Newton-le-Willows
the history of our local area
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Content & Copyright
Most all items in the gallery are scanned from items owned by Steven Dowd, a few items in the gallery have been scanned from photos or postcards owned by others, and are shown here with their permissionThe content and Images within this website, unless otherwise noted, are the copyright of Steven Dowd ©2001-2009.
| A history of the Vulcan Foundry |
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| Written by Steven Dowd | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Page 7 of 7 Period: THE 1930's — THE SECOND WORLD WAR — THE "LIBERATION"
The Argentine Railways since the early days, had obtained economical results from the use of two-cylinder compound Locomotives for long hauls, and in 1930 twenty 2-8-2 Engines of the C.S.9.A. Class were built at the Vulcan for the Central Argentine Railway, followed by an order for twenty 2-8-0 Locomotives in the same year for the Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway. During 1934-5, one hundred Class 5 Engines were delivered to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and they were an outstanding example of the tendency to develop a first-class Mixed Traffic Locomotive capable of hauling any kind of train. The tapered boiler barrels lent an air of power and distinction to these very neat looking engines.
I find that I have rambled on with my personal reminiscences, very often at the expense of matters of more moment, in the Firm's history. For instance, I mentioned in passing, the transportation of locomotives by road, but I should have stressed that the Vulcan Foundry were the pioneers of this method of transport and that when the first Engine (4-6-2 XA Class for India) so despatched left the Works in January, 1930, it was a matter of front page interest in the National Press and the premises were beseiged by an army of reporters and photographers. Again, in mentioning old employees of the Firm, I overlooked the case of Joseph Roberts who died so tragically in India in June 1929. Joe had over forty years' service with the Vulcan Foundry and had travelled many thousands of miles in his capacity of Firm's representative in the supervision abroad of erection of locomotives. He was held in high esteem by all who came in contact with him, and the following extract from the Indian Press at the time of his death gives some indication of the respect which he had inspired : — ROBERTS—Joseph J. Roberts of Vulcan Foundry, Lancashire, died on 10th instant, at European General Hospital after a short illness. Deeply regretted by the Indian Staff working under him at G.I.P. Workshop, Parel, for losing a good-natured officer. R.I.P. (Inserted by Namdeo Bhoid). In 1935 two 4-6-2 XP Class Locomotives were supplied to the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. These engines were in the nature of an experiment and incorporated many unusual features, being fitted throughout with roller bearings on all coupled and carrying axles, and having poppet valves for steam supply and exhaust.
In October 1936, the Firm were entrusted with the design of a remarkable and wholly new tank project and in March 1938, the pilot models were completed and ready for trial. Thus was born "Waltzing Matilda,- and having first gone into action on the Western Front in 1940, they roared through the heat and discomfort of the North African Campaign. "Matilda" became a familiar sight in the bitter cold of North Russia and later in the Pacific War Zone. As the War progressed, the Vulcan were given another interesting task, namely the waterproofing of armoured vehicles to enable them to go ashore from landing craft under their own power. Altogether the Vulcan Foundry supplied over 600 Matilda Tanks for the War Office.
It is interesting to note that the labour force in April. 1944 reached an all time high of 4,128, the number of women included in this figure being 850, whereas in the first world war female workers employed here did not exceed 400.
Due to the gravity of the transport situation in September 1942, the Firm was requested by the Ministry of Supply to revert to locomotive production, and orders for a large number of 2-8-0 "Austerity" type engines were placed with the Vulcan Foundry, the first locomotive being handed over to the Ministry in January 1943. Simplicity in design was the keynote for the "Austerity" locomotive due to the shortage of certain materials and lack of manpower, and altogether 390 engines of this type were delivered from 1943 to 1945. The last 2-8-0 "Austerity" built in Britain was V.F. rotation No. 5255, and was named "Vulcan" on leaving the Works. To meet the demand for a robust type of shunting locomotive for use in Ordnance Depots and Industrial concerns, fifty 0-6-0 engines were built by the Vulcan Foundry in 1945. Two of these are now in use at the Haydock Collieries of the National Coal Board. The Vulcan Foundry 2-8-0 "Liberation" Locomotive was a triumph of design for the builders, and a good deal of patience and engineering ability were needed to transmute the requirements of seven countries into the finished engine. The "Liberation" had to be more powerful than the "Austerity" and was designed for universal 'use on the standard gauge railways of Europe, operating in Luxemburg, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Altogether 120 of these engines were produced at the Works in Newton-le-Willows. On 17th August, 1946, Mr. A. J. Lane retired after serving many years as Works Manager, and was succeeded by Mr. W. E. King. Mention must be made of the Vulcan Company of the Home Guard (79th West Lancs.) firstly under the command of Major Bolter and later Major Mullen. I joined the Co:npany at its inception and for some time acted as Company Clerk and Secretary of the Entertainments Corn mittee, attaining the rank of private ! I'm afraid I made a poor soldier, the only redeeming feature being that I have always been above the average as a marksman.
Thus ends the short history of this old-established Firm. I lay no claims to its complete authorship as most of the technical details quoted have appeared in one form or another in a variety of journals and periodicals. One hundred and twenty years of locomotive building—in at the birth and still leading the field in design and craftsmanship over a century afterwards. Long may It prosper, CARRY ON VULCAN The text and photos for this article is compiled from various source's including 'The Engineer', J H Lanes, History of Newton-in-Makerfield, The Vulcan Magazines from 1949 and 1950 Vol 1, issues 6, 7, 8 ,9 and 10. Included notes and personal reminiscenses are mostly by Mr H. B. Sansom. This version of the Vulcan History are ©2007 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and use is restricted to this Newton-le-Willows website |
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