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Title
General arrangements and outlines of diesel electric locomotives for UK & overseas railways
Reference
GEC/2/2/2/116
Production date
1959 - 1973

Creator

English Electric Company Limited Biography Biography
The English Electric Company was formed on 14th December 1918 and over the following year acquired Dick, Kerr & Company of Preston, Willans & Robinson of Rugby, the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, and Coventry Ordnance Works. After the First World War the various German owned Siemens works were distributed to different UK companies and in November 1919 English Electric acquired the Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works at Stafford, which became the company headquarters in 1931. Coventry Ordnance, primary output naval guns, did not feature in the gradual product rationalisation which took place between the First World and Second world Wars. Willans & Robinson’s Rugby works specialised in prime movers, steam, hydro and internal combustion, and their Stafford works on power station and distribution electrics, including transformers and large electric machines for applications such as mining and steel works. Dick Kerr & Company continued building equipment and vehicles for bus, tram and railway applications with the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company concentrating on medium and small electrical machines. Involvement with aircraft continued a small scale. By 1929 the company was in financial trouble and an American syndicate fronted by Lazard Bros. put in new capital. In 1930 Westinghouse of Pittsburgh entered into an agreement with the company for the exchange of technical information relating to steam turbines and electrical apparatus. This cooperation continued into the 1950s. 1930 saw the closure of Preston West works and the transfer of traction electrical design and manufacture to the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing works. The Westinghouse influence included top management changes with Sir H Mensforth becoming chairman and George Nelson managing director. Both had been with British Westinghouse at Trafford Park. The early 1930s saw a remarkable improvement in the company’s finances and domestic appliance manufacture was started at Bradford and Stafford. In 1936 they began production of diesel locomotives at Preston and were later involved in the production of the Deltic locomotive for British Rail, presaging the end of steam traction in the UK. Extensive shadow factory building for war production commenced in the late 1930’s, including at Preston East works and Salmesbury for aircraft production and at East Lancashire Road, Liverpool for D. Napier aero engines. A large variety of military equipment built during the war included thousands of Cromwell tanks from Stafford and over 3000 Handley Page Hampden and Halifax bombers from Preston and Salmesbury. After the war manufacture of smaller products from Bradford and Stafford moved to the large Liverpool works. This included electrical distribution transformers, switchgear, fuse gear, fractional horsepower motors and domestic appliances. Napier’s continued engine manufacture with the development of the ’Deltic’ diesel engine, mainly for marine applications. The nearby Netherton works took over the manufacture of large hydro-electric turbines and generators from Willans and Stafford. In 1942 English Electric acquired D. Napier & Son Ltd and Marconi in 1946. The company went on to extend their railway interests with the acquisition of the Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn Ltd in 1955. The company tried to take over The General Electric Company (GEC) in 1960 but failed. Traction manufacture, but not the offices, moved back to Preston East works and ‘K’, ‘RK’ and ‘V’ engine design and manufacture moved from Willans to Preston West works which was now also used for locomotive building. Kidsgrove works in Stafford made industrial controls and for a while was a major player in the UK computer industry, merging with Leo Computers and then into ICL. Train performance calculations were an early user of the mid-fifties ‘Deuce’ computer. Preston also became a major player in the aircraft industry taking over the wartime RAF/USAF base at Warton aerodrome - major design and manufacture contracts included Canberra bombers and Lightning fighters. Rationalisation in the 1960s resulted in English Electric Aviation becoming 40% of the new British Aircraft Corporation. In 1961 English Electric took over Dorman Diesels Ltd which in turn had acquired W. G. Bagnall Ltd. In 1966 English Electric Diesels merged with Ruston and Hornsby which already included Paxmans. This company eventually became GEC Diesels. Elliott Automation was acquired in 1967. The following year GEC took over English Electric, ending its independent existence.

