Paxman is a major British brand of

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s. Ownership has changed on a number of occasions since the company's formation in 1865, and now the brand is part of MAN Diesel & Turbo. At its peak, the Paxman works covered and employed over 2,000 people. Early Paxman diesel engines (with "Comet" indirect injection cylinder heads, designed by Sir

Harry Ricardo Sir Harry Ralph Ricardo (26 January 1885 – 18 May 1974) was an English engineer who was one of the foremost engine designers and researchers in the early years of the development of the internal combustion engine. Among his many other works, ...

) carried the name Paxman Ricardo.

History

Davey Paxman

Paxman was founded by James Noah Paxman, Henry and Charles Davey as Davey, Paxman & Davey, Engineers in 1865, later Davey, Paxman & Co. which became a limited company in 1898. In 1920 the company became a member of the

Agricultural & General Engineers Agricultural & General Engineers Limited (AGE) was a holding company formed on 4 June 1919 during a postwar economic "boom" to combine five British engineering companies: Aveling & Porter, E H Bentall, Blackstone, Richard Garrett and J & F Howard. ...

(AGE)

combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Combine seeder, or combine, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democracie ...

. In 1932 AGE collapsed and Paxman emerged as Davey Paxman & Co (Colchester) Ltd. Davey, Paxman and Davey conducted business as general engineers and ironworkers. The company manufactured

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

s, boilers, agricultural machinery, and mill gearing. By the early 1870s the company was supplying machinery to the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

diamond mines in South Africa.

Ruston-Paxman

In 1940,

Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included c ...

purchased a controlling interest in the company; this co-operation led to the formation of Ruston-Paxman Group. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Paxman supplied diesel engines for various naval vessels such as e.g., the British U-class submarine and the British V-class submarine. In 1954, the engine controls business of Paxman was reformed as a subsidiary, Ardleigh Engineering. In 1962, Paxman acquired the engine controls division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and merged the two businesses under the Regulateurs Europa name.

English Electric and GEC

In 1966, the Ruston-Paxman Group was acquired by

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during t ...

. The diesel engine businesses were merged into English Electric Diesel Engines Ltd (later English Electric Diesels Ltd). Paxman became the "Paxman Engine Division" of English Electric. In 1968, English Electric was itself acquired by

GEC GEC or Gec may refer to: Education * Gedo Education Committee, in Somalia * Glen Eira College, in Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia * Goa Engineering College, India * Government Engineering College (disambiguation) * Guild for Exceptional ...

. In 1972, GEC renamed the engines division GEC Diesels Limited. In 1975, a reorganisation saw the creation of Paxman Diesels Limited as a subsidiary.

Alsthom

In 1988, GEC merged its Paxman,

Ruston Ruston may refer to: Place names ;United States * Ruston, Louisiana * Ruston, Washington ;United Kingdom * East Ruston, Norfolk, England * Ruston, North Yorkshire, England * Ruston Parva, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Companies * Ruston (engi ...

and Mirrlees Blackstone diesels businesses with the Alsthom division of Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE) to form

GEC-Alsthom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Ave ...

. Paxman became GEC ALSTHOM Paxman Diesels Ltd. In December 1997, GEC Alsthom had its initial public offering as Alstom. The diesel engine businesses became Alstom Engines Ltd (AEL).

MAN B&W Diesel

In 2000, Alstom Engines Ltd. was acquired by MAN B&W Diesel to become MAN B&W Diesel Ltd. In 2005, MAN sold the Regulateurs Europa controls business to Heinzmann. In November 2020, MAN announced the

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

factory would close with the remaining Paxman products to be supported by MAN Energy Solutions's

Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, the area was known as Bullock Smithy until 18 ...

facility.

Diesel engines

Paxman

Pre-1934 designs: * VZ, used in LMS 7054 Post-1934 designs (indirect injection): * RP, used in British Rail 10100,

British Rail 10800 British Railways 10800 was a diesel locomotive built by the North British Locomotive Company for British Railways in 1950. It had been ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1946 but did not appear until after the 1948 nationa ...

British Rail 11001 11001 was one of the first British Railways diesel locomotives, built in 1949 at British Railways' Ashford railway works. It was designed by Oliver Bulleid when he was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway. It was powered by a P ...

, British Rail Class D2/1, British Rail Class 07, Western Australian Government Railways Y class, New South Wales Government Railways 41 class * Hi-Dyne, a variant of the RPHXL using controlled turbocharging to provide a constant output power across the whole speed range. Post-1952 designs (direct injection) * YH, used in British Rail Class 15 and British Rail Class 16 * ZH, used in

British Rail Class 17 The British Rail Class 17 (also known as the Clayton Type 1) was a class of 117 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives built 1962–1965 by Clayton Equipment Company and their sub-contractor Beyer, Peacock & Co., on behalf of British Ra ...

* YJ Ventura, used in

Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class, was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and ...

British Rail Class 14 The British Rail Class 14 is a type of small diesel-hydraulic locomotive built in the mid-1960s. Twenty-six of these 0-6-0 locomotives were ordered in January 1963, to be built at British Railways' Swindon Works. The anticipated work for this c ...

British Rail Class 29 The British Rail Class 29 were a class of 20 diesel-electric Bo-Bo locomotives produced by the re-engining of the NBL Type 2 units. The units were designed for both passenger and freight trains. Background The machines were produced from 1963 ...

, British Rail Class 74 * Y3J (later RP200) Valenta, used in

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine warfare f ...

Type 23 frigate The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, , was commissio ...

, , ''Upholder''/''Victoria''-class submarine,

British Rail Class 43 (HST) The British Rail Class 43 (HST) is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 ''High Speed Train'' (formerly Classes 253 and 254) power cars, built by British Rail Engineering Limited from 1975 to 1982, and in service in the UK sin ...

New South Wales XPT The New South Wales ''XPT'' (short for eXpress Passenger Train) is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB Transportation. Based on the British Rail designed Intercity 125 High Speed Train, each XPT set is made up ...

* VP185, used in

Ruston-Paxman

Examples of Ruston-Paxman diesel engines: * RK3, used in British Rail Class 56,

British Rail Class 58 The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co-Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. The narrow body with cabs at either end led to them being given the nickname "Bone" by rail enthusiasts. Their design represented a major departure fr ...

References

External links

Paxman and Diesel Rail Traction
{{MAN SE, state=autocollapse Engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom Locomotive engine manufacturers Diesel locomotive engines Companies based in Colchester Diesel engines by maker Diesel engine manufacturers MAN SE Manufacturing companies established in 1865 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2021 1865 establishments in England 2021 disestablishments in England