Yorkshire Engine Company

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Yorkshire Engine Company
legal form Company
founding 1865
resolution 1965
Seat Sheffield , UK
Branch Locomotives, mechanical engineering, automobiles

The Yorkshire Engine Company ( YEC ) was a small, independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield , England . The company was founded in 1865 and existed until 1965. The main focus was on the construction of shunting locomotives for the British market. In addition, large locomotives were also made for foreign customers and even automobiles for a while .

The company manufactured steam locomotives from 1865 to 1956 and diesel locomotives from 1950 to 1965.

The early years

The idea of ​​founding a locomotive manufacturer near Sheffield first came up with WE Eden in 1864 , who later became the fourth Baron Auckland . At that time, Eden was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the South Yorkshire Railway and Director of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR). He had taken on this post as a diplomat after his retirement. He proposed Archibald Sturrock , then employed locomotive engineer with the Great Northern Railway, as chairman of the board of the new company. Alfred Sacré was to become the managing director and his older brother, Charles Sacré , then an engineer and head of the locomotive department at MSLR, should also be part of the team.

By April 1865, investors had pledged £ 120,000 of the £ 200,000 needed to set up the company. Sturrock became a member of the management in May 1866, but was not appointed chairman of the board until January 1867. An 8.9 acre site near Blackburn Meadows was chosen for the construction of the factory. Construction and procurement of the machinery began in mid-1865 and by May 1867 the Meadowhall plant was almost complete. At that time, all 2000 shares had been issued.

The first order was for three 2-2-2 locomotives for the Great Northern Railway. During construction, the client changed the specification and the locomotives were finally delivered in the constellation 2-4-0, with a two-month delay, the last one in February 1867. This order was a losing business for the new company, mainly because the Factory was not finished yet. This was followed by an order for ten more locomotives of the same design, all of which were delivered late. The first was two months late, but the last was eight months late in March 1869.

The next order was for fifty 0-6-0 locomotives for two Indian railroad companies, but then customers withdrew the order. In order to keep the workers busy, the company carried out other work, such as B. the manufacture of armor plates, lamp posts for the Chief Constable of Sheffield and 10,000 safes. Orders from three Russian railroad companies ensured further work for the factory, but financial difficulties on the part of the client put the YEC in financial straits. The then directors all resigned in 1871. Locomotives were subsequently shipped to Argentina , Australia and Japan and a number of small 0-4-0 tank locomotives went to domestic coal mines. The company continued to work in general mechanical engineering to supplement the orders for locomotives.

For 1871, after two very lossy years, there was a modest profit. The construction of locomotives based on the Robert Fairlie patent began at the end of this year. Between 1872 and 1883, thirteen of these were delivered to the Mexican railway company in three lots . There were 0-6-6-0 two-end locomotives with Heusinger controls in the middle section. It is believed that these were the first British-made machines of this type. These Mexican locomotives could be fired with coal or wood; two similar ones that were delivered to Sweden with peat . The peat-fired locomotives were unsuccessful and they were later converted into four 2-4-0 tank locomotives. An order for ten locomotives under the Fairlie patent from 1873 for nitrate railways in Peru was processed, but the delivery did not take place because no payment was received. Four of them were delivered to the Transcaucasian Railway on the Black Sea and the remaining six to a new nitrate railway company in 1882. These locomotives had a design 2-6-6-2 and weighed 85 tons. Engineering magazine wrote that in 1885 they were the heaviest locomotives in the world.

An attempt to build steam engines for ship and railroad construction based on Loftus Perkins patents was unsuccessful. When the machines were delivered, Perkins was seeking damages for patent infringement, so the company ultimately lost £ 34,532 on the deal. A joint venture with Perkins to build streetcars was also a failure. When there was not enough work left, the company built 0-4-0 tank locomotives on heap, which enabled coal mines and mechanical engineering companies to purchase locomotives from stock. The company kept this practice until the end.

In 1880 the YEC was in serious financial trouble. The claims against the Russian railway companies were irrecoverable and the loss from the steam engine business was booked "creatively". Despite a successful call to shareholders for additional capital, in July 1880 voluntary liquidation was chosen as the best option. The bankruptcy trustees ran the business for 3¼ years. During this period sales increased and a profit of £ 9,419 was achieved. In September 1883 the second Yorkshire Engine Company was formed and issued 2,400 shares of £ 25 each, giving the new company £ 60,000 share capital. Only a few locomotive manufacturers were operating profitably at the time.

