Person

Brain, Orlando William Cornelius (1866 - 1936)

Born
17 April 1866
Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Died
6 June 1936
Killara, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Electrical engineer

Summary

Orlando Brain MIEE MIEAust, was an Assistant Commissioner of the New South Wales Government Railways and Tramways 1925-1932. He joined the Railways Department in 1896 as Chief Assistant to the Electrical Engineer, and from 1899 for the next 26 years was Chief Electrical Engineer for Railways and Tramways. During this period the Sydney tramways and suburban railways were converted to electric traction.

In addition to all the electrical work related to the railways and tramways, he was also responsible for bulk electricity supplies to the City Council, Sydney suburban areas, Newcastle, Maitland, and Singleton and district.

His early experience in electrical work was gained in England and Australia, under his father W Blanch Brain, a pioneer in electrical engineering.

Orlando also acted in a consulting capacity for other branches of the public service including: the original electrical installation for the low level sewerage system of Sydney; the electrical equipment for many moveable bridges; the coal crane at Newcastle; and he was a member of the Commission on Electricity in Mines.

Brain was the first lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney. He was also a member of the Munitions Committee at the beginning of the First World War; of the Rain Precipitation Investigation Committee; of the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association; and of the Trade Advisory Board of the Sydney Technical College.

In 1926 he was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, career achievement award in engineering, by the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Details

Chronology

1885
Life event - Moved to Australia, with his parents and siblings
1885 - 1887
Career position - Assistant to the Superintendent of Telephones, Tasmania
1887 - 1895
Career position - Electrical engineer, Crompton Electrical Company and its Australia agents [Managing many works including: the first Australian town lighting plant at Tamworth, NSW (1888); the first Australian mining power plant at Co-operative Colliery, Plattsburg, Newcastle, NSW (1893); and the hydro-electric plant and quartz stamping battery at Hillgrove, NSW (1894).]
1891 - 1914
Career event - Member, Electrical Association of New South Wales
1891 - 1915
Career event - Foundation Member, Electrical Association of New South Wales
1894
Life event - Married Amy Foxton Robertson, Wollongong, New South Wales
1896 - 1899
Career position - Chief Assistant to Electrical Engineer, Railways Department, New South Wales [under P.B. Elwell MIEE]
1897 - 1899
Career position - Chief Electrical Engineer, Railways Department, New South Wales
1899
Career event - Member (MIEE), Institution of Electrical Engineers, London
1899 - 1900
Career position - President, Electrical Association of New South Wales
1899 - 1924
Career position - Chief Electrical Engineer, Railways and Tramways, New South Wales
1900
Career event - Introduced the Electric Train Staff in New South Wales railway operations
c. 1901 - 1903
Career position - Lecturer, Electrical engineering, University of Sydney
1902 - 1903
Career event - Overseas tour of America, Europe and England
1910
Career event - Representative of New South Wales, at the International Railway Conference, Berne, Switzerland. Later recommended the salient features of the railway electrification system for Sydney.
1911 - 1912
Career position - President, Electrical Association of New South Wales
1914 - 1915
Career position - President (first), Federal Council, Electrical Association of Australia
1914 - 1919
Career event - Member, Electrical Association of Australia, New South Wales section
1915 - 1917
Career position - Member of the Rain Precipitation Investigation Committee
1919
Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
1920
Career position - Chairman of committee, Report on bulk supply of electricity in NSW
1920
Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
1920
Career position - Consultant to Queensland government. [Valuator of Brisbane Tramways, and Report on power supply for the Brisbane Tramways Trust.]
1922 - 1926
Career position - Representative of the Institution of Engineers Australia, on the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association
1925 - 1932
Career position - Assistant Commissioner, New South Wales Government Railways and Tramways
1926
Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia
1932
Life event - Retired

Children

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • 'Memoirs', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 361-362. 'Orlando William Brain, MIEAust', p361. Details
  • Brain, O. W., 'White Bay electric power house, New South Wales (Illustrated)', Commonwealth Engineer, 6 (1) (1918), 22-24. Details
  • Brain, O.W., 'Presidential address. Electrical Association of New South Wales', Proceedings of the Electrical Association of New South Wales (1911-12), 5-30. Details
  • Brain, O.W., 'Some notes on the metropolitan electric power supply of the N.S.W. railway commissioners', Proceedings of the Electrical Association of Australia, New South Wales Section, IV (1918-1919) (1918-19), 57-85; 87-91. Details
  • Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Seventh Annual General Meeting [March 1927] and Seventh Annual Report [1926]', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1927), xvi-xli, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.864993719677643. 'Prizes - The fourth award of the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal was made by Council to Mr O W Brain, Member, Assistant Railway Commissioner, N.S.W. Govt. Railways, Sydney', p.xxxv. Details

Newspaper Articles

Resources

See also

  • 'P. N. Russell Memorial Medal [List of recipients 1923 - 1931]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (1931), 445. Details
  • McCarthy, Ken, 'Chapter 13: The tramways of Sydney' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 257-270. Details

Ken McInnes

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