E. B. Wilson and Company

E.B.Wilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company at the Railway Foundry in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

Origins

When Todd left Todd, Kitson & Laird in 1838, he joined Shepherd in setting up the Railway Foundry as Shepherd and Todd. It was bought by James Fenton, formerly a partner in Fenton, Murray and Jackson in 1846 and, for a while, was Fenton Craven and Company. The partnership with Craven ended and E.B.Wilson took over as E.B.Wilson and Company, retaining Fenton as Works Manager. Many of the maker's plates, however, retained the name "The Railway Foundry, Leeds."

Expansion

The works was expanded with the intention of producing up to fifty engines a year. Fenton's boiler designs were particularly successful, and the company's products acquired a reputation for workmanship and reliability.

David Joy

Originally an apprentice at Fenton, Murray and Jackson and later at Shepherd and Todd, David Joy was their Chief Draughtsman and was tasked with designing a new engine for the London and Brighton Railway. Dissatisfied by the engines then current in Yorkshire and having spent three weeks studying John Gray's at Brighton, he produced a similar design. The first of these, in 1847, was named "Jenny Lind" and was an immediate success. There is some controversy whether Fenton, Joy or even Wilson was responsible. Joy would appear to have produced the drawings, but Fenton would have had toapprove them, and the success of the engine undoubtedly owed much to the latter's boilers, which were working at the unprecedented pressure of 120psi. Over seventy were built, with twenty four going to the Midland Railway.

Locomotive designs

Beside the "Jennies", E.B.Wilson also produced 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 and set out to standardise their designs. They charged a premium for any variations, although the size of the engines gradually became larger. The company also produced pumping engines, carriages and wagons. They also carried out maintenance work for the Midland Railway, their Derby works being then short of capacity, and built a few to customer's own designs, including one or two Crampton locomotives.

Closure

The company closed in 1858 having produced over six hundred engines. The Railway Foundry was refounded by W.S.Hudswell and John Clarke in 1860.

References

* Lowe, J.W., (1989) "British Steam Locomotive Builders," Guild Publishing

External links

* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?txtkeys1=Joy,+David Science and Society Picture Library]