The early YEC locomotives for the UK were mostly of the 0-4-0-ST or 0-6-0-ST design. The style was typical of small locomotives of the time. They had 'Ogee' tenders and offered very little protection for the driver. Nevertheless, this type of locomotive was in use by industrial companies until the 1950s. Yorkshire coal mines and steel mills were regular customers; five narrow gauge locomotives went to the Chattenden and Upnor Railway , a military railway in Kent .

In the 1890s, YEC built locomotives for Chile , Peru and India. A single electric locomotive was also built for the British War Department.

Large locomotives

YEC manufactured large locomotives for customers in the UK as well as for customers in other countries.

Such locomotives were built for the Great Northern Railway , Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and Great Eastern Railway .

In 1874 thirteen F-Class locomotives were shipped to New Zealand . Two of them still exist today:

  • the F12 of the Ferrymead Railway in a wrecked condition
  • the F180 '' Meg Merriles '' in the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland in a restored but not operational condition. Fifty years after the locomotive was built, a photo of the manufacturer of the F180 appeared in an advertisement in Railway Magazine in 1924.

In 1901 four locomotives were built for use on the Metropolitan Railway's main line to Aylesbury . These were F-class locomotives 0-6-2-T and survived for about 60 years; the first was scrapped in 1957, the last in 1964. In 1915 and 1916 further orders from the Metropolitan Railway followed, this time for the larger G-Class 0-6-4-T locomotives. Unlike the F-class locomotives, the G-class locomotives were handed over to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) on November 1, 1937 , when they were commissioned to provide traction for trains north of Rickmansworth. These locomotives only stayed in service for 30 years.

In 1928 the LNER locomotives were delivered directly from Sheffield. These nine locomotives (LNER 2862 to LNER 2690) were class N2-0-6-2-T locomotives for local trains.

Together with several other independent locomotive manufacturers, YEC built a number of 0-6-0 PT locomotives of the GWR 5700 class in 1929 and 1930.

From 1949 to 1956, fifty 0-6-0 PT locomotives of the GWR 9400 class were built for British Rail . The last of these, BR No. YE2584 from 1956, was the last steam locomotive to be built at Meadowhall and the last for British Rail to be built on a model prior to national standardization of locomotives. The contract was actually awarded to the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds . However, because this company had no free capacity, a subcontract was placed with YEC.

The tank locomotives 2-8-2 and 4-8-2 for South America were much larger than any locomotive intended for use in the United Kingdom.

Automobiles

Main article: YEC (car brand)

In 1907 the Yorkshire Engine Company began building cars. However, they did not become a great success and few were made.

Miniature locomotives

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway “Mainline in Miniature” built by Captain Howey was and still is known for its fleet of Davy Paxman locomotives based on Nigel Gresley designs . A disadvantage of these constructions became apparent when the line to Dungeness was opened in winter - lack of protection for the engine driver.

Captain Howey and Henry Greenly began work on two Canadian -style 4-6-2 locomotives with larger and better protected cabs. While Howey was in Australia, Greenly argued with management and engineers, eventually destroying the workshop drawings and leaving the company. The finished parts such as the steam boiler, wheels and steam cylinder were delivered to the YEC and the locomotives were completed there. It is assumed that all detailed constructions at YEC were only based on a few sketches by Captain Howey. The locomotives YE 2294 and YE 2295 are rather than No. 9 Winston Churchill and No. 10 Doctor Syn known. They are still in use (if not in the process of being overhauled) and are the YEC's best known locomotives.

United Steel Companies and the Development of Diesel Locomotives

On June 29, 1945 the company was bought by the United Steel Companies Ltd (USC). USC needed replacements for old locomotives, so they found it sensible to buy a locomotive manufacturer (at the right price). The idea was to build a central mechanical workshop for their steel mills in Templeborough ( Rotherham ) and Stocksbridge . Both plants were expanded and rebuilt and were connected to the YEC plant by rails. In the post-war economic climate, YEC management was ready to sell.

After the purchase, work began on steam locomotives for internal rail connections at various steel mills and iron ore mines across the UK. YEC continued to manufacture locomotives for other customers as it did before the takeover.

The construction of a modern 0-6-0 ST locomotive was purchased from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns and made locomotives of this type for steel mills, mainly to replace locomotives that had been locked during World War II . This design was undoubtedly chosen, as a number of these locomotives were already in use at the Appleby-Frodingham works in Scunthorpe under different names (e.g. Type 1 , 16 inch or Group 17 ). A small number of locomotives were built for iron ore mines as the Hunslet class 50500 economy locomotives. The construction of locomotives of this type is believed to be related to subcontracting other locomotives from the Hunslet Engine Company.

