Misplaced Pages

#444555

151-582: Brush Traction was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough , England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations. Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since the 1850s, producing items such as brass and iron cast parts for portable engines and thrashing machines. In 1860 Henry Hughes announced he had entered into

302-560: A Vauxhall on the UK market. Early in 1980, Vauxhall moved into the modern family hatchback market with its Astra range that replaced the aging Viva, and quickly became popular with buyers. The Astra was a rebadged version of the first front-wheel drive Opel Kadett, which had been launched in 1979, and was sold alongside the Astra for several years. Initially imported from Opel's plant in Bochum , it

453-480: A conventional diesel or electric locomotive would be unsuitable. An example is maintenance trains on electrified lines when the electricity supply is turned off. Another use is in industrial facilities where a combustion-powered locomotive (i.e., steam- or diesel-powered ) could cause a safety issue due to the risks of fire, explosion or fumes in a confined space. Battery locomotives are preferred for mines where gas could be ignited by trolley-powered units arcing at

604-494: A design for one. Morrisons produced a 3-wheeled design, which Brush then used to manufacture a number of units for internal use. Subsequently, they began selling them on the open market and shipped a large order to Russia in 1941. They added battery electric road vehicles to their product list in 1945, buying the designs and manufacturing rights from Metropolitan-Vickers , so that early Brush vehicles are almost indistinguishable from late Metro-Vicks. 3-wheeled vehicles were marketed as

755-463: A diesel–electric locomotive ( E 2 original number Юэ 001/Yu-e 001) started operations. It had been designed by a team led by Yury Lomonosov and built 1923–1924 by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen in Germany. It had 5 driving axles (1'E1'). After several test rides, it hauled trains for almost three decades from 1925 to 1954. An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered only by electricity. Electricity

906-662: A facility in Kilmarnock . It was rebranded Brush-Barclay. In February 2011, Wabtec purchased Brush Traction for US$ 31 million. The locomotive works are still occupied by the Brush Traction Company and are in use for the building, overhaul and repair of locomotives. In April 2021, Wabtec announced the Loughborough factory would close with reduced work volumes making the site unsustainable. Brush manufactured various diesel and electric locomotives for

1057-465: A full-synchromesh gearbox, mechanical windscreen wipers and a 'six-stage' carburetor. Priced at £168-182, the 10-4 was only slightly more expensive than old-fashioned equivalents from Austin and Morris and cost around £30 more than the cheapest 10-horsepower class car on sale, the Ford 7W . The model was promoted as "The £1 Million Motor Car", reflecting the supposed investment in its design and production and

1208-423: A ground and polished journal that is integral to the axle. The other side of the housing has a tongue-shaped protuberance that engages a matching slot in the truck (bogie) bolster, its purpose being to act as a torque reaction device, as well as a support. Power transfer from motor to axle is effected by spur gearing , in which a pinion on the motor shaft engages a bull gear on the axle. Both gears are enclosed in

1359-410: A high ride quality and less electrical equipment; but EMUs have less axle weight, which reduces maintenance costs, and EMUs also have higher acceleration and higher seating capacity. Also some trains, including TGV PSE , TGV TMST and TGV V150 , use both non-passenger power cars and additional passenger motor cars. Locomotives occasionally work in a specific role, such as: The wheel arrangement of

1510-550: A higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than the DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in

1661-498: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It

SECTION 10

#1732776857445

1812-414: A late night trial suffered a condenser rupture scalding several people. This was just days after a serious fire at the works had caused considerable losses - fortunately the premises were insured. Business continued with the production of locomotives, carriages, wagons and tramcars. This included three more locomotives of the same design as previously for the railways at Vyrnwy. In 1883, the first tramcar on

1963-410: A liquid-tight housing containing lubricating oil. The type of service in which the locomotive is used dictates the gear ratio employed. Numerically high ratios are commonly found on freight units, whereas numerically low ratios are typical of passenger engines. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations , transmitted to the railway network and distributed to

2114-486: A locomotive describes how many wheels it has; common methods include the AAR wheel arrangement , UIC classification , and Whyte notation systems. In the second half of the twentieth century remote control locomotives started to enter service in switching operations, being remotely controlled by an operator outside of the locomotive cab. The main benefit is one operator can control the loading of grain, coal, gravel, etc. into

2265-404: A number of important innovations including the use of high-pressure steam which reduced the weight of the engine and increased its efficiency. In 1812, Matthew Murray 's twin-cylinder rack locomotive Salamanca first ran on the edge-railed rack-and-pinion Middleton Railway ; this is generally regarded as the first commercially successful locomotive. Another well-known early locomotive

2416-484: A partnership with William March who had extensive experience in the timber trade, and this would be added to the existing business of "engineers and manufacturers of railway plant", with the business to be called Hughes and March. In March 1863, Hughes announced it was making a steam locomotive designed for contractors and mineral railways. This was an 0-4-0 saddle tank with a 200 psi boiler pressure and cylinders of 10 inch bore and 15 inch stroke. In 1866, Hughes announced

2567-722: A place', ablative of locus 'place', and the Medieval Latin motivus 'causing motion', and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine , which was first used in 1814 to distinguish between self-propelled and stationary steam engines . Prior to locomotives, the motive force for railways had been generated by various lower-technology methods such as human power, horse power, gravity or stationary engines that drove cable systems. Few such systems are still in existence today. Locomotives may generate their power from fuel (wood, coal, petroleum or natural gas), or they may take power from an outside source of electricity. It

2718-408: A reputation for rapid and severe structural corrosion. The F-Type Victor was especially badly affected by this issue, caused by a combination of thin-gauge steel to minimise weight, numerous moisture traps in its body design (for instance the hidden tailpipe design encouraged corrosive exhaust gases and condensation to collect in the rear wing corners), the fitting of a plasticised underseal treatment to

2869-605: A reverse gear in 1904. A single survivor could still be seen at the London Science Museum in 1968. A 1903 model was entered in the London-to-Brighton car run in 2018. To expand, the company moved the majority of its production to Luton in 1905. The company continued to trade under the name Vauxhall Iron Works until 1907, when the modern name 'Vauxhall Motors' was adopted. The company was characterised by its sporting models, but after World War I ,

3020-448: A sale of timber and associated equipment from the "Falcon Railway Plant Works" as he had decided to close down the timber side of his business, also sold was a portable steam engine and thrashing engine. In 1877, a limited company (Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Ltd) was created with Henry Hughes as managing director, to carry on the business previously under the name of the "Falcon Railway Plant Works". The business included

3171-403: A separate fourth rail for this purpose. The type of electrical power used is either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). Various collection methods exist: a trolley pole , which is a long flexible pole that engages the line with a wheel or shoe; a bow collector , which is a frame that holds a long collecting rod against the wire; a pantograph , which is a hinged frame that holds

