Willans & Robinson Ltd (1880) built Victoria Engineering Works in Rugby in 1896, as the town had a central position in the UK, which had a ready-made workforce skilled in manufacturing and power generation because of the railway industry. Good railway access at Rugby also meant that transporting raw material into the factory and finished goods out was straightforward. Dick, Kerr and Company Ltd took over the Works in 1917, which then became part of the English Electric Company (EE) a year later and the name changed to the Willans Works.

A site on the east side of Strand Road had been intermittently used for railway work since the 1840’s. In 1898 the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works Ltd (ER&TCW) took over the site. This company had strong links with Dick Kerr & Co. The building of Preston Dock in the 1880’s had involved the diversion of the river Ribble and associates of Dick Kerr & Co built the factory building which still stands on the west side of Strand Road in 1900. This site occupies the space between the road and the original river bank. The two sites became a major centre of tram building and electrical equipment manufacture. Dick Kerr & Co took over the West works in 1903 and ER&TCW became the United Electric Car Company in 1905. A major early railway contract was for the electrification of the Liverpool Southport line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1904. The two factories continued in close association until they merged into English Electric in 1918. Military equipment and Seaplanes were built during the First World War and the Dick Kerr & Co Work’s Ladies became a famous football team at that time. Non railway electrical work was gradually transferred to other English Electric factories in the 1920’s. Besides continuing tramway business, major orders for Japan and France helped to establish electric traction industries in those countries, the Tarbes factory continues as a main unit in the Alstom group. A complete electrification scheme was supplied for the Arthur’s Pass line in New Zealand. 1930 saw the transfer of the traction electrical work to Phoenix, Bradford and the closure of West works until the late 30’s. East works continued making buses and trams including a large order for Blackpool. Early diesel electrics became a speciality and shunter contracts with the Willans built 6K engine for the LMS and others were very successful and formed the basis of large orders after the Second World War. In the late 30’s East works open yards and some surrounding properties were built over to form a large aircraft manufacturing site and with West works produced over 3000 Handley Page bombers during the war and just post war, DeHavilland ‘Vampire’ jet fighters. After the war most traction electrical equipment manufacture (but not the offices) was moved from Bradford to East works and ‘K’, ‘RK’ and ‘V’ engine manufacture moved from Willans, Rugby to the West works which also took on diesel and electric locomotive manufacture. Aircraft manufacture continued in both works with large orders for Canberra bombers and Lightning fighters. Final assembly was at Salmesbury and Warton aerodromes. Some locomotive manufacture was subcontracted to Vulcan from the late forties. Notable orders included large Electric locomotives for Spain and the ‘5E’ for South Africa. This locomotive was the basis of subsequent large orders for ‘5E1’ and ‘6E’ equipments produced by or in conjunction with AEI and GEC Traction. The prototype ‘Deltic’ was produced before the takeover of Vulcan and Robert Stephensons in 1955, when all locomotive production was quickly moved to those sites. Most of the diesel engines for the large number of locomotives supplied under the British Rail modernisation plan were made in West works. Aircraft production continued in both works until the formation of the British Aircraft Corporation in the mid-sixties. East works was transferred to BAC and diesel engines moved to Vulcan. The full range of traction equipment manufacture then took over West works and the offices moved in from Bradford in 1967. BAC closed East works in the early nineties and the factory was demolished. Four years after the merger with GEC in 1968 the former English Electric and AEI traction offices were reorganised with commercial and control gear at Trafford Park and machines at Preston. Production locations remained unaltered until the closure of Attercliffe, Sheffield in 1985. Semi-conductor technology gradually changed the product range in the 1980’s with GTO’s and IGBT’s enabling ac induction motors to take over from dc in the 90’s. Over 5000 EE507 dc motors were made for BR Southern region over a period of nearly 50 years. After the merger with Alsthom in 1989 the Trafford Park operation was gradually closed down and all offices and production were moved to Preston in the mid-nineties. Some buildings were demolished and others refurbished. Major orders for ac motor equipments included BR classes 465 and 365, ‘Eurostar’ motors and ‘common’ blocks, Korea, London Underground ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Northern’ lines and Virgin ’Pendolino’ and ‘Voyager’ trains. Most of the motors for these last two were made at Ornans, France after the closure of new motor manufacture in 1999. After 2003 only a small design and drawing facility remained, concentrating on repairs and modifications to existing rolling stock The site remains open as part of Alstom Transport’s Train Life Service business for the manufacture, repair and overhaul of traction control equipment and rotating machines, and as a spare parts distribution centre. BAE systems have occupied some offices on the site since 2006 as tenants of Alstom. Today, the factory is still operating on a reduced scale, only employing about 200.

