Brush traction

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brush traction
legal form Limited
founding 1865
Seat Loughborough
Branch Railway industry
Website http://www.brushtraction.com

Brush Traction works in Loughborough
Falcon sculpture that originally stood on the halls of Brush.

Brush Traction Ltd is a British manufacturer of locomotives and rail vehicles from Loughborough , England , which is part of the Wabtec Corporation .

history

Henry Hughes

The factory at its current location on the Midland Railway was founded by Henry Hughes . Born around 1834, the mill builder, timber merchant and engineer is first mentioned in 1855 as the owner of the Falcon Works on Derby Road in Loughborough, which sold threshing machines . His company was officially called Henry Hughes & Company . In 1864 Huges bought almost three hectares of land on the site of the current plant to expand the existing factory and to build carriages , carriages and horse-drawn trams. Hughes began building tram locomotives around 1867 . The company was dissolved in 1877, but was back in business as Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works from 1880 . Loss of revenue and overcapacity during the Great Depression put the company in financial difficulties and a new company, Falcon Motor & Car Works Ltd , was founded in 1882. In 1885 the first horse-drawn buses were built.

Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation

AC generator dating from 1888, built by Anglo-American Brush

The Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation, founded in 1879 in Lambeth , a district of London , had the task of using the inventions of the American Charles Francis Brush commercially. Brush developed his first electric generator in 1876 . The American Brush Company he founded in the USA was later merged into General Electric .

The Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation initially only manufactured lighting systems using arc lamps and incandescent lamps , but later expanded into establishing electricity companies across England. After an initial boom in this line of business, a law on energy supply, the Electric Lighting Act, passed in 1882 established new and stricter terms and conditions, causing a general stagnation in the fledgling electrical industry. Developments in the field of the electrification of industrial companies allowed Anglo-American Brush to thrive, which now also manufactured electric motors , switchgear and smaller transformers . After the law of the energy supply was changed in 1888, the demand for lighting systems increased again, so that the works in Lambeth became too small. Anglo-American Brush therefore bought Falcon Motor & Car Works in Loughborough in 1889 and was able to solve various problems in the old plant by relocating. The newly acquired company had its own siding, was located in an area with a lower wage level compared to the greater London area and was also set up to handle larger workpieces.

Brush Electrical Engineering Company

Brush tram from 1902, built for Auckland in New Zealand

The company's name was changed to Brush Electrical Engineering Company after moving to Loughborough . Initially, only the production of larger parts was withdrawn from Lambeth, but by 1895 most of the production was relocated to the Falcon Works. In 1900 and 1901 major expansions were made for the production of trams , and the Lambeth plant was finally closed in 1914.

Brush also built small steam locomotives for shunting and rail vehicles for long-distance traffic. At the beginning of the 20th century, the company started manufacturing steam turbines and built Parson and Ljungström turbines . The largest hall in the plant was built in 1921 for the construction of turbines, which is called the Cathedral (German: " Cathedral ").

The manufacture of automobiles was not particularly successful, as only six brush mobiles with a Vauxhall engine were built between 1901 and 1905 . Trucks and buses were more successful, but their production was stopped again in 1907. By then, 100 buses had been built and were in use in London and Birmingham . The buses were one of the first successful designs with a combustion engine to feature all-wheel drive as early as 1905 . The manufacture of bodies continued even after the chassis production was discontinued.

In 1906 a full range of products was manufactured, including steam engines , steam turbines, electric generators, switchgear, electric motors, small electric and steam locomotives, long-distance and subway coaches , freight cars , trams, tram frames and bus bodies. In 1912, 1200 tram frames and 750 tram cars were built on the more than 13 hectare site.

First and Second World War

Brush-built De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

Before the First World War, the proceeds from the manufacture of trams and electrical products were roughly equal. The plant employed around 2000 people. During the war, Brush mainly manufactured ammunition , but also vehicle bodies and airplanes . The production of railway vehicles declined due to increasing competition and the greater need for production capacity for steam turbines. The last steam locomotive was delivered in 1912.

In the interwar years, many of the products made by Brush were no longer in demand. The upswing of the bus after 1918 led to a decline in tram production, so that the last tram left the factory in 1936. The manufacture of turbines experienced an upswing after the war and 20 machines in the 1.5 to 5 MW power class were delivered to municipal works and industrial companies every year. The demand declined after 1926 when a national energy supply was established and the turbines manufactured by Brush were too small for use in the newly built power plants.

In 1935 an attempt was made to diversify production by taking over the production of the engine manufacturer Petter & Sons and relocating its production from Yeovil to Loughborough. During these years the factory employed 1,500 people on an area of ​​14 hectares.

During the Second World War, several 10,000 military vehicles and several thousand bus bodies were produced. Twin-engine aircraft of the Dragon Rapide type were also manufactured according to plans by De Havilland , and Hampden and Lancaster bombers were repaired.

