RUSTON (ENGINE BUILDER)

'Ruston' was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England. They were most well known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and steam shovels. They also built cars, steam locomotives and a range of internal combustion engines.

Contents

Early history

Ruston & Hornsby

The Ruston-Hornsby car

Diesels and Gas Turbines

Preserved Locomotives

See also

Reference

External links

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.

Ruston & Hornsby

On September 11 1918, the company amalgamated with Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham to become 'Ruston and Hornsby Ltd.' Hornsbys were world leaders in diesel engines at that time, having practically built one before the ''Diesel'' identity was added.

The Ruston-Hornsby car

After World War I they 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 expensive 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. It 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 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 12th 2000.

Preserved Locomotives

Heritage railways with Ruston locomotives include :

★ Corris Railway

★ Moseley Railway Trust

★ Pleasant Point Museum and Railway

★ Talyllyn Railway

★ Welsh Highland Railway

See also

★ Richard Hornsby & Sons

Reference

★ 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