Paxman

Paxman

Predecessor	Davey, Paxman & Davey, Engineers (Davey, Paxman & Co.)
Founded	1865
Headquarters	, England
Products	engines
Parent	MAN B&W Diesel (MAN AG)
Website	http://www.nelmes.fsnet.co.uk/paxman/paxrailt.htm

Davey Paxman no. 16849 'Little Audrey' at Sandbach Transport Festival 2010

Paxman is a major British brand of diesel engines. Ownership has varied greatly since the company's formation in 1865, the brand is now owned by MAN AG, as part of MAN B&W Diesel. The origins of the company were in steam boiler production and they built a number of Steam engines. Later they moved into Internal combustion engines and specialised in the larger end of the market. At its peak, the Paxman works covered 23 acres (93,000 m²) and employed over 2,000 people. Engine production is still primarily based at Paxman's Colchester works.

Examples where Paxman diesels are in use include the Type 22 Frigate (Paxman Valenta) Type 23 frigate (Paxman Valenta), Type 42 Destroyer (Paxman Ventura), Invincible class aircraft carrier (Paxman Valenta) the Upholder class Submarine and the InterCity 125 High Speed Train.

History

An illustration of a Davey Paxman boiler from a 1912 text book

Paxman was founded as Davey, Paxman & Davey, Engineers in 1865, later Davey, Paxman & Co. which became a limited company in 1898. In 1920 the company became a member of the Agricultural & General Engineers Ltd (AGE) engineering combine, formed by several firms during the 1920 recession. In 1932 AGE collapsed and Paxman emerged as Davey Paxman & Co (Colchester) Ltd.

Davey, Paxman and Davey conducted business as general engineers and ironworkers. The company manufactured steam engines, boilers, agricultural machinery, and mill gearing. By the early 1870s the company was supplying machinery to the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa.

In 1940 Ruston & Hornsby Ltd purchased a controlling interest in the company; this co-operation led to the formation of Ruston-Paxman Group.

In 1954 the engine controls business of Paxman was reformed as a subsidiary, Ardleigh Engineering Ltd. In 1962 Paxman acquired the engine controls division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation and merged the two businesses under the Regulateurs Europa name. (see Wikipedia for details)

In 1966 the Ruston-Paxman Group was acquired by English Electric. The diesel engine businesses were merged into English Electric diesel engines Ltd (later English Electric Diesels Ltd). Paxman became the "Paxman Engine Division" of English Electric. In 1968 English Electric was itself acquired by The General Electric Company (GEC) (not the American GE company). In 1972 GEC renamed the engines division GEC Diesels Limited. In 1975 a reorganisation saw the creation of Paxman Diesels Limited as a subsidiary.

In 1988 GEC merged its Paxman, Ruston and Mirrlees Blackstone diesels businesses with the Alsthom division of Compagnie Générale d'Electricité's (CGE) to form GEC-Alsthom. Paxman became GEC ALSTHOM Paxman Diesels Ltd. In December 1997 GEC Alsthom had its initial public offering as Alstom. The diesel engine businesses became Alstom Engines Ltd (AEL).

In 2000 Alstom Engines Ltd was acquired by MAN B&W Diesel AG (a subsidiary of MAN AG) to become MAN B&W Diesel Ltd. In 2005 MAN sold the Regulateurs Europa controls business to Heinzmann GmbH.

In 2003 MAN B&W announced proposals to transfer manufacturing to Stockport, and this was carried out by 2003. However, the Stockport plant proved unable to manufacture the popular VP185 engine efficiently, and thus in 2005, production returned to Colchester.

Model Range

(please add any known models for cross reference, with machine used in if possible)

They were popular in standby generator sets & other static plant applications.

Steam engines

Paxmans built a number of Portable engines and also few Traction engines and Industrial boilers of the Lancashire type.

Diesel engines

Industrial engines

add details here please

Locomotive engines

Add details here please

Marine engines

add details here please

Preservation

Steam engines

Very few Davey Paxman steam engines survive. The Traction Engine Register 2008 only lists 18 examples surviving in the UK.

• Davey Paxman no. 15584 - Little Sheila of 1911, a 4 nhp Portable, owned by Will Dakin of Sandbatch, Cheshire - seen at Onslow Park steam rally and Astle Park.

