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.

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.

The company became known as D Napier & Son Ltd in 1848 when James Murdoch Napier became a partner in his father’s business. The company produced machines for bullet making, gun-boring and turning for a number of government arsenals, as well as coin-weighing machines for the Bank of England. In 1895 James Napier died leaving the business to be bought from the executors by his son Montague Napier. In 1900 Napier manufactured the first ever production six cylinder car. In 1903 production reached 250 cars, overwhelming the company’s Lambeth factory and production moved to Acton, North West London. In 1905 Napier expanded into marine engines, and the Napier II boat set the world water speed record for a mile at almost 30 knots. On the 29th August 1906 Napier established the old D Napier & Son Limited as a Private Limited Company taking all the shares and holding the position of sole governing director. In 1913, following a dispute with Selwyn Edge, bought Edge's company S. F. Edge distribution and sales company of motor cars, marine engines and tractors with an agreement that Edge would not be involved in motor manufacturing for seven years. Production rose to around 700 cars a year with many supplied to the London Taxi trade. The same year the business became a public company. During the First World War Napier also had a base at Luton Airport used for Flight Development. This site grew and became involved in the development of rocket engines and de-icing systems. Vehicle production continued and 2,000 trucks and ambulances were supplied to the War Office. In 1919 civilian car production re-commenced with a 6 litre six-cylinder car, however, car sales declined and the last cars were made in 1924 and instead the company concentrated on aero engines and Montague Napier died. In 1942 the English Electric Company acquired D Napier & Son. In 1944 Napier designed and supplied diesel engines for use in Royal Navy patrol boats and in 1961 the company was purchased by Rolls Royce although products continued to be produced using the Napier name. The Napier name continued however, the name D Napier & Son finally vanished when the business name was changed to Napier Turbochargers Ltd on 16th December 1974.

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.

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.