Lieut-Col. Harold Rudgard (c1885-1958)
1959 Obituary [1]
Lt.-Col. Harold Rudgard, O.B.E., T.D., the distinguished railway engineer, who died on 5th March 1958 in his seventy-fourth year, served as President of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in 1948-49. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1913 and transferred to Member in 1945.
He received his education at the Grammar School, Burton-on-Trent, and Denstone College; he served his apprenticeship at the Midland Railway Locomotive Works, Derby, from 1900 to 1907, and also attended evening classes at Derby Technical College in 1902-06.
From 1907 to 1911 he served as Assistant to District Locomotive Superintendent at Derby, subsequently becoming Superintendent at Skipton, Derby, and Plaistow, successively.
During the 1914-18 war he served with the Sherwood Foresters and Royal Engineers.
In 1919 he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Freight Trains, Midland Railway, Derby, subsequently becoming Assistant to the Motive Power Superintendent, London Midland and Scottish Railway, Derby. In 1932 he became Divisional Superintendent of Motive Power (Midland Division), Derby, and was appointed Assistant Divisional Superintendent of Operation, Derby, in 1935; he became Divisional Superintendent of Operation there in 1937.
In December 1942 he was appointed Superintendent of Motive Power, L.M.S.R., and in 1948 he joined the Railway Executive as Chief Officer (Motive Power).