Werkspoor N.V. was the shortened, and later the official name of the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. It was a Dutch machine factory, known for rolling stock, (ship)

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s, and diesel engines. It was a successor of the company

Van Vlissingen en Dudok van Heel Van Vlissingen en Dudok van Heel was a famous nineteenth-century Dutch machine factory. It built steam engines and machinery for the sugar industry and for maritime purposes, as well ships, rolling stock and large metal structures like the Moerdi ...

, later named Koninklijke Fabriek van Stoom- en andere Werktuigen. In 1954 Werkspoor was merged with

Stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

Founded as Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en spoorwegmaterieel

In March 1890 the predecessor of Werkspoor asked for an automatic stay. After many years of heavy losses the financial world lacked confidence in this predecessor, the Koninklijke Fabriek van Stoom- en andere Werktuigen. What was needed was a radical restructuring and new leadership. Because of the national and city interest, authorities intervened to bring this about. The mayor of Amsterdam G. van Tienhoven succeeded in engaging C.T. Stork (owner of the machine factory Stork) in the operation and to provide a good manager. On 22 May 1891 a new company was founded named Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en spoorwegmaterieel. (In Dutch: Dutch factory for tools and rolling stock). It bought all assets of its predecessor for 1,500,500 guilders, of which 920,500 went to a mortgage on the grounds of the factory. On 1 June 1891 C.H. Strumphler started as new CEO. The supervisory board was formed by: L. Serrurier of the municipal government of Amsterdam, C.T. Stork member of the Dutch senate,

Jacob Theodoor Cremer Jacob Theodoor Cremer (born 30 June 1847 in Zwolle – died 14 August 1923 in Amsterdam) was a tobacco magnate and administrator for the Deli Company in Sumatra. He was from the Netherlands. He also became a politician and was a member of the ...

and W.J. Geertsema of the House of Representatives, and two members representing a Dutch railroad: J.A. Roessingh van Iterson of the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij and H.J. Nivel of the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen When the company (re)opened on 1 June 1891 it had 124 employees. New work came in slowly at first. The confidence in the old factory had been damaged, and had to be regained by the new factory. It gained some small orders for the navy, but rolling stock manufacture helped the company through the difficult first years. The company also had to spent a lot of money to restore the lack of maintenance of buildings and machinery during the last years of the Koninklijke Fabriek. A lot of machines were too old and too costly to operate and had to be replaced. The complex also required multiple connections to the railroad system. In 1893 J.T. Cremer was approached to found a new shipyard, which became the

Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij The (NSM; from Dutch: ''Dutch shipbuilding company''), was a Dutch shipbuilding company based in Amsterdam. It existed from 1894 to 1946. From c. 1908 it was the biggest Dutch shipbuilding company. Foundation of the NSM Successor of the Kon ...

. It meant that the company lost the slipways in which so much had been invested. However, it gained a neighbor that was much better in building ships, and required a steady stream of ship engines. Werkspoormotor

In 1929 the telegraphy address Werkspoor would become the official name of the company. In 1954 Werkspoor was joined with Stork and became part of Verenigde Machinefabrieken Stork-Werkspoor (VMF).

Activities of Werkspoor

Rolling stock

The Dutch railroad companies had provided crucial support for founding the new company in 1891. Their goal was that the new company would manufacture rolling stock. So the company started this trade, even though it had only one employee who still had experience with this from the previous company. Therefore the manufacture of rolling stock was initially limited to railroad cars and the like. The

Netherlands–South African Railway Company The Netherlands–South African Railway Company (; ) or NZASM (also sometimes called SASM in South Africa) was a railway company established in 1887. The company was based in Amsterdam and Pretoria, and operated in the South African Republic (ZAR ...

ordered a big number of cargo cars at good prices, an order that was very helpful for the new company. In 1897 a big order by the Netherlands–South African Railway Company for 40 locomotives led to a breakthrough. It led to the construction of three big halls on Oostenburg designed by A.L. van Gendt, and the company producing locomotives instead of only wagons. In 1913 the manufacture of railroad cars and steel constructions moved to Industrial park Lage Weide in Zuilen, now a suburb of Utrecht. A new factory complex for up to 6000 employees was built, and to house them the village Nieuw-Zuilen was founded which is now the city quarters Elinkwijk and De Lessepsbuurt. In Utrecht some famous bridges were built, like the

