R. B. Longridge and Company was a

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 ...

works which was established in 1838 at

Bedlington Bedlington is a town and former civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 18,470 measured at the 2011 Census. Bedlington is an ancient market town, with a rich history of industry and innovative residents. Located roughly 1 ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, England, by Michael Longridge (1785-1858). The firm was directed by Robert Bewick Longridge (1821-1914), who was Michael's fourth son. It was closely connected with the

Bedlington Ironworks Bedlington Ironworks, in Blyth Dene, Northumberland, England, operated between 1736 and 1867. It is most remembered as the place where wrought iron rails were invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820, which triggered the railway age, with their firs ...

which had been bought between 1782 and 1788 (sources differ) by Thomas Longridge, (Michael's uncle) and William Hawks (Thomas's brother-in-law). The Bedlington Ironworks had been building locomotives since about 1827, but R. B. Longridge and Company was a new and up-to-date locomotive factory.

Locomotives

The first locomotive was an

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 ...

called ''Michael Longridge'' for the

Stanhope and Tyne Railway The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was an early British mineral railway, that ran from Stanhope in County Durham, to South Shields at the mouth of the River Tyne. The object was to convey limestone from Stanhope and coal from West Consett and elsew ...

. This was built in 1837 (the year before the company officially opened) so it was probably made by Bedlington Ironworks, rather than R. B. Longridge and Company. It was followed by a number of

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 ...

locomotives for several European railways, including ''

Arend Arend may refer to: * ''Arend'' (locomotive), one of the two first steam locomotives in the Netherlands *Arend, Iran, a village *Arendsee (lake) or Lake Arend, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany *50P/Arend or Comet Arend, a periodic comet *De Arend (disambigua ...

'' the first locomotive to work on a public railway in the Netherlands, and "Bayard" for the kingdom of Naples. Some

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

singles – six members of the ''Firefly'' class – were also built in 1841 for

Daniel Gooch Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...

of 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 ...

. Business increased in 1846 with about sixty engines for the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

, 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 ...

and the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

. While the export trade experienced a lull, orders continued to be fulfilled for the home railways, including ten

4-2-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle and no trailing wheels. This type of locomotive is often called a ...

Crampton locomotive A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company. Notable features were a low boiler and l ...

s for the Great Northern Railway, which were later converted to

s by Archibald Sturrock.

Closure

The works closed in 1853. It has been estimated that it produced 209 locomotives between 1837 and 1852.

References

External links

''James Atkinson Longridge''
biography at gracesguide.co.uk

Longridge Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neigh ...

Locomotives

Closure

References

Further reading

External links