TitleRecords of Nasmyth, Wilson & Co Ltd, Locomotive Builders, Patricroft
ReferenceNAS
CreatorNasmyth Wilson & Company Ltd James Nasmyth (1808-1890) founded the original company in 1836 at the Bridgewater Foundry. They originally made special purpose machine tools, steam engines and other engineering products. In particular they produced Nasmyth’s own invention of the steam hammer, which revolutionised practice in heavy engineering.
The company was known as Nasmyth Gaskell & Company from 1838 to 1850, following investment by Holbrook Gaskell. From 1850 it was known as James Nasmyth & Company until Nasmyth retired in 1856. In 1857 the company became the Patricroft Iron Works. In 1867 Robert Wilson joined the works and the company changed its name again, first to Nasmyth Wilson & Company and finally in 1882 to Nasmyth Wilson & Co Ltd.
Until the 1880s locomotive building was neither a major nor a consistent part of the company’s production, but increased from that decade. Most of the production was for railway companies abroad. Orders became difficult to obtain after the First World War and in 1939 the company was wound up. The works were taken over by the Ministry of Supply in that year as the Patricroft Royal Ordnance Factory. They built some 1,531 locomotives between 1839 and 1939.
Scope and ContentThe collection comprises records regarding the production of locomotives and tenders. The engineering drawings are general arrangement drawings of locomotives and tenders produced between 1917 and 1938, and are therefore no more than a selection of the output of the company during the later decades of its existence. The locomotives represented in this series were mainly for export. The locomotive records books cover the period 1839 - 1938 and contain technical information regarding specific orders; these volumes also contain small-format images of the completed rail vehicles.
Extent94 flat drawings and 2 volumes
Physical descriptionThe drawings are in full colour on a stiff linen backed paper. They are in a fair condition. The volumes are bound and in a good condition.
LanguageEnglish
Archival historyThe engineering drawings came from the Railway Industry Association of Britain as part of a three-part donation of items listed as 1973-398. The specification books were the accession 1991-7000 which was acquired by the National Railway Museum from the Railway Industry Association of Britain. They were formerly part of the Locomotive Manufacturer's Association collection.
Levelfonds
Repository nameNational Railway Museum, York
Associated people and organisationsNasmyth, James Hall James Hall Nasmyth was born on 19 August 1808 in Edinburgh. He was taught to draw by his father, who was an artist. He used this skill throughout his life. As a boy, he spent a lot of his spare time in an iron foundry owned by a friend of his father. He learned how to use tools, and as a hobby made small steam engines and other types of machinery. He sold some of his models to fund his attendance at classes at Edinburgh University. When he was 19, the Scottish Society of Arts commissioned him to build a steam carriage, which was successfully put into operation on roads around Edinburgh in 1827–8.
In 1829, Nasmyth went to London, where he became assistant to Henry Maudslay, the leading engineering toolmaker of the period, at Maudslay’s Lambeth workshop. Maudslay died in February 1831, and Nasmyth began to work for Maudslay’s partner, Joshua Field. In August 1831, Nasmyth returned to Scotland and began building up a stock of machine in order to set up his own engineering business, which opened in 1834 in Manchester. The small workshop in Dale Street prospered, and in 1836 Nasmyth was able to lease 6 acres of land at Patricroft, where he set up what became the Bridgewater foundry, adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal. He entered into partnership with the local entrepreneur Holbrook Gaskell. Together they developed the business, which acquired a high reputation for the manufacture of a range of machinery, in particular locomotive steam engines and machine tools. In 1839, Nasmyth invented the steam hammer as a tool to speed up the production process, following an order placed to produce the paddle shaft for the SS Great Britain. Nasmyth took out a patent on his design in 1842, and the company became renowned for the production of steam hammers.
From 1843 to 1856 steam hammer production drove the company to prosperity. This success allowed Nasmyth to retire from the company in 1856.
As well as manufacturing machine tools, Nasmyth made important improvements in self-acting controls. While working for Henry Maudslay, he invented a nut-shaping machine. His other inventions and developments include a flexible shaft for driving small drills, and a hydraulic punching machine capable of punching a hole through a block of iron 5 inches thick.
Following his retirement from business in 1856, Nasmyth pursued his interest in astronomy, designing and building his own telescopes. He used his telescopes to survey the moon’s surface. He received a medal from the Great Exhibition of 1851 for his series of drawings of the lunar surface. In 1874, Nasmyth published, in conjunction with James Carpenter, a detailed study entitled The Moon Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite.
Nasmyth died at Bailey's Hotel, Gloucester Road, South Kensington, on 7 May 1890. His ashes were interred at Dean cemetery, Edinburgh.
Conditions governing accessAccess is given in accordance with the NRM access policy. Material from this archive is available to researchers through Search Engine
Conditions governing ReproductionCopies may be supplied of items in this archive, provided that the copying process used does not damage the item or is not detrimental to its preservation. Copies will be supplied in accordance with the NRM’s terms and conditions for the supply and reproduction of copies, and the provisions of any relevant copyright legislation.
AppraisalNo action taken. Drawings are for permanent preservation
System of arrangementThe original order of the collection is not known. The drawings have been listed as one series in drawing number order and the specification books have been placed in chronological order.
