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Hudswell Clarke

Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

History[edit]

The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hudswell, Clarke and Rodgers. There was another change in 1881 to Hudswell, Clarke and Company. The firm became a limited company in 1899.

In 1862, soon after the company had been formed, they were given the initial design work on William Hamond Bartholomew's compartment boats for the Aire and Calder Navigation. The choice of the company may have been influenced by the fact that Bartholomew, the chief engineer of the Navigation, and William Clayton, one of the founders of Hudswell and Clarke, both lived on Spencer Place in Leeds. They produced at least one of the prototype Tom Pudding compartments, but did not get the main contract for their production once the design work had been done.^[2]

As steam locomotive builders, like many of the smaller builders they specialised in small contractor's and industrial tank engines, and rarely built anything bigger than an 0-6-0T. They never built any locomotives with superheaters.^[3]

The locomotive part of the business is now part of the Hunslet Engine Company. Locomotive-building was always only one part of a diverse product inventory that included underground diesel-powered mining locomotives, hydraulic pit-props and related mining equipment.

In 1911 Hudswell Clarke entered into an agreement with Robert Hudson for the manufacture of narrow gauge locomotives. This arrangement produced sixteen standardised designs, designated 'A' to 'Q', which ranged from four-coupled (0-4-0) 5 hp engines to six-coupled (0-6-0) 55 hp models. The designs were sufficiently flexible to allow for the various track gauges in use. Over the years, 188 locomotives were supplied to these designs.

In the 1930s the company manufactured narrow gauge steam outline diesel-hydraulic locomotives for use at amusement parks around the country.^[4] In 1931 4-6-2 Neptune was delivered to Scarborough North Bay Railway, followed a year later by 4-6-2 Triton, both being 20 inches (510 mm) gauge. In the same year they supplied a 4-6-4T Robin Hood to Golden Acre Park in Leeds followed by a 4-6-2 May Thompson in 1933.^[5] They also supplied 4-6-2 Mary Louise and 4-6-4T Carol JeantoBlackpool Pleasure Beach for use on the 21 inches (530 mm) gauge Pleasure Beach Express in 1933. A fire in 1934 badly damaged Carol Jeanso4-6-2 Princess Royal was ordered as a replacement. They went on to build two more 4-6-2 class locomotives, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose^[6] for Billy Butlin to use at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938 which were then transferred to his holiday camp in Clacton when the exhibition closed.^[7]

In later years, Hudswell Clarke designed and built diesel locomotives for both main-line and private company use, mainly for use on shunting operations.

Surviving locomotives[edit]

Steam locomotives[edit]