Scope and Content
The roll contains c 100 acetate and waxed linen drawings of general arrangements and outlines of diesel electric locomotives and coaches for overseas railways, including: British Railways Type 3 (Class 37) shown with 12 CSVT Mk III engine, Congo, Uruguay, Greece, RENFE, Sudan, Zambia, Columbian National Railway, Nigeria, Jamaica, Eqypt, Thailand, East Africa (90 and 91 Class), Argentine, Malaya (Class 22), Northern Ireland, Philippines, Chile, Hungary, Bolivia, Guatemala, Western Pakistan, Malawi, Poland, Yugoslavia, Iran, Taiwan, Portugal, General Belgrano, Bangladesh, South Africa, Romania and Tunisia. Drawing numbers T3200, V3200, P3200.
Extent
1 roll
Archival history
This roll of drawings was compiled by the English Electric Company Limited
Level of description
FILE
Repository name
National Railway Museum, York

Associated people and organisations

Trafford Park Works Biography Biography
In 1900 the British Westinghouse Electrical & Manufacturing Co Ltd bought land in Trafford Park and built a factory which went into production in 1902 for the manufacture of mechanical and electrical equipment for the generation, transmission and use of electricity. In 1919, Trafford Park Works became owned by British Westinghouse’s successor, Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company (MV). The main shops, in common with factory construction throughout Trafford Park, were single floor type, with bays 1,000 feet in length, and had direct railway communication with the docks and trunk systems of the country. The main office block was a copy of the Westinghouse building in Pittsburgh, USA and the factory was to the American design and used imported steelwork for construction. Products manufactured at the Works included gas engines, stationary steam engines, electric generators, transformers, switchgear, meters, motors, control gear, and arc lamps. During the First World War, British Westinghouse built some small petrol-electric locomotives for the War Department Light Railways. In 1928 the Works were taken over by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), which merged Metropolitan-Vickers and British Thomson-Houston, though these two companies continued their own trading names. Traction design and manufacture was always a minority of the workload at Trafford Park with the largest operations generally turbine manufacture. Very few vehicles were built there, and traction machines (i.e. motors, inductors and generators) were largely built in other places – notably at Sheffield or Rugby. Trafford Park traction manufacture was largely that of assembling control gear – contactors, switches, drivers’ controllers, camshaft controllers, relays etc. and building these into frames or equipment boxes for installation in vehicles made elsewhere. An important part of the Trafford Park Works site was the general switchgear operation, mainly for generation or distribution installations. The on-site Switchgear Testing Company was a “testing house” for these products and contributed to testing and development of traction circuit breakers and switchgear. During the Second World War MV acting for the Ministry of Aircraft Production produced more than a thousand Lancaster Bombers in the adjacent Mosley Road building. The company also manufactured war munitions and in the laboratories developed what became known as Radar. In 1959 the newly formed AEI Traction Division established its headquarters at Trafford Park, with a product range that included electric and diesel-electric locomotives; electrical equipment for tram-cars, trolley buses and trolley mining locomotives and traction motors. AEI was taken over by the General Electric Company (GEC) in 1967 whose Witton Works closed in 1969, with the design office and traction manufacture transferred to Trafford Park, as a result of the GEC reorganisation and mergers. GEC Traction Ltd took over the Works in 1972. In 1990 the former Low Voltage Switchgear site at Trafford Park (West Works) was renovated to be the new manufacturing facility for GEC Alsthom Traction, with an electronics workshop, machine shop and plating baths, and an assembly shop for switchgear, equipment cases and power modules. This building was vacated in 1998 when power modules and switchgear was moved to Tarbes in south west France. The Works housed the administrative, commercial and accounting functions, the majority of the design departments and the development section with its associated workshops and laboratories. The manufacturing area was devoted primarily to the production of components of traction control and railway signalling equipment. In 1993, as part of the rationalisation of the equipment group, it was announced that the headquarters of GEC Alsthom Traction would move to Preston, leaving only Power Module design and manufacture at Manchester, with the eventual closing of all activities at Trafford Park in 1998. The iconic original Westinghouse building was demolished and the site is now (2015) largely devoted to container handling and logistics operations.