SECTION 20

#1732776857445

3322-483: A short three-phase AC tramway in Evian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed the rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high voltage national networks. In 1896, Oerlikon installed

3473-642: A significant player in the British car market. After 15 months on sale the AS-type Light Six was replaced by the D-type Light Six. This was fundamentally the same as the outgoing model with minor styling and interior updates, but with one major engineering change - namely the addition of Dubonnet suspension to the front, making the new Light Six the first mass-production British saloon car with independent front suspension. The Dubonnet system

3624-522: A significantly larger workforce is required to operate and service them. British Rail figures showed that the cost of crewing and fuelling a steam locomotive was about two and a half times larger than the cost of supporting an equivalent diesel locomotive, and the daily mileage they could run was lower. Between about 1950 and 1970, the majority of steam locomotives were retired from commercial service and replaced with electric and diesel–electric locomotives. While North America transitioned from steam during

3775-400: A single body design across three distinct models. In 1954, GM management sanctioned a switch to a two-body line-up at Vauxhall with concurrent investment to expand both the body shop and production lines at Luton. The new model would replace the four-cylinder Wyvern with a smaller car using the same engine, bringing Vauxhall into line with the established norm for cars in the 1.5-litre class -

3926-454: A single body design in order to maximise productivity and reduce supply costs. The British government had also revoked the RAC taxable horsepower system and replaced it with a flat charge per vehicle regardless of engine size. This meant that there was no longer such an imperative to offer similar models with different engine capacities to fit in the different bands of the old tax system. Therefore,

4077-508: A single body design) with the addition of the Cresta , which was a more luxuriously styled and appointed version of the Velox. Following GM practice from America, from this point Vauxhall began offering annual minor updates, improvements and styling changes to its cars to both keep up with competitors and to tempt existing owners to replace their car. Since the restarting of car production in 1945

4228-486: A spell, working as a draughtsman with GM's Lansing -based Oldsmobile division. As the first significant post-acquisition passenger car, the Cadet, initially retailing at £280, is generally regarded as demonstrating Vauxhall's newly acquired interest and expertise in controlling production costs, but it was also the first British car to feature a synchromesh gearbox . General Motors continued to reposition Vauxhall towards

4379-590: A star to perform at their factory for three consecutive days. Vauxhall was one of the first English car makers to switch from wartime to civilian production, mostly due to the ease with which Bedford trucks in production for military use could be redirected to the civilian market. The first post-war civilian trucks were made a few days before VJ Day in August 1945, with Vauxhall car production resuming in September. These initial models were essentially unchanged from

4530-531: A theoretical (three-shift) capacity around 187,000 units a year. Vauxhall-branded vehicles are also manufactured in Opel factories in Germany, Spain , and Poland . The current car range includes the Astra ( small family car ), Corsa ( supermini ), Crossland ( subcompact crossover SUV ), Mokka ( subcompact SUV ), and Grandland ( compact SUV ). Vauxhall sells high-performance versions of some of its models under

4681-423: A unitary structure, independent front suspension with coil springs, a leaf-sprung live rear axle and a 1.5-litre four-cylinder overhead valve engine with a three-speed manual transmission with column-mounted change - it was, by necessity, virtually all brand new. The drivetrain was largely lifted from the outgoing E-Type Wyvern, but the engine received a higher compression ratio and updated carburation to account for

Brush Traction - Misplaced Pages Continue

4832-456: Is common to classify locomotives by their source of energy. The common ones include: A steam locomotive is a locomotive whose primary power source is a steam engine . The most common form of steam locomotive also contains a boiler to generate the steam used by the engine. The water in the boiler is heated by burning combustible material – usually coal, wood, or oil – to produce steam. The steam moves reciprocating pistons which are connected to

4983-403: Is evident they were still involved with rail and tramcars and were anticipating a great increase in the market for electric traction particularly on tramways. They expanded the works by 5 acres in 1897 and added another 250 tramcars per year of production capacity. In 1898, they added capacity to make 1,000 electric traction motors per year, their own motors now claimed to be equal to or superior to

5134-643: Is on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu . A Brush 10/14 cwt Mark II bread van, also dating from 1947, and formerly owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, can be seen at The Transport Museum, Wythall . It was displayed at the East Anglia Transport Museum from around 1973, and then moved to a collection of battery-electric vehicles at Blandford, Dorset in 1983. When that collection

5285-641: Is one of the oldest established vehicle manufacturers and distribution companies in the United Kingdom. It sells passenger cars, and electric and light commercial vehicles under the Vauxhall marque nationally, and used to sell vans, buses, and trucks under the Bedford brand. Vauxhall was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer. It was purchased by Andrew Betts Brown in 1863, who began producing travelling cranes under

5436-416: Is supplied to moving trains with a (nearly) continuous conductor running along the track that usually takes one of three forms: an overhead line , suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings; a third rail mounted at track level; or an onboard battery . Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the running rails as the return conductor but some systems use

5587-522: Is that these power cars are integral part of a train and are not adapted for operation with any other types of passenger coaches. On the other hand, many high-speed trains such as the Shinkansen network never use locomotives. Instead of locomotive-like power-cars, they use electric multiple units (EMUs) or diesel multiple units (DMUs) – passenger cars that also have traction motors and power equipment. Using dedicated locomotive-like power cars allows for

5738-797: The Alford and Sutton Tramway , was a horse-drawn 16-seater made by Falcon Engine and Carriage Works. One of the less conventional products were the carriages and wagons for the Listowel to Ballybunion monorail (using the Lartigue Monorail system), which opened in 1888. The engines for this line were made by Hunslet. Other products were tank locomotives for Ireland, Spain and the Azores. Some were subcontracts from other firms, such as Kerr, Stuart and Company , at that time, in Glasgow . In 1889,

5889-502: The British Electric Traction group on Leyland Royal Tigers . In 1952, the coachworks were closed and the goodwill and patents were bought by neighbouring Willowbrook . Close to Derby and its railway workshops , it retained its contacts with the railway. Acquired by Heenan & Froude in 1947, it was merged with W. G. Bagnall to produce diesel locomotives. In 1951, the company Brush Bagnall Traction Limited

6040-653: The British Touring Car Championship . After 92 years under GM's ownership, Opel /Vauxhall was sold to Groupe PSA in 2017. Vauxhall has major manufacturing facilities in Luton (commercial vehicles, IBC Vehicles ) and Ellesmere Port (passenger cars). The Luton plant employs around 1,100 staff as of 2024 and has a capacity for building around 100,000 units a year. In 2012, the Ellesmere Port plant employed around 1,880 staff and had

