Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
Fletcher, Jennings & Co. was an engineering company at Lowca near Whitehaven, Cumbria, England.
Overview
Fletcher and Jennings took over the business of Tulk and Ley in 1857. From then, until 1884, the company concentrated on four and six-coupled industrial tank locomotives, although other goods such as bridge girders, and blast-furnace shells for the burgeoning local iron industry, were also produced. By then nearly two hundred locomotives had been built and the company acquired limited liability as Lowca Engineering Company Ltd. It might be thought that "Lowca" is a play on the word "loco" but, in fact, it refers to the village where the factory was established in 1800.
In 1905, the name changed again to the New Lowca Engineering Company Ltd. but it was short-lived. Orders had fallen and, after a disastrous fire in 1912 all production ceased, the company being finally wound up in 1927.
Surviving locomotives
Preserved locomotives manufactured by the company include:
| Name | Gauge | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talyllyn | Vorlage:RailGauge | 0-4-2ST | 1864 | 42 | Preserved on the Talyllyn Railway in mid Wales |
| Dolgoch | 0-4-0WT | 1866 | 63 | Preserved on the Talyllyn Railway in mid Wales. | |
| Captain Baxter | Vorlage:RailGauge | 0-4-0T | 1877 | 158 | Preserved on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex |
| Townsend Hook | 3 ft 2¼ in | 0-4-0T | 1880 | 172L | Preserved at the Amberley Working Museum in Sussex. |
| Sten Sture | 0-6-0sT | 1873 | unknown | Rebuilt to Side Tank form |
Other locomotives
Other locomotives manufactured by the company include:
- Brigham Hall/Rothersyke of the Cleator & Workington junction railway
- Preserved Fletcher, Jennings locomotives in Mauritius
Sources
- Linked Wikipedia articles
- Kyle, Ian "Steam from Lowca" (1974)
- Wear, Russell "Some further notes on the Lowca Works", Cumbrian Railways, Feb 2002