YE 2481 at the Kelham Island Museum 2005

In 1950 a diesel-electric locomotive was built for a foundry at the Templeborough steelworks. The locomotive had to fit through a small opening and run on tracks with small curve radii, but be powerful enough to pull heavy mold wagons. The weight of the locomotive had to be heavy to ensure good traction. A Paxman engine was combined with British Thomson-Houston electrical equipment that powered a 0-4-0 chassis. The first locomotive (No. 2480) left the factory at the end of 1950, the second (No. 2481) at the beginning of 1951. No. 2480 was first demonstrated to the customer and accepted, while No. 2481 was delivered directly from the factory (the route was around 1 , 6 kilometers long!). Both locomotives were used until the late 1980s and then received as museum pieces.

After this design, no more locomotives were built.

Production of diesel-electric locomotives

It was not until two years later that a diesel-electric locomotive was built again at YEC. During this time the design was refined and soon four series were offered, all based on the first two diesel locomotives:

  • DE1 - 0-4-0, 240 hp, 37 tons, 40 km / h
  • DE2 - 0-4-0, 275 hp, 45 tons, 35 km / h
  • DE3 - 0-4-0, 400 hp, 50 tons, 40 km / h
  • DE4 - 0-6-0, 400 hp, 51 tons, 43 km / h

(not all locomotives exactly corresponded to these values)

The DE2 was particularly popular with steelworks and was built until 1965. Small numbers of the DE1 and DE4 were built and replaced by new series with Rolls-Royce engines in 1955 and 1956, respectively. Not a single locomotive was built from the DE3 series, probably because it was too big and too heavy.

Rolls Royce engines

Typical Janus locomotive in a steel mill

When Rolls-Royce Diesel introduced its C-range engines , locomotive manufacturers bought them for use in diesel-hydraulic locomotives. Those with max. 1800 rpm. Relatively fast running engines were better suited for this type of drive than other diesel engines. YEC also used these engines in its new series. The first was introduced in 1955 and the last was discontinued in 1965.

In general, all Rolls-Royce engine locomotives shared many design details, such as: B. rounded hoods that were narrow enough to allow walkways on both sides, four windows in the driver's cab, diesel tanks and / or battery boxes in the running boards, walkways or platforms at both ends and access to the cab from a walkway or balcony.

None of the locomotives with Rolls-Royce engines were given class or type numbers, but quite a few were given names. The first name was Janus . The Janus had a symmetrical design with two C65FL engines with 200 bhp (147 kW) each and a central driver's cab. The name Janus was appropriate because Janus , the Roman god, had two heads. There were also the Taurus , Indus and Olympus series .

Diesel hydraulic locomotives and locomotives for British Rail

One of the first diesel-hydraulic industrial locomotives from YEC

The first diesel-hydraulic locomotives were built around 1960. Other locomotive manufacturers had proven that the "multiple torque converter", a type of hydraulic transmission, was cheap to manufacture, required little maintenance, and was easy to use. YEC immediately found customers for this type of locomotive and developed a number of series.

In 1960 and 1961, series of 180-bhp locomotives - a total of 20 - were built for British Rail. They were very similar to the small diesel-hydraulic locomotives, but with a few minor changes they were suitable for use on main lines. These changes included e.g. B. the placement of the diesel tanks, a vacuum braking system and position lights. These locomotives were later called British Rail Class 02 .

At least three YEC locomotives were delivered to British Rail between 1956 and 1963 for demonstration and testing purposes, a Janus, a Taurus and a 300 bhp diesel hydraulic locomotive.

The Yorkshire Engine Company built the chassis and body of the ten prototypes of the British Rail Class 15 locomotives on behalf of British Thomson-Houston (BTH).

Exports to India

The Yorkshire Engine Company had supplied steam locomotives to India almost since its inception, but in 1958 ten broad gauge (1676-mm) -230-bhp-0-4-0 diesel shunters were supplied to build the Durgapur steel mill in eastern India. This was followed in 1963 and 1964 by five diesel-electric 300-bhp-0-4-0 locomotives and ten 600-bhp Olympus BoBo locomotives. The plant in Durgapur was built together with the United Steel Companies, so it is not surprising that YEC locomotives were used there.

In addition, YEC secured the order for two meter gauge Janus for the Indian Fertilizer Corporation .

