Grand Junction Railway The directors of the Grand Junction Railway determined to construct a works on a site at Crewe in 1840 with the first locomotive, No. 32
Tamerlane completed in October 1843. By 1846, the demand for space was such that wagon building was moved, first to
Edge Hill and
Manchester, then to a new works at
Earlestown. By 1848, the works employed over 1,000 producing one locomotive a week.
London and North Western Railway In 1845, the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway was merged with the Grand Junction. These, in turn, merged in 1846, with the
London and Birmingham Railway and the
Manchester and Birmingham Railway to form the
London and North Western Railway (LNWR). All four had their own workshops but, in time, locomotive building was concentrated at Crewe. In 1857,
John Ramsbottom became Locomotive Superintendent. He had previously invented the first reliable
safety valve and the scoop for picking up water from troughs between the tracks. He went on to improve the precision and interchangeability of tools and components. In 1862, locomotive work was transferred from
Wolverton. Wolverton became the carriage works, while wagon building was concentrated at
Earlestown. In 1853, Crewe had begun to make its own
wrought iron and roll its own rails, and in 1864 installed a
Bessemer converter for manufacturing
steel. In 1868, it became the first place to use
open-hearth furnaces on an industrial scale; it also built its own
brickworks. Later the works was fitted with two
electric arc furnaces. Production increased steadily and, with the sale to the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway of ten
2-4-0 and eighty six
0-6-0 locomotives, privately-owned manufacturers took out an injunction in 1876 to restrain the railway from producing anything but its own needs. This remained in force until
British Rail Engineering Limited was established in 1969. By 1920, Crewe Works had grown into a poorly laid-out establishment with nine separate erecting shops, four of which could only handle smaller locomotives. The LNWR sanctioned plans for a new large erecting shop, which placed on hold until it was revised and implemented later by the LMS.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway No. 46123
Royal Irish Fusilers receiving attention at Crewe Works with other locomotives When the LNWR became part of the LMS in 1923, its passenger locomotives were eclipsed by those of the former
Midland Railway, which offered light, fast and frequent services. As traffic density increased, there was a need for longer trains and more powerful locomotives to haul them. In 1932, William Stanier became chief mechanical engineer and set out to rationalise production. Since Crewe had experience with heavier locomotives and had its own steel making facilities, he chose it as his main production location. There followed the
Princesses and
Duchesses, along with the
Jubilees and the "
Black Fives". Crewe produced all the new boilers for the LMS, and all heavy drop stampings and forgings. It also produced most of the heavy steel components for the track and other structures. The 1935 documentary
No. 6207; A Study in Steel about the construction of an LMS Princess Royal Class engine was filmed at the works. During
World War II, Crewe produced over 150
Covenanter tanks for the army.
British Railways After
British Railways (BR) was formed in 1948,
Robert Riddles introduced the
BR standard classes, and Crewe built
Britannia and
Clan mixed-traffic engines and some of the
Class 9F freight locomotives. The last steam locomotive built at Crewe, Class 9F number 92250, was completed in December 1958. Crewe Works built 7,331 steam locomotives. Diesel production commenced, with
D5030 the first main line example completed in 1959. The final type of
diesel locomotives built at Crewe Works was the , with the last completed in 1984; the last type of
electric locomotives was the , with the last completed in 1991. ==Modern ownership==