(Q60604)

Sir James Weeks Szlumper (1834-1926), civil engineer, began his career with a London firm of engineers. In 1853 he was appointed surveyor of Cardiganshire, a position which he held for the next 25 years, and also served as deputy engineer of the Manchester and Milford Railway. It was Szlumper who secured the contract for the construction of the railway line between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen, and also of the light railway which still runs from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge (the Vale of Rheidol Railway). Szlumper also worked on railway lines in Montgomeryshire, on the Barry Railway, the Cardiff-Ogmore Line and the Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, as well as on railways in Devon.