The Phoenix Works in Bradford were owned Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company of Hubert Street, Leeds Road in 1895 manufacturing arc lamps and electrical instruments. By 1900 the company works were manufacturing small motors and dynamos for driving machinery and providing lighting specifically for the textile industry. Large motors, turbines, turbo-generators etc. were manufactured for orders from the Admiralty and War Office. During the First World War, the works produced millions of shells, a large quantity of machine tools, sea planes and flying boats. In 1918 these works became the English Electric center for small to medium sized industrial AC and DC motors and generators including fractional horsepower machines and also eventually a specialised unit manufacturing generators and motors for aircraft applications. In 1930, the Dick, Kerr West Works at Preston closed and Traction electrical design and manufacture transferred to Bradford. Some key staff left and joined Crompton Parkinson. Important traction work included motors and generators for early diesel electric applications and continued manufacture of Metrovick designed motors for the Southern Railway. After the Second World War, most of the traction manufacturing transferred to the Preston East works factory but the design and commercial offices remained at Bradford until 1967. Some traction and associated military manufacturing work continued including conventional submarine control gear and pulse generators for mine sweepers. The Aircraft Equipment Division merged with Lucas Aerospace and left Bradford in the 1970’s and industrial machine manufacture ceased in the 90’s with complete closure in 1999. A B&Q store occupies the former Traction part of the site. An office block built in the 1950’s is all that remains of the factory.

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway Co. Ltd. (BAPRO) was a British-owned, broad gauge (5’ 6”), private limited company, serving the Cordoba, San Luis and Sante Fe provinces of Argentina. It was considered one of the ‘Big Four’ British-owned, broad gauge railway companies in Argentina, alongside Buenos Aires Western Railway, Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway and Central Argentine Railways. In 1872 John E. Clark secured a concession made by the Argentine government to construct a railway line from Buenos Aires to Chile. In 1882, Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway Co. registered as a joint-stock company in London. On October 6th 1886 a line between Mercedes in the Buenos Aires province, and Villa Mercedes in the San Luis province was opened, and the company was granted permission to build independent access to Buenos Aires. The construction of the Mercedes - Palermo line, which opened on 20th March 1888, created an independent line to Palermo on the outskirts of Buenos Aires at a cost of £604,800. In 1898, the company took over the British-owned company, Villa Maria and Rufino Railway. In 1899, John Wynford Philips became the chairman of Buenos Aires and Pacific, developing the company into a regional amalgamation of companies and lines reaching from Buenos Aires to the Andes, and extending from San Juan to Bahia Blanca. Philips held this post until 1934. During this time, many of the company's major stations were built to manage the growing population of Buenos Aires, including La Paternal (1887), Villa Devoto (1888), Bella Vista (1891), San Miguel (1896), Santos Lugares (1906), Villa del Parque and Sanez Pena (1907), El Palomar (1908). In 1900, over £6.3 million was invested in the company, which acquired part of a building in Florida Street in central Buenos Aires in 1908, for offices. In 1909 the Sanez Pena - Villa Luro line opened and construction began on Palermo station. The company continued to function until 1948, when President Juan Peron nationalised the Argentine Railway, creating six state owned railway networks. Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway Co. was incorporated into the Ferrocarril General San Martin network.

Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was formed in 1872 after it began to take over failing privately owned railway lines with its headquarters in Launceton, Tasmania. TGR owned lines ranging from Deloraine, the North West Coast, Hobart and Launceton to Antill Ponds and Turnbridge. In 1978 TGR was amalgamated with the Commonwealth Railways, South Australian Railways to form the new Australian National Railways Commission, operating as Tasrail.

Queensland Rail Limited also known as Queensland Government Railways was established in 1865. The railway stretched from coastal ports such as Brisbane, Cairns and Rockhampton, inland for the transportation of farming produce for exportation. The first railway line was built from Ipswich inland to Grandchester in 1864 and the first passenger train service ran on 31 July 1865. The line was extended to Darling Downs and Brisbane in 1875. Between 1899 and 1915, a large network of privately owned railways lines was built by mining magnate, John Moffat, which included Mungana, Mount Molloy, Mount Garnet, Mount Mulligan and the Etheridge mining field. As a result of falling share and copper prices, the Queensland Government took over these railway lines in 1919. A major restructure on 1st July 1991 with the introduction of the Transport Infrastructure (Railways) Act meant that Queensland Rail would begin to operate on a commercial basis as a State owned corporation. In accordance with the Queensland Rail Transit Authority Act 2013 (QRTA Act), Queensland Rail ceased being a government owned corporation from the 3rd May 2013 and the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of this statutory authority.

The Central Argentine Railway Company Ltd. (CAR) was established in 1863 by William Wheelwright. In 1862, Wheelwright obtained a concession with Thomas Brassey and George Wythes, from the Argentine government to construct a railway line from Rosario to Cordoba, originally granted to Jose Buschenthal (1802 -1870) in 1854. It was a British-owned, broad gauge (5’ 6”) company serving the Buenos Aires, Sante Fe, Tucuman, Santiago del Estero and Cordoba provinces of Argentina. By 1910, the company was considered one of the ‘Big Four’ British-owned, broad gauge railway companies in Argentina, alongside Pacific and Western, Buenos Aires and Great Southern. The Rosario –Cordoba line was the main broad gauge line constructed by Central Argentine Railways, extending from the eastern seaport of Rosario to Cordoba, started in 1863 and inaugurated on May 17th 1870. In 1870, President Sarmiento arranged a £6 million loan for Central Argentine Railway to extend this line north from Cordoba to Tucuman. In the Buenos Aires province there were three main suburban lines of Tigre West, Tigre East and Villa Ballester. The Retiro – Tigre West service was the first line in South America to be electrified on December 1st 1916, the units being supplied by British Thomson- Houston Company Ltd. The Tigre East and Villa Ballester lines were electrified in 1924, and 221 units were supplied by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company Ltd. The Central Argentine Railway operated the fastest train in South America, known as the “Rapido”, running between Buenos Aires and Rosario from 1910. Central Argentine Railways transported timber from the north including goods such as railway sleepers and fence posts, and sugar from Tucuman. The company was a major grain carrier, transporting maize, wheat and linseed amongst others. CAR was the first to adopt gas lighting in trains, to provide sleeping cars and luxurious dining and restaurant cars, and to use block and pneumatic signalling. The main stations are Retiro, the Buenos Aires terminus, opened in August 1915; Cordoba opened in 1919; Campana opened in 1925. The company continued to function until 1948, when President Juan Peron nationalised the Argentine Railway, creating six state owned railway networks and Central Argentine Railways was incorporated into the Ferrocarril Mitre network.

In 1851 the Regent of Egypt and Sudan, Abbas I, contracted Robert Stephenson to build Egypt's first standard gauge railway. Construction began on the line in 1851 and in 1854 a section was opened from Alexandria to the village of Kafr El-Eiss. In 1856 the entire single track line was opened with 12 stations including the main stations of Cairo (constructed in 1855) and Alexandria (constructed in 1854). In 1919, the railways became entrusted to the Ministry of Communications and in 1953, Egypt became a republic and Egyptian State Railways changed to become Egyptian Republic Railways.