Antofagasta (Chili) & Bolivia Railway Company plc Biography Biography
The Antofagasta (Chili) and Bolivia Railway Company plc was incorporated in London in 1888. The company raised money on the London Stock Exchange to build and operate a railway from Antofagasta, a port on the Pacific Coast of Northern Chile, to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. The company diversified into mining and other sectors, following acquisition of control by the Luksic Group in 1980.
Pakistan Western Railway Biography Biography
In 1947, a major portion of the North Western Railways 8,122 kilometer route (5,048 mi) was transferred to Pakistan and named the Pakistan Western Railway. The remaining 3,133 route kilometers (1,947 mi) were transferred to Indian control. In May 1974 it was renamed Pakistan Railways.
RENFE Biography Biography
RENFE (Spanish National Railways Network) was created in 1941, with the unification of the existing railway companies in Spain into a single state-owned company. In 1975, RENFE began a period of comprehensive reforms for the purpose of turning the Spanish railway network into an efficient alternative for transporting goods and passengers. As a result, Cercanías commuter services were introduced to cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga. In 1992 RENFE opened the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, coinciding with the opening of Expo'92. On 1 January 2005, RENFE’s legal monopoly came to an end and two successor companies were established; Renfe, responsible for transport of freight and passengers and Adif (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) responsible for managing lines, stations and communications. RENFE was divided into Renfe-Operadora (operations) and ADIF (infrastructure) on 1 January 2005.
Sudan Government Railways Biography Biography
Sudan Railways is the main railway system in Sudan, operated by the government-owned Sudan Railways Corporation. It runs over 5000km of narrow gauge, single-track railroads that serve the northern and central parts of the country. The main line underwent construction in 1875, completed in 1899, and runs from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum, and southwest to Al Ubayyid via Sannar and Kosti. In 1904-5 a line between Swakin and Atbara was constructed with the two lines meeting at Saloom station, to facilitate export and import transportation. In 1906 the railway headquarters and workshops were moved from Wadi Halfa to Atbara, and since 1981 the company headquarters have been based in Khartoum. In the 1980’s Sudan Railways declined due to political instability and debt, with lines operating at only 20% capacity by 1989. In 2011-2012 a contract was signed to build a line from Nyala to Chad, extending to the capital of Chad, N’Djamena. In 2015 Sudan Railways had 60 trains available but which could only travel at 40km per hour due to poor track conditions, with President Omer Hassan al-Bashir promising modernisation of the Sudanese railways with Chinese funding.
Jamaican Government Railway Biography Biography
The Jamaican Government bought the Kingston-Old Harbour railway line from the Jamaica Railway Company in 1879. Rapid development of the citrus and banana industries in the early 1880s significantly encouraged the expansion of the railway in Jamaica. In 1890 the Government sold the railway to an American syndicate, the West India Improvement Company. In 1900 the company went into receivership and the railway became a part of the government once again. In 1960 the government created the Jamaica Railway Corporation to look after the railway. Line closures from debt and pressures to reopen the lines in 1970s occurred until in 1980 Hurricane Allen damaged much of the railway and totally destroyed a section of the Port Antonio line. In October 1992 public rail transport services finally ceased operating in Jamaica. In 2012 the railway service had been mothballed.
Egyptian State Railways Biography Biography
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.
East African Railways & Harbours Biography Biography
In 1948 the Kenya Uganda Railways & Harbours and the Tanganyika Railways & Port Services were merged and became the East African Railways & Harbours Corporation. In 1956 the EAR&H extended the Uganda Railway from Kampala to Kasese and to Arua in 1964. In 1977 the East African Community dissolved and EAR&H split into three national railways; the Uganda Railways Corporation, Tanzania Railways Corporation and Kenya Railways Corporation.