Works No.	Year	Type	Wheel arrangement	Gauge	Company	Name or No.	Location	Notes
402	1893		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)		Lord Mayor	Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
431	1895		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		431	Chasewater Railway
496	1898		0-6-0ST	2 ft (610 mm)	North Eton Mill	1	Privately owned near Numurkah, Victoria, Australia
498	1899		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)	Østre Gasværk (Copenhagen, Denmark)	Nr. 1 *Skildpadden (The Turtle)*	Nordsjællands Veterantog, Græsted, Denmark	Painted in red and black livery as delivered in 1899.
499	1899		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)	Østre Gasværk (Copenhagen, Denmark)	Nr. 2	Danmarks Tekniske Museum, Helsingør, Denmark	On Static Display outside the museum. Can be seen on the corner of Støberivej and Industrivej. Is painted Black with Red Buffers. Is Technically identical to Nr.1
526	1899		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Hawarden	Middleton Railway	Donated from Penrhyn Castle in 2024 and now on display in the railway’s ‘Engine House’ museum. Painted in a black livery with red lining. [8]
555	1900		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Port Talbot Railway	26	Severn Valley Railway	Later Great Western Railway No 813, Backworth Colliery No 12 and NCB (Backworth Colliery) No 11. Restored as GWR 813.[9]
573	1900		0-4-0ST	3 ft (914 mm)		Handyman	Statfold Barn Railway	Built for the ironstone quarry at Burton Latimer and moved to the Cranford Ironstone Co in 1921. Purchased by the Scaldwell Tramway in 1936, it last worked there in 1961. Purchased in 1964 by three W&LLR volunteers: Gerald Rainbow, David Plant and Bob Harris. They sold it to Alan Keef in 2004, who in turn sold it to the National Railway Museum in July 2008; transferred to Statfold 2021. Some cosmetic restoration undertaken.[10] Currently in faded green but it is believed her original livery was grey with the name painted in red letters on the side tank.
639	1902		0-4-2ST	21+21⁄32 in (550 mm)		San Justo	Privately owned by Peter Rampton
640	1902		0-4-2ST	21+21⁄32 in		Santa Ana	Privately owned by Peter Rampton
646	1903		0-4-2ST	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)	Wallaroo Phosphate Co, Australian Portland Cement	6	Bellarine Railway, Victoria, Australia
679	1903	Canal	0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Manchester Ship Canal	31 Hamburg	Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
680	1903	Canal	0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Manchester Ship Canal	32 Gothenburg	East Lancashire Railway
750	1906	14" cylinder, 20" stroke, 3' 3 1/2" wheels	0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Skinner & Holford - Waleswood Colliery, Sheffield	Waleswood	Peak Rail	Moved from the Chasewater Railway in early 2024 [11]
895	1909		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Fife Coal Company
1026	1913		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Sir Robert McAlpine and Sons	No 31	Fawley Hill Railway, Buckinghamshire
1067	1914		0-6-0	2 ft	Colonial Sugar Refinery	Homebush	Sucrogen Victoria Mill, Ingham	Delivered to CSR Homebush Mill Mackay, loco number 6. Transferred to CSR Victoria Mill 1922, named Homebush. Preserved in working order 1978.
1152	1919		0-4-0ST	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)	Guinness	3	Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
1223	1916		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Vesta	Bury Transport Museum	Moved from the Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum in early 2024 [12]
1238	1916		0-6-0WT	2 ft	Ashanti Goldfields Corporation	No. 9	Moseley Railway Trust	Delivered in 1916 to what is now Ghana for their forestry railway. Crashed into a swamp and killed the driver in 1948, recovered 1996, and returned to the UK in 2008 for restoration. The restoration progressed well and the loco was in steam again by mid 2014.
1243	1917		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Port of London Authority	Richboro	Aln Valley Railway[13]
1308	1918		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Rhos	Rocks by Rail
1309	1917		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Henry de Lacy II	Middleton Railway
1334	1918		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Oxfordshire Ironstone Company	Sir Thomas	Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
1366	1919		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Renishaw Iron Works	No. 6	Tanfield Railway
1369	1919		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Manchester Ship Canal	67	Middleton Railway
1375	1919		0-6-0WT	600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)	War Department Light Railways	3205	Preserved as Pejao at the CP museum at Santarem, Portugal	order sub-contracted from Robert Hudson Ltd Worked on the Pejoa Colliery system in Portugal with five O&K locos: Fojo, Pedamoura, Choupelo, Pedorido, Sao Domingos
1423	1922		0-4-0WT	2 ft	Corrimal Colliery (originally National Portland Cement Limited tramway, Tasmania)[14]	'Hudson'	Campbelltown Steam & Machinery Menangle, New South Wales
1435	1922		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Nellie	Bradford Industrial Museum
1450	1922		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Gladiator	Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway	Rebuilt as Thomas the Tank Engine with side tanks
1464	1921	Sweden	0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Manchester Ship Canal	70	Swindon and Cricklade Railway
1539	1924		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Derek Crouch	Nene Valley Railway
1542	1924		0-4-0ST	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)	Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co.	B10	Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society, New Zealand
1544	1924		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Slough Estates Ltd.	No. 3	Middleton Railway	[15]
1555	1926		0-6-0	2 ft	Goondi Mill	6	Allambi Private Railway, Strath Creek, Victoria, Australia
1559	1925		0-4-2ST	2 ft	Pleystowe Mill	4	Puffing Billy Railway, Melbourne, Australia
1582	1926		0-4-0ST	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)			Rotorua Ngongotaha Railway, New Zealand	[16]
1631	1930		0-6-0WT	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		5
1632	1929		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Patricia	Bygones Museum, Torquay
1643	1930		0-6-0WT	2 ft		Bronllwyd	Statfold Barn Railway
1644	1930		0-8-0ST	1,000 mm	Riga Sugar Mill, Bihar, India	"Lilian"	Rewari Steam Centre, India
1672	1937		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Irwell	Tanfield Railway
1682	1937		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	British Sugar Corporation, Kelham, Newark, Nottinghamshire.	54 Julia	Great Central Railway	under restoration
1700	1938		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Wissington	North Norfolk Railway	restored 7/2012
1704	1938		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Nunlow	Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
1706	1939		0-6-0	2 ft	Victoria Mill	Cairns	Illawarra Light Railway Museum, Albion Park Rail, New South Wales, Australia
1709	1939		0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Slough Estates Ltd.	No. 5	Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
1731	1942		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		20 Jennifer	Aln Valley Railway
1737	1943	Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST	0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Nederlandse Spoorwegen	8811	Stoomstichting Nederland, Rotterdam, Netherlands	ex WD 5080
1742	1946		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Millom Iron Works, Cumberland	MILLOM	Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
1776	1944	Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST	0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	National Coal Board	Harry	Horwich, Lancashire	ex WD 1499
1782	1945	Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST	0-6-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	War Department	118 Brussels	Keighley and Worth Valley Railway	ex WD 1505
1800	1947		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Thomas	Nene Valley Railway	Name given by creator Wilbert Awdry in 1971.
1821	1948		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		140
1822	1949		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		S100	Chasewater Railway
1823	1949		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		38	Tanfield Railway
1838	1950		0-6-0	2 ft	Victoria Mill	Sydney	Privately owned, Mount Molloy, Queensland, Australia
1862	1952		0-6-0T	2 ft	Macknade Mill	6	Privately owned Mandalong Valley Tramway, Mandalong, New South Wales, Australia
1863	1925		0-6-0	2 ft	Macknade Mill	9	Puffing Billy Railway, Melbourne, Australia
1882	1955		0-4-0ST	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		Mirvale	Middleton Railway
1884/55	1944		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in	Newmarket Colliery, Wakefield	Cathryn	Ecclesbourne Valley Railway	Converted by the National Coal Board (NCB) to a gas production system which entailed it being provided with an underfeed stoker. This also required the conversion of the chimney to a characteristic conical design that Cathryn now carries. The underfeed stoker has been removed and will not be refitted to the locomotive when the locomotive has been fully restored to working condition.
1885	1955		0-6-0T	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in		1Alston	Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
1936	1664		0-6-0	2 ft		21Anne Elizabeth	Edaville Railroad, Carver, Massachusetts, USA

