Hawthorn Leslie and Company

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R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer formed by the merger of the shipbuilder A. Leslie and Company and the locomotive works of R. and W. Hawthorn in 1870.

[edit] Locomotives

After the merger the locomotive side continued making locomotives, among them a 4-2-2-0 with four cylinders - two inside and two outside - connected separately to the two pairs of driving wheels. It was produced for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 but could not produce sufficient steam to compete effectively with the American products. In 1915 F.G.Smith of the Highland Railway ordered six 4-6-0s to his own designs. Being rejected by that railway as being too heavy, they were taken over by the Caledonian Railway.

A great number were built for export, usually to the designs of the Crown Agents, among them many fireless locomotives. In 1937, the locomotive production was bought by Robert Stephenson and Company, becoming Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd.