Ernest Lemon

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Sir Ernest John Hutchings Lemon (9 December 1884-15 December 1954) was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and later its Vice-President.

[edit] Biography

Lemon was educated at Herriot Watt College. He served an apprenticeship with the North British Locomotive Company and then worked for the Highland Railway and for Hurst Nelson.

In 1911 Lemon became Chief Wagon Inspector of the Midland Railway in England. In 1917 he was made Carriage Works Manager at Derby. In 1923 he was appointed Divisional Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at Derby. There he developed production line methods for the construction of wagons and carriages.

Despite having little experience in locomotive engineering, in 1931 Lemon was appointed to the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer replacing the retiring Henry Fowler. After less than a year as CME however, Lemon was again promoted to Vice-President Railway Traffic, Operating and Commercial, replacing J.H. Follows who retired due to ill health. Under his Vice-Presidency, the LMS undertook modernisation of their motive power depots. William Stanier had been head-hunted from the Great Western Railway to replace him as CME and revolutionised the LMS's locomotive policy.

During the Second World War Lemon was made Director-General of Aircraft Production and was knighted. In 1942 and 1943 he was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. He retired from the railway in 1948 and died in Epsom in 1954.