Plan des usines de Parent, Shacken, Houel et Caillet à Fives-Lille, vers 1865

Fives-Lille was a French engineering company located at

Fives Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a 3- or 4-sided special court, using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similar to ...

, a suburb of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. It is now part of the Fives Group.

History

The company began as in 1861 and made a joint venture with the Société J. F. Cail & Cie. and were of Belgian origin. This co-operation led to expansion and the creation of several factories. One plant, located in the district of

, near

, specialized in the construction of rails and

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. Another plant in

Givors Givors (; frp, Givôrs) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Location It lies at the confluence of the Rhone and the Gier about south of Lyon and on the main road between that city and Sain ...

on the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

specialized in wheelsets for railway

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 ...

. The business developed and became, in 1865, the ''Compagnie de Fives - Lille'', then in 1868, the limited company ''Compagnie de Fives-Lille pour constructions mécaniques et entreprises''. It appears that the Cail company kept its separate identity and did not merge with Fives-Lille until 1958. Later, it changed its name to "Fives-Lille-Cail" and then to "Fives-Cail-Babcock" and finally to "Fives", in 2007.

Preservation

* Fives-Lille locomotive no. 3716 is preserved at

References

Fives-Lille {{France-rail-transport-stub