The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building
locomotives
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...
and
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind
Derby station. This developed into a manufacturing facility called the Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" and in 1873 manufacturing was split into locomotive and rolling stock manufacture, with rolling stock work transferred to a new facility,
Derby Carriage & Wagon Works.
From its earliest days, it had carried out research and development in a number of areas, and in 1933 the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
opened the
LMS Scientific Research Laboratory
The LMS Scientific Research Laboratory was set up following the formation of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
In 1929, the Company President, Lord Stamp read a paper ''Scientific Research in Transport'' to the Institute of Tr ...
. Around 1964, this became part of a new
British Rail Research Division
The British Rail Research Division was established in 1964 directly under the control of the British Railways Board, moving into purpose-built premises at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. The intention was to improve railway reliability an ...
, based in the purpose-built
Railway Technical Centre
The Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in London Road, Derby, England, was the technical headquarters of the British Railways Board, and was built in the early 1960s. British Rail described it as the largest railway research complex in the world.
T ...
, which also housed the Department of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (DM&EE) and later the headquarters of
British Rail Engineering Limited
British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was pr ...
.
Early days
Around 1840, the
North Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masbrough) and Leeds in 1840.
At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what ...
, the
Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...
and the
Birmingham and Derby Railway set up
workshop
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
s to the rear of
Derby station. Although the Midland Counties had an engine house at
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, the main facilities for all three lines appear to have been, initially at least, those at Derby. That for the Birmingham and Derby was next to its line, near London Road. It was about long and wide, with three lines and three wide archways at its entrance, supporting a water tank. In one corner was a smithy. The Midland Counties' shed was rectangular and about long to the north of the site. Adjacent to it were water and coke facilities, and locomotive repair workshops. The North Midland's became a full repair facility, with a smithy, lathes and other machine tools. These were associated with what is believed to be the first
Roundhouse, designed by
Francis Thompson
Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...
. On each side of it, in a vee, were workshops for locomotive and rolling stock repair.
![Derby mcrworkshop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Derby_mcrworkshop.jpg)
In 1841, problems were becoming apparent with the heat of the exhaust gases through the fireboxes of the locomotives, and the North Midland works assisted
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
in the design of his
Long Boiler locomotive
The Long Boiler locomotive was the object of a patent by Robert Stephenson and the name became synonymous with the pattern. Its defining feature is that the firebox is placed ''behind'' the rearmost driving axle. This gives a long boiler barrel, ...
In the same year, the Midland Counties locomotive ''Bee'' (formerly ''Ariel'') was fitted with Samuel Hills Smoke Consuming Apparatus in an attempt to conform to the Government's insistence that they should consume their own smoke. This experimentation was carried on with the use of a brick arch in the firebox to use the cheaper coal instead of
coke, but it was initially unsuccessful.
Midland Railway
Matthew Kirtley
When the three companies merged in 1844 to form the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
, Derby became its headquarters and the workshops merged to become the Midland Railway Locomotive Works. The immediate task was to achieve some standardisation in the various locomotives that it had inherited. Locomotives at that time were designed and built by manufacturers who might be lacking in actual operating experience with their products. The first Locomotive and Carriage Superintendent was
Matthew Kirtley
Matthew Kirtley (6 February 181324 May 1873) was born at Tanfield, Durham. He was an important early locomotive engineer.
Career
Early years
At the age of thirteen he began work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway; he was fireman on the Liv ...
who persuaded various manufacturers to build to his own design and in 1849 50 six-coupled goods engines were delivered.
![Derby roundhouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Derby_roundhouse.jpg)
After improving the workshops and facilities, including a second roundhouse in 1847, he persuaded the directors that the railway should build its own engines. New building began in 1851 with passenger engines to the
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...
pattern, and more standard goods. He then produced a large "single" with six-foot six-inch driving wheels. Throughout its existence the Midland never became fully self-sufficient, usually having its locos built by private contractors to its own designs. Initially there was some resistance on the part of
Sharp Stewart
Sharp, Stewart and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer, initially located in Manchester, England. The company was formed in 1843 upon the demise of Sharp, Roberts & Co.. It moved to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888, eventually amalgamating wit ...
and
Stephenson, who quoted over-long delivery times, so that Kirtley had to accept the maker's own designs. These were good enough, however, that Fowler built some more to a similar pattern. In 1861 he built four banking engines for the
Lickey Incline
The Lickey Incline, south of Birmingham, is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain. The climb is a gradient of 1 in 37.7 (2.65% or 26.5‰ or 1.52°) for a continuous distance of two miles (3.2 km). Constructed ...
with four-foot drivers instead of the usual five feet. Kirtley's first was a rebuilt but he went on to build six for use to
King's Cross, then 15 more.
