Title
Early locomotive drawings
Reference
WOLV/3/1
Production date
1831 - 1876
Creator
- Wolverton WorksBiographyBiography
Wolverton Works was established in 1838 by the London and Birmingham Railway. The London and Birmingham Railway amalgamated with the Grand Junction Railway in 1846 to become the London North Western Railway (LNWR). Initially the works built and repaired locomotives. In 1877 locomotive work ceased and was transferred to Crewe Works. Wolverton Works became the LNWR Carriage Works. By 1907 it was the largest carriage building and repair works in Britain employing some 4500 staff at any one time in the period 1900 – 1924.
After Grouping in 1923 Wolverton Works became the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company’s Carriage and Wagon Works, building and maintaining both carriages and wagons.
During World War Two Wolverton Works repaired Whitley bombers, produced sections of Horsa gliders, and converted nearly 700 commercial motor vans into armoured vehicles.
Following nationalisation Wolverton Works operated as a major works until 1962. It then became a carriage repair works only on part of the original site. From 1970 onwards the Wolverton Works was operated by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL). Upon the re-organisation of BREL in 1986 Wolverton Works passed to British Rail Maintenance Ltd. Subsequently, the site was owned by Alstom, and then by Railcare Ltd. In 2013 the Knorr-Bremse group of companies acquired the site from Railcare Ltd (in administration). As at February 2014 Knorr-Bremse Railservices (UK) Ltd occupies it.
Scope and Content
Drawings represent engines building of the time including drawings relating to ‘Bloomers’, include drawings from other works that have been transferred to Wolverton. The series includes drawings from private companies such as Stephenson and Hawthorne. Drawings mainly represent component parts of engines and other equipment. Drawings also reflect activities being carried out at the Works; they include non locomotive drawings including plans for stationary engines, plans of equipment for use in workshops and elsewhere in the company.
A full listing can be found on the National Railway Museum website under 'Drawing Lists' at https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/research-and-archive/further-resources/catalogues.
Extent
10 boxes
Level of description
SERIES
Repository name
National Railway Museum, York
System of arrangement
Because drawings do not usually have original drawing numbers they have been given artificial numbers. The series appears to be an unordered selection of drawings which appear to have little logical relation to one another, therefore reconstruction of original order has not been attempted.