Nils Ericson

Nils Ericson (1802 to 1870) was a Swedish mechanical engineer who built canals and railways in Sweden; his younger brother was the engineer John Ericsson. Raised at Forsvik beside the Gota Canal works, he learned drawing and mechanics as a boy, joined the army engineers in 1823 and moved to the Navy Mechanical Corps in 1830. Between 1830 and 1850 he directed canals at Stallbacka, Saffle, Karlstad and Albrektsund and led the Saimaa Canal in Finland. After 1850 he was chiefly occupied with designing and building the Swedish state-owned railway system, and after the Riksdag decision of 1854 he led construction of the main lines, proposing the routes of the Western and Southern Main Lines. He was made a baron in 1859.