Historic Brush Falcon Works ‘to close’ after 156 years
IN the year that the Talyllyn Railway is marking the 70th anniversary of its takeover by volunteers and the start of the global operation heritage railway movement, the historic Falcon Works where one of the revivalists' first locomotives was built 143 years ago, is set to close, it has been announced
Wabtec, the American owner of the Brush Traction factory in Meadow Lane, Loughborough, where locomotives are built, overhauled and repaired, has proposed closing it, placing around 300 jobs at risk, saying that reduced volumes had made the site “unsustainable”.
Staff were told of the plans on April 16. It was understood that there are 200 permanent staff at the factory, with around 70 contractors based at the site.
The planned closure, with work being transferred to Burton-uponTrent, Doncaster and Liverpool, is subject to consultation.
The Unite union has 100 members at the works. Its regional officer Lakhy Mahal said: “Wabtec's announcement that it is planning to shut the historic Falcon Works is a crushing blow to the workforce and to the local area.
“Unite is in consultation with the company and is fighting to ensure that our members are offered alternative employment at other sites, if that is what they want. If it isn't, we will be negotiating for them to receive the best redundancy packages possible.”
Loughborough MP Jane Hunt said she had been trying to support staff whose jobs were under threat by helping to find jobs for them at similar businesses in Leicestershire.
She said: “It is desperately sad for Loughborough. I am very, very disappointed.
“After what has already been an extremely difficult year, to face redundancy at a time when the jobs market is uncertain will no doubt be a huge worry. My concern is for the families of the employees, many of whom live in Loughborough, who face uncertainty in the weeks ahead.”
A spokesman for Pittsburgh-based Wabtec, which took over the factory in 2011, said: “Decisions like this are never easy but over the past few years, our site has experienced reduced volume and this decrease is no longer sustainable.
“This decision will help to simplify and optimize the company's manufacturing footprint in today's cyclical environment.”
Origins
In 1865 timber merchant engineer Henry Hughes began building horsedrawn tramcars and railway rolling stock at Falcon Works, his first company being the Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Ltd. It is believed that he built his first steam locomotives about 1867 for the Paris Exhibition, but his core business was lightweight tram engines, including The Pioneer which he built for the Swansea & Mumbles Railway.
The first steam locomotives built at the works included 0-4-2ST
Belmont for the Snailbeach District Railways around 1877 and the Corris trio. In 1881, a pair of 3ft gauge 0-4-0STs were built for the Liverpool Corporation Waterworks Committee for use in the construction of the Lake Vyrnwy waterworks in Montgomeryshire.
However, in 1882, the company went into receivership and Hughes emigrated to New Zealand, where he built small tramway engines.
Later that year, the company reformed as the Falcon Engine & Car Works Ltd and supplied three more locomotives of the same design for use at Lake Vyrnwy, and also built tank engines for Ireland, Spain and the Azores.
In 1889, the company was acquired by the London-based Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation, which moved the 100 miles north into the Loughborough works under the new banner of Brush Electrical Engineering Company Limited.
Around 250 steam locomotives were built in addition to the tram engines. Production finished after the First World War and the company concentrated on transport-related electrical equipment, including tramcars, trolleybuses and battery-operated vehicles.
It also built some carriages used in the 1900s on the Central London Railway and the City & South London Railway.
During the Second World War, Brush Coachworks diversified into aircraft production, building 335 de Havilland Dominies for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. Wing sections were built for Lancaster bombers and Hampden fuselages were overhauled. In 1952 the coachworks were closed and the goodwill and patents were bought by neighbouring Willowbrook.
However, Brush kept its contacts with railways, being close to Derby Works. The firm was acquired by Heenan & Froude in 1947 and merged with W G Bagnall to produce diesel locomotives, and in 1951, Brush Bagnall Traction Limited was formed.
When BR began its modernisation programme to phase out steam in the Fifties, Brush entered the market for main line diesel-electrics. In 1957, the Brush group was purchased by Hawker Siddeley and passed to BTR plc before becoming Brush Traction. It later became part of FKI Energy Technologies which was bought by Melrose plc in 2008 and three years later was purchased by Wabtec for $31 million.
Products
Amongst the modern traction produced by Brush were classes 31, 47 and 48, the prototype diesel Falcon, Class 57s which were re-engineered from 57s, Class 60s, the Class 89 prototype electric locomotive and the Class 92 dual-voltage electric. It also manufactured the Eurotunnel Class 9 electric locomotives.
Locomotives constructed for export included Sri Lanka Railways classes M1 and M7, Zimbabwe Class DE4, New Zealand Railways Class EF, Malayan Railways Class 18 shunter and various Bo-Bo diesel electric freight locomotives to Cuba, Tanzania, Gabon and Morocco.
It also supplied equipment to London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, plus rapid transit systems in Canada and Taiwan.
Traction equipment was supplied to BR for various EMUs, the
Class 43 High Speed Train diesel locomotive and Classes 56 and 58 freight locomotives.
Brush repowered most Class 43 HST power cars with MTU engines between 2005-10.
More than 75 Brush Traction locomotives have been preserved and can be seen at UK heritage lines, with many more examples on the national network.
South of Loughborough, standard gauge Powesland and Mason & Co of Swansea Docks No.6, built by Brush in 1903-6 and which later became
GWR No. 921, is on display at the Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre.
The Vale of Rheidol Railway Museum Collection includes 2ft gauge 4-4-0s Nos. 265 and 266 from the Beira Railway, which ran from Beira in Mozambique to Umtali across the Rhodesian border. However, neither are on view to the public at the moment.
Falcon Works supplied a 7ft gauge 0-4-0ST to the Azores, which used Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge for its docks railway. The locomotive is one of two preserved at Ponta Delgada.
Other Falcon Works steam locomotives survive in preservation at Salou in Spain.
CRICH Tramway Village is implementing several changes to its fleet which will result in the exhibition hall's display being refreshed.
The next restoration project for the workshop is Blackpool Brush Railcoach No. 298, which now needs to be brought back to the Derbyshire museum from store, ready to fit the new underframe due to be received from the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. Transferring the body onto its new underframe will take up a lot of space. To accommodate this, a reorganisation of trams in the main Crich depots is required, as well as those in the final stages of restoration – including London County Council No. 1 (Bluebird), Newcastle No. 102, and London Passenger Transport Board No. 1622.
In addition, Cardiff Horsecar No. 21, which has been on loan to Crich for about 12 years, is to be returned to the National Museum of Wales, and Halle No. 902 will also be going into store after spending some time on loan in Blackpool.
Meanwhile, Derby No. 1 is to be moved to the museum's off-site store. This tram was selected as the restricted height and length of space available in the off-site store precluded many other vehicles.
The result will be a fresh display in the exhibition hall, enabling the venue's recent acquisition, the 1913 Barnsley & District Combination Car, to be displayed in the centre, and tramcars Gateshead No. 5 and Southampton No. 45 to be more easily viewed.