Kitson & Co.

Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

Early History

The company started as James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet in 1835 with Charles Todd as a partner. Todd had been apprenticed to Matthew Murray at the Round Foundry in Holbeck, Leeds.

Initially it made parts for other builders, until it was joined in 1838 by David Laird, a wealthy farmer who was looking for investments, the company becoming Todd, Kitson and Laird. This year saw the production of the company's first complete engines, either for the North Midland or the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

However, Todd left almost immediately to form Shepherd and Todd and the company was known variously as Kitson and Laird or Laird and Kitson.

The order for six engines by the Liverpool and Manchester began with 0-4-2 "Lion,", which still exists. Around 1860, it was withdrawn from service and sold to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, where it was jacked up off its wheels and used for pumping water. In 1930 it was restored and remains in preservation at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

In 1842, Laird, not receiving the financial return he expected, left the partnership. Kitson was then joined by Isaac Thompson and William Hewitson, the company becoming Kitson Thompson and Hewitson.

The company built for many of the country's railways, including the Midland Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the South Eastern Railway, and some for the continent. From 1855 many Indian railways became major customers

In 1858 Thompson left and it became Kitson and Hewitson, then finally Kitson and Company in 1863 when Hewitson died.

From 1866 Kitson's produced a large proportion of the Midland Railway double-framed goods engines designed by Matthew Kirtley and from 1869 began building a series of engines for Russia. By 1889 they were building 4-6-0s for South America.

From 1876 to 1901 they also built steam tram engines [Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, February, 1962 pp26-29 ] and a few railmotor units

Kitson-Meyer

An innovation was the articulated locomotive design proposed by Robert Stirling based on the Meyer locomotive, later known as the Kitson-Meyer. The first three were built in 1894 for the Anglo-Chilian Nitrate & Railway Company in Chile, with two in 1903 for Rhodesia and three in 1904 for Jamaica. Over 50 were built, some 2-8-8-0 and 2-8-8-2, the last being in 1935. There were also some 0-8-6-0s designed for rack railway working in the Andes.

Later History and Closure

After a busy period during World War I, trade dropped off in the 1920s. During this period the experimental Kitson-Still 2-6-2T steam diesel hybrid locomotive, combining steam power with internal combustion, was tested on the London and North Eastern Railway between York and Hull. This hauled revenue-earning trains for the LNER but Kitson's could not afford to develop it into a commercially viable form. The high research and development costs contributed to the demise of Kitson's.

The last large order in 1924 was for 12 London and North Eastern Railway Improved Director class locomotives. In 1934 the receivers were called in, and the company struggled on until 1938. The patterns, drawings and goodwill were acquired by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns.

Bibliography

* Lowe, J.W., (1989) "British Steam Locomotive Builders," Guild Publishing
* Binns, Donald (2003) "Kitson Meyer Articulated Locomotives" Trackside Publications, Skipton, UK.

References

External links

* [http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/cgi-bin/rlylocos?NO=&NA=&CL=&CO=ANY&BL=kitson&WN=&LO= Preserved locomotive database]
* [http://www.lner.info/locos/IC/kitson.shtml The Kitson-Still Steam-Diesel Hybrid page in the LNER Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.kitson-meyer.com/ Kitson-Meyer Locomotives]