Thomas Grainger FRSE (12 November 1794 – 25 July 1852) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 civil engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 and surveyor. He was born in Ratho

Ratho

Ratho is a village and civil parish in the west of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was formerly in the old county of Midlothian. Newbridge and Kirkliston are other villages in the area. The Union Canal passes through Ratho. Edinburgh Airport is situated only 4 miles ...

, outside Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, to Hugh Grainger and Helen Marshall. Educated at Edinburgh University, at sixteen he got a job with John Leslie, a land surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

.

He started his own practice in 1816. In 1825 he formed a partnership with John Miller

John Miller (engineer)

John Miller was a civil engineer of the 19th century. He was born in Ayr and died in Edinburgh. He went into partnership with Thomas Grainger in 1825. The partnership was responsible for many of Scotland's great railway projects. Miller took the lead role in surveying the Edinburgh and Glasgow...

 which lasted until 1847. Projects he was involved in included many railway bridges and tunnels, including work on the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway

Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway

The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway was an early mineral railway running from a colliery at Monklands to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch, Scotland....

, Ballochney Railway

Ballochney Railway

The Ballochney Railway was an early mineral railway built near Airdrie, in the Monklands District of Scotland.The railway was Incorporated on 19 May 1826 and was opened on 8 May 1828. Its main function was intended to be the transportation of coal, but iron ore and passengers were also carried. It...

, Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway, Wishaw and Coltness Railway

Wishaw and Coltness Railway

The Wishaw and Coltness Railway was an early Scottish railway. It ran for approximately 11 miles from Chapel Colliery, at Coltness, North Lanarkshire, to the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, near Gartsherrie...

, Paisley and Renfrew Railway

Paisley and Renfrew Railway

The Paisley and Renfrew railway was a railway line from the town of Paisley to its neighbouring town Renfrew; and to the River Clyde at Renfrew wharf. The railway was built to the Scotch gauge of...

, Dundee and Arbroath Railway

Dundee and Arbroath Railway

The Dundee and Arbroath Railway was a railway link between those two towns in Scotland.-History:The railway company received its Parliamentary Act on 19 May 1836. It was planned as a gauge railway, because, at that time, it was expected to be a purely local railway with no connection to the...

, Arbroath and Forfar Railway

Arbroath and Forfar Railway

The Arbroath and Forfar Railway was a railway that ran from the North East coast of Scotland at Arbroath inland to Guthrie on the Aberdeen Railway and then west to Forfar where is connected with the Scottish Midland Junction Railway. It was incorporated on 19 May 1836.-History:The Arbroath and...

, and the Leeds Northern Railway, where he was chief engineer at the time of his death.

Between 1845 and 1849 he was engaged on the difficult task of digging the Bramhope Tunnel

Bramhope Tunnel

The Bramhope Tunnel is a railway tunnel long, owned by Network Rail on a route currently operated mainly by Northern Rail. It was constructed during 1845–1849 on the Harrogate Line, carrying rural and commuter passengers between Horsforth and Weeton in West Yorkshire, England...

. The first modern design of rail ferry

Train ferry

A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...

, the Leviathan, was designed in 1849 by Grainger for the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway to cross the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 between Granton

Granton, Edinburgh

Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.-Name:Granton first appears...

 and Burntisland

Burntisland

Burntisland is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland on the Firth of Forth. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 5,940....

. The service commenced on 3 February 1850.

He was president of the Royal Scottish Society for Arts, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

.

He married Jessie Marshall around 1843. He died in Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

 in 1852 as a result of injuries sustained in a train crash, and was buried in Gogar

Gogar

Gogar is a rural exurb of Edinburgh, Scotland, located to the west of the city. It is not far from Gogarloch, Edinburgh Park and Maybury. The Fife Circle Line is to the north of the city.-History:The name of Gogar first appears on a map in 1233...

Cemetery.