Armstrong Whitworth Archive

Does anyone know which organisation, if any, holds an archive from Armstrong Whitworth which covers the steam locomotives they built? Not been able to find such a thing so far. Thanks

 

I don't think there is an archive. I made enquiries some years ago when I was working on one of my books on Chinese locos. I had some help from a gentleman called Eric Maxwell who was based in the Northeast, but he may have been the same person who was involved in the Tanfield Railway and who passed away several years ago. He supplied me with an image of a loco and it is possible/likely[?] he had other AW material. I managed to find quite a lot of useful material elsewhere but that was by pursuing the China connection. Brian Webb's book "Armstrong Whitworth - A Pioneer of World Diesel Traction" gives various acknowledgements but may be of limited use re their steam-building activities. Ominously Webb starts off his Acknowledgements "The total lack of surviving documents at those official sources thought most likely to have them..." Sadly Webb passed away in 1981 at the early age of 46 and the book was published posthumously.

 

Graces Guide?

 

Thanks, what a shame it seems lost.

 

Brian left behind mass of documents which I personally took to the NRM in accordance with Brian's wishes. It might be useful to check what that material covered as Brian was interested in both steam and diesel / electric traction.

I would also advise a copy ofBritish Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe published by Goose. and Son (Salisbury House, Station Rd,Cambridge CB1 2LA) in 1975 - ISBN 0 900404 21 3; this could be out of print hence a need to obtain through booksellers. Referring to my copy it lists orders between 1919 (Order E4 Wks no 1-60) and 1936/7 (Order unknown Wks nos 1280 - 1506 / LMS 5225 - 5461)

 

Have you tried the Industrial Railway Society?
https://www.irsociety.co.uk/

 

It is definitely out of print in that edition - not many books stay in print for 50 years with the same isbn, particularly not specialist volumes of esoteric interest. I think there was only one print run, and I also believe that Goose & Son ceased trading in the 1980s. However, Pen & Sword published a new edition in 2014 (isbn 9781473822894) and new copies of this should still be fairly readily available at around the £25 mark.

 

Abebooks currently has this copy:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/British-Steam-Locomotive-Builders-Lowe-James/32374995279/bd

It's the original edition from 1975 but there are apparently 1980s reprints with a supplement, such as this one;

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/British-Steam-Locomotive-Builders-Lowe-James/32354739707/bd

 

Search results: armstrong whitworth locomotive | The National Archives

 

The 1975 James Lowe book was reprinted and re-issued by Guild Publishing in 1989 - I have a copy of that edition.

This book has an apparently complete list of the steam locos built by Armstrong Whitworth between 1919 and 1937, when it reverted to armaments manufacture in the build-up to WW2. Lowe quotes a total of 1464 steam locos built, although the Works Nos went up to 1506.
(Some number gaps for non-locos and cancelled orders).

To produce this list, James Lowe must surely have had access to archive material. But looking at the book's list of acknowledgements, the source is not obvious - no mention of AW itself or of its successor Vickers-Armstrong, nor any museums and libraries in the Newcastle area. He does, however, include Brian Webb in the list of individual acknowledgments, so it is possible that material came via BW.

The Wikipedia article on Armstrong Whitworth also includes a full list of the steam locos built 1919-37. This list aligns with the James Lowe list, so presumably was either derived from Lowe's book or has used material from a common source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth

 

There's nothing obvious on the NT page, but would Cragside House have anything?
Cragside | Northumberland | National Trust

For what it's worth, A-W briefly dabbled with car manufacture. They made a handful of large limousines; I believe at least one survives in a museum. The chassis from another of them ended its days on my Great-Grandparents' farm (prior to arrival of the first tractor) and there's a really grainy photo here [http://948cc.co.uk/farm/pics/p_old002.jpg] of (we assume) my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather using it to tow some ancient farm machine. It seems to have been turned into some sort of flat-bed truck. I still have some parts from it... I think the surviving bits consist of one wheel, another wheel hub, two castings off the running plate with A-W logo, and possibly the advance-retard handle from the centre of the steering wheel. Probably not enough for a replica.

 

AW car in the Discovery Museum at Newcastle. Perhaps this Museum might know whether any AW archives survive?

EDIT - PS: Most of the locos built by AW were to standard customer designs, both for the home railways and for overseas railways (notably India). But in 1922, they also built an experimental steam-powered turbo-electric, which ran some trials on the L&Y. Apparently quite successful, but not sufficient to be further pursued.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Whitworth_Turbo_Electric_Locomotive.jpg

 

Two sets of coupled wheels, 12 altogether, but only 22,000 lbs TE.

 

Bamburgh Castle, restored by William Armstrong and still owned by the Armstrong family. has an Armstrong and Aviation museum which covers many of WA's inventions. It houses a lot of aviation artefacts but also has a car, and displays of various other engines. I can't remember seeing much, if anything about locomotives, but it might be worth contacting them.

 

Sorry to slightly high jack the thread, but that list confirms that they constructed 50x 56xx's and 25 57xx PT's, its always fascinated me as I've never seen mention or images of it how did these locomotives get delivered down to the GWR, was it by their own steam, towed dead or even shipped down the North Sea?

 

KJ Cook in "Swindon Steam" said that the AW 56xxs were built in a hurry and delivered at the rated of 5 per week over a fairly short time (10 weeks?). That would, to me, suggest they were delivered towed dead.

 

As I happened to be speaking to Search Engine on another matter, I asked them if they were aware of this collection. The answer is yes but apparently "no formal acquisition process" was undertaken so it does not show up on a search. It is however available for research on request. On the face of it, it is material on a variety of diesel loco types. There is no mention in the summary of anything from AW but that may be due to the limited archiving undertaken.

 

More info and photos here: http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/armstrongturbine/armstrng.htm

Tom

 

Armstrong Whitworth built 25 C17 class 4-8-0s for Queensland Railways in 1927. 4 have been preserved, 2 of which have steamed in preservation although none are currently operational.
Of particular interest is No. 824. (B/N 872 of 1927) which was the locomotive involved in Queensland's worst rail disaster - a derailment in 1947.
Details of 824 here http://www.australiansteam.com/C17 809.htm

 

This is just a thought, but I wonder whether there are any papers relating to the company in the National Archives at Kew?