Waalbrug The Waalbrug is an arch bridge over the Waal River in Nijmegen, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The full length of the Waalbrug is , the middle of the arch being about high. The arch itself is long and was the longest arch in Europe at the time of ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

and the Bommelse Brug near Zaltbommel. In the first years after World War II there was a lot of work to repair the Dutch railroad and tramway stock. Werkspoor also built a lot of new locomotives and carriages for the Dutch railroads. Orders were often shared with

Beijnes Beijnes (1838 – 1963) is a defunct Haarlem manufacturer of carriages, buses, trains, and trams. It was closely associated with the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HIJSM) History J.J. Beijnes the elder opened a horse carriage sho ...

in Haarlem and

Allan of Rotterdam Allan & Co was a former railway rolling stock and tram manufacturer based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The full name of the company (in Dutch) was ''Allan & Co´s Koninklijke Nederlandsche Fabrieken van Meubelen en Spoorwegmaterieel N.V.'' The com ...

. With the independence of Indonesia Werkspoor lost a big market for its railway products. In 1951 this was temporarily compensated by a big order of 90 locomotives and 400 carriages from Argentina. It created work for seven years, and drove the number of employees to 5,000. By 1968 Werkspoor had so much work (e.g. plan V for the Dutch railways, and a big series of trams for Amsterdam), that it forwarded work to the German company

Duewag Düwag or Duewag, formerly Waggonfabrik Uerdingen, was a German manufacturer of rail vehicles. It was sold in 1999 to Siemens with the brand later retired. History Duewag was founded in March 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen in Uerdingen and ...

. Nevertheless, the long term perspective for the rolling stock division was not bright, because it only delivered to the Dutch market. In 1972 the division was closed.

Machinery

Next to producing rolling stock, Werkspoor also remained active in machinery, and in particular ship engines. In its first years she built the machines for the protected cruisers

HNLMS Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden HNLMS'' Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden'' ( nl, Hr.Ms. Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden) was a unique protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy built by the ''Rijkswerf'' in Amsterdam. Design The ship was long, had a beam of , a ...

HNLMS Holland (1896) HNLMS ''Holland'' ( nl, Hr.Ms. Holland) was a protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Design The ship was Staatsbegrooting voor het dienstjaar 1903, Bijlage A . VI. 5./ref> long, had a beam of , a draught of , and had a displacemen ...

and

HNLMS Utrecht (1898) HNLMS ''Utrecht'' ( nl, Hr.Ms. Utrecht) was a protected cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Design The ship was Staatsbegrooting voor het dienstjaar 1903, Bijlage A . VI. 5./ref> long, had a beam of , a draught of , and had a displacement ...

. In 1910 it produced the first diesel engine for a sea-going ship, the ''Vulcanus'', for the

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (colloquially known as BPM), Dutch for ''Batavian Oil Company'', was the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907. ...

. In the early 20th century it also started to produce cooling machines in license from Linde AG. In 1960 a new big factory hall was built on the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in Utrecht. It was to be used for the construction of large boilers and machines, the Apparatenhal, since 2013 known as Werkspoorkathedraal. In 1989 the engine division Stork-Werkspoor-Diesel (SWD) was bought by the Finnish company Wärtsilä.

Aircraft

Werkspoor was somewhat active in Dutch aeronautical industry. In 1925 it was involved in the construction of the first Dutch helicopter by

Albert Gillis von Baumhauer Albert Gillis von Baumhauer (Heerenveen, October 1891 – Alder, Washington, Alder, Washington (state), State of Washington, 18 March 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer notable for his design of the first Dutch helicopter and the related invention ...