A further, much larger, roundhouse was built in 1852, followed by a large rectangular engine shed with two turntables in 1890. The original North Midland workshop, which by then had become offices, was raised by one storey in 1859–60, the clock tower being increased in height accordingly. A long footbridge was added from the entrance door to the front of the station, of which only a fragment remains today. A third floor was added in 1893.
Another of Kirtley's achievements in 1859 was, at last, to solve the problem of coal burning, by combining the brick arch with a firehole door deflector plate and a blower to increase the draught. Research into track wear was carried out by
Robert Forester Mushet
Robert Forester Mushet (8 April 1811 – 29 January 1891) was a British metallurgist and businessman, born on 8 April 1811, in Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. He was the youngest son of Scottish parents, Agnes Wilson ...
, who produced the first double-headed rail using
Bessemer steel
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities from the iron by ox ...
. Whereas
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
rails lasted typically six months, a length of steel rail laid near Derby station 1857 was still in use in 1873.
Kirtley also introduced a system of templates and gauges based on the
Whitworth system. Meanwhile,
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
axles failures were a problem. In 1870–1871, Kirtley began a programme of research which eventually resulted in the introduction of steel.
By the end of the 1860s the works had expanded to such an extent, that he was considering reorganising it; and, in 1873, it separated into the Locomotive Works, remaining behind the station, and
Derby Carriage & Wagon Works, further south, off Litchurch Lane.
Samuel Johnson
Kirtley died in office in 1873 leaving a respectable legacy of development and sound locomotives, some of which lasted 80 years. The works reorganisation was completed in 1887 by his successor
Samuel Waite Johnson
Samuel Waite Johnson (14 October 1831 – 14 January 1912) was an English railway engineer, and was Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway from 1873 to 1903. He was born in Bramley, Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar ...
, the carriage and wagon works coming under the control of
Thomas Gethyn Clayton.
In addition the works took over the old Derby Gas Company works.
Johnson continued to build four-coupled passenger locos for the steeper grades, but also some
2-2-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement both ...
singles for lighter work. In 1886, the workshop manager, F. Holt, devised a system of applying
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
beneath the wheels to improve adhesion. This system is still in use today, using compressed air instead of steam as the propellant.
In 1897 a general strike was followed by a rapid rise in the economy. The railway had placed orders for 170 new locos with private builders, all of whom were snowed under. By the end of 1898 none had been delivered and the railway was under pressure from its goods customers, particularly in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
. The Midland ordered 20 s from the Burnham & William's
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
which were supplied as parts for assembly. Since the workshops were also full, they had to be assembled in the open air by quickly-recruited labour. Wishing to order 20 more, which Baldwin could not supply, ten were ordered from the
Schenectady Locomotive Works
The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901.
After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New ...
. The Baldwin's American appearance raised a good deal of comment.
The most famous singles, the
Midland Spinners, were built in 1900 and the
Belpaire firebox
The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and sq ...
appeared on some s. The first of the "Midland Compounds" appeared in 1904. This was based on a
North Eastern Railway two-cylinder which had been rebuilt to three cylinders, and became the basis for a number of classes over the following years, totalling 240 engines. He also produced a very simple, but robust, goods engine of which 865 were built from 1875 to 1902.
Richard Deeley
Johnson retired in 1903 and was succeeded by
Richard Deeley
Richard Mountford Deeley (24 October 1855 – 19 June 1944) was an English engineer, chiefly noted for his five years as Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway. Richard Deeley is recorded as being born in Derby
His father had ...
who began as an apprentice at the works. He carried on much where Johnson had left off, but improved the compounds with an uprated boiler and firebox, also changing the tender to a smaller six-wheeled design. Deeley was very soon promoted to Locomotive Superintendent, with
Cecil Paget
Sir Cecil Walter Paget (19 October 1874 – 9 December 1936),''Who was who'', 1941 was an English locomotive engineer and railway administrator. Cecil Paget was the son of Sir Ernest Paget, George Ernest Paget, Chairman of the Midland Railway ...
as Works Manager.
