Thomas Parker was chief mechanical engineer

Chief Mechanical Engineer

Chief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...

 of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...

 from 1886-1893.

He was Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at the railway's Gorton works

Gorton locomotive works

Gorton Locomotive Works, known locally as Gorton Tank was located in Openshaw near Manchester, England and was completed in 1848 by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway.- History :...

 from 1858 and then replaced Charles Reboul Sacre who resigned in 1886. He was succeeded in 1893 by Harry Pollitt

Harry Pollitt (engineer)

Harry Pollitt was Locomotive Engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from 1894–1897 and its successor, the Great Central Railway, from 1897-1900.-Biography:Pollitt was born on 26 December 1864 at Ashton-under-Lyne...

.

In 1891 he introduced the first locomotive on a British railway to use a Belpaire firebox

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...

, which had been used on export locomotives built by the neighbouring Beyer Peacock since 1872.

The continuous vacuum brake

Vacuum brake

The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in those countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum brakes also enjoyed a brief period of adoption in...

 and internal communication cord

Emergency brake (train)

On trains, the expression emergency brake has several meanings:* The maximum brake force available to the driver/engineer from his conventional braking system, usually operated by taking the brake handle to its furthest postion, through a gate mechanism, or by pushing a separate plunger in the cab*...

 were introduced by the railway, gaining Board of Trade

Board of Trade

The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

approval in 1893.