6191-530: The Brooklands circuit, the Vauxhall was so far ahead of all other cars of any class that the driver could relax, accomplishing the 200 miles (320 km) at an average speed of 46 mph (74 km/h), when the car was capable of 55 mph (89 km/h). The Y-Type went on to win class E of the trial. The Y-Type was so successful that it was decided to put the car into production as the A09 car. This spawned

Brush Traction - Misplaced Pages Continue

6342-524: The City and South London Railway in the early 1900s, the respective forerunners of London Underground's Central and Northern lines . In all, about 250 steam locomotives were built in addition to their tram engines. Production finished after World War I and the company concentrated on transport-related electrical equipment, including tramcars , trolleybuses and battery-operated vehicles. Brush made 2-foot gauge battery electric narrow-gauge locomotives (at

6493-590: The EMD FL9 and Bombardier ALP-45DP There are three main uses of locomotives in rail transport operations : for hauling passenger trains, freight trains, and for switching (UK English: shunting). Freight locomotives are normally designed to deliver high starting tractive effort and high sustained power. This allows them to start and move long, heavy trains, but usually comes at the cost of relatively low maximum speeds. Passenger locomotives usually develop lower starting tractive effort but are able to operate at

6644-606: The Liverpool Corporation Waterworks Committee for use in the construction of the waterworks at Lake Vyrnwy in Wales . The adoption of steam tram engines in the UK was very limited, though the company did make some sales abroad, for example in Paris and Lille. In February 1881, a shareholder and creditor asked that the voluntary winding up of the company should proceed under the supervision of

6795-580: The Vauxhall A-Type . Four distinct types of this were produced between 27 October 1908 and when mass production halted in 1914. One last A-Type was put together in 1920. Capable of up to 100 mph (160 km/h), the A-Type Vauxhall was one of the most acclaimed three-litre cars of its day. Two cars were entered in the 1910 Prince Henry Trials, and although not outright winners, performed well, and replicas were made for sale officially as

6946-687: The Vauxhall Viva small family car commenced, with the new car being aimed at the like of the Ford Anglia . The German version of the car was sold as the Opel Kadett . The locally assembled Vauxhall Viva was launched in Australia in May 1964. In 1966, Vauxhall's Slant Four engine went into production – the first production overhead camshaft inline-four to use a rubber timing belt . Also,

7097-737: The executive car market with the launch of its all-new Carlton saloon and estate, which were facelifted versions of the German-built Opel Rekord . A year later, a more upmarket saloon model, the Senator , was launched under the Opel brand, and finally became available as a Vauxhall from 1983. By 1979, Vauxhall had increased its market share substantially; it was still some way behind Ford and British Leyland, but had overtaken Talbot (the Peugeot -owned successor to Rootes and Chrysler UK ). By this time, GM had decided to withdraw

7248-500: The traction motors and axles adapts the power output to the rails for freight or passenger service. Passenger locomotives may include other features, such as head-end power (also referred to as hotel power or electric train supply) or a steam generator . Some locomotives are designed specifically to work steep grade railways , and feature extensive additional braking mechanisms and sometimes rack and pinion. Steam locomotives built for steep rack and pinion railways frequently have

7399-440: The 10-14 cwt chassis and the 18-22 cwt chassis, and they were hoping to see a five-fold increase in sales. Sales of their industrial electric truck had trebled between 1947 and 1948. All of their road vehicles were sold through the motor trade, in order to achieve a good standard of after-sales service. In 1949, they offered 25 standard bodies for their chassis, including a mobile canteen or ice cream parlour, which they exhibited at

7550-532: The 1908 RAC and Scottish Reliability Trial, held in June that year. The cars were so successful that Pomeroy took over from Hodges. Pomeroy's first design, the Y-Type Y1, had outstanding success at the 1908 RAC and Scottish 2000 Mile Reliability Trials – showing excellent hill-climbing ability with an aggregate of 37 seconds less time in the hill climbs than any other car in its class. With unparalleled speeds around

7701-525: The 1920s), wrap-around front and rear screens, large chromed bumpers and an exhaust tailpipe integrated into one of the rear overriders. A year after launch the Victor would also provide the basis for Vauxhall's first factory-built estate car . The new P-Type Velox/Cresta models were announced in October 1957. Like the Victor these essentially featured updated versions of the drivetrain (and running gear) from

SECTION 50

#1732776857445

7852-408: The 1950s, and continental Europe by the 1970s, in other parts of the world, the transition happened later. Steam was a familiar technology that used widely-available fuels and in low-wage economies did not suffer as wide a cost disparity. It continued to be used in many countries until the end of the 20th century. By the end of the 20th century, almost the only steam power remaining in regular use around

8003-648: The 40 km Burgdorf—Thun line , Switzerland. The first implementation of industrial frequency single-phase AC supply for locomotives came from Oerlikon in 1901, using the designs of Hans Behn-Eschenburg and Emil Huber-Stockar ; installation on the Seebach-Wettingen line of the Swiss Federal Railways was completed in 1904. The 15 kV, 50 Hz 345 kW (460 hp), 48 tonne locomotives used transformers and rotary converters to power DC traction motors. Italian railways were

8154-620: The AS-type Light Six . With an all-steel body and a refined and modern overhead valve inline-six engine, the Light Six was produced in 12- and 14- 'tax horsepower' variants. Modernisation and expansion of the Luton factory meant that the Light Six was sold for £195 for the standard four-door saloon, which was significantly less than many of its older rivals with four-cylinder engines and less interior appointments, and Vauxhall made

8305-617: The American pattern traction motors previously used. Between 1901 and 1905, the Brushmobile car was developed using a Vauxhall Motors engine, although only six were built. One of these six featured in the film Carry On Screaming . Nearly 100 buses, plus some lorries were built using French engines until 1907. Brush Electrical Engineering also built some carriages that were used on the Central London Railway and

8456-714: The Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Corporation Ltd was reconstructed, absorbing the Australasian Electric Light, Power, and Storage Company Ltd, and taking over the Falcon Works in Loughborough, with the new company to be called the Brush Electrical Engineering Company Ltd. From reports of the annual general meetings, the main activities in the 1890s were associated with municipal and ships lighting, however it

8607-546: The British railway network: It also manufactured the Eurotunnel Class 9 electric locomotives operated by Eurotunnel through the Channel Tunnel . Brush Traction also manufactured locomotives for export: They were also a major supplier of traction equipment to rapid transit systems, in particular, London Underground and Docklands Light Railway in the UK, and to Canada and Taiwan. Traction equipment