![Preserved Midland Railway 4-4-0 Compound No](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Preserved_Midland_Railway_4-4-0_Compound_No._1000_at_Derby_Works_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2124177.jpg)
In 1904 two steam motor-carriages for the
Morecambe-Heysham service were fitted out at the carriage works. Since he was also Locomotive Superintendent, he reorganised the numbering system in 1907 so that different groups of numbers were used for different classes. Among his improvements to the works, he devised a heavy testing rig for structure testing up to 50
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
s in what had developed into a dedicated Engineering Testing Department.
By 1900 some 40,000 people were employed, producing 40 new engines a year. Electric power and lighting was installed in the Locomotive Works during 1910, supplied by the company's new generating plant located across the Derby canal at the rear of the Works. An earlier and smaller scale electric generating station had been built by the Midland during March 1893 in Calvert Street, Derby to provide current to light the station offices, the Midland Hotel and the Locomotive Works offices. A textile research facility was opened in Calvert Street for upholstery and seat materials. This facility is thought to have used the buildings made redundant by the closure of the 1893 generating station when the new generating station was brought on line in 1910.
Henry Fowler
In 1907 Paget became General Superintendent, with
Henry Fowler becoming Works Manager. In 1908 Paget caused to be built a revolutionary new locomotive, the
Paget locomotive Paget is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin which may refer to:
* Lord Alfred Paget (1816–1888), British soldier, courtier and politician
* Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861–1949), British cowboy, industrialist, yachtsman and politician ...
based on the Willans high speed central valve engines, some of which had been installed at the works.
In 1908 the
Heysham to Morecambe line was electrified at 6.6kV 25 Hz and Derby supplied three 60-foot long motor coaches with electrical equipment from
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
and
Westinghouse.
In 1909 Henry Fowler became the Mechanical Engineer. For the next five years, rebuilding continued and then came
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
From 1914 the works turned to aiding the war effort, producing eleven howitzers by the end of the year. Like most of the other works, Derby produced large number of shells and their components. Initially producing 3000 fuses a week, it installed automated equipment, increasing production tenfold, the work being mainly undertaken by some 500 women.
Some new locomotives, however, were built for the Midland's own use and some for the
Midland & Great Northern Joint Committee and the
Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway
The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an England, English railway line connecting Bath, Somerset, Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with ...
. Notable among them were the
Somerset & Dorset s, a class of heavy freight locomotives for the Dorset banks, extremely large by Midland standards. Eleven were built in two batches in 1914 and 1925. A new more powerful was designed in 1911 and two were built. Quantity production began in 1917 with 192 being built in the first few years, and a further 580 after grouping up to 1940. Another remarkable engine of this period was the
0-10-0 "Lickey Banker", designed in 1919, by
James Clayton for use on the
Lickey Incline
The Lickey Incline, south of Birmingham, is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain. The climb is a gradient of 1 in 37.7 (2.65% or 26.5‰ or 1.52°) for a continuous distance of two miles (3.2 km). Constructed ...
south of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
George Hughes
The co-operation between the railways in the war effort to some extent smoothed the way to amalgamation in 1923 with the Midland becoming part of the
London, Midland & Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
.
George Hughes became the Chief Mechanical Engineer. However he preferred to make his headquarters at
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
, building the famous
2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...
"Horwich Crabs". He was succeeded in 1925 by Henry Fowler, by
Ernest Lemon
Sir Ernest John Hutchings Lemon (9 December 1884 – 15 December 1954) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and later one of its three Vice-Presidents. During the run-up t ...
in 1931, and finally in 1932 by
William Stanier
Sir William Arthur Stanier, (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was a British railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
Biography
Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his ...
.
The major source of friction, however, was the Midland's policy of using small engines, adding another if the load warranted it, or for hilly stretches. This had worked perfectly well, for the Midland's track in general was level, but trains were becoming heavier. The other major member of the grouping, the
London & North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
(LNWR), had already invested in larger engines for its lines north of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Another passion imported from the Midland was for standardisation, which, in the case of axleboxes was to prove problematic for future heavier locos.
Production carried on much as before, of Midland
0-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...
s and
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
"Compounds", while Hughes
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
s were built at Horwich and
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
. However, plans were afoot for something larger, with a
Castle class loco borrowed from the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
for trials between
Euston and
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
. In 1927,
50 4-6-0's were produced by the
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...
and in 1930, production of a further 20 was begun at Derby.
William Stanier
William Stanier was appointed in 1932 as someone from outside of the company who was unaffected by the politics of the various constituent companies within the LMS. His appointment would clearly have been accompanied by a change in attitude which included influencing the civil engineers to invest in strengthening the Midland track and structures. Crewe had been provided by the LNWR with a very large foundry and he concentrated most of the production there. The central drawing office remained in Derby, at Nelson Street, and in 1933, under
Lord Stamp, Derby became a national research centre with the establishment of the
LMS Scientific Research Laboratory
The LMS Scientific Research Laboratory was set up following the formation of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
In 1929, the Company President, Lord Stamp read a paper ''Scientific Research in Transport'' to the Institute of Tr ...
in 1933 on the west side of London Road.
The main business of any locomotive works is maintenance and repairs, but Derby continued to build Fowler's 0-6-0s and assisted Crewe with longer production runs, usually with castings provided by Crewe. It also assisted Nelson Street with new ventures, including the LMS's pioneering work with diesel shunters. In 1931, an old Midland Railway
Class 1F 0-6-0 tank had been converted by fitting a
Davey Paxman
Davey may refer to:
People
* Davey (given name)
* Davey (surname)
* Edward Davey Dunkle (1872–1941), American Major League Baseball pitcher
* Davey Havok (born 1975), stage name of David Marchand, lead vocalist of the rock band AFI
Places Ant ...
diesel engine and a hydraulic transmission by the Derby firm of
Haslam & Newton.
Although the hydraulic transmission failed in 1936, valuable experience had been gained, and various shunters were ordered from outside manufacturers. Two of these types, one from
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and a ...
powered by a
Sulzer engine, the other from
Hawthorn Leslie & Company
R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.
History
The company was forme ...
with an
English Electric
N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail)
The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...
engine, both with electric transmission, provided the future pattern for shunters which would come to be built at Derby, and later the basis for the
British Rail Class 08
The British Rail Class 08 is a class of diesel-electric shunting locomotive built by British Railways (BR). As the standard BR general-purpose diesel shunter, the class became a familiar sight at major stations and freight yards. Since their ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the works built
Class 5 4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
s, and
2-6-4Ts.
Charles Fairburn
Charles Edward Fairburn (5 September 1887 – 12 October 1945) was an English electrical engineer whose work mainly concerned rail transport.
Born in Bradford in 1887, and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, his career included railway e ...
oversaw the building of a
Hampden bomber repair facility involving both the Loco and the Carriage & Wagon works. Wings and fuselages were repaired and sent to a private contractor at Nottingham for assembly. In time other aircraft were repaired, including
Lancasters. The works also built carriages for field guns and anti-tank guns.
Fairburn and Ivatt
In 1944, Fairburn became Chief Mechanical Engineer when Stanier retired, and he was followed in 1945 by
George Ivatt
Henry George Ivatt (4 May 1886 – 4 October 1972), known as George Ivatt, was the post-war Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was the son of the Great Northern Railway locomotive engineer Henry Ivatt. ...
.
Locomotive production continued, including new versions of the shunters. The first, from 1936, had a single motor driving the wheels through a jackshaft. This was because the axle-hung motors of the English Electric design had proved difficult to ventilate and had given severe overheating problems. This had been overcome in 1940 by using double reduction gearing on the axle-hung motors and limiting the maximum speed.
British Railways
When the railways were
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1947, the works at Derby became part of
BR Workshops.
From 1948 the works produced 106
Standard Class 4 2-6-4 tank engines, then from 1951 to 1957 turned to
Standard Class 5 4-6-0s, 110 in all. The last steam locomotive to be built, bringing the total to 2,941, was a BR standard class 5 with
Caprotti valve gear
The Caprotti valve gear is a type of steam engine valve gear invented in the early 1920s by Italian architect and engineer Arturo Caprotti. It uses camshafts and poppet valves rather than the piston valves used in other valve gear. While basin ...