. In 1930 KLM executive

Albert Plesman Albert Plesman (7 September 1889 – 31 December 1953) was a Dutch pioneer in aviation and the first administrator and later director of the KLM, the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. Until his death, he was in ...

ordered Werkspoor to create a cargoplane after a design by Joop Carley. The development of the

Werkspoor Jumbo __NOTOC__ The Werkspoor Jumbo was a 1930s Dutch biplane freighter aircraft design by Joop Carley and built by Werkspoor. Only one aircraft was built (registered PH-AFI), which was sometimes called the Carley Jumbo and was operated by KLM for two ...

in cooperation with

Pander & Son Pander & Son was a Dutch aircraft company based in The Hague, founded by Harmen Pander and his son Henk Pander. History Harmen Pander was the managing director of a furniture company which in 1924 bought the assets of the bankrupt ''Vliegtuig Ind ...

was plagued by the engine overheating. In 1931 the ''Jumbo'' made its first flight. The only specimen flew two years as a cargo plane for the KLM, and then seven years as a trainer. At the start of World War II the plane was lost in a bombardment. Werkspoor worked as a subcontractor for

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

in the late 1930s. By February 1939 500 of the 2,000 employees working for Fokker were working at the Werkspoor location Zuilen. These were woodworkers, that had been moved because there was not enough room for them in the rapidly expanding Fokker factory in Amsterdam. The wings of the Fokker

Fokker G.I The Fokker G.I was a Dutch twin-engined heavy fighter aircraft comparable in size and role to the German Messerschmitt Bf 110. Although in production prior to World War II, its combat introduction came at a time the Netherlands were overrun by t ...

, first flight 1937, were made of wood. The wings of the first G.I. were not built in Zuilen. Werkspoor did built wing parts for the Fokker G.I. In the 1950s the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States planned to build 460

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

fighter jets. In the context of a NATO plan part of this would be financed by America. The engines would be built by FN in Belgium. For constructing the airplane a consortium was founded. * Fokker: principal contractor, also responsible for final assembly of all the Dutch and part of the Belgian aircraft. Construction of the rear-part of the airframe. * Werkspoor: construction of central part of the airframe * Aviolanda: construction of the front of the airframe * Société Anonyme Belge de Constructiona Aéronautiques (Sabca): bouw van vleugels, construction of the wings and landing gear (license Dowty) * Avions-Fairey: final assembly of part of the Belgian planes

Busses

Werkspoor built

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

ses before and after the Second World War. In the late 1940s 195 Crossley busses were built for local public transport companies owned by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. After that Werkspoor did not build any busses, but after seven years it re-entered the market by a request of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, that wanted to prevent the big coachbuilder Verheul from gaining a monopoly. Verheul was able to build busses with a self-supporting body, and Nederlandse Spoorwegen thought that Werkspoor should also be able to do so. From 1956-1962 Nederlandse Spoorwegen and its subsidiaries received 477 Leyland-Werkspoor ''Bolramer'' busses. In 1962 Werkspoor sold the bus division to Hainje in Heerenveen, now part of VDL Groep.

Radio telescope

In 1956 Werkspoor together with Philips, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and some Dutch universities built the

Dwingeloo Radio Observatory The Dwingeloo Radio Observatory is a single-dish radio telescope near the village of Dwingeloo () in the northeastern Netherlands. Construction started in 1954, and the telescope was completed in 1956. The radio telescope has a diameter of 25 ...

Hyperbaric chamber

In 1959 Werkspoor the first pressure chamber for hyperbaric medicine used for medical purposes. Customer was the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam. After the Wilhelmina Gasthuis became part of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, the chamber moved to the Meibergdreef, where it is still used.

Nuclear reactor and ultracentrifuges

The first experiments with the use of ultracentrifuges for enriching uranium were executed by the Dutch physicist Dr. Jacob Kistemaker in the basements of Werkspoor in Amsterdam. This finally led to founding the uranium enrichment plant Urenco in Almelo in 1969. In the 1970s Werkspoor built the reactor pressure vessel for the KEMA Suspensie Test Reactor (KSTR), an experimental nuclear reactor used by KEMA in Arnhem from 1974-1979 for studies.

Legacy

In Amsterdam there was a ''Werkspoormuseum''. Since 1950 it was housed the former ropewalk of the Dutch East Indies company. This 500 meter long building called Lijnbaan dates from 1660. The lower level had items from the Dutch East Indies company, the first floor treated the industrial heritage of Werkspoor. The museum was also a representative building for Stork, but was not open to the public, and was finally closed in 2011. Owner Stork then looked for a new place to house the collection in 2012. On 12 September 2009 the Museum van Zuilen was opened on the de Amsterdamsestraatweg 569 in Utrecht, housing a Werkspoor-collection, focused on the Utrecht factory. They moved to a former ‘apparatenhal’ of Werkspoor at Schaverijstraat 13, Zuilen-Utrecht in June 2020.

