Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. was a builder of steam and diesel locomotives, based in Kilmarnock, Scotland, that was founded in 1840 and is now owned by Wabtec Rail.
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Born in 1814, Andrew Barclay was only 25 years of age when he set up a partnership with Thomas McCulloch in the manufacturer of mill shafts in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It was only a couple of years later that he branched out on his own in the manufacture of his patented gas lamps. In 1847 he set up workshops specializing in the manufacture of winding engines for the local coal mining industry, however the money from the gas lamp patent sale was never paid and the company and sequestration came the following year.
By 1859 Barclay recovered from this setback and his newly formed company produced its first locomotive. Sometime around 1871 Andrew Barclay set up a second locomotive building business which was known as Barclays & Co., for his younger brother, John, and his four sons, this business remaining closely associated with that of Andrew Barclay. Again not all went well and the companies were declared bankrupt in 1874 and 1882 respectively. Four years after this last collapse Andrew Barclay’s business was relaunched as Andrew Barclay Sons & Co., Barclays & Co was being revived. Problems were not over, however, but in 1892 the firm took on limited liability as Andrew Barclay Sons & Co., Ltd. Just two years later Andrew was removed from control of the company which bore his name by its shareholders. Barclay sued the company for unpaid wages, a matter which was settled out of court 5 years later.
In 1930 the company bought the business of John Cochrane (Barrhead) Ltd, engine makers and in 1963 it acquired the goodwill of the North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow.
In 1972 the company was acquired by the Leeds-based Hunslet Group of companies and its name was changed in 1989 to Hunslet-Barclay Ltd. As such, it operated six ex-British Rail Class 20 diesels on weedkilling trains over the national rail network. The locomotive interests of Hunslet-Barclay were bought by LH Group, Staffordshire, 31 December 2003, with Hunslet-Barclay at Kilmarnock continuing in the business of design, manufacture and refurbishment of multiple units, rolling stock, bogies and wheelsets.
In November 2007 Hunslet-Barclay was bought by the loco builder Brush Traction of Loughborough, and re-named Brush-Barclay.[1][2]
On 28 February 2011, Wabtec announced that it had acquired Brush Traction, an English locomotive builder and maintainer, for US$31 million.[3]
Some Barclay locomotives were supplied through Lennox Lange, who acted as an agent for Barclay.
In 1876, there was a disastrous fire at Andrew Barclay’s Caledonia works in Kilmarnock. At this point, two employees of Andrew Barclay, Thomas Grant and William Ritchie, set up Grant, Ritchie and Company at Townholme Engine Works, Kilmarnock to manufacture steam locomotives.[4] They took over an existing business called Grant Brothers [5] but it is not known whether there was a family connection to Thomas Grant. Grant, Ritchie also built colliery winding engines and one of these is preserved at the Scottish Mining Museum. A Grant, Ritchie locomotive is preserved at the Ribble Steam Railway.
The company was noted for constructing simple robust locomotives, chiefly for industrial use, and many of its products survive in use on heritage railways, over 100 in Britain. A typical product would be an 0-4-0 with squared-off saddle tank.
Barclay was the largest builder of fireless locomotives in Britain, building 114 of them between 1913 and 1961. Few fireless locomotives are seen in action today. This is due to the low power of the locomotives, the long time needed to charge a locomotive from cold and the low steam pressures available for charging. Perhaps the only exception was "Lord Ashfield" (Andrew Barclay works no. 1989 of 1930) at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester that ran for a while in the 1990s sharing a steam supply with the stationary exhibits in their exhibition hall.
The company built diesel shunting locomotives for industry and for British Rail. Classes included British Rail Class D2/5, British Rail Class 01 and British Rail Class 06.
Over 80 Andrew Barclay locomotives were supplied to railways in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.[6]