James Donald (“Jim” to his friends and colleagues) died on 20 March after a long illness, at the age of 77.

A civil engineer, he spent the first part of his career in Scotland; he moved south in 1990 to take up the new position of Engineering Standards Manager for Trainload Freight.

I first met Jim at Trainload Freight when working on MARPAS with Dr Mike Shenton as part of the Trainload Freight Reviews, where his assistance interpreting the relationship of the wheel-rail interface was invaluable. We subsequently worked together in Rail Consultancy; after leaving BR in 1995 he went to work as a consultant at TMG (Transport Management Group), which was taken over by Brown & Root in 1998 and then subsequently Halliburton. He worked on several London Underground projects and also in Hong Kong on the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and in Kazakhstan on freight infrastructure. Subsequently, he became a Sole Trader, particularly working on Docklands Light Railway.

Jim continued as a true friend and work colleague, we had many good social days out, he was a very special person and a Bon Vivant! I have fond memories of our sessions at The John Barleycorn at Goring in particular our last visit there just before Covid lockdown in January 2020 where he is clearly happy and relaxed in this photo.