8758-462: The Brush Pony, and they also produced 4-wheeled vehicles. In 1948 they added a 2-ton chassis to their range, which could be supplied with a large van, standard van, flat truck or milk float body. The welded box-section chassis was fitted with semi-elliptic springs and a Lockheed hydraulic braking system. The 36-cell 290 Ahr battery was mounted on both sides of the central spine. The electric motor

8909-742: The C-type, but now known as the Prince Henry . During the First World War, Vauxhall made large numbers of the D-type, a Prince Henry chassis with derated engine, for use as staff cars for the British forces. After the 1918 armistice, the D-type remained in production, along with the sporting E-type . Pomeroy left in 1919, moving to the United States, and was replaced by C.E. King. In spite of making good cars, expensive pedigree cars of

9060-596: The Cavalier range by 1978, but there never was an estate version. The Cavalier helped Vauxhall regain lost ground in this crucial sector of the market, while the Chevette proved to be hugely popular in the growing supermini sector, as more buyers turned to smaller cars following the oil crisis of 1973. The Chevette range later evolved into a three-door estate, as well as saloons with two or four doors. Both models were based on models produced by Opel, GM's German subsidiary,

9211-821: The Chevette being based on the Opel Kadett , but with a distinct front end. Along with the Chevrolet Chevette in the US and Canada, the Chevette and Kadett were built on GM's T-Car platform . Similarly, the Cavalier was based on the Opel Ascona , but featured the front end of the Manta , as did the Chevrolet Chevair in South Africa . This marked the end of a long and gradual process by GM to consolidate its two European subsidiaries with preference for

SECTION 60

#1732776857445

9362-473: The Dairy Show that year. The vehicle had a top speed of 16 mph, and a range of 28 miles, based on eight stops per mile. Production of 4-wheeled battery electrics ceased in 1950, although the company continued to manufacture the 3-wheeled Brush Pony milk float and their range of industrial trucks. They maintained enough spare parts to allow them to service 4-wheeled vehicles for a further 10 years and sold

9513-602: The E-Type Wyvern was a significantly larger car than its direct competitors. The new car would be launched for 1957 alongside new Velox/Cresta models which could, correspondingly, be slightly enlarged since their body no longer had to be shared with a model in the class below. The small model, named the F-Type Victor was announced first in February 1957. Although its engineering followed familiar Vauxhall lines -

9664-671: The E-Type models in a new, larger and much more flamboyantly-styled body. American styling cues were again much in evidence, this time being heavily influenced by a 1954 Cadillac concept car called the Park Avenue. Both the new Vauxhall models continued the success of their predecessors. The Victor achieved new sales records for Vauxhall and in the late 1950s was Britain's most exported car, being sold in most right-hand drive car markets such as Australia, New Zealand , South Africa , India , Pakistan , Thailand and Singapore . The model

9815-596: The FD Victor was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show , considered by many to be one of Vauxhall's finest all-British styling efforts. During the 1960s, Vauxhall acquired a reputation for making rust-prone models. The corrosion protection built into models was tightened up significantly, but the reputation dogged the company until at least the early 1980s. In 1967, Vauxhall became a Royal Warrant Holder : Motor Vehicle Manufacturers to HM The Queen –

9966-429: The GSe sub-brand. Significant former Vauxhall production cars include the Victor , Viva , Chevette , and Cavalier . Vauxhall is set to close its Luton plant in the future due to Government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles adversely affecting ICE vehicle sales, despite the plant readying a 2025 transition to a new all-electric Vauxhall Vivaro 3 line. Scottish marine engineer Alexander Wilson founded

10117-521: The Luton factory as well as a significant expansion of Vauxhall's engineering and design staff. The first of the new models was released in September 1937. This was the H-type 10-4 (the model number referring to its 10 tax-horsepower, four-cylinder engine). This was the first truly small Vauxhall in many years. As well as its advanced unibody structure - a first for a British saloon car - the 10-4 also featured an overhead valve engine, fully hydraulic brakes and Dubonnet front suspension. Other features included

10268-453: The Royal Mews. The warrant of HRH The Prince of Wales was added in 1994. By the late 1960s, the company was achieving five-figure sales on its most popular models, including the entry-level Viva and the larger Victor . In 1970, the HC Viva was launched, which went on to become Vauxhall's best-selling car of the decade, featuring among the 10 best-selling cars in Britain each year until after 1976, with production not finishing until 1979, when

10419-422: The Second World War, car production at Luton was suspended to allow Vauxhall to work on the new Churchill tank . Despite a bombing raid in August 1940, in which 39 employees were killed, it was taken from specification to production in less than a year, and assembled there (as well as at other sites). More than 5,600 Churchill tanks were built. Luton also produced around 250,000 lorries for the war effort, alongside

10570-487: The United Kingdom was a petrol–mechanical locomotive built by the Maudslay Motor Company in 1902, for the Deptford Cattle Market in London . It was an 80 hp locomotive using a three-cylinder vertical petrol engine, with a two speed mechanical gearbox. Diesel locomotives are powered by diesel engines . In the early days of diesel propulsion development, various transmission systems were employed with varying degrees of success, with electric transmission proving to be

10721-474: The United Kingdom. Many more examples can still be seen in action today on the mainlines. Preserved Auckland , New Zealand, including Museum of Transport and Technology : Preserved in the United Kingdom: Preserved / Operating on Manx Electric Railway Isle of Man : In 1940, Brush required some small battery-electric tractor units, but as none were commercially available, they asked AC Morrison of AE Morrison and Sons (later Morrison-Electricar ) to produce

10872-501: The Vauxhall badge still being built in the UK. The introduction of the Opel-based Vauxhalls marked a significant improvement in both the design and build quality of Vauxhall cars, which were now considered strong rivals to their Ford competitors. By the end of the 1970s, Vauxhall had boosted its market share substantially, and was fast closing in on Ford and British Leyland. In 1978, Vauxhall strengthened its position in

11023-522: The Vauxhall brand from most other European markets in favour of Opel. This saw an end to the export of Vauxhall models, as exports to Continental Europe had fallen from 32,000 units in 1970 to 12,900 units in 1978. By 1981, these were largely confined to Chevettes sold in Germany. While Opel-built cars were exported to the UK and badged as Vauxhalls, no Vauxhall-built cars were exported badged as Opels. It would not be until 1990 that Vauxhall would resume left hand drive production for export. Similarly,

11174-583: The Vauxhall brand more than doubled. This was complemented in 1983 with an estate , based on the Camira produced in Australia by Holden , with the tailgates for the Vauxhall version being built there and shipped to Luton. It was Britain's second-best selling car in 1984 and 1985, and spent most of its production life vying with the Ford Sierra for top place in the large family car market. The Cavalier

