 90 feet, on triple well-foundations 35 feet in depth, with a length of nearly 1mile(1.6km) .
• c.1875; Indus Valley State Railway, Engineer-in-Charge of construction of the Empress Bridge over the Sutlej river and assisted by the young engineer Hugh Lewin Monk. The bridge is one of the chief bridges in India, and consists of fourteen girder-spans of 200 feet on triple well-foundations 100 feet in depth.
• 1876; Rajputana State Railway at Agra, Superintendent of Works
• 1879; Resigned from the State Railways Department.