Overview of rolling stock built by Werkspoor

An overview of rolling stock built by Werkspoor after World War II. Ordered by customer.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Locomotives

* Locomotor NS Class 200/300 series (except 281-306) ('Sik') * Diesel locomotives NS Class 400 * Diesel locomotives NS 450 * Diesel locomotives NS 2600 * Electrical locomotives NS Class 1000 together with SLM/Oerlikon Contraves * Electrical locomotives

NS Class 1200 The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) Class 1200 was a class of electric locomotives that were in service from 1951 until 1998. They were designed by Baldwin and built by Werkspoor (Utrecht) between 1951 and 1953. The electrical equipment was built b ...

together with

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 ...

/ Westinghouse Electric Company

Trainsets

* Plan A (Mat '46) - together with Beijnes * Plan B (Mat '46) - together with Allan and Beijnes * Plan AB (Mat '46) * Plan F (Mat '54) - together with Allan and Beijnes * Plan G (Mat '54) - together with Allan * Plan P (Mat '54) * Plan Q (Mat '54) * Benelux-trainsets (Mat '57) * Plan U (Dieseldrieën) *

Plan X Plan X is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program, which seeks to develop a defensive platform for the Department of Defense to plan for, conduct, and assess cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against ...

(Diesel-1 en 2) - Samen met Allan and Beijnes nickname: Blauwe Engelen * Plan T (Mat '64) *

Plan V The NS Mat '64 or Materieel '64 were electric multiple units (EMU) built by Werkspoor and later by Duewag and Waggonfabrik Talbot between 1961 and 1976. They were operated in the Netherlands by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) until 2016. The ...

(Mat '64) Bouw t/m 1972 (treinstel 840). Daarna door Talbot * Plan mP (Motorpost) * SBB-CFF-FFS RAm TEE I and NS DE4 (Trans Europe Express, together with SBB)

Carriages

* Plan D - Together with Beijnes * Plan E - Together with Beijnes * Plan N * Plan W

GVB (Amsterdam)

* Trams: Amsterdam drieasser-trams (numbers 491-550 and 951-1000). * Trams: gelede wagens: Amsterdamse gelede trams (Beijnes/Werkspoor), 5G, 6G, 7G, numbers 653-669, 670-699 rear wagons by Düwag and 700-724.

HTM (Den Haag)

* Trams: serie 201-216 (1948, Haagse vierasser, nickname "Zwitsers")

RET (Rotterdam)

* Metrotype M, Metro: 5000-series. * Trams: 300- and 600/1600-series.

Staatsmijnen

* Diesel locomotives DHB 450/500 (SM 171-183 (500 hp) and SM 191-196 (650 hp) * Cargo cars: 2-axle zelflossers

Gallery of Werkspoor products

Miscellaneous

Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 60006426 Het interieur van de suikerfabriek Ma.jpg, Steam engine in a sugar factory in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. Werkspoor aanzicht.jpg, Stationary Werkspoor diesel engine. Werkspoor diesel motor gemaal Cremer.JPG, Diesel engine Gemaal Cremer. Entrepot dok Kadijksplein Amsterdam.jpg, cast iron bascule bridge built in 1906 across the Nieuwe Herengracht in Amsterdam.

Rolling stock

Station Ter Apelkanaal-Vetstukkenmond.jpg, Steam locomotive NS 3301 (ex HSM 671). NS 3737 - Bhv.jpg, Steam locomotive NS 3737 (ex SS] 731). Rijtuig SS C723.jpg, Railroad carriage SS C723. Rijtuig NTM C 205.jpg, Tram enginecar Nederlandsche Tramweg Maatschappij (NTM) C205. Wagen NTM K9.jpg, Cat NTM K9. NTM e128-III.JPG, Cargo car NTM E128. NS 1010.jpg, Electrical locomotive NS Class 1000. NSM 1202 Soest.jpg, Electrical locomotive

