Ruston & Hornsby
 | |
| Company type | private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Engineering |
| Founded | 1857 (1840) |
| Defunct | 1918 |
| Fate | Merger |
| Successor | Ruston & Hornsby |
| Headquarters | Lincoln, England |
| Products | Engines, Locomotives, Steam Engines, Turbines |
| Parent | English Electric  |
| Subsidiaries | Ruston-Bucyrus |
Ruston was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam locomotives and a range of internal combustion engines, and later gas turbines. The company is now part of the Siemens group of Germany.
Early history
The original company was Proctor and Burton established in 1840, operating as millwrights and engineers. They became Ruston, Proctor and Company in 1857 when Joseph Ruston joined them, acquiring limited liability status in 1899. From 1866 they built a number of four and six-coupled tank locomotives, one of which was sent to the Paris Exhibition in 1867. In 1868 they built five 0-6-0 tank engines for the Great Eastern Railway to the design of Samuel W. Johnson. Three of these were converted to crane tanks, two of which lasted until 1952, aged eighty-four. Among the company's output were sixteen for Argentina and some for T. A. Walker, the contractor building the Manchester Ship Canal.
During the First World War, Ruston assisted in the war effort, producing some of the very first tanks and a number of aircraft, notably the Sopwith Camel.
Ruston & Hornsby
On 11 September 1918, the company amalgamated with Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham to become Ruston and Hornsby Ltd. Hornsby was the world leader in heavy oil engines, building them since 1891, a full eight years before Rudolph Diesel's engine was produced commercially.
Ruston built oil and diesel engines in sizes from a few HP up to large industrial engines. Several R&H engines are on display at the Anson Engine Museum at Poynton nr Manchester. Also at Internal Fire Museum of Power, Tanygroes near Cardigan. (internalfire.com)
Steam machinery
The firm were builders of steam engines and portable steam engines for many years, mainly for the agricultural market.
The Ruston-Hornsby car
After World War I the company attempted to diversify and one outcome was the Ruston-Hornsby car. Two versions were made, a 15.9 hp with a Dorman 2614 cc engine and a larger 20hp model with 3308 cc engine of their own manufacture. The cars were however very heavy, being built on a 9-inch chassis[clarification needed], and extremely expensive - the cheapest was around £440 and the most expensive nearly £1000, and within a few years other makers were selling similar vehicles that weighed only 3/4 ton and cost around £120 - £200, and never reached the hoped for production volumes. About 1500 were made between 1919 and 1924.
Diesels and gas turbines
Ruston & Hornsby was a major producer of small and medium diesel engines for land and marine applications. They began to build diesel locomotives in 1931 (and continued up until 1967). It was a pioneer and major developer in the industrial application of small (up to 10000kW) heavy duty gas turbines from the 1950s onwards.
The company closed its Grantham factory in 1963. The company progressively became part of the General Electric Company of UK ('GEC', not to be confused with the US firm General Electric (GE)) in 1967, of GEC-Alsthom in 1989, of Alstom in 1998 and latterly of Siemens in 2003. Its gas turbines are still manufactured in the Ruston Works in Lincoln and widely used around the world.
Technically, Ruston & Hornsby Ltd existed at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside until 2002, which was known as Ruston Diesels. It was taken over by MAN B&W Diesel AG on June 12 2000.
Rustons in its various incarnations was always an engine producer, rather than a machine producer, and it is a true observation that they simply produced machines in order to sell engines.[citation needed]
Preserved locomotives
Heritage railways with Ruston locomotives include :
- Scottish Industrial Railway Centre
- Blenheim Riverside Railway
- Corris Railway
- Helston Railway Diesel Group
- Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway
- Lincolnshire Wolds Railway
- Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
- Moseley Railway Trust
- Pleasant Point Museum and Railway
- Steeple Grange Light Railway
- Talyllyn Railway
- Welsh Highland Railway
Video imagery of Rustons machinery
[Bucyrus RB22 used for draglining]
See also
References
- Lowe, J.W. (1989). British Steam Locomotive Builders. Guild Publishing.
External links
- Ruston & Hornsby steam engines
- History of the diesel engines and locomotives
- Ray Hooley's history of Ruston & Hornsby
- Vulcan Works at Newton-le-Willows
- Http://newton-le-willows.com : Timeline of diesel engine manufacture
- Restoration of a 48DL at the Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum
- "Archival material relating to Ruston & Hornsby Ltd". UK National Archives.