Nigerian Railway Corporation Biography Biography
In 1955 the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act was passed by a British Act of Parliament, which gave Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) exclusive rights to construct and operate rail services in Nigeria. By 1964 when the construction of 640km Kano-Maiduguri rail line, then known as Bornu extension, was completed, the present core of the railway network had been put in place. The headquarters of the Corporation are located at Ebute-Metta in Lagos while the entire network is, for administrative conveniences, divided into seven autonomous districts viz: Lagos (Ebute-Metta Junction), West (Ibadan), North (Zaria), East (Enugu), North-West, (Minna), North-Central (Kafanchan) and North-East (Bauchi). In 1988 Nigerian Railways declared bankruptcy. From 2006 to the present day the railway has been undergoing some rehabilitation and modernization with the full political and financial support of the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Transport.
Central Argentine Railway Company Ltd.Biography Biography
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.
Polish State Railways Biography Biography
In 1918 Polish State Railways (Polish name: Polskie Koleje Państwowe or PKP) was formed following the First World War after Poland gained independence and took over 2,627 miles of railway lines in the territory formerly under Prussian rule, 2,707 miles from the former Austrian territory and 4,575 miles from the Russians. In 1922 the entire railway network in Poland was divided into 9 districts: Warsaw, Radom, Vilnius, Kraków, Lviv, Stanyslaviv, Katowice, Poznań and Gdańsk. During the interwar period from 1931 to 1939 the construction of the Warsaw Main Railway Station was completed. PKP electrified more than 6,214 miles (10,000 km) of lines from 1936 to 1987. In 1939 PKP was divided into eight regions; Warsaw, Torun, Poznan, Katowice, Cracow, Radom, Lwow and Wilno, with the headquarters of PKP located in Warsaw. During the Second World War the railway was subjected to widespread bombing WW2 as it was a crucial part of the German war effort and in 1945 PKP began rebuilding the railway under Soviet occupation. Repairs were performed by the main workshops in Brest, Bydgoszcz, Lviv, Łapy, Nowy Sącz, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Piotrowice Śląskie, Poznań, Radom, Pruszków, Stanyslaviv, Stryi, Tarnów, Tczew, Warsaw-Praga and Eastern Warsaw. The 139 mile route built in 1971 to 1977 between Silesia – Zawiercie – Włoszczowa – Idzikowice – Grodzisk Mazowiecki – Warsaw, known as the Central Mainline (CMK), was the largest investment of Polish State Railways after the war. After 1990, infrastructural investments were abandoned, with the exception of replacement work. The Polish railway network shortened from 14,292 miles to 11,806 miles of which 7,418 miles were electrified. From 1991 the number of passengers using PKP decreased with the closure of some secondary lines and narrow gauge sections. The Polish State Railways Joint Stock Company (Polish name: Polskie Koleje Państwowe Spółka Akcyjna (PKP S.A.) was established on 1 January 2001 as a result of this commercialisation of the Polish State Railways state enterprise.
Bangladesh Railway Biography Biography
In 1971 Bangladesh became an independent nation and the current Pakistan Eastern Railway was renamed the Bangladesh Railway (BR). BR is a state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh, with a headquarters located in Dhaka, which operates and maintains the entire railway network of the country. It operates international, inter-city and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network, and provides various types of services ranging from shuttle services for university students to freight and cargo services. It also owns coach production facilities and manages its own Railway Training Academy. At the end of the year 2004-05, BR had a total of 454 railway stations. BR is under the control of a Professional Director General supervised by the Bangladesh Railway Authority that is chaired by the Minister of Communications. BR is divided into two zones, East and West, each under the control of a General Manager who is accountable to the Director General of BR. The two zones have separate departments for operation, maintenance and finance. Each zone is divided into two divisions that contain departments for personnel, transportation, finance, mechanical etc. A separate directorate under the Ministry of Communications is charged to inspect different works of Bangladesh Railway in relation to safety.
