Locomotive & Rolling Stock Manufacturers

[Arthur]

Thanks Osgood. I do like that first Hudswell, the one for South Durham Steel & Iron, a very nicely balanced looking design.

 

 

Going on to wheelsets, their manufacture was quite specialised, requiring a decent sized forge, so many were farmed out to specialist makers.

 

Along with Owen & Dyson, there were others including Steel, Peech and Tozer (later part of United Steels), also in Rotherham, and Taylor Bros. in Trafford Park, Manchester. The latter produced wheelsets under BSC ownership and is still in limited operation today.

 

One of those threads I've been meaning to kick off for a while is one devoted to the manufacture of rolling stock wheels.

 

.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Arthur

[Osgood]

....I do like that first Hudswell, the one for South Durham Steel & Iron, a very nicely balanced looking design.....

 

So do I, Arthur!  Seems like a relatively short overall length (unlike some designs), perhaps visually helped by the big 45" dia. wheels.

 

This advert appeared on the cover of Diesel Railway Traction Nov 1958, and a framed enlargement has hung on my wall for the last 35 years or so.

 

A quick look at the works list suggests No.28 was the first of this 37.5 Ton design for SDS&I, delivered in Nov 57.  Another 2 followed in December, one in January 58, and one in April 58.

 

Tony

 

Edit:  The English Steel Corp 300hp loco is a 1953 design

Edited September 13, 2017 by Osgood

[Killian keane]

One of the more obscure builders

[Osgood]

 

 

 

[hmrspaul]

Thanks Osgood. I do like that first Hudswell, the one for South Durham Steel & Iron, a very nicely balanced looking design.

 

 

Going on to wheelsets, their manufacture was quite specialised, requiring a decent sized forge, so many were farmed out to specialist makers.

 

 and Taylor Bros. in Trafford Park, Manchester. The latter produced wheelsets under BSC ownership and is still in limited operation today.

 

 

 

.

Assuming Ring Roll was the same company they had some unusual internal user wagons when we visitied... http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/manchesterringrollproducts -

 

Paul

Edited September 15, 2017 by hmrspaul

[Arthur]

 

It is the same Paul. Originally Taylor Bros., then part of the English Steel Corp., then the BSC (Railway & Ring Products), then ABB Wheelset and today the Lucchini Group.

 

.

[Ruston]

 

 

 

Going on to wheelsets, their manufacture was quite specialised, requiring a decent sized forge, so many were farmed out to specialist makers.

 

Along with Owen & Dyson, there were others including Steel, Peech and Tozer (later part of United Steels), also in Rotherham, and Taylor Bros. in Trafford Park, Manchester. The latter produced wheelsets under BSC ownership and is still in limited operation today.

 

One of those threads I've been meaning to kick off for a while is one devoted to the manufacture of rolling stock wheels.

 

.

From The Locomotive Railway Carriage & Wagon Review, September 1932.

[Arthur]

I've never seen a Taylor Bros. ad. before Dave, excellent.

 

Here's an aerial of the works in 1929, it was built in 1920.

 

 

That's the Bridgewater Canal forming the lower boundary. Very well laid out as you'd expect on a greenfield site. Over the following years, as Trafford Park hosted more and more industries, it became surrounded by other operations. Turners Asbestos Cement were their neighbour to the left. It was modernised in the 1950's and up until the 70's it made steel by the open hearth process. After that they reheated bought in steel billets.

 

I've mentioned the following link before. It's Lindsay Andersons 1967 film, The White Bus. Like most of his work it's an odd piece but in the middle there is some footage from Trafford Park including a minute or so at Taylor Bros. Scroll in to 20 minutes. The rather disjointed footage shows the open hearths, and steam hammers and the 8,000 ton hydraulic press in operation.

 

The Trafford Park coverage starts at 14.45 and shows, amongst the odd clips, other industries.

 

https://youtu.be/ln5Lz8gMe_k

 

A school friends father was a loco driver there and another's father also worked there and they lived in a company owned terraced house attached to the works. The works supplied their electricity as DC such that domestic appliances had to be modified or couldn't be used at all.