. SAR Class B 47 (0-6-4T) NZASM 236.jpg, Steam Locomotive Class B (0-6-4T) nr. 236 of NZASM E518.jpg, Electrical locomotive E518, South African Railways. Loc NS 271.jpg, Locomotor NS 271. Spoorwegmuseum locomotor NS 362.jpg, Locomotor NS 362. MBS loc 451.jpg, Diesel locomotive loc NS 451. Werkspoor10791.jpg, Diesel locomotive delivered to Argentina. BC 1901 Nederlandsche Spoorwegen Werkspoor.jpg, Railcar NS BC 1901. BC 2901 Nederlandsche Spoorwegen Werkspoor.jpg, Railcar NS BC 2901. Werkspoor materieel 1934 fabrieksterrein.jpg, Dieseldrieën before delivery to NS on the Werkspoor terrain in 1934. File:Nauru-phosphatetrain.jpg, Rolling stock for Nauru phosphate railway Mat%2734_27_Utrecht.jpg, Dieseldrie NS 27. 252Gv.jpg, Electric two car trainset NS 252. Pec 8502 Blerick.jpg, streamlined post car NS Pec 8502. Dieselvijf te Geldermalsen 21-05-1974.jpg, five car diesel trainset in Geldermalsen. Spoorwegmuseum treinstel NS 273.JPG, Mat '46 electric two car trainset NS 273. hondekop.jpg, Mat '54 electric four car trainset NS 766. Antwerpen Centraal met Beneluxtreinstellen.jpg, Mat '57 Benelux train electric two car trainset in Antwerpen Centraal. NS-TEE.JPG, Motorcars for Dutch-Swiss TEE-trainset. Plan U Moerdijk.jpg, Diesel-Electric trainset NS Plan U. NS 419; Plan V groen.jpg, Mat '64 electric two car trainset NS Plan V 419. Plan T 522 in Twello.JPG, Mat '64 electric four car trainset NS Plan T 522. Motorpost 3031 van het Spoorwegmuseum in Amersfoort (14034252808).jpg, Motorpost mP 3031. Metrotype MG2 op metrostation Hoogvliet.jpg, Rotterdam Metro Metrotype M. Spoorparade Amersfoort; C 8104.JPG, Blokkendoosrijtuig (Mat '24), steering car NS C 8104. Plan D AB7709.jpg, Rail carriage Plan D NS AB 7709. Plan E B6609.jpg, Rail carriage Plan E NS C 6703. PlanW4118.jpg, Rail carriage Plan W, NS B 4118.

Trams

Gemeentetram 37 Nicolaas Beetstraat 31-08-1938 .jpg, Tram motorcar 37 built 1908 for Gemeentetram Utrecht. Transport Getru 75 naar Amsterdam 15-05-1939 .jpg, Motorcar 75 built 1927 for Gemeentetram Utrecht. NCS 7 motorwagen Utrecht Zeist.jpg, Motorcar 7 built 1909 for tram road Utrecht-Zeist. Verlegging Trambaan - Rhenen - 20186368 - RCE.jpg, Motorcar 84 built 1924 for tram road Amersfoort - Arnhem. OV-museum Den Haag.jpg, The Hague tramways motorcar 164 built 1907. HOVMHTM215.jpg, Haagse vierasser 215 built 1949. HTM 1024 & GVB 533+987 (1).jpg, Amsterdam drieasser 533 built 1950. 660 bij Amstelstation.jpg, Amsterdamse dubbelgelede tram 660 (series 5G) built 1964. Trams dAmsterdam (Pays Bas) (6552990651).jpg, Amsterdams dubbelgelede tram 724 (series 7G) built 1968. RET-520.jpg, RET motorwagen 520 built year 1931 (serie 511-550 built by Werkspoor). RET608Kootsekade.jpg, Rotterdams Düwag tram nr. 608 built 1969.

References

* * * H. de Jong: ''De locomotieven van Werkspoor''. De Alk, Alkmaar, 1986. * W. van Scharenburg: ''Werkspoor Utrecht-Zuilen Deel I Trams en Treinen''. * W. van Scharenburg: ''Werkspoor Utrecht-Zuilen Deel II Bruggen, Montage, Vrachtauto's, Boten, Bussen enz.''

Notes

External links

Museum van Zuilen: Has info on the Werkspoor factory in Utrecht (Zuilen)

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SMo7mTsPXE Movie about the Werkspoormuseum
Movie about assembling the NS Locomotive 1200 at Werkspoor 1950s

Movie 100 jaar werkspoor in het hart van Zuilen"
{{Authority control Werkspoor Rolling stock manufacturers of the Netherlands Engine manufacturers of the Netherlands Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the Netherlands