South African Railways and Harbours Biography Biography
In 1910 the state-owned South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H) organisation was created, after the four colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State were amalgamated into the new Union of South Africa. In 1916, SAR&H took over the activities of the Central South African Railways, the Cape Government Railways and the Natal Government Railways. In 1924 the last privately owned railway line in South Africa was taken over by SAR&H; the New Cape Central Railway between Worcester and Voor Bay. In 1920 electrification of South Africa’s railways was completed, and in 1924 the first electric test train ran between Ladysmith and Chieveley in Natal. In 1950 the first portion of the new Johannesburg station was opened and construction was completed on the huge workshops complex at Koedoespoort. In 1960, diesel locomotives were introduced on a large scale to SAR&H. In 1981, SAR&H changed its name to South African Transport Services (SATS) and took on South Africa’s railway, harbour, road transport, and aviation and pipeline operations.
GEC Traction Limited Biography Biography
GEC Traction (GECT) was formed in 1972 as part of the GEC Power Engineering Group following earlier amalgamations of the traction divisions of the General Electric Company (GEC), the English Electric Company (EE) and Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). A wholly owned subsidiary company of GEC, the company had offices and works, located at Trafford Park in Manchester, at Strand Road in Preston, and at Attercliffe Common, Sheffield. The headquarters of GEC Traction was Trafford Park, Manchester (previously the headquarters of English Electric-AEI Traction) with design of rotating machines at Preston and Sheffield, and manufacturing activities for control equipment at Manchester and Preston. GEC Traction designed and manufactured a full range of traction machines and control equipment for electric vehicles, including electric locomotives and multiple unit trains for main-line and mass-transit railway systems (dc up to 3,000 volts, and ac up to 50,000 volts), diesel-electric locomotives and trains, mining and industrial locomotives, tramcars and trolleybuses. GEC Traction was the leading supplier of traction equipment in the UK and had a wide market around the world, particularly in South Africa, Australasia, Hong Kong, South Korea, South America and Pakistan. In 1979 the Industrial Locomotive Division of the former English Electric which was based at Vulcan Works, Newton-le-Willows was merged into GEC Traction, which later became a separate company, GEC Industrial Locomotives Ltd. During the late 1980s and 1990s the firm underwent major rationalisation, involving closure of several sites including Attercliffe Common in Sheffield in 1985 and the company’s headquarters at Trafford Park in Manchester in 1998. The company name GEC Traction endured until a merger with the French Alsthom group in 1989, which created GEC Alsthom Traction, which was still a branch of the main company GEC Alsthom.
English Electric-AEI Traction Limited Biography Biography
The General Electric Company (GEC) merged AEI Traction Division and English Electric Traction in 1969 after acquiring both companies to create English Electric – AEI Traction Limited. The headquarters were located at Trafford Park in Manchester. This subsidiary company was renamed GEC Traction Limited in 1972.
Vulcan Foundry Ltd Biography Biography
The Vulcan Foundry was originally opened in 1830 at Newton-le-Willows, as Charles Tayleur and Company. It initially produced girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Robert Stephenson became a partner in 1832, and in the same year, the first locomotives ‘Tayleur’ and ‘Stephenson’ were delivered to the North Union Railway. By 1840 locomotives had been delivered to five European countries and to North America. The company became The Vulcan Foundry Company in 1847 and acquired limited liability in 1864. From the beginning of 1898, the name changed again to The Vulcan Foundry Limited, dropping the word 'company.' Vulcan locomotives were exported all over the world, with the first locomotives for Russia and Japan supplied in 1837 and 1871 respectively and a long association with India began in 1852. First World War production included shells, gun mountings and mine sweeping equipment. The first non-steam locomotive, an electric, was produced for India in 1929. The first diesel locomotive design commenced in 1932/33 and an agreement was reached with A/S Frichs in Denmark. The English Electric 6K engine was used from this time. The “Waltzing Matilda” tank was developed in 1938 and produced in large numbers and over five hundred ‘Austerity’ steam locomotives were produced for the War Department. Other wartime production included gun mountings and torpedo parts. In 1944 Vulcan acquired the locomotive business, Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1946 the company began working with the English Electric Company producing diesel and electric locomotives and became part of the English Electric Group in 1955. All locomotive building from Preston was transferred to Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson’s in Darlington. Under the new ownership, the works produced many locomotives for both domestic and foreign railways, notably the Deltic. The mid-sixties saw the ‘RK’/’V’ engine production at Preston moved to Vulcan and Ruston & Hornsby Ltd merged with English Electric Diesels in 1966. After the General Electric Company plc (GEC) takeover in 1968 the Ruston name was used for some time inside what became GEC Diesels Ltd in 1975. Engine production and development continued for locomotive, industrial and marine applications until after the GEC-Alsthom merger in 1989. The company took over Mirlees Engines, Stockport in 1997 and was renamed Alstom Engines Ltd.
Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd Biography Biography
In 1937 Robert Stephenson & Co. Ltd purchased the locomotive department of R & W Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd. They became Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd. The policy was to concentrate the building of main line locomotives at Robert Stephenson’s Darlington works and industrial locomotives at Forth Banks. In 1944 Vulcan Foundry acquired Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd, ending Hawthorns' 137 year connection with Forth Banks. In 1955 Vulcan Foundry became full members of the English Electric group of companies, which became part of the GEC group of companies in 1968.
AEI Traction Division Biography Biography
In 1959 Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) created a self-contained company named AEI Traction Division to control the railway activities of both Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company Ltd and British Thomson-Houston (BTH). Included in this company were the interests of the Metropolitan-Vickers General Railway Signal Co., (later to become GEC General Railway Signal). The newly formed company established its headquarters, at Trafford Park, Manchester, and operated from three other sites, Attercliffe Common in Sheffield, Rugby Works, and Stockton Works supplying traction motors, machines, control gear and mechanical parts of locomotives. AEI Traction Limited’s product range encompassed electric and diesel-electric locomotives; electrical equipment for tramcars, trolley buses, trolley mining locomotives, traction motors and gears. In 1969 AEI Traction Division merged with English Electric Traction to form English Electric-AEI Traction Division.
British Railways Biography Biography
“British Railways” is the expression commonly used to describe the business run by the following legal entities: • Railway Executive (1948 – 1952) • British Transport Commission (1952 – 1963) • British Railways Board (1963 – 1993) Railways were nationalised on 1st January 1948 when the assets of the railways in Great Britain were vested in the British Transport Commission (BTC), a state-owned corporation created by the Transport Act 1947. Between 1948 and 1952 the business of operating the railways was carried on by the Railway Executive, a state-owned corporation, subsidiary to BTC. The Railway Executive was abolished in 1952 and BTC took over direct responsibility for the railways. Before 1948 there was no brand that was identified with the whole of the railways of Great Britain, only the separate brands of the Group companies, Southern, Great Western, London, Midland and Scottish and London and North Eastern, and London Transport. The railways were run under the corporate identity “British Railways” from 1948 by both the Railway Executive and BTC. The public manifestations of this were the words themselves on vehicles and premises, quasi-heraldic devices on locomotives (the so-called “cycling lion” followed by the “ferret and dartboard”) and the lozenge shape adopted (and clearly inspired by London Transport’s very similar logo) for station names. When the nationalised transport industry was reorganised in 1963, BTC was itself abolished and a new statutory corporation created to run the railways. This was British Railways Board (BRB). The name most closely associated with the national railway system had now become part of the name of the corporate entity, (i.e. the legal person, entitled as a matter of law to own property, to enter into contracts, and to sue (or be sued) in the courts and be prosecuted for breaches of the criminal law) which owned the assets and business of the railways of Great Britain. As a result of the corporate rebranding carried out in 1965 the business name, or brand name (as it was now expressly recognised to be), was shortened to “British Rail”. However, BRB retained the full “British Railways” in its title until its eventual abolition under the provisions of the Transport Act 2000.

Subject
Railway engineering
Diesel locomotives
Electric trains
Manufacturing and transport engineering
Electrical equipment manufacture
Exports