Crossley Motors

Crossley Brothers of Manchester was a pioneer in the manufacture of internal combustion engines. Since 1988, the company is part of the Rolls- Royce Power Engineering Group. Overall, the company provided more than 100,000 oil and gas engines.

Company History

Crossley Brothers was founded in 1867 by brothers Francis ( 1839-97 ) and William J. Crossley ( 1844-1911 ). Francis acquired with the assistance of his uncle, the gas engine business by John M. Dunlop in Great Marlborough Street in Manchester. The company stood next to gas engines also manufactures pumps, presses and small steam engines. William joined a short time later in the company of his brother. Initially, the company operated under the name Crossley Brothers and Dunlop. Both brothers had received technical training, Frank Robert Stephenson and Company, William at WG Armstrong. While William concentrated on the business, Frank brought the technical expertise to the company. Both brothers were strict Christian upbringing and refused on moral grounds, among others, the sale of their products to breweries from. The Coptic cross was adopted as a symbol of their religious beliefs in the company logo.

In 1869, the brothers took over the patents worldwide (except Germany ) for the atmospheric gas engines, the firm of Nikolaus August Otto and Eugen Langen in Cologne. 1876 ​​patents were taken for the products developed by Otto four-stroke engine. The transition to the four-stroke engine was completed quickly, the last atmospheric gas engines were produced in 1877. The business grew quickly, and so the company in 1881 to a limited liability company ( Crossley Brothers Ltd. ) Was converted. 1882 the company moved to larger premises in Pottery Lane in Openshaw in east Manchester. Further improvement of engines, such as improved valve timing, a new ignition with glow plug and the carburetor was introduced quickly. This allowed volatile liquid fuels are used.

With the introduction of the so-called oil engine, which was first introduced in 1891, the future of the company was first secured. Together with centrifugal pumps for irrigation systems these engines were used. The first diesel engine was developed by the company in 1898. Around the turn of the century the production of petrol engines has been added, which quickly found in motor vehicles such as buses by Leyland in 1905, using. To increase production, an assembly line was introduced, which also influenced the development must Henry Ford, who visited the company turn of the century.

Crossley Motors

In 1904 the production of motor vehicles was recorded. On April 11, 1906 Crossley Motors was first registered as an independent company. After the re-registration in 1910, vehicle production was outsourced in 1911 in the new company. 1948 Crossley Motors was sold to the Associated Equipment Company, the Vehicle Production ended ten years later in 1958.

Crossley Premier

In 1919 became premier gas engines from Sandiacre, Nottingham, acquired. The company produced large engines. From 1935, the company operated under the name Crossley Premier Engines Ltd. .. The production facilities in Nottingham have been extended. 1966 production ended in Nottingham after plummeted in the 1960s, the sales and the company worked only uneconomical. The construction of the engines was already over 40 years old. Therefore, the production of structures from the French company Pielstick from 1962 should be included. The motors should be used in ships, diesel locomotives and equipment for power generation. Production started, but before the new engines could establish itself on the market, were the financial resources and the company had to be liquidated. With Bellis and Morcom Ltd. Although a buyer could be won, but the name of Crossley Premier remained.

In the 1960s, the market share shrank the engine sale. The new company was merged with the Amalgamated Power Engineering (APE ) group and traded as APE - Crossley Ltd. .. The Coptic cross was used as the logo of the company initially. The rights for the use of this symbol, however, were at Crossley Motors and had to be bought by British Leyland. APE eventually went on to Northern Engineering Industries and was in NEI -Allen Limited - renamed Crossley engines.

Rolls- Royce Power Engineering

NEI was taken over in 1988 by the Rolls- Royce Power Engineering Group, the traditional company was as Allen Power Engineering - Crossley Engines division part of the Rolls- Royce Industrial Power Group. The based on the construction Pielstick engines were still in production until 1995. The manufacturing facilities in the Pottery Lane were closed on 27 February 2009 and transferred production to the Rolls- Royce plant in Dunfermline. The demolition of the factory facilities began in December 2009.

Motors

Crossley Brothers built engines for rail and sea vehicles. The engines had a reputation for longevity and reliability. The attempt of the company to secure a share of the fast-growing rail market, but also contributed to the decline of the company. Crossley adapted the built during the Second World War ship motors for use in locomotives:

  • HSTVee -8, British Rail Class 28, Class 001 CIE and Western Australian Government Railways X class
  • ESTVee -8, CIE 201 Class
  • ESNT6, British Rail Class D3 / 3

It is charged two-stroke diesel engines. While charging used by Crossley unburned air was blown from the exhaust manifold into the intake of the adjacent cylinder. The motors, particularly the HSTVee -8, in practice, have a very short lifetime. The engines were already out a few months after commissioning of the vehicles, which resulted in many changes to the design. The HSTVee - 8 of the WAGR X class had to be changed more than 600 times. After the CIE 201 Class was parked for several years, they only came with new engines from EMD back into the service.

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