Re: Bradfield's Electric City Railway

[billboltonREMOVE-TO-EMAIL@computer.org (Bill Bolton)]

"David & Jan Winter" <winterd@icenet.com.au> wrote:

> Somewhat akin to being Australia's Brunel - well sort of.

I'd suggest that there is next to nothing in common in the engineering
between work of I.K. Brunell and J.J.C. Bradfield.

Brunel was one of the great men of the Industrial Revoloution who
created the role of the modern professional engineer through their
pioneering work.  However, like many of his engineering successors, he
was a lousy administrator. 

Bradfield's "great work" was done much more as a skilled administrator
of engineering work than in innovative engineering per se, though
there is no doubt he was competent engineer.  IMO he had the much more
difficult task of convincing Government to consider, commence and
carry grand engineering works through to completion.  

While in these later times it seems popular to bemoan that more of his
proposals were not put into effect, any study of the machinations of
the political process in NSW in the first three decades of this
century makes it abundantly clear that we should be grateful that he
was able to steer as much as he did through the Public Works process
during the turbulent political and financial climate of those times.

Cheers,

Bill