James E. McConnell

James Edward McConnell (1815–1883) was a Scottish-born British locomotive engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent of the LNWR's Southern Division at Wolverton from 1847 to 1862. His design philosophy at the southern end of the company was strikingly different from Francis Trevithick's at Crewe, and the rivalry between the two divisions was a feature of the LNWR's early years.

Born at Fermoy, Ireland on 1 January 1815 (some sources put his birth at Glasgow), McConnell was apprenticed at Forrest of Glasgow. He became Locomotive Superintendent of the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway (a Midland predecessor) and was appointed to Wolverton on the death of Edward Bury. His most notable design was the 'Bloomer' 2-2-2 single (1851), large, handsome and distinguished by their bright crimson lake livery, used on the LNWR's southern expresses. McConnell resigned in 1862 over the LNWR's planned consolidation under Ramsbottom and went into private engineering practice. He died at Stourbridge on 11 June 1883.