• Davey Paxman no. 16849 - Little Audrey of 1911, a 6 nhp engine reg no. AF 3373 owned by Will Dakin, of Sandbach, Cheshire - Seen at Onslow Park Steam Rally and Sandbach Transport Festival

• Davey Paxman no. 19412 - Drumtochy of 1916, a 7 nhp traction engine reg no. KE 2700 - seen at Preston Services New Year steam up meet, 2010/11

Preserved machines built by Davey Paxman & Co.

Engine No.	Name	Build Date	Type	Weight	Power nhp	Reg No.	Owner	Image	Other info
Davey Paxman UP6	-	Year	PE	? ton	8 nhp	-	owner >?, Fairford
Davey Paxman no. 11692	Name ?	1900	PE	? ton	8 nhp	-	owner ?		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 12520	Name ?	1905	PE	weight	power	-	owner ?		Mounted on sub frame
Davey Paxman no. 12729	-	[1905]]	PE	? ton	6 nhp	-	owner >?, Sandbach		Repatriated from Chile 2008
Davey Paxman no. 12982	Name ?	1906	PE	weight	6 nhp	-	owner ?		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 13072	Victoria	1907	TE	weight	7 nhp	NK 967	owner ?		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 14766	Annie	1908	TE	weight	10 nhp	NO 3645	owner ?, Rochdale		Straw burning firebox
Davey Paxman no. 15477	Name ?	1910	PE	weight	7 nhp	-	owner ?, Andover		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 15513	Faith	1910	PE	-	? nhp	-	owner >?,		Repatriated from Chile 2003
Davey Paxman no. 15584	Little Sheila	1910	Portable	weight	6 nhp	-	Will Dakin, Sandbach Cheshire		At Shrewsbury Steam Rally 2011 (Repatriated from Australia 2001)
Davey Paxman no. 16849	Little Audrey	1911	TE	10 ton	6 nhp	AF 3373	Will Dakin, Sandbach		At Sandbach Transport Festival 2010
Davey Paxman no. 18025	Name ?	1913	PE	? ton	10 nhp	-	owner ?, Cambridge		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 18050	-	1913	PE	-	10 nhp	(T97)	Preston Services	to add	Awaiting restoration - for sale
Davey Paxman no. 19412	Drumtochy	1916	TE	10 ton	7 nhp	KE 2700	owner ?		For sale (June 2012) at Preston Services Kent
Davey Paxman no. 19413	The Engineer	1916	TE	? ton	7 nhp	KE 2701	owner ?, Hinckley		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 20178	Name ?	Year	PE	weight	3 nhp	-	owner ?		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. 20624	-	1921	PE	weight ?	? nhp	NA	German Museum of Technology, Berlin		In Storage
Davey Paxman no. 20776	Name ?	1922	PE	-	10 nhp	-	owner ?, Langport, Somerset		Repatriated from France 2008
Davey Paxman no. 21693	Name ?	1925	PE	-	3 nhp	-	owner ? Hailsham,		(Ex UP8) Repatriated from Brazil
Davey Paxman no. 35188	Name ?	1920 (?)	PE	-	10 nhp	-	owner ?		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. UP6	Name ?	Year	type	weight	power	-	owner ?, Fairford		TER 2016 say existence uncertain
Davey Paxman no. UP7	Name ?	1918	PE	-	3 nhp	-	owner ?, Whitby		Featured in
Davey Paxman no. UP9	Name ?	Year	PE	weight	? nhp	-	owner ?, Kiderminster		Boiler only on Wheels
Davey Paxman no. (UP96)	-	Year	PE	weight	8 nhp	(T81)	Preston Services, Canterbury Kent		For sale - awaiting restoration
no.
Engine no. ?
Davey Paxman no.	Name ?	Year	type	weight	power	Reg no. ?	owner ?		Featured in

Machine types Key: SW = Steam Wagon, PE = Portable Engine, RR = Road Roller, SM = Showmans, TE = Traction Engine

Industrial engines

Details of any surviving examples required - please list below.

Template:PML Paxman IC engines

References

• History of Paxman's Ownership and Corporate Identity

External Links

• Paxman and Diesel Rail Traction