11325-760: The Viva nameplate was finally discontinued after 16 years and three generations. In 1973, the Vauxhall Firenza "Droopsnoot" coupe was unveiled at the Earls Court Motor Show, introducing the public to Vauxhall's new aerodynamic look for all of its subsequent 1970s models. By 1973, the Victor was losing sales in a market that was becoming increasingly dominated by the Ford Cortina . This was not enough to keep Vauxhall from being well behind market leaders like Ford in sales, and most of its range

11476-710: The Wyvern and Velox were still competitive despite being considered small and cramped alongside the likes of the Morris Minor or the A40 Devon of Austin. The Velox especially, with its smooth and powerful engine in a relatively small car, offered strong performance and good reliability to compete against the V8-powered Ford Pilot . The L-Types were replaced by a truly new model, the E-Types, in 1951 with

11627-538: The bigger, heavier E-Type models these gave very poor performance, especially the Wyvern with an engine all-but unchanged since 1937. The new engines, both slightly larger than the existing design, were fitted to both models during 1952 and brought performance up to a competitive level. In terms of price and production the E-Type Vauxhalls were now full contenders in the mid-size car market in Britain, alongside

11778-687: The boiler mechanism was an integral part of the passenger car. Examples of early engines are the tramway locomotive The Pioneer of 1877 for the Swansea and Mumbles Railway , and Belmont (an 0-4-2 saddle tank), which ran on the Snailbeach District Railways , and three 2 ft 3 in ( 686 mm ) gauge 0-4-0STs for the Corris Railway supplied in 1878 (converted in the 1880s to 0-4-2ST). In 1881, Hughes' built two 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge 0-4-0STs for

11929-813: The boiler tilted relative to the locomotive frame , so that the boiler remains roughly level on steep grades. Locomotives are also used on some high-speed trains. Some of them are operated in push-pull formation with trailer control cars at another end of a train, which often have a cabin with the same design as a cabin of locomotive; examples of such trains with conventional locomotives are Railjet and Intercity 225 . Also many high-speed trains, including all TGV , many Talgo (250 / 350 / Avril / XXI), some Korea Train Express , ICE 1 / ICE 2 and Intercity 125 , use dedicated power cars , which do not have places for passengers and technically are special single-ended locomotives. The difference from conventional locomotives

12080-588: The cars. In addition, the same operator can move the train as needed. Thus, the locomotive is loaded or unloaded in about a third of the time. [REDACTED] Media related to Locomotives at Wikimedia Commons Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors is a British car company headquartered in Chalton , Bedfordshire , England. Vauxhall became a subsidiary of Stellantis in January 2021, having previously been owned by General Motors since 1925. Vauxhall

12231-460: The center section would have a 200-ton reactor chamber and steel walls 5 feet thick to prevent releases of radioactivity in case of accidents. He estimated a cost to manufacture atomic locomotives with 7000 h.p. engines at approximately $ 1,200,000 each. Consequently, trains with onboard nuclear generators were generally deemed unfeasible due to prohibitive costs. In 2002, the first 3.6 tonne, 17 kW hydrogen (fuel cell) -powered mining locomotive

12382-407: The collecting shoes against the wire in a fixed geometry; or a contact shoe , which is a shoe in contact with the third rail. Of the three, the pantograph method is best suited for high-speed operation. Electric locomotives almost universally use axle-hung traction motors, with one motor for each powered axle. In this arrangement, one side of the motor housing is supported by plain bearings riding on

12533-455: The collection shoes, or where electrical resistance could develop in the supply or return circuits, especially at rail joints, and allow dangerous current leakage into the ground. Battery locomotives in over-the-road service can recharge while absorbing dynamic-braking energy. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen , and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Davidson later built

12684-413: The company at 90–92 Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall , London, in 1857. It was founded as Alex Wilson and Company, and from 1897, the company built pumps and marine engines. In 1903 the company built its first car, a five-horsepower single-cylinder model steered using a tiller , with two forward gears and no reverse gear. About 70 were made in the first year, before the car was improved with wheel steering and

12835-420: The company's designs were more austere. Much of Vauxhall's success during the early years of Vauxhall Motors was attributable to Laurence Pomeroy . He joined Vauxhall in 1906 at the age of 22, as an assistant draughtsman. In the winter of 1907/8, the chief designer F. W. Hodges took a long holiday, and in his absence, the managing director Percy Kidner asked Pomeroy to design an engine for cars to be entered in

12986-488: The company, renaming it "Vauxhall Iron Works". The company began manufacturing cars in 1903, and changed its name back around this time. It was acquired by American automaker General Motors (GM) in 1925. Bedford Vehicles was established as a subsidiary of Vauxhall in 1930 to manufacture commercial vehicles. It was a luxury car brand until it was bought by General Motors, who thereafter built mid-market offerings. As Opel made vehicles, they branded under Vauxhall often. From

13137-546: The court, and an order was granted. Hughes departed, soon after, for New Zealand, where in collaboration with local engineer E.W Mills, he built small tramway engines. Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works was sold as a going concern, and continued production as the Falcon Engine and Car Works Ltd. In July 1882, they provided a tram engine (Falcon works number 43) for testing on the Burnley tramways, which during

13288-405: The driving wheels by means of connecting rods, with no intervening gearbox. This means the combination of starting tractive effort and maximum speed is greatly influenced by the diameter of the driving wheels. Steam locomotives intended for freight service generally have smaller diameter driving wheels than passenger locomotives. In diesel–electric and electric locomotives the control system between

13439-524: The early 1950s, Lyle Borst of the University of Utah was given funding by various US railroad line and manufacturers to study the feasibility of an electric-drive locomotive, in which an onboard atomic reactor produced the steam to generate the electricity. At that time, atomic power was not fully understood; Borst believed the major stumbling block was the price of uranium. With the Borst atomic locomotive,

13590-636: The exhibition hall at the National Tramway Museum in Crich , Derbyshire . Locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train . If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit , motor coach , railcar or power car ; the use of these self-propelled vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains , but rare for freight trains . Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from

13741-520: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on

13892-514: The first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than just a short stretch. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. The voltage was significantly higher than used earlier and it required new designs for electric motors and switching devices. The three-phase two-wire system

14043-426: The floorpan which served to trap moisture and dirt once it became chipped or cracked and the fact that the Victor was built in quantities and rates that the Luton plant had not previously dealt with. A manufacturing plant at Ellesmere Port , Cheshire, was opened in 1962, initially making components to supply to the production lines in Luton, before passenger-car production began there in 1964. In 1963, production of

14194-473: The front. However, push-pull operation has become common, where the train may have a locomotive (or locomotives) at the front, at the rear, or at each end. Most recently railroads have begun adopting DPU or distributed power. The front may have one or two locomotives followed by a mid-train locomotive that is controlled remotely from the lead unit. The word locomotive originates from the Latin loco 'from

