a freight train that was being shunted at , Lothian. One person was killed and 21 were injured. On 24 November 1904, a fire at North British Railways Company's terminus in Glasgow caused fatal injuries to firefighter William Rae. On 14 April 1914, an express passenger train was in collision with a freight train that was being shunted at , Fife due to a signalman's error. On 4 January 1917, a light engine overran signals and was in a head-on collision with an express passenger train at Ratho, Lothian. Twelve people were killed and 44 were seriously injured. Irregular operating procedures were a major contributory factor in the accident. These were subsequently stopped. Business activities The company's headquarters were at 23 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh and its works at Cowlairs, Glasgow. Its capital in 1921 was £67 million. Besides its railway, the company also operated Clyde steamers on the River Clyde and Firth of Clyde, serving Arran and points west. The company also acquired a 49% stake in the road haulage firm Mutter Howey. The North British Hotel at the east end of Princes Street in Edinburgh city centre forms a prominent landmark with its high tower displaying large clocks. It was renamed the Balmoral Hotel in the 1980s, though the old name is still shown in the stonework. In Glasgow, the former Queen's Hotel sited in George Square next to Queen Street Station was renovated in 1905 to become the company's North British Station Hotel, with the attic converted into a fourth storey under a mansard roof. Following nationalisation it came under British Transport Hotels until 1984 when British Rail sold the hotel, which by then was called the Copthorne Hotel. It was later renamed the Millennium Hotel. Senior officials Chairmen General Managers Conacher was a strong-willed manager and many reforms were introduced by him, but in 1899 a scandal arose in the board room of the company in connection with undertakings given by a director, Randolph Wemyss. Wemyss had skilfully manipulated the situation in his own favour, and Conacher felt that he had no alternative but to leave the Company. Locomotive Superintendents (Chief mechanical engineers) The North British Railway preferred the title Locomotive Superintendent for the officer responsible to the Board for the production and maintenance of its locomotives, and only the Locomotive Superintendent title appears in company records and on the archived records and letterheads of the holders