Ian Gaylor is a consultant design engineer with a lifetime of experience in both mechanical engineering design and steam locomotive operation. One-time Head of Mechanical Engineering at Cranfield Institute of Technology's Product Engineering Centre, Ian now runs his own engineering consulting practice "Steam Loco Design" specialising in steam locomotives and railway rolling-stock.- see http://www.steam-loco-design.co.uk. He is also a Senior Associate with a leading European technology and management consultancy.
Ian has more than forty years experience (at of 2010) of working as a volunteer engineman on many lines including the Festiniog, West Somerset, Leighton Buzzard and Bure Valley Railways. Over the years he has been involved in many locomotive restoration projects, volunteering his engineering design expertise and skills as a fitter. He also has extensive experience of training footplate staff and has produced training materials which are in use at several lines.
In 2009, Ian was appointed Design Engineer for the ‘Lyn’ project for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway which aims to create a locomotive with a 19th century outline incorporating 21st century technology using the principles developed by L.D. Porta - see http://www.762club.com/762home.php.
In 2006, Steam Railway Magazine published a two-part article written by Ian Gaylor which described some of his work modernizing locomotives on the Bure Valley Railway. The combined article is is reproduced in unabridged form on Ian's website at http://www.steam-loco-design.co.uk/pages/zb_article.html.