.

Like a number of smaller steelworks, during the 60s and 70s, it was often forecast that it wouldn't survive after upcoming rationalisations. Saved really by it's specialist expertise it survives, though much reduced in activities, to this day.

 

.

Edited September 22, 2017 by Arthur

[Osgood]

Arthur - I take it you've found this 1920s Taylor Bros brochure in youtube format?

 

[martyn11post]

The works 'tour' of 1960s versus today... well they did at least have helmets and gloves!

[Bob Reid]

Sadly Trafford Park seems to be much reduced these days to that of a wheelset assembler (I think the raw wheels & axles come from the parent Luccini Group)... 

​Here's a list Arthur of the manufacturers of carriage wheels and axles used by BR taken from the drawings for the identification stampings - a search of Grace's guide for the companies of course gives more details;

John Baker & Bessemer Ltd                                 Kilnhurst Steel Works, Rotherham
William Beardmore & Co. Ltd.                               Parkhead Forge, Glasgow                            
Blaenavon Co. Ltd.                                               Blaenavon, Monmouthshire
Brown Bayley’s Steel Works Ltd.                          Sheffield
Darlington Forge Co. Ltd.                                      Darlington                          
English Steel Corporation Ltd.                               Sheffield                             
Thomas Firth & John Brown Ltd.                           Sheffield
The Glasgow Railway Engineering. Co. Ltd.         Parkhead, Glasgow
Industrial Steels Ltd.                                                 ?
William Jessop & Sons Ltd.                                    Sheffield                             
Monk Bridge Iron & Steel Co.                                 Leeds
Patent Shaft & Axletree Co. Ltd.                             Wednesbury
John Spencer & Co                                                Newburn Steel Works, Newcastle
Steel Company of Scotland Ltd.                             Glasgow
Steel Peech & Tozer                                              Sheffield
Taylor Brothers & Co. Ltd                                        Trafford Park Works, Manchester

Edited September 24, 2017 by Bob-65b

[Killian keane]

I'll get a proper scan of this for you when I find the time

[sir douglas]

Sentinel for Lysaghts a.jpg

 

i didnt know there was a loco with the same name as my online name

[sir douglas]

the above post by Killian looks like a war department Hudson-hudswell and alot of them went to industrial use all over the world like the one that the Mosely trust recently finished restoring

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MAS9NL2pETA/VLLqkucqdEI/AAAAAAAACQo/8CaQclX8ZZw/s1600/HC1238-1.jpg

 

[Arthur]

 

Arthur - I take it you've found this 1920s Taylor Bros brochure in youtube format?

 

No, I hadn't seen that Tony, thanks. Fascinating and the works map is very useful when looking at the aerial photo. The external view of the melting shop was just as I remembered it into the 60s and 70s. The works was modernised around 1960 with some of the processes semi automated.

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly Trafford Park seems to be much reduced these days to that of a wheelset assembler (I think the raw wheels & axles come from the parent Luccini Group)... 

​Here's a list Arthur of the manufacturers of carriage wheels and axles used by BR taken from the drawings for the identification stampings - a search of Grace's guide for the companies of course gives more details;

John Baker & Bessemer Ltd                                 Kilnhurst Steel Works, Rotherham

William Beardmore & Co. Ltd.                               Parkhead Forge, Glasgow                            

Blaenavon Co. Ltd.                                               Blaenavon, Monmouthshire

Brown Bayley’s Steel Works Ltd.                          Sheffield

Darlington Forge Co. Ltd.                                      Darlington                          

English Steel Corporation Ltd.                               Sheffield                             

Thomas Firth & John Brown Ltd.                           Sheffield

The Glasgow Railway Engineering. Co. Ltd.         Parkhead, Glasgow

Industrial Steels Ltd.                                                 ?

