Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd

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The Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company Ltd was created in 1935 when the Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Company Ltd, dropped the 'Saxby' from their title. For most of the twentieth century, it manufactured railway air braking and signalling equipment in the engineering works in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The company's factory was located immediately north of Chippenham railway station.[1]

Contents

[edit] Predecessors and background

Predecessors included Evans O'Donnell Limited and Saxby and Farmer.[1] Saxby and Farmer was started by John Saxby and John Stinson Farmer in the mid 1800s to manufacture railway signalling equipment.[1] The railway air brake was patented in the United States of America by George Westinghouse in 1869 and introduced in 1872.[citation needed] In 1920, Saxby and Farmer and Evans O'Donnell formed Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Company Ltd.[1]

[edit] History

Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd formed part of BTR plc who acquired it from the Hawker Siddeley group in 1992. In 1999, BTR merged with Siebe to form Invensys.

[edit] Successors

Invensys split the company into Westinghouse Signals Ltd and Westinghouse Brakes Ltd, selling Westinghouse Brakes to Munich-based competitor Knorr-Bremse.[2]

Also formerly a part of The Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company is Westcode, a high-power semiconductor manufacturer, now part of IXYS group.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Timeline from Chippenham Town Council website. Retrieved on March 30, 2008.
  2. ^ Invensys investor relations news release, April 25, 2000 Invensys Sells Westinghouse Brakes to Knorr-Bremse. Retrieved from the Internet Archive on March 30, 2008.
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