Diesel locomotives[edit]

Standard gauge (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm))

• British Rail Class D2/7 (none preserved)
• British Rail Class D2/12 (one preserved)
• 0-4-0DM D577/1932 Mary at Middleton Railway
• 0-4-0DM Southam (works no. D604) was outside the Great Western Country Pub and Restaurant, Bishop's Itchington, near Southam, Warwickshire^[17] in 2006 but has since left for an unknown destination
• 0-4-0DM Southam 2 (works no. D625) at Leeds Industrial Museum^[18]
• 0-4-0DM Mighty Atom (works no. D628) at Ribble Steam Railway^[19]
• 0-4-0DM Sparky (works no. D629) at Ribble Steam Railway^[20]
• 0-4-0DM Margaret (works no. D1031) at Ribble Steam Railway^[21]
• 0-4-0DM Cadbury No. 14 (works no. D1012) was at Cadbury World. Arrived at the Statfold Barn Railway in 2022, where it is to be cosmetically restored as a "gate guardian".
• 0-6-0DE Manchester Ship Canal 4001 Alnwick Castle (works no. D1075 of 1958) at Winfield's Store, Haslingden, Lancs
• 0-6-0DE Manchester Ship Canal 4002 Arundel Castle (works no. D1076 of 1958) at East Lancs Railway
• 0-4-0DM D631/1946 Carroll at Middleton Railway
• 0-6-0D D707 No. 21 at the Rutland Railway
• 0-4-0DM Elland No.1 (works no. D1153) at Mangapps Railway Museum, Burnham-on-Crouch^[22]

2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge

• Eight 145HP, 20 ton 0-8-0 locomotives, and twenty-four 225HP, 29 ton 2-8-2 locomotives, for the Sierra Leone Government Railway, supplied between 1954 and 1961. (not necessarily preserved)

2 ft (610 mm) gauge

• 4wDM No. D558 (built 1930) at the Moseley Railway Trust at their Apedale Valley Light Railway
• 4wDM No. D564 (built 1930) at the Phyllis Rampton Trust

Steam-outline diesel locomotives[edit]

