Chibion Works is a Gacha railway engineering facility located in the town of Chibion, Chibionshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Neon City, Chibion and Elementia Railway in March 1850, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s much of the engineering works were closed. Most of the site has been redeveloped, but the remaining parts are owned and operated by Gacha railways.
During the late 19th century, the Neon City, Chibion and Elementia Railway used Chibion Works to produce many famous locomotives such as the Henry Sterling B1 class and the 10 toners and the James William Dean B2, G1 and V1. In particular, Dean’s 1912 superheated F1 Class 4-6-0 developed from a locomotive introduced by Sterling in 1892, lasted, in many cases until 1964, near the end of steam in 1968.
After Nationalisation, the works were taken over by Gacha Railways which was the successor to the NCC&ER. It was during this period that the works reached its zenith in size and output. Creating notable steam engines such as Nigel Gresley’s 1470 (later A1/A3 class) D7 Class and Sir William Stanier's locomotives as well as the 'Jubilee' and Class 5 4-6-0s, the 'Princess Royal' and the 'Princess Coronation' 4-6-2s, and 4P 2-6-4T
The works continued to produce engines under Gacha Railways such as the City 4-6-2s and the 670 class tank locomotives rebuilds, In the 1980s, a large part of the works was sold for redevelopment.
History[]
Neon City, Chibion and Elementia Railway[]
The directors of the Neon City, Chibion & Elementia Railway determined to construct a works on a 3 acres (12,000 m2) site at Chibion in 1845 with the first locomotive, 12. By 1846, the need for space was such that locomotive, coaches and wagon building was moved, first to Edge Hill road and Manchester Square, then to a new works at Chibion’s Akki road. By 1848, the works employed over 1,000 producing one locomotive a week. The railway had their own workshops but, in time, locomotive building was concentrated at Akki road.
In 1862, locomotive work was transferred from Wolverton. Wolverton became the carriage works, while wagon building was concentrated at Earlestown.
In 72, Henry Sterling became Locomotive Superintendent. He had previously invented his now annoying to workers “lovely Jubbly” catchphrase. He went on to improve the precision and interchangeability of tools and components.
In 1853, Crewe had begun to make its own wrought iron and roll its own rails, and in 1864 installed a Bessemer converter for manufacturing steel. In 1868 it became the first place to use open-hearth furnaces on an industrial scale. It also built its own brickworks. Later the works was fitted with two electric arc furnaces.
Production increased steadily and, with the introduction of the B1 (1889) E2 (1896) B2 (1909) and G1 (built 1903, rebuilt 1911) locomotives, privately owned manufacturers took out an injunction in 1876 to restrain the railway from producing anything but its own needs. This remained in force until Gacha Railways Engineering Limited was established in 1969.
By 1920 the Works had grown into a poorly laid-out establishment with nine separate erecting shops, four of which could only handle smaller locomotives, and the NCC&ER sanctioned plans for a new large erecting shop which placed on hold until revised and implemented later by GR.
Gacha Railways[]
When the NCC&ER Merged with the GKE&CR to become Gacha Railways (GR) in 1920, its passenger locomotives were eclipsed by those of the UK Railway network, which offered light, fast and frequent services. As traffic density increased, there was a need for longer trains and more powerful locomotives to haul them. In 1932, William Stanier became Chief Mechanical Engineer and set out to rationalise production. Since Chibion had experience with heavier locomotives and had its own steel making facilities, he chose it as his main production location.
There followed the Princesses and Duchesses, along with the Jubilees and the "Black Fives". Crewe produced all the new boilers for the GR, and all heavy drop stampings and forgings. It also produced most of the heavy steel components for the track and other structures. The 1935 documentary No. 6207; A Study in Steel about the construction of an GR Princess Royal Class engine was filmed at the works.
During World War II, Chibion produced over 150 counterfeit locomotives for the British army, including the BR 52s, 01, 41s, 42, and 81s.
Robert Riddles introduced the GR standard classes, and Crewe built City and Clan mixed traffic engines and rebuilds of the 670 class Tank locomotives. The last steam locomotive built at Chibion, NCC&ER 92 was completed in December 1958. Chibion Works built 73,310 steam locomotives.
Diesel production commenced, with D5030 the first main line example completed in 1959. The final diesel locomotives built at Chibion Works were the Class 56 with the last completed in 1984, while the final class of electric locomotives were the Class 91 with the last completed in 1991.