Hudswell_Clarke

Hudswell Clarke

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

History

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

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.

Surviving locomotives

MSC 0-6-0T no. 32 "Gothenburg"
0-6-0 for Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, built 1913, No. 1026, preserved at Fawley Hill Railway
0-6-0WT for War Department Light Railways, built 1914-1918, order sub-contracted from Robert Hudson Ltd
0-6-0ST Slough Estates Ltd, No.3 (works no. 1544, built 1924), preserved, in regular service, at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway
0-6-0ST Slough Estates Ltd, No.5, preserved out-of-use at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway
0-6-0 Tank No. S100, preserved at Chasewater Railway
0-6-0 Saddle Tank No. 431, preserved at Chasewater Railway
1931 Neptune and 1932 Triton, narrow gauge steam outline diesels on Scarborough North Bay Railway
Diesel locomotives for the Sierra Leone Government Railway, supplied between 1954 and 1961.
British Rail Class D2/7
British Rail Class D2/12
MSC 0-6-0 No. 4002
No.38 0-6-0T, awaiting restoration at Tanfield Railway
Irwell 0-4-0ST,being restored at Tanfield Railway
Renishaw Iron Works No.6 0-6-0 ST,preserved at Tanfield Railway
No.1542 'B10' ,0-4-0, New Zealand, Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration society
0-6-0T no. MSC 67, preserved at Middleton Railway
No. 813 0-6-0ST, Preserved at East Somerset Railway
0-6-0 Saddle tank "Alston", under restoration at the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
0-6-0 Saddle Tank No. 54 "Julia". Preserved and being restored on the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre
0-4-2 Saddle Tanks Nos. 639 and 640 of 1902 at the Phyllis Rampton Trust
4wDM No. D564 of 1930 at the Phyllis Rampton Trust
0-6-0 tank No 70, currently operational at the Avon valley railway

Military engineering

During World War II the company diversified into armaments, as did so many other engineering companies. In the post-war period Hudswell, Clarke and Co Ltd was closely involved in various secret programmes, including the British nuclear weapon programme. The airframe for the first British nuclear bomb, Blue Danube was manufactured by Hudswell Clarke at its Roundhay Road, Leeds, plant. The airframe for Red Beard, the second generation tactical nuclear bomb, followed with that for Violet Club, the Interim Megaton Weapon; and there were many other projects. 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, eg. 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.