20-inch (510 mm) gauge

• 4-6-2 Neptune (1931), Scarborough North Bay Railway
• 4-6-2 Triton (1932), Scarborough North Bay Railway
• 4-6-4T Robin Hood (1932), Scarborough North Bay Railway
• 4-6-2 Poseidon (1933), Scarborough North Bay Railway

21-inch (530 mm) gauge

• 4-6-2 Mary Louise (1933), Pleasure Beach Express, Blackpool
• 4-6-4T Carol Jean (1933), Pleasure Beach Express, Blackpool
• 4-6-2 Geoffrey Thompson OBE (1934), Pleasure Beach Express, Blackpool
• 4-6-2 Princess Elizabeth (1938), Midland Railway - Butterley undergoing restoration.^[23]
• 4-6-2 Princess Margaret Rose (1938), Midland Railway - Butterley

Military engineering[edit]

During the Second World War the company was one of many engineering firms that diversified into armaments. After the War, Hudswell Clarke was closely involved in various secret programmes, including the British nuclear weapon programme. The airframe (casing) for the first British nuclear bomb, Blue Danube, was manufactured by Hudswell Clarke at its Roundhay Road plant in Leeds.^[24] The Blue Danube was 24 ft long x 62 inches diameter. It was known to the RAF as "Bomb, Aircraft, HE 10,000 lb MC". Released from 45,000 ft at 500 knots (930 km/h) its maximum velocity was 2480 ft/s (Mach 2.2). It bears a likeness to the Tallboy and Grand Slam "earthquake" bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Wallis was a consultant on the design of Blue Danube.

The airframe for Red Beard, the second generation tactical nuclear bomb was also built by Hudswell, Clarke. This tactical atomic bomb had perforated baffles to reduce bomb bay buffeting when dropped from a Canberra bomber; they were not needed on other aircraft. Red Beard was known to the RAF as "Bomb, Aircraft, HE 2'000 lb MC", although its actual weight was 1650 lb. It was deployed on a wide variety of aircraft of the RAF and Royal Navy, being stockpiled in the UK, Cyprus, Singapore and afloat on carriers.

Hudswell, Clarke also worked on Violet Club, the Interim Megaton Weapon. All the bombs detonated at the Christmas Island H-bomb tests were contained in airframes designed and built by Hudswell Clarke. The company were also major contributors to other military projects, including the Centurion main battle tank conversion into an armoured bridgelayer, that served with the British Army for many years. The contraction of defence manufacturing in the mid-1960s contributed to the sale and demise of the company.

Preservation[edit]

Locations of preserved Hudswell Clarke locomotives include:

United Kingdom

• Aln Valley Railway, Northumberland
• Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton Road, Buckinghamshire
• Chasewater Railway, Staffordshire
• East Lancashire Railway, Greater Manchester and Lancashire
• Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Derbyshire
• Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, North Yorkshire
• Great Central Railway (Nottingham), Ruddington, Nottinghamshire
• Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, West Yorkshire
• Middleton Railway, Hunslet, West Yorkshire
• Nene Valley Railway, Wansford, Cambridgeshire
• North Bay Railway, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
• North Norfolk Railway, Sheringham, Norfolk
• Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum, Bangor, North Wales
• Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, South Wales
• Ribble Steam Railway, Lancashire
• Rutland Railway Museum, Cottesmore, Rutland
• Statfold Barn Railway, Tamworth, Staffordshire
• Swindon and Cricklade Railway, Blunsdon, Wiltshire
• Tanfield Railway, County Durham

Ireland

• Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, Whitehead, Co. Antrim

New Zealand

• Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society, New Zealand

Denmark

• Nordsjællands Veterantog, Græsted, Denmark
• Danmarks Tekniske Museum The Danish museum of Technology, Helsingør/Elsinore, Denmark

United States

• Edaville Railroad, Carver, Massachusetts

See also[edit]

• List of early British private locomotive manufacturers

References[edit]

• Atkins, P. (1999). The Golden Age of Steam Locomotive Building. Atlantic. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0906899878.

Various public domain files declassified by:

• Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
• Ministry of Supply (and successors)
• Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough

now archived in the Public Record Office, London.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hudswell, Clarke and Company.

• Huwood-Hudswell Diesel Mines Locomotives
• Manchester Ship Canal locomotive 67
• Oamaru Steam and Rail
• [1]
• "The Leeds Engine web site", leedsengine.info