Paxman was a major

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

brand of

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. Ownership has changed on a number of occasions from the company's formation in 1865, and the brand is now part of MAN Energy Solutions. 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) 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. 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 Work (physics), 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 (locomotive), cyl ...

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 Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

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-gauge railway, narrow and Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...

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 (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 ...

Paxman supplied diesel engines for various naval vessels such as e.g., the

British U-class submarine The British U-class submarines (officially "War Emergency 1940 and 1941 programmes, short hull") were a class of 49 small submarines built just before and during the Second World War. The class is sometimes known as the ''Undine'' class, after ...

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 The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

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

Alstom

In 1988, GEC merged its Paxman, Ruston and Mirrlees Blackstone diesels businesses with the Alsthom division of Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE) to form GEC-Alsthom. Paxman became GEC ALSTOM Paxman Diesels Ltd. In December 1997, GEC Alstom 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 northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

factory would close with the remaining Paxman products to be supported by MAN Energy Solutions's Hazel Grove facility, the former Mirrlees Blackstone factory.

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 Rail 11001, 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 * 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 ...

, British Rail Class 29,

British Rail Class 74 The British Rail Class 74 was an electro-diesel locomotive that operated on the Southern Region of British Railways, rebuilt from redundant British Rail Class 71, Class 71 locomotives in the late 1960s. An electro-diesel locomotive is one that ...

* Y3J (later RP200) Valenta, used in

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a ship class, 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 ...

, Type 23 frigate, , ''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) Diesel locomotive#Diesel-electric, diesel-electric power cars, built by British Rail Engineering Limited ...

New South Wales XPT The New South Wales XPT (short for eXpress Passenger Train) is a class of diesel locomotive, diesel-powered passenger trains built by Commonwealth Engineering, Comeng and ABB. Based on the British Rail-designed InterCity 125, High Speed Train, ...

* 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 locomotives, 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 railfan, rail enthusiasts. Their design repre ...

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