The Machinery

Early production

LYR Aspinall 0-6-0ST No. 752, rebuilt from a Barton Wright 0-6-0 tender loco at Horwich

 

The first locomotive to built by the LYR at Horwich works was a 2-4-2 tank engine designed by John Aspinall. This locomotive was LYR No. 1008 which is now preserved at the National Railway Museum. By 1899 a further 677 locomotives had been built, and another 220 under Henry Hoy. Between 1891 and 1900, 230 0-6-0 tender engines designed by Barton Wright were rebuilt at Horwich as 0-6-0ST saddle tanks as LYR Class F16.

 

In 1899, the Aspinall-designed 'Atlantic' 4-4-2 express passenger locomotive was introduced and forty had been completed by 1902. Horwich works produced its thousandth engine in 1907, a four cylinder compound 0-8-0.

[edit] Takeover and activity under LMS ownership

 

In 1923 when the railway became part of the LMS, its Chief Mechanical Engineer was George Hughes who remained at Horwich. In 1926 he was responsible for the design of a 2-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive which had an unusual appearance for the time, which became known as the "Horwich Crab." The class proved to be extremely successful, with 245 engines being built, 70 of them at Horwich, including the first 30 examples. The "Crabs" continued in service with British Railways London Midland and Scottish Regions until the last two survivors were withdawn in early 1967.

 

Three of the four future Chief Mechanical Engineers of the post-grouping railways learned their craft at Horwich: Nigel Gresley, Henry Fowler and Richard Maunsell, as well as aviator Alliott Verdon-Roe who went on to found the Manchester-based Avro aeroplane company.

 

During World War II, the works built nearly 500 Cruiser, Centaur and Matilda tanks.

[edit] Nationalisation and closure

LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 M4751 with Caprotti gear at Manchester London Road on 27 March 1948, 14 days after completion at Horwich.

LMS Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 M3009 (later 43009) with double chimney, shortly after completion at Horwich in 1948

 

After the nationalisation of 1948, locomotive construction at Horwich continued at a high level for another ten years. During that year twenty new LMS Ivatt Class 4 tender engines were completed. Another twenty-seven examples followed in 1949, with twenty-four in 1951, followed by a single final example in early 1952.

 

120 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 tender engines were also built at Horwich by the LMS (53 locos) and British Railways (67 locos) between 1945 and 1950. The last BR Standard design steam engine to be built at Horwich was outshopped in 1957.

 

BR continued to overhaul steam engines at Horwich for several more years. The last steam locomotive (Stanier LMS 8F 2-8-0 48756) was despatched after overhaul on 4 May 1964.

 

Horwich continued in use as a works for other rolling stock up to 1983. The foundry and the spring shop continued in use after this date, although the work force was reduced from 1400 to 300. In this form it was sold by BREL to the Parkfield Group in 1988. The rail connection to the works was finally removed in 1989.

 

The site is now an industrial estate, appropriately named "Horwich Loco", with most of the buildings still continuing in use.

 

The railway station at Horwich was primarily used by employees at the works and it was opened on the 14 Feb 1870 (Quick's Chronology). It closed in 1965 with the last passenger train from the station departing on the 27th Sept 1965 hauled by 2-6-4T number 42626 (Railway Magazine Dec 1965 p705)

Done