Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd (RSH) was a locomotive builder with works in
North East England
North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...
.
History
The company was formed in September 1937,
when
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
based
Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build Steam locomotive, railway engines.
Famou ...
took over the locomotive building department of
Hawthorn Leslie and Company
R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.
History
The company was formed ...
, which was based in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
. The
goodwill of
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
locomotive builders
Kitson & Co. was obtained in 1938.
RSH locomotive numbering began at 6939, this being the first number following the sum total of locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Co. and Hawthorn Leslie, (6938).
RSH became part of
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 ...
in 1955 and merged with
GEC in 1968.
Locomotive building at the Newcastle upon Tyne works ended in 1961 and at Darlington in 1964.
Diesel locomotives
RSH entered the
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...
market in November 1937 with a "direct reversing" locomotive fitted with a
Crossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1989, it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.
More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engin ...
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...
engine. There was no reversing gearbox and the
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 ...
itself was reversible, as in marine practice. When starting, in either direction, power was supplied by
compressed air
Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...
until the engine fired.
[Industrial Railway Record no. 169, June 2002, pp 146-158, ISSN 0537-5347] One of these locomotives, ''Beryl'' (RSH 7697/1953), is preserved at the
Tanfield Railway
The Tanfield Railway is a heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial steam lo ...
.
After the 1955 modernisation plan of British Railways RSH responded by building the following class of diesel locomotives some of which are preserved (Including D306 & D318).
*
Class 04
*
Class 20
*
Class 37
*
Class 40
They also built the following for Australia.
*
Queensland Railways DL class
*
WAGR Z class WAGR may refer to:
* WAGR (AM), a radio station (1340 AM) licensed to Lumberton, North Carolina, United States
* WAGR-FM, a radio station (102.5 FM) licensed to Lexington, Mississippi, United States
* WAGR syndrome
* Western Australian Government R ...
Preservation
References
*Industrial Railway Society : Various publications.
{{General Electric Company plc
Stephenson and Hawthorns