14345-400: The high speeds required to maintain passenger schedules. Mixed-traffic locomotives (US English: general purpose or road switcher locomotives) meant for both passenger and freight trains do not develop as much starting tractive effort as a freight locomotive but are able to haul heavier trains than a passenger locomotive. Most steam locomotives have reciprocating engines, with pistons coupled to

14496-423: The kind that had served the company well in the prosperous prewar years were no longer in demand; the company struggled to make a consistent profit and Vauxhall looked for a major strategic partner. On 16 November 1925, Vauxhall was acquired by General Motors for US$ 2.5 million. At the time, the purchase was not popular among senior U.S. GM executives. Vauxhall was only making seventeen cars per week and

14647-531: The larger, and in terms of both absolute sales and market share, more successful Opel, which sold 925 000 vehicles to Vauxhall's 143 600. Since the early 1960s, Vauxhalls, whilst being designed and built in the United Kingdom, increasingly shared their general specification, engineering features, and styling with Opel counterparts (the Viva with the Kadett and the Victor with the Rekord , for instance) even if

14798-456: The last all-British Vauxhall. Following the introduction of the Chevette and Cavalier, virtually all future Vauxhalls would be lightly restyled Opels, under what was described by the company's management as "Opelisation". The exceptions would be based on models from elsewhere in the GM organisation. However, Vauxhall retained its two British factories at Luton and Ellesmere Port, with most cars wearing

14949-554: The latest engineering developments. Vauxhall and GM management planned a completely new three-model car range which would use cutting-edge unibody construction instead of the traditional body-on-frame design. The first mass-production unibody car, the Citroën Traction Avant began production in 1934, the same year that design work on the new Vauxhall range began. As well as designing an entirely new car body, this change required major expansion, renewal and investment in

15100-665: The likes of the Ford Consul / Zephyr and especially the increasingly old-fashioned Hillman Minx . By 1953 Vauxhall was building 110,000 E-Type models at Luton per year, with around half of production going to export - mostly in the Commonwealth markets which still maintained preferential tariffs for British-made products. For 1955, the E-Type Vauxhalls received a facelift with new frontal and interior styling and minor mechanical refinements. Most importantly, Vauxhall returned to offering three car models (albeit all still sharing

15251-421: The limiting factor for Vauxhall sales had been production, sometimes leading to lengthy waiting lists for customers. While the Luton factory had been expanded and modernised in the early 1950s, the main restriction was the lack of capacity for building the unitary bodyshells. Expansion of the body shop would require large investment that GM was reluctant to release and this was the main reason for Vauxhall relying on

15402-441: The locomotive's main wheels, known as the " driving wheels ". Both fuel and water supplies are carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself, in bunkers and tanks , (this arrangement is known as a " tank locomotive ") or pulled behind the locomotive, in tenders , (this arrangement is known as a " tender locomotive "). The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick in 1802. It

15553-675: The locomotives were retired shortly afterward. All four locomotives were donated to museums, but one was scrapped. The others can be seen at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad , Iowa, and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California. The Toronto Transit Commission previously operated a battery electric locomotive built by Nippon Sharyo in 1968 and retired in 2009. London Underground regularly operates battery–electric locomotives for general maintenance work. In

15704-406: The middle of the British car market, aiming to produce higher volumes of more conventional cars that, using GM's large engineering, design and production resources, would offer modern technology and high levels of equipment at a reasonable price with competitors being the likes of Wolseley and Humber. The Cadet had been the first step in this process, which gathered pace in June 1933 with the launch of

15855-494: The most popular. In 1914, Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used a single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control. In 1917–18, GE produced three experimental diesel–electric locomotives using Lemp's control design. In 1924,

16006-426: The new Bedford Dunstable plant , which was opened in 1942, with Bedford designs being common in British use. As a morale booster for the company employees, on 23, 24, and 25 February 1944, Adelaide Hall appeared in concert at the factory in Luton, where she entertained the employees during their lunch break. In all, she performed in front of more than 10,000 workers; this was the first time that Vauxhall had contracted

16157-542: The new 1948 L-Type Vauxhalls consisted of just a pair of models, both using the body structure, floorpan and many running gear parts of the H-type/Ten model. However Vauxhall's director of styling, David Jones, managed to fit brand new exterior panels to the front, rear and rear-quarters of the old body centre-section to give the L-type a modern look which shared its basic shape and features with GM's Chevrolet Fleetline of

16308-493: The new cars having been in development since 1948. GM was still restricting Vauxhall to a one-body policy and the range still consisted of two models differentiated mostly by their engines – the four-cylinder EIX Wyvern and the six-cylinder EIP Velox . While they were designed at Luton they drew a lot of influence from styling developments made in Detroit , especially the revised 1951-model year Chevrolets . The E-Types continued

16459-410: The new widespread availability of high octane fuel and so made more power. Stylistically the Victor followed the familiar Vauxhall trend of following American styling trends, although the Victor took this to a new level by closely resembling the famous 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air , complete with tailfins , prominent 'flutes' on the bonnet (a modern evocation of a familiar Vauxhall styling cue dating back to

16610-688: The power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile stretch of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) in 1895 connecting the main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Three Bo+Bo units were initially used, at

16761-581: The production of the original small saddle tank locomotives, but was anticipating increased demand for the production of tram engines , lightweight steam engines (usually with condensers ) which drew passenger cars, made possible by the Tramways Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 78). His original patented tramway engine was reported to have been tested on the Vale of Clyde and other tramways with good results. Tram engines were distinct from those tramcars where

16912-415: The rear axle retained leaf springs but also with the addition of telescopic dampers. The transmission and steering remained little-changed from the existing design. Vauxhall planned and developed a new range of short-stroke overhead-valve engines for the E-Types but financial and production constraints meant that the first new Wyverns and Veloxes were launched with the same engines as the outgoing L-Type. In

17063-751: The remainder to Hindle, Smart and Co of Manchester, who made Helecs milk floats. In 1972, Hawker Siddeley bought a 50 per cent share in Crompton Leyland Electricars Ltd (CLE), from British Leyland . CLE was the manufacturer of Morrison-Electricar milk floats, and at this point Hawker Siddeley owned Brush, RA Lister & Company , based in Dursley and Brook Victor Electric Vehicles based in Huddersfield , all of which were producing electric vehicles. In order to rationalise their operations, construction of Brush industrial trucks

