Windhoff is a German manufacturer of specialised railways rolling stock, and heavy industrial plant. The company was founded in 1889. The company is well known for its

CargoSprinter The CargoSprinter is a freight multiple unit designed to transport freight or equipment. The CargoSprinter was designed by Windhoff GmbH (Germany) in the mid-1990s. Initially seven vehicles were built for Deutsche Bahn. Four were built by Win ...

rail vehicle, and derivatives.

History

The company started out as the ' (Machine Factory of Rheine) in

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

near Münster, Germany in 1889 manufacturing machines for the

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

industry and founded by Rudolf Windhoff. By 1901 the company was employing over 100 people. As similar control mechanisms were used for steam-driven automated weaving looms and for stream-driven railway traversers and

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, Rudolf Windhoff also founded the ' (Windhoff Brothers' Engine and Vehicle Factory). In 1913, these two private companies were combined to form the share-based ' (Windhoff Machine Factory Rheine). This combined company suffered losses during the 1930s. Later, a bomb destroyed the manufacturing premises on 5 October 1944. In 1957 the company stopped manufacturing normal locomotives and start to concentrate on tracking machines (

ballast tamper Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

s). The Windhoff company was first listed on the stock exchange in 1993. On 19 December 2001, the main company was declared bankrupt and the industrial plant and railway engineering divisions being taken over on 1 March 2002, to become part of Georgsmarienhütte Holdings GmbH. The Windhoff division, as ' (Windhoff Railway- and Equipment Technology) continues to supply specialist railway vehicles and infrastructure with a team of around 250 people. The company is an approved railway contractor for in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway.

Products

Windhoff manufactures specialised rail vehicles including the diesel

freight multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contro ...

the

, and the Windhoff MPV, used for infrastructure and service trains, as well as electric and diesel shunting machines, shunting locomotives, and stationary shunting equipment. The company also manufactures a wide variety of rail service equipment including lifting equipment, traversers and

and equipment for wheelset maintenance including wheel and bogie drop machines, and wheelset and bogie measuring equipment. Windhoff has a contract to supply

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

with a factory train which will be used by Amey plc in the Great Western electrification project. The company also manufactures equipment for heavy industrial plants, including steel-works equipment such as ladle transporters and tippers,

torpedo wagon A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

s (in association with IAG-MAGNUM), and machinery for steel coil handling.Windhoff website, "Plant Technologies", March 2012

References

External links

*{{citation, url = http://www.windhoff.com/, work = www.windhoff.com, title = Windhoff GmbH Online, language = German, English, company website Rolling stock manufacturers of Germany