The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW) was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath.
It has made trains for railways in the UK and overseas, including the Mass Transit Railway of Hong Kong, Kowloon-Canton Railway (now East Rail Line), the Channel Tunnel and locomotives for Malaysia's Keretapi Tanah Melayu. Diesel and electric locomotives were manufactured for South African Railways, Nyasaland Railways, Malawi, Nigeria, Trans-Zambezi Railway and Pakistan; DMUs for Jamaica Railway Corporation; and EMUs for National Railways of Mexico. The vast majority of the current and past London Underground rolling stock in mid 20th century was made by the company. It also designed and built the renowned Blue Pullman for British Railways.
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History
The company was formed in 1863 as the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd (successors to Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons) of London. Joseph Wright built coaches for the London and Southampton Railway in 1837 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838. In 1845 he moved the carriage works from London to Birmingham, where he purchased 6 acres (24,000 m2) of meadowland in Saltley, adjacent to the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway line.
In 1902 they merged with four other carriage and wagon builders to become Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd. By 1926, they had changed their name again to Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company Ltd.
Metropolitan were contracted as a builder of the new tanks for the British Army during the First World War. They built all 400 of the Mark V tank and 700 improved Mark V* tanks. These were the most developed designs to see service in the war.
In 1917, Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company and Vickers Limited took joint control of British Westinghouse. In 1919 Vickers bought out the Metropolitan shares and renamed the company Metropolitan-Vickers.
In 1929 the railway rolling stock business of Cammell Laird and Company was merged, as Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd.
MCCW also built bus bodies. In 1932, Metro Cammell Weymann was formed by the MCCW's bus bodybuilding business and Weymann Motor Bodies.
In the Second World War, Metro built tanks again: including the Valentine tank and Light Tank Mk VIII.
Saltley works was closed in 1962 and group administration concentrated at Washwood Heath in 1967.
In May 1989, the railway business was sold to GEC Alsthom (now Alstom) Group. The last trains to be built at the Washwood Heath plant before its closure in 2005 were the Class 390 "Pendolino" tilting trains for the West Coast Main Line modernisation.
Notable products
- Heavy rail rolling stock
- LNER electric units
- Southern Railway “Brighton Belle” EMU
- The Blue Pullman
- British Rail Class 101 "Heritage" Diesel Multiple Unit
- British Rail Class 156 "Super Sprinter" Diesel Multiple Unit
- British Rail Class 465/2 "Networker" Electric Multiple Unit
- British Rail Class 466 "Networker" Electric Multiple Unit
- British Rail Mark 4 coaching stock
- Subways
- London Underground 1938 Stock (Northern, Bakerloo, Piccadilly, East London and Central Lines)
- London Underground R49 & R59 Stock (District Line)[1]
- London Underground 1959 Stock (Piccadilly Line, then Bakerloo and Northern Line)
- London Underground 1962 Stock (Central Line)
- London Underground 1967 Stock (Victoria Line)
- London Underground 1972 Stock (Bakerloo Line)
- London Underground C69 and C77 Stock (Circle and Hammersmith and City lines)
- London Underground 1973 Stock (Piccadilly Line)
- London Underground D78 Stock (District Line)
- London Underground battery-electric locomotives
- Glasgow Subway metro trains
- Other rapid transit
- Tyne and Wear Metro trains
- East Rail Line Metro Cammell EMU (Hong Kong KCR, rent to MTR since KCR merged with MTR)
- M-stock metro cars (Hong Kong MTR)
- Formerly contracted (but lost the contract to another company)
- Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) C151 Stock (lost the contract to Kawasaki Heavy Industries in 1984)
- Docklands Light Railway P86 stock (lost the contract to Alstom-LHB in 1984) [2]
Notes
- ^ Connor, Piers (1983). The 'R' Stock Story. Hemel Hempstead: London Underground Railway Society. ISBN 0 9508793 0 4.
- ^ http://metcam.co.uk.nstempintl.com/history.htm#up2date
References
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External links
- MCW archives at the Historical Model Railway Society, at Butterley in Derbyshire
- Birmingham City Council Public Records Office also has an archive of old Metro Cammell material
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