Swindon Works
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Swindon railway works was built by the Great Western Railway in 1841 in the town of Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.
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[edit] History
From 1836, Brunel had been buying locomotives from various makers for the new railway. Few of them were satisfactory, some suggest, because of Brunel's specifications. In 1837, Brunel recruited Daniel Gooch and gave him the job of rectifying the situation.
It became clear that the GWR needed a central repair depot so, in 1840 Gooch identified a site at Swindon because it was at the junction of the Cheltenham branch and also a "convenient division of the Great Western line for engine working". With Brunel's support, Gooch made his proposal to the GWR directors, who, on 25 February 1841, authorised the establishment of the works at Swindon. Construction started immediately and they became operational on 2 January 1843.
[edit] Early years
Repairs began in 1843, with the first new locomotive in 1846, the "Great Western", followed by six more, the "Iron Dukes." By 1866 the works was producing around one a week . A rolling mill was installed for rails in 1861 attracting workers from South Wales. Although some rolling stock was built at Wolverhampton (producing 800 standard gauge locomotives up to 1908), Worcester and Saltney near Chester, most of the work was concentrated at Swindon.
Like most early railways, the GWR was built with gentle gradients and the minimum of curves, which meant that they were able to operate fast light-weight 'single-wheelers',2-2-2 and 4-2-2. However, from 1849, Gooch also built 4-4-0 saddle tank locomotives for the hillier routes in Devon.
In addition to locomotive building, from 1850 standardised goods wagons were produced and in 1867 Swindon was made the central workshop for the construction of carriages and wagons, with extensions and thirteen miles of additional sidings. In 1864, when Joseph Armstrong took over, he took on the responsiblity of improving the passenger stock. In 1878 a separate new carriage and wagon works was built on land north of the station. The first Royal Saloon was built in 1874 and converted to standard gauge in 1899.
[edit] Expansion
Churchward's tenure, first as Assistant Chief Superintendent in 1897, then Locomotive Superintendent in 1902 , produced heavier locomotives, firstly the 4-4-0 City class, then the County class. Later in 1906 "North Star", originally 4-4-2, was rebuilt as the first four-cylinder 4-6-0. Later four-cylindered engines were 4-6-0 built and, in1908 the first "Pacific" 4-6-2, the only one of its type in the country for many years. It was later rebuilt as a 4-6-0.
The first GWR through corridor train was built in 1891 with electric lighting introduced in 1900.
From 1914 the works turned to aiding the war effort, producing twelve howitzers by the end of the year.
[edit] Heyday
C. B. Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1921 to 1941 greatly improved the work's boiler making and its facilities for working heavy gauge sheet metal. In 1927 the most powerful locomotive type of all, the King class, the largest ever built by the GWR, was introduced to become the "flagship" of the GWR fleet. The Kings had been developed from the Castle Class which, along with the Halls, were the foundation of the GWR's reputation and image.
This was the heyday of Swindon Works, when 14,000 people were employed and the main locomotive fabrication workshop, the A Shop was, at 11.25 acres, one of the largest covered areas in the world.
During World War II Swindon was once again involved with military hardware, producing various types of gun mountings. Loco wheel-turning lathes were also ideally suited for making turret rings for tanks. The works also built landing craft and parts for midget submarines.
In 1947 the works were still producing 60 new locomotives in the year, falling to 42 in 1954. Between 1949 and 1960 some 200 of the various BR Standard locomotives were produced. British Railway's last steam locomotive BR standard class 9F 92220 Evening Star was built in 1960 and the first diesel-hydraulic main line locomotive in 1957.
[edit] Decline and closure
In 1962 new building of locomotives finished at Swindon. Locomotive repairs and carriage and wagon work continued, though the original carriage and wagon workshop was sold. The whole works closed in 1986, but one building currently houses a museum dedicated to the Great Western Railway. The engineers' office is now the headquarters of English Heritage. Purpose-built storage there now houses the archive of the National Monuments Record
Most of the remaining still used buildings are part of the Designer Outlet Village [1]. The old area where the workers once got paid is now the location of ATMs.
