Ateliers Moës-Freres was an engineering company based in

Waremme Waremme (; ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, in Belgium. The city is located on the River Jeker, Geer (), in the loessic Haspengouw region. The economy i ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, specialising in engines and

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s. The company was founded in 1904 by Guillaume Moës (1854–1929). The company saw its greatest success between the First and Second World Wars. It survived as an independent company until 1969 when it was acquired by VMF Stork-Werkspoor Diesel of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(now part of

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...

Founding

Guillaume Moës was born in 1854 in the hamlet of Bleret between Remicourt and Waremme. As a young man, he moved to Waremme where he founded a steam mill. His eldest son Édouard as born in 1880 and at the turn of the century he developed an

internal combustion An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

engine that replaced the mill's steam engine. Guillaume's second son, Auguste (born 1882) turned out to be a talented

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

who promoted the new Moës engine and was able to quickly gain orders from local factories. The mill was quickly turned over to engine manufacturing and in 1904 a new company, Ateliers Moës-Freres, was set up to concentrate on the burgeoning engine business.

Pre-war years

The company found early success, building and selling several hundred of its engines each year from 1905 onwards. The company continued to expand in the years leading up to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1912 a spacious new factory was built in Waremme. The company suspended production at the outbreak of war, having produced more than 2500 engines.

After the First World War

In 1918, the company restarted production, with the youngest of Guillaume's sons, Paul (born 1893), joining the family firm. They expanded into a wide range of engine production, including

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

, hot-bulb and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

engines. In the early 1920s the company began production of

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

locomotives using their diesel engines as motive power. These early locomotives had bodies that resembled traditional steam locomotives to encourage the adoption of this new technology. Guillaume died in 1929, and the company was taken over by his three sons. In the 1930s, the company changed its name to SA Moteurs Moës, Waremme. Locomotive production expanded into specialist mining locomotives for use underground, and small

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

shunting locomotives. Moteurs Moës developed an international reputation, selling equipment to France, Italy, the Netherlands, the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

and Asia.

The Second World War and afterwards

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Moteurs Moës reduced production, but kept operating throughout. They developed a reputation for protecting their workers during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation of Belgium. After the end of the War, Moteurs Moës rebuilt its business, winning major government-subsidized contracts for marine engines. But, as war-surplus engines came onto the market, this business came to an end and Moteurs Moës focused back onto the narrow gauge locomotive market, particularly for coal mining. In the 1960s, the Belgian coal mining industry collapsed, and with it an important market for the company. The company re-focused onto diesel engines and renamed itself Moës Diesel in 1957. Paul Moës died in 1967. Two years later, the company was acquired by Dutch group VMF Stork-Werkspoor Diesel, but remained as an independent division under the Moës Diesel name. The division developed new

hydrostatic Hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and "the pressure in a fluid or exerted by a fluid on an immersed body". The word "hydrostatics" is sometimes used to refer specifically to water and o ...

narrow gauge locomotives, an improved mining locomotive, and a new type of standard gauge shunting locomotive. In 1993, the Moës Diesel division was sold to the BIA Group of Belgium and focused on selling generators and pumps built by the Hatz company. In March 2013, the division's name was changed to Moës Energy. In October 2013, all manufacturing at Waremme ceased.

References

Sources

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External links

Website dedicated to the locomotives and internal combustion engines produced by Moes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ateliers Moes-Freres Diesel engine manufacturers Rail vehicle manufacturers of Belgium Manufacturing companies established in 1904 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1969 1969 disestablishments in Belgium Companies based in Liège Province Engine manufacturers of Belgium Belgian companies established in 1904