After the Second World War

Class 47 diesel locomotive built by Brush in the 1960s

After the Second World War, after many years of weak demand, the production of large electrical machines and systems increased again, so that the losses during the war years could be made up again and investments were made in the power generation division. In 1947 the production of four-wheeled electric vehicles started. In the same year Brush started manufacturing diesel and electric locomotives together with WG Bagnall . The working group was from 1951 Brush Bagnall Traction Ltd , from 1955 Brush Traction Ltd called.

In 1950, Brush took over half of the diesel engine manufacturer National Gas & Oil Engine Company Ltd from Associated British Engineering , a company that emerged from the non-acquired part of Petter & Sons and had a majority stake in Brush Electrical Engineering. The new acquisition was brought into the subsidiary Brush ABOE Group , where ABOE was the abbreviation for Associated British Oil Engine Company. The Brush Group also joined the manufacturer of small electric motors Hopkinson Electric Company Ltd and the diesel engine manufacturer Vivian Diesels & Munitions Company Ltd from Canada. During these years, Brush mainly produced water and air-cooled diesel engines in the power class 3 to 3000 HP, which powered generators for power generation or irrigation pumps. In 1951 more than 70% of the production was exported, mainly to the British colonies such as India. Brush was now the largest diesel engine manufacturer outside the United States.

Brush Group

BR Class 92 locomotive built in the 1990s for freight traffic through the Eurotunnel
Eurotunnel locomotive for the car trains

In 1954, the Brush Electrical Engineering Company, is The Brush Group Ltd renamed. In 1957, Brush bought Fuller Electric , another manufacturer of small electric motors. Hawker Siddeley took over the company in the same year . The product range included turbo generators , salient pole machines , induction motors , traction motors and generators for diesel locomotives, locomotives, switchgear, transformers and fuses. 1959 the electric motor manufacturer Veritys from Birmingham is taken over. In 1960 the Falcon Works employed 4,300 people on the 16 hectare company premises. The focus of production is now on electrotechnical products for energy generation.

In 1971 the individual divisions of the Hawker Siddeley Electric Power Group were outsourced to separate companies. This results Brush Electrical Machines Ltd. , Brush Switchgear Ltd and Brush Transformers Ltd . 1973 Brush Fusegear Ltd is spun off from Brush Switchgear Ltd. The Loughborough plant employs around 5,000 people. In the late 1980s, Brush received major orders to build locomotives for British Rail and Eurotunnel .

In November 1991 the Hawker Siddeley Electric Power Group was integrated into BTR Industries with a hostile takeover - a company that emerged from the British subsidiary of the tire manufacturer Goodrich and which had been converted into an industrial conglomerate in the 1980s through the acquisition of other companies . The Brush companies are integrated into the BTR Electric Power Group.

Brush traction

Under BTR Industries is from the Brush Electrical Machines Ltd , the Brush Traction Ltd. spun off, but after the acquisition of Brush companies by FKI in 1996 Brush Traction is again a division of Brush Electrical Machines Ltd. In 2008, FKI, the parent company of the Brush companies, was taken over by the holding company Melrose Industries . Wabtec acquired the company in February 2011 .

Locomotives

literature

  • Lowe, JW, (1989) British Steam Locomotive Builders , Guild Publishing
  • Marsden, CJ, Fenn, BF, (1988) British Rail Main Line Diesel Locomotives , OPC
  • Toms, G., (1978) Brush Diesel Locomotives 1940-78 , TPC Turntable
  • Toms, G., (1999) Brush Diesel & Electric Locomotive Works List , Industrial Railway Society
  • Toms, G., (2009) Brush Diesel & Electric Locomotives 1940-2008 Vol 1-1980 , Venture Publications

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Tramway Museum, The Brush Falcon. In: geograph. Retrieved March 21, 2016 .
  2. ^ Wabtec buys Brush Traction. In: Railway Gazette. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Henry Hughes. In: www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f History. In: Brusch Traction . Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  5. ^ Falcon Engine and Car Works. In: www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  6. ^ Henry Hughes and Co. In: Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  7. ^ Hughes's Locomotive and Tramway Engine Works. Grace's Guide to British Industrial History, accessed March 15, 2016 .
  8. ↑ WG Bagnall. In: Grace's Guide. Retrieved March 21, 2016 .
  9. ↑ The World's Carriers and Carrying Trades' Review: A Record of the Carrying Trades of the World . 1955 ( Google Book [accessed March 21, 2016]).
  10. ↑ Newspaper advertisement. In: The Glasgow Herald. October 15, 1952, accessed March 21, 2016 .
  11. ^ A b c Brush Electrical Engineering Co. In: www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved March 21, 2016 .
  12. ^ Hawker Siddeley Group Public Limited Company . In: International Directory of Company Histories . Vol. 3. St. James Press, 1991 ( Funding Universe ).
  13. ^ Wabtec buys Brush Traction. In: Railway Gazette. Retrieved March 21, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Brush Traction  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 46 ′ 55 "  N , 1 ° 11 ′ 50"  W.