[edit] Superintendents and Chief Engineers
- Sir Daniel Gooch, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, 1837 to 1864
- Joseph Armstrong, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, 1864 to 1877
- Major William Dean, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, 1877 to 1902
- G. J. Churchward, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, 1902 to 1916, and Chief Mechanical Engineer, 1916 to 1921
- C. B. Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer, 1921 to 1941
- F. W. Hawksworth, Chief Mechanical Engineer, 1941 to 1949
[edit] Organisation
A great many different activities were carried out within the works and most of the components used to make locomotives, carriages and wagons were made on site, not purchased from outside suppliers. The factory was organised into a number of "shops", as shown below:-
| Shop | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Erectors, Boilermakers, Painters, Machine and Wheel Shop |
| B | Erectors, Boilermakers, Painters and Tender Shop |
| BSE | Engine Reception and Preparation |
| C | Concentration Yard (recovery of scrap metal) |
| D | Carpenters and Masons |
| E | Electrical Shop |
| F | Smiths, Springsmiths and Chainmakers |
| G | Millwrights |
| H | Pattern makers |
| J | Iron Foundry |
| J2 | Chair Foundry |
| K | Coppersmiths and Sheet Metal Workers |
| L2 | Tank Shop |
| M | Electric Sub-Station |
| N | Bolt Shop |
| O | Tool Room |
| P1 | Steaming and Boiler Mounting |
| PL | Platelayers; Loco. Works, Rails, Roads and Water Mains Maintenance |
| Q | Angle Iron Smiths |
| R | Fitters, Turners and Machinemen |
| SP | Springsmiths |
| T | Brass finishers |
| TH | Testing House |
| U | Brass Foundry |
| V | Boilermakers |
| W | Turners and Machinemen |
| X | Points and Crossings, Fittings for Permanent Way |
| Z | Transport |
| Shop | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sawmill (West End) |
| 2 | Sawmill |
| 3 | Fitting and Machines |
| 4 | Carriage Body Building |
| 5 | Electric Train Lighting |
| 7 | Carriage Finishing and Polishers |
| 8 | Cariage Painting |
| 9 | Carriage Trimming |
| 9a | Lining Sewers (female) |
| 10 | Laundry (female) |
| 11 | General Labourers |
| 12 | Carpenters |
| 13 | Wagon Frame Building |
| 13a | Carriage Frame Repairs |
| 14 | Smiths |
| 15 | Fitting, Machining, Plumbers, Gas and Steam Fitters, Sheet Metal Workers and Coppersmiths |
| 16 | Wheel |
| 17 | Road Vehicle Building and Repairing |
| 18 | Stamping |
| 19a | Carriage Trimmers Repairs |
| 19b | Carriage Finishers Repairs |
| 19c | Carriage Lifters |
| 19d | Vacuum Brake and Carriage Bogie Repairs |
| 20 | Horse Box and Carriage Truck Repairs |
| 21 | Wagon Building and Repairs |
| 22 | Oil and Grease Works |
| 23 | Platelayers’ Yard, Maintenance and Breaking-up Yard |
| 24 | Carriage Repairs |
[edit] Literature
Alfred Williams' book Life in a Railway Factory has been described as "the most important literary work ever produced in Swindon, about Swindon". At the time, the town of Swindon, with a population of about 50,000, was almost entirely dependent on the railway works for its survival and prosperity. The book is a frank account of the very hard working conditions in this enormous industrial complex, which then employed 12,000 people (almost all men), and includes information both about how locomotives were made and the people who made them.
[edit] References
- Swindon Works, and its Place in British Railway History London: Railway Executive (Western Region), (1950)
- Simmons, J., (1986) The Railway in Town and Country, Newton Abbott: David and Charles
- Larkin, E.J., Larkin, J.G., (1988) The Railway Workshops of Great Britain 1823-1986,' ' Macmillan Press
- Cattell, John and Falconer, Keith (1995) Swindon: the Legacy of a Railway Town, HMSO, London, 181 pp., 1995.
- Williams, Alfred (1915) Life in a Railway Factory ISBN 9780905778310