William Jessop & Sons Ltd.                                    Sheffield                             

Monk Bridge Iron & Steel Co.                                 Leeds

Patent Shaft & Axletree Co. Ltd.                             Wednesbury

John Spencer & Co                                                Newburn Steel Works, Newcastle

Steel Company of Scotland Ltd.                             Glasgow

Steel Peech & Tozer                                              Sheffield

Taylor Brothers & Co. Ltd                                        Trafford Park Works, Manchester

Thanks Bob, an interesting list. Yes, it's a long time since heavy forging was carried out on the Trafford Park site.

 

Most of the companies listed made wheelsets as part of their general forging operations, unlike Taylor Bros. for whom it was their sole output. John Baker & Bessemer were also largely involved in the trade. On the other hand, Steel Peech & Tozer had a large wheelset forging operation but it was only a part of much a larger steelmaking and working operation.

 

Patent Shaft and Axletree were one of the longest established. They began making wheelsets in the pre-steel age. The axles were forged from wrought iron. If there was a 'fault' in the wrought iron it was worked into the shaft forming an area of weakness across the full cross section of the axle. Eventually the axle would fail along this fault, a fairly common occurrence at the time.

They developed an axle formed from six separate lengths of wrought iron forged into a single shaft. In cross section something like an orange sliced across it's segments. Any faults now only affected a sixth of the cross section and the chances of total failure were considerably reduced. They proved very popular for both axles and any shafting subject to stress.

 

.

[Osgood]

Not wheel forgings but axles and tyres by the look of it, amongst other components:

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Osgood

[Fat Controller]

No, I hadn't seen that Tony, thanks. Fascinating and the works map is very useful when looking at the aerial photo. The external view of the melting shop was just as I remembered it into the 60s and 70s. The works was modernised around 1960 with some of the processes semi automated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Bob, an interesting list. Yes, it's a long time since heavy forging was carried out on the Trafford Park site.

 

Most of the companies listed made wheelsets as part of their general forging operations, unlike Taylor Bros. for whom it was their sole output. John Baker & Bessemer were also largely involved in the trade. On the other hand, Steel Peech & Tozer had a large wheelset forging operation but it was only a part of much a larger steelmaking and working operation.

 

Patent Shaft and Axletree were one of the longest established. They began making wheelsets in the pre-steel age. The axles were forged from wrought iron. If there was a 'fault' in the wrought iron it was worked into the shaft forming an area of weakness across the full cross section of the axle. Eventually the axle would fail along this fault, a fairly common occurrence at the time.

They developed an axle formed from six separate lengths of wrought iron forged into a single shaft. In cross section something like an orange sliced across it's segments. Any faults now only affected a sixth of the cross section and the chances of total failure were considerably reduced. They proved very popular for both axles and any shafting subject to stress.

 

.

Here's a link to Luccini's site:- http://lucchinirs.com/railway-division/

It's all very mechanised now.

[Ruston]

I'm posting this one here because I'm wondering if the hopper wagon is for a steelworks fleet, rather than for a main line railway company. I can't think of what company NL would be though.

Edited August 15, 2019 by Ruston

[5050]

Could be 'furrin' - and I don't necessarily mean south of Watford................

[sir douglas]

looks like the iron ore hoppers from the Furness area

[hmrspaul]

It has a registration plate and oil axleboxes so appears to be mainline registered and used. Many different hopper wagon designs were used by the companies providing iron ore.

 

Paul

[Phil Traxson]

A few years back I did a private resin casting job of body and chassis of just such a wagon in 7 mm. and it was described as a North Eastern Rly iron ore wagon. Is it just possible that the photo has been "adjusted" and the L was originally an E ?

 

Phil T.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Phil Traxson

[micklner]

NER Hopper very similar via Mr Bedford

 

http://www.mousa.biz/fourmm/wagons/ner_wagons4.html

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by micklner

[Norton961]

Another of the smaller manufacturers, the Lilleshall Co of East Shropshire, who made a range of iron products as well as coal and a small number of locos.

 

[Sludger]

• The wagon bearing the initials NL is for the 
• North Lonsdale Iron and Steel Co of Ulverston.

Trev.