17214-658: The same factory. During World War II , Brush Coachworks diversified into aircraft production, building 335 de Havilland Dominies for the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm . Wing sections were built for Lancaster bombers and Hampden fuselages were overhauled. The coachworks continued after the war with omnibus bodies mounted on Daimler chassis using Gardner five-cylinder diesel engines and Daimler preselector gearboxes , as well as AEC and BMMO Chassis for Midland Red and 100 Leyland Titans for Birmingham City Transport . They also constructed bodies designed by

17365-528: The same quantities as the entire E-Type range had, but over 180,000 were built between October 1957 and July 1962 with over 100,000 of those cars being exported. Both the Victor and the Velox/Cresta received criticism for their overtly American styling, which many reviewers saw as gaudy against more conservative British tastes. Both models had their styling revised in 1959 to remove some of the more extreme styling details. Both models also quickly developed

17516-757: The same year, albeit at a much smaller scale. The new models were the Wyvern (using the four-cylinder engine previously used in the Twelve) and the Velox using a new wide-bore development of the six-cylinder engine from the Fourteen. Otherwise, the L-Types reused the three-speed transmission (albeit with a switch to a column gear change , hydraulic brakes and Dubonnet suspension of the pre-war models essentially unchanged. Those predecessors had been advanced for their time so

17667-425: The south end of the electrified section; they coupled onto the locomotive and train and pulled it through the tunnels. DC was used on earlier systems. These systems were gradually replaced by AC. Today, almost all main-line railways use AC systems. DC systems are confined mostly to urban transit such as metro systems, light rail and trams, where power requirement is less. The first practical AC electric locomotive

17818-606: The three-model range (H-, I-, and J-type unibody designs) that had been launched just before the outbreak of war in 1939. However, they were now renamed simply as the Vauxhall Ten, Twelve and Fourteen respectively, were each available in a single body and specification (four-door saloons to what had been the Deluxe trim level) to ease production and had minor internal and external trim differences to account for shortages or extra costs of various materials. Government regulations of

17969-509: The time meant that 75% of production had to be sent for export, so very few of these revived models reached buyers in the United Kingdom. Further rationalisation occurred in 1946 when the Twelve ceased to be a distinct model and now shared the body of the Ten but with the larger-capacity engine. These models were superseded by 'new' cars in 1948. GM management had dictated that Luton should only utilise

18120-574: The time of the Great Depression Vauxhall became increasingly mass-market. Since 1980, Vauxhall products have been largely identical to those of Opel , and most models are principally engineered in Rüsselsheim am Main , Germany. During the early 1980s, the Vauxhall brand was withdrawn from sale in all countries apart from the UK. At various times during its history, Vauxhall has been active in motorsports, including rallying and

18271-633: The time referred to as Brush Electric Tractors) during the war, three which were listed as surplus in October 1919. Several examples survive, one at the National Slate Museum, Llanberis, three of them went to Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry , of which two of these remain. These were reported to have originally worked at the Avonmouth mustard gas factory. One from HM's Explosives Factory at Queensferry has been restored using parts from another from

18422-464: The trains. Some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility . The railway usually provides its own distribution lines, switches and transformers . Electric locomotives usually cost 20% less than diesel locomotives, their maintenance costs are 25–35% lower, and cost up to 50% less to run. The earliest systems were DC systems. The first electric passenger train

18573-717: The two cars were distinct, with few to any interchangeable parts. From the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, increasing economic turmoil in the UK, declining build quality, and increasing strike action throughout British industry (and in stark contrast, the Wirtschaftswunder or economic miracle of West Germany during the same period), plus the entry of the UK into the European Economic Community in 1973, made maintaining two parallel model lines serving similar markets increasingly undesirable. The FE Series Victor , launched in 1972, would be

18724-479: The unusual decision to offer both 12 and 14 models for the same price. Two-door saloon, coupe, tourer and cabriolet bodies were also available for extra cost, plus a range of other body designs from coachbuilders . The Light Six was an immediate sale success, surpassing all previous Vauxhall products by a large margin with 26,000 examples being sold in just over 12 months and with the Luton factory moving onto 24-hour shift work to meet demand. Vauxhall had suddenly become

18875-508: The use of Opel brand on the UK market would be confined to sporting models, and with the success and wide range choice of the new Vauxhall products of the early 1980s, the Manta was the only Opel-badged car being imported to the UK by the end of 1984. When the Manta was finally discontinued in 1988, Opel models were no longer officially imported to the UK. Its successor, the Calibra, was badged as

19026-435: The use of unibody construction, but of a brand new and much larger design with full-width ' pontoon ' styling. They offered significantly more cabin and luggage space and a great deal of effort was put into both the styling of the interior and the reduction of vibration and noise. The complicated Dubonnet suspension system was replaced by more conventional design using coil springs and twin wishbones with telescopic dampers, while

19177-466: The vanguard of automotive engineering for the mass market in Britain. However the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 greatly restricted the sales of all new cars just as the new Vauxhall range was entering the market and production was reaching full flow. Car production was ceased entirely in May 1940, by which time over 50,000 10-4s, 10,000 12-4s and 15,000 14-6s had been built. During

19328-433: The world was on heritage railways . Internal combustion locomotives use an internal combustion engine , connected to the driving wheels by a transmission. They typically keep the engine running at a near-constant speed whether the locomotive is stationary or moving. Internal combustion locomotives are categorised by their fuel type and sub-categorised by their transmission type. The first internal combustion rail vehicle

19479-705: Was Puffing Billy , built 1813–14 by engineer William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne . This locomotive is the oldest preserved, and is on static display in the Science Museum, London. George Stephenson built Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton & Darlington Railway in the north-east of England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. In 1829, his son Robert built The Rocket in Newcastle upon Tyne. Rocket

19630-502: Was a kerosene -powered draisine built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1887, but this was not technically a locomotive as it carried a payload. The earliest gasoline locomotive in the western United States was built by the Best Manufacturing Company in 1891 for San Jose and Alum Rock Railroad . It was only a limited success and was returned to Best in 1892. The first commercially successful petrol locomotive in

19781-533: Was a GM patent, also used on Chevrolet and Pontiac models in the US and on Opel cars in Europe. The D-type Light Six was priced at between £205 and £245 for the standard saloon depending on the exact specification, which was still a lower-than-average price for a car of the new Light Six's size, power, equipment and technical specification and this was another successful model for Vauxhall. The overall strategy for Vauxhall continued to be to make smaller models with

19932-562: Was also sold in left-hand drive form by General Motors in Canada (under the specially-created Envoy name and under the original Vauxhall Victor name through Pontiac dealerships in the USA. Nearly 400,000 F-Type Victors were built at Luton between the start of 1957 and the end of production in mid-1961. With the Victor taking the place of many previous Wyvern sales, the P-Type models did not sell in