Closure and life after the end

The construction of locomotives ended at YEC in 1965. The exact reason why the plant had to close is not known, but three aspects probably influenced the decision. First, the market for new locomotives shrank rapidly, causing a number of other locomotive manufacturers to shut down around that time. Second, all of USC's plants were fully equipped with YEC locomotives. Third, the nationalization of British Steel was announced for 1967 and it was unlikely that they would have been interested in locomotives as part of the new company.

Several unfinished locomotives left the plant when it was closed. These locomotives were intended for USC steel mills, which they could build in their own workshops.

The rights to the YEC designs and the usable parts of the business were sold to Rolls-Royce (wagon construction department) in Shrewsbury, which had previously sold a large part of the diesel engines to YEC and was a competitor in the industrial locomotive market. In 1967 three Shrewsbury locomotives were bought for Scunthorpe Steelworks ; they corresponded to the Janus models previously built in Sheffield . A fourth locomotive from another YEC series was delivered to AEI in Manchester .

When Rolls-Royce got into financial difficulties in 1971, they stopped building all locomotives and the YEC designs were sold to Thomas Hill (Rotherham) in Kilnhurst near Rotherham , along with those from Rolls-Royce . Thomas Hill were Rolls-Royce's agents for a time and has now built three locomotives according to YEC design for the Durgapur steelworks in eastern India.

The former Yorkshire Engine Company's Meadowhill, Sheffield factory was sold to McCall and Company , another part of the United Steel Companies Group. Reinforcing bars for concrete parts were now being manufactured there. In the mid-1990s the work was passed on to '' Rom River Reinforcements '', but closed at the beginning of the 21st century when the roof of the main building could no longer be repaired. After that, the factory was completely renovated and now (as of 2009) houses a mechanical engineering company from Chesterfield Special Cylinders .

Locomotives returned regularly to the site between 1988 and 2001 when the Yorkshire Railway Preservation Society used the few remaining tracks at the Meadowhall plant to load and unload museum locomotives. The tracks between the buildings were embedded in the road surface and could thus be used to reload the locomotives onto trucks. A number of these locomotives had been built by YEC, e.g. E.g. the YE 2480, the first diesel locomotive from the Yorkshire Engine Company.

Important customers for diesel locomotives

Later use of the company name

In 1988 the name "Yorkshire Engine Company" was registered for a new company. This new company in turn had to do with industrial locomotives, but lent them to industrial companies and restored old locomotives.

The new YEC filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and ceased operations. The factory site was in Long Marston , where today (as of 2007) locomotives and wagons for museum railway associations and commercial users are parked.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tony Vernon: Yorkshire Engine Company, Sheffield's Locomotive Manufacturer . The History Press 2008, ISBN 978-0-7524-4530-4 , pp. 8-11
  2. ↑ Vernon, pp. 11-13
  3. ↑ Vernon, pp. 13-21
  4. ↑ Vernon, pp. 23-26
  5. ↑ Vernon, p. 22
  6. ↑ Vernon, pp. 27-30
  7. ↑ Vernon, p. 32
  8. ↑ Vernon, pp. 34/35
  9. ↑ WW Stewart: When Steam Was King . AH & AW Reed, Wellington (New Zealand) 1970, ISBN 0-589-00382-8 , p. 20
  10. ^ J. Graeme Bruce: Steam to Silver - An illustrated history of London Transport surface rolling stock . London Transport Executive, 1970, ISBN 0-85329-012-1 , p. 16
  11. ^ J. Graeme Bruce: Workhorses of the London Underground . Capital Transport, 1987, ISBN 0-904711-87-0 , p. 88
  12. ↑ Bruce (1970), pp. 23/24
  13. ↑ Humphrey Houshold: Narrow Gauge Railways - England and the fifteen inch . Allan Sutton Publishing, 1989, ISBN 0-86299-575-2 , p. 89
  14. ^ Vernon, p. 154

literature

  • J. Graeme Bruce: Steam to Silver - An illustrated history of London Transport surface railway rolling stock . London Transport Executive, London 1970, ISBN 0-85329-012-1
  • J. Graema Bruce: Workhorses of the London Underground . Capital Transport, London 1987, ISBN 0-904711-87-0
  • Humphrey Household: Narrow Gauge Railways - England and the fifteen inch . Alan Sutton Publishing, 1989, ISBN 0-86299-575-2
  • JB Snell: One Man's Railway Story of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway . Atlantic Transport Publishers, 1983, ISBN 0-946537-80-1
  • WW Steward: When Steam Was King . AH & AW Reed, Wellington (New Zealand) 1970, ISBN 0-589-00382-8
  • Tony Vernon: Yorkshire Engine Company, Sheffield's Locomotive Manufacturer. The History Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7524-4530-4