, number 73154.
In 1948 the first British main-line diesel electric locomotive had been driven out of the paint shop by Ivatt himself, number
10000, just in time to have LMS livery. Its sibling 10001 began its life in
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways livery. In 1952 the experimental diesel-mechanical locomotive, the
Fell diesel, went into service.
![Derby Locomotive Works geograph-2175146](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Derby_Locomotive_Works_geograph-2175146.jpg)
There matters rested until British Rail's Modernisation Plan and in 1958 production began on the first ten Type 2 main line locos, later known as the
Class 24.
In 1959 the first of the Type 4s, later classified
Class 44 emerged from the works. The Class 24 were followed by the
Class 25, and the Class 44 by the
Class 45 and
Class 46.
The full complement having been achieved in 1962, new production was concentrated at
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
, but Derby received one more order when
Beyer, Peacock & Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
asked to be released from its contract. When production ceased in 1966, over 1,000 diesel locomotives had been built at Derby.
The only new build after that time was six electric non-driving motor coaches in 1977 for the
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contained many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of activ ...
formations.
Recent history
In 1964
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways established the
British Rail Research Division
The British Rail Research Division was established in 1964 directly under the control of the British Railways Board, moving into purpose-built premises at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. The intention was to improve railway reliability an ...
, which reported directly to the
British Railways Board
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(BRB). It was the first to move into the new
Railway Technical Centre
The Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in London Road, Derby, England, was the technical headquarters of the British Railways Board, and was built in the early 1960s. British Rail described it as the largest railway research complex in the world.
T ...
on London Road opposite the old LMS research building, followed by the BRB Department of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (DM&EE).
In 1969 the workshops were turned into the BR subsidiary
British Rail Engineering Limited
British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was pr ...
(BREL) which also had its headquarters in the Railway Technical Centre.
In 1990 the closure of BREL Derby locomotive works was announced. The locomotive works was mostly demolished, part of the plant was used for bogie production by
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
(Bombardier Derby Pride Park); though identified as a primary production site by Bombardier in 2001, in 2004 it was announced that the bogie plant was to close due to overcapacity in the European rail industry.
The works site, along with the land formerly occupied by Chaddesden sidings and the gas works, was renamed
Pride Park
Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are both ...
, part of which is occupied by the
Derby County Football Club's Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Derby, England, that is the home ground of English Football League club Derby County. With a capacity of 33,597, it is the 16th-largest football ground in England and the 20th-largest stad ...
.
The Roundhouse
After determined campaigning by heritage groups, the original North Midland roundhouse, with the original Midland Railway offices and the original Midland Counties workshop, was spared. (The Birmingham and Derby's workshops had been demolished around 1870.) Though
Grade 2 listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, they became more and more derelict. There was talk for a while of
Waterman Railways
Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...
taking them over. However, in 2006 it was bought from the city council for £1 by
Derby College
Derby College is a further education provider with sites located within Derbyshire (Derby and South East Derbyshire – Ilkeston, Morley). It delivers training in workplace locations across England.
The College is a member of the Collab Group ...
, which planned to spend £36 million to restore it for use as a college campus, with grants from the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and the
East Midlands Development Agency
East Midlands Development Agency, abbreviated EMDA, was the regional development agency for the East Midlands region of England formed in 1999.
Structure and function
EMDA’s office was located next to a Premier Inn, BBC East Midlands (and ...
. The campus opened to students in September 2009. Tours of the Roundhouse are available throughout the year Roundhouse Tours.
Although the locomotive works is no more, railway work is carried on elsewhere in the city by a number of private companies. The Litchurch Lane Carriage Works has continued in production and, as of 2021 builds
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
s under its present owner
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*, British Rail Classes 24 and 25, and related rail history including Derby Works
Derby Through the Diesel Years 1947 – 1972*{{citation, url = http://www.6lda28.com/brel/index.html , title = Derby Locomotive Works, work = 6lda28.com, illustrated history 1980s onwards
Locomotive manufacturers of the United Kingdom
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Rail transport in Derby
Railway workshops in Great Britain
Manufacturing plants in England
Midland Railway