Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry was a
British locomotive builder sited at
Newton-le-Willows,
Lancashire (now part of
Merseyside).
It was originally opened in 1832 as
Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Because of the distance from the locomotive works in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it seemed preferable to build and support them locally. In
1832,
Robert Stephenson became a partner for a few years.
The first two locomotives were
0-4-0 Tayleur and
Stephenson for the
North Union Railway, similar to Stephenson's "Planet" design. Next were three
2-2-0s of a later "planet" type for the
Warrington and Newton Railway. Other early orders came from the
Leicester and Swannington Railway and the
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway.
There were then some
4-2-0s for
America which were possibly the first British 'bogie' locomotives, though there is no record of how, or whether, they were pivoted.
From
1835 the company was selling to
France,
Austria and
Russia, the beginnings of an export trade which was maintained throughout the life of the company. The company's locomotives had a strong Stephenson influence, many during the following decade being of the "long boiler" design. In
1852 the first locomotives ever to run in India were supplied to the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway.
The company had become
The Vulcan Foundry Company in
1847 and acquired limited liability in
1864.
A number of
Fairlie locomotives were built, including
Taliesin for the
Ffestiniog Railway. During
1870 the company supplied the first locos to run in
Japan, and a flangeless
0-4-0T for a steelworks in
Tredegar which was still using angle rails. A number of
Matthew Kirtley's double-framed goods engines were also produced for the
Midland Railway.
From the beginning of
1898, the name changed again to the
The Vulcan Foundry Limited, dropping the word 'company.' The healthy export trade continued, particularly to India and
South America, and continued after
World War I.
Following the formation of the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway in
1924 some very large orders were received, including over a hundred
0-6-0T engines and sixty-five
4-4-0 "Compounds".
Through the 'thirties the company survived the trade recessions with the aid of more orders from India, some from
Tanganyika and the
Argentine, and a large order in
1934 from the LMS for
4-6-0 "Black Fives"and
2-8-0 Stanier-designed locomotives.
From
1939 the works was mostly concerned with the war effort, becoming involved in the development and production of the
Matilda tank. From
1943 large orders were received from the
Ministry of Supply - nearly 400
2-8-0s and fifty
0-6-0 saddle tanks.
In
1944 the Vulcan Foundry acquired
Robert Stephenson and Hawthornes Limited and in
1945 received a large order for
2-8-0 locomotives for
UNRRA in
Europe.
The war had left India's railways in a parlous state and in
1947, with foreign aid, embarked on a massive rebuilding plan. The Vulcan Foundry benefitted from orders sub-contracted from the
North British Locomotive Company, but the writing was on the wall for all British manufacturers. Not only was the competition fierce from other countries, but India had developed the ability to build its own locomotives.
The company had experience of both diesel and electric locomotives, having built thirty-one so-called
"Crocodile" electric locomotives in
1928 for India and, in
1931, the LMS's first
experimental diesel shunter,
So the factory gradually changed over to diesel and electric production and in
1955 became part of the
English Electric group.
Under the new ownership, the works has produced many locomotives for both domestic and foreign railways, notably the
Deltic. In
1961 the works ventured briefly into
gas turbine power with the experimental
British Rail GT3.
Although the works still produced diesel engines under name Ruston Paxman Diesels Limited, which had been moved from
Lincoln, locomotive manufacture finished in
1970. Output was mainly for marine and stationary applications, but the company was the supplier of choice for
British Rail Engineering for locos built at Doncaster and Crewe.
The factory passsed through various hands firstly as
GEC Alsthom then Alstom, and finally as part of
MAN B&W Diesel in
2000. At the end of
2002 the works closed. It is now an industrial estate (appropriately called "Vulcan Industrial Estate") and this can still be seen as one passes on the train. The site is just North of Winwick Junc where the line to Newton Le Willows branches off to the East from the West Coast Main Line.
NB: Vulcan being associated with fire and ironwork, names such as "Vulcan Foundry" were common in many towns and cities. There was no connection with Vulcan Iron Works in the United States.* Lowe, J.W., (1989)
British Steam Locomotive Builders, Guild Publishing
*
Earlestown History*
Newton le Willows History*
Built By Vulcan*
The Vulcan Foundry Newton-le-Willows*
Vulcan Foundry
