Cravens

Cravens Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Limited was a railway rolling stock builder in the Darnall district of Sheffield, England. Founded by brothers named Craven and known as Craven Brothers, later Cravens Limited, it remained a family business until John Brown & Company acquired a controlling shareholding in 1919. Its name was changed back to Cravens Limited in 1954 when it finally became a wholly owned subsidiary of John Brown.[1]

Ownership

Craven Brothers was a British engineering firm started in 1853 by brothers William and John Craven that built large machine tools for railway and engineering workshops and later workshop and railway cranes. Two Sheffield-raised Craven brothers, sons of a Wakefield mason and builders themselves began to make railway wagons in 1866[2] when railway companies also pulled wagons, particularly purpose-built wagons, for other owners. A third brother, previously an architect and timber merchant, soon joined them.[3]

John Brown & Company acquired a substantial interest in Craven's in 1919 "not only as in itself a sound investment but as a means of ensuring a friendly customer for much of the company's product in railway material".

Products

During the 1880s London's The Times newspaper made regular reports on the state of trade throughout England and Scotland. From taking a low place in reports on Sheffield by 1890 Cravens were near the top of those reports. Published successes were: In 1883 Great Northern Company ordered 400 sets of wheels and axles.[11] In 1885 Messrs Craven Brothers of Darnall Carriage Works have completed and delivered to the Cheshire Lines Connittee 40 composite carriages for use in the Manchester expresses.[12] Cravens have built several fine dining saloons for express service and other railway carriages, wagons etc.[13] North British Railway have placed an order for 500 sets of wheels and axles.[14] The South Eastern railway have placed an order for 100 railway carriages including 50 third class. India, Argentine Republic and South America as well as Home railway companies are ordering tyres, axles, springs, buffers and other railway items.[15]

A new Palace Car, a sleeping and dining car for the Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway Company. . . largest of it kind ever constructed in this country. . . 60 feet long 9 feet 4inches wide and 9 feet 5 inches high. . . contains a saloon and a ladies saloon as well as lavatories, bathrooms and an attendant's room. . design and drawings by Mr T F Craven.[16]

Craven's built many diagrams of coaching stock for the pre-grouping Railway companies of Great Britain, the grouped companies and for British Railways itself. They also constructed coaches for many railway companies around the world. As well as surface running stock they also built vehicles for underground railways and especially noted are the London Underground A60 Stock. With modernisation the company adapted to build diesel multiple units and electric multiple units for British Railways. One of its last orders, in 1963, was of 55 mainline carriages, broadly similar to the British Railways Mark 1 design, for the Irish railway company Córas Iompair Éireann. Another of the orders received and completed before the absorption by Metro Cammell was a royal train for Peru.

Second World War

Craven's made airframe components and maintained supply of road and rail vehicles for the Admiralty and Ministry of Supply including: limbers, gun shields, gun mountings, gun turrets, rocket ammunition racks, ammunition boxes, and components for armoured vehicles.

Asbestos sound insulation

Many employees in the railway industry in general developed diseases related to asbestos, used during the locomotive and carriage building process. These diseases include peritoneal mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, diffuse pleural thickening and other pleural abnormalities.[17] Some ex Cravens employees have been awarded significant compensation in such cases but some families received relatively small amounts of compensation.[18]

One of the methods of working employed at Craven's was shooting a wet slurry of asbestos from a pressure gun. The operators would stand under a railway car supported on large trestles and spray the asbestos slurry in a 2 in layer onto the underside of the railway car. This was done to provide sound insulation to the floor of the railway car prior to final assembly.

type	Private
fate	Acquired
successor	Metropolitan-Cammell
foundation	pre 1900
defunct	1966
location	Sheffield, England, UK
industry	Railway Engineering
products	carriages, locomotives

Ownership

Premises

Products

Second World War

Asbestos sound insulation

Preserved Craven's rolling stock

Gallery

See also

Bibliography

External links

References

Ireland