James Edward McConnell (1815–1883) was one of the first locomotive engineers of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).

[2] In July 1841 McConnell joined the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway as foreman of locomotives.

[3] Since the Rainhill Trials in 1829, it had been accepted that the smoke emitted by burning coal was a nuisance.

[4] Railway companies accepted the need to burn coke (a smokeless fuel) in their locomotives, but this was much more expensive than coal, and several locomotive engineers sought a method by which coal could be burned smokelessly.

[6] McConnell died at Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, on 11 June 1883.