Peckett and Sons

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Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Works in Bristol, England.

The company began trading in 1864 as Fox, Walker and Company, building four and six-coupled saddle tank engines for industrial use. They also built stationary engines and pioneered steam tramcars, the first being tested in Bristol in 1877.

Much of their output was exported, mostly 0-6-0, with some 0-4-0, 2-4-0 and 0-4-2. Around 1875 they produced six 1'6" gauge 2-4-2 trench engines for the Admiralty using Henry Handyside's steep gradient apparatus. They also produced nine 0-6-0 saddle tank engines for the Somerset and Dorset Railway.

Between 1862 and 1800 they had built over 400 locomotives, when they were taken over by Thomas Pecket becoming Peckett and Sons, Atlas Engine Works, Bristol. The company acquired limited liability some years later.

The company continued producing a variety of small industrial and shunting engines They became specialists in the field, with very precise specifications and standardisation of parts. The largest engine was an 0-8-0 built in 1931 for the Christmas Island Phosphate Company.

During the two World Wars, the works were especially busy, but by 1950 trade had largely dried up and, although in 1956 an attempt had been made to enter the diesel-mechanical market, the last steam engine was produced in 1958 and the company was bought by Reed Crane and Hoist Ltd., which itself went into liquidation..

Despite hard work and poor maintenance, the engines were long-lasting. Many survive on today's heritage railways. There is still a company called Peckett and Sons Ltd of Ongar, which supplies spares.

[edit] Reference

• Lowe, J.W., (1989) British Steam Locomotive Builders, Guild Publishing