20083-528: Was connected to a banjo-type rear axle by a Layrub propeller shaft. In common with other Brush vehicles, control was by a double-depression foot pedal, where the first depression gave two stages of control with the two-halves of the battery connected in parallel, and the second depression gave a further two stages with the batteries in series. In early 1949, they reduced the prices of their electric vehicles by around 25 per cent, in an attempt to make them more competitive with petrol vehicles. The models affected were

20234-789: Was constructed for the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire in England though no record of it working there has survived. On 21 February 1804, the first recorded steam-hauled railway journey took place as another of Trevithick's locomotives hauled a train from the Penydarren ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil , to Abercynon in South Wales. Accompanied by Andrew Vivian , it ran with mixed success. The design incorporated

20385-671: Was demonstrated in Val-d'Or , Quebec . In 2007 the educational mini-hydrail in Kaohsiung , Taiwan went into service. The Railpower GG20B finally is another example of a fuel cell–electric locomotive. There are many different types of hybrid or dual-mode locomotives using two or more types of motive power. The most common hybrids are electro-diesel locomotives powered either from an electricity supply or else by an onboard diesel engine . These are used to provide continuous journeys along routes that are only partly electrified. Examples include

20536-471: Was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between a hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km. Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had

20687-602: Was entered into, and won, the Rainhill Trials . This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent early builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the UK, US and much of Europe. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway , built by Stephenson, opened a year later making exclusive use of steam power for passenger and goods trains . The steam locomotive remained by far the most common type of locomotive until after World War II . Steam locomotives are less efficient than modern diesel and electric locomotives, and

20838-601: Was formed. When British Railways began to replace its fleet of steam engines, Brush entered the market for main line diesel-electric locomotives. In 1957, the Brush group were bought up by Hawker Siddeley . In 1967, the rail tractor business of Crompton Parkinson was purchased. As part of Hawker Siddeley Electric Power Group, it then passed to BTR plc and became Brush Traction. Later it became part of FKI Energy Technologies, itself purchased in 2008 by Melrose Industries . In 2007, Brush Traction acquired Hunslet-Barclay with

20989-467: Was in a financial mess. The company's image and target market were gently but firmly changed over the next five and more years, marked particularly by the introduction in late 1930 of the low-cost two-litre Vauxhall Cadet and the next year the first Bedford truck, which was Chevrolet based. Vauxhall's chief engineer since 1920, Charles Evelyn King, retired as engineering director in 1950. The company's future chief engineer, Harold Drew, left Luton for

21140-529: Was later produced at the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port. In 1981, the company released the Mk2 Cavalier , the first Vauxhall of this size to offer front-wheel drive and a hatchback bodystyle. Built at the Luton plant, it really boosted Vauxhall's fortunes, with the Cavalier's sales for 1982 almost trebling its total for 1981, and peaking at more than 130,000 by 1984. During that time, sales of

21291-412: Was noted for its excellent fuel economy of over 40mpg when touring due to its efficient modern engine and lightweight body. The 10-4 was considered to be the finest small car in the world at the time of its launch and initial demand greatly exceeded production capacity. Just six months after the 10-4's launch, the 10,000th example left Luton - a production record for the Vauxhall at the time. The H-type 10-4

21442-507: Was only the first and smallest in the proposed trio of similarly advanced unibody cars. The I-type 12-4 (essentially the same as the 10-4 but with a longer wheelbase and an enlarged engine) was introduced in September 1938 and the J-type 14-6 , replacing the old Light Six, was introduced the following month but sales did not begin until early 1939. This advanced three-model range was very well received by critics and buyers and placed Vauxhall in

21593-426: Was presented by Werner von Siemens at Berlin in 1879. The locomotive was driven by a 2.2 kW, series-wound motor, and the train, consisting of the locomotive and three cars, reached a speed of 13 km/h. During four months, the train carried 90,000 passengers on a 300-metre-long (984 feet) circular track. The electricity (150 V DC) was supplied through a third insulated rail between the tracks. A contact roller

21744-516: Was sold in 1987, it was given to Wythall, and has yet to be restored. The Ipswich Transport Museum has a Brush Pony electric laundry van dating from 1967 in their collection. A de Havilland Dominie DH.89 that Brush built in 1946 for the RAF is preserved at Tangmere Military Aviation Museum on the West Sussex coast. The large statue of a falcon from Brush's Loughborough works is now displayed in

21895-630: Was struggling even to keep pace with Chrysler UK (formerly the Rootes Group ). Vauxhall's sales began to increase from 1975, with the launch of two important new models, the Chevette , a small three- door hatchback that was the first car of its kind to be built in Britain, and the Cavalier , a stylish four-door saloon designed to compete head-to-head with the all-conquering Ford Cortina. A two-door coupe and three-door "sport hatch" had joined

22046-444: Was supplied to British Rail for various Electric Multiple Unit trains, the Class 43 HST diesel locomotive, with similar equipment being supplied to Comeng in Australia in 1979, and used in the Class 56 and 58 freight locomotives. Brush repowered most Class 43 HST power cars with MTU engines between 2005 and 2010. Over 75 examples of Brush Traction built engines have been preserved and can be seen at heritage railways across

22197-758: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. Another example was at the Kennecott Copper Mine , Latouche, Alaska , where in 1917 the underground haulage ways were widened to enable working by two battery locomotives of 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 tons. In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with on-board batteries. These locomotives weighed 85 tons and operated on 750-volt overhead trolley wire with considerable further range whilst running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using Nickel–iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were replaced with lead-acid batteries , and

22348-513: Was the first in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first electrically worked underground line was the City & South London Railway , prompted by a clause in its enabling act prohibiting use of steam power. It opened in 1890, using electric locomotives built by Mather & Platt . Electricity quickly became

22499-506: Was transferred to the Morrison-Electricar factory in Tredegar. Although most of the vehicles involved were industrial trucks, the 3-wheeled Brush Pony milk float was also included, and a number of these were subsequently manufactured at Tredegar. Also included was the SD tractor, which was still selling well, and included a drive unit which had originally been designed for Brush by Morrisons in 1940. An early Brush Pony 3-wheeled milk float, formerly operated by United Dairies and dating from 1947,

22650-427: Was used on several railways in Northern Italy and became known as "the Italian system". Kandó was invited in 1905 to undertake the management of Società Italiana Westinghouse and led the development of several Italian electric locomotives. A battery–electric locomotive (or battery locomotive) is an electric locomotive powered by onboard batteries ; a kind of battery electric vehicle . Such locomotives are used where

22801-406: Was used to collect the electricity. The world's first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens (see Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway and Berlin Straßenbahn ). The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton, and is the oldest surviving electric railway. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It

#444555