Shepherd and Todd
Shepherd and Todd (1838-1846) was a railway engineering works at the Railway Foundry in Leeds
Charles Todd had been a partner in Todd, Kitson and Laird but left to set up his own business in 1838, setting up the Railway Foundry with John Shepherd to build locomotives and rolling stock.
1839 Mention of Shepherd and Todd, Iron founders [1]
The first order came in 1839 for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and in the following two years they built a number of locomotives for the North Midland Railway, the Manchester and Leeds Railway and for one in France. These were either small four-coupled or 2-2-2 locos.
1840 Shown as Shepherd and Todd, Railway Foundry, Leeds [2]
1840 they built two six foot singles for the Hull and Selby Railway. These latter had Gray's patent dog-leg valve gear and were, apart from another built experimentally by the Haigh Foundry, probably the first to use expansive working. Further engines were made for the Hull and Selby, two 0-6-0s and two singles for the York and North Midland Railway.
1840 Makers of the locomotives Star, Vista and Leeds for the Hull and Selby Railway [3] [4]
1844 June 7th. The Shepherd and Todd partnership dissolved. [5] '...the Partnership heretofore subsisting between the undersigned, John Shepherd and Charles Todd, as Engineers, Iron and Brass Founders, at Leeds, in the county of York (under the firm of Shepherd and Todd), has been this day dissolved by mutual consent. The partnership debts will be received and paid by the said John Shepherd...'[6]
1844 Todd left the partnership to be replaced by Edward Brown Wilson.
1844 The company employed just forty men but then considerable expansion took place and three years later there were more than 400 employed.
The company continued building mostly Stephenson long boiler locomotives, some 2-2-2 followed by outside cylindered 2-4-0 with the firebox behind the wheels. They were extremely unstable due the long overhang at each end. The six-coupled engines for goods work were more successful since speed was not a requirement.
c1845 Edward Brown Wilson left after a year
1846 Shepherd and Todd were taken over by James Fenton, to become Fenton, Craven and Co. By the end of the year, the partnership with Craven had ended and Fenton continued on his own.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser, Saturday, July 13, 1839
- ↑ The Leeds Mercury, Saturday, May 30, 1840
- ↑ The Leeds Mercury, Saturday, November 21, 1840
- ↑ The Leeds Mercury, Saturday, December 26, 1840
- ↑ The Bradford Observer; and Halifax, Huddersfield, and Keighley Reporter, Thursday, June 13, 1844
- ↑ The London Gazette Publication date:7 June 1844 Issue:20351 Page:1972
- The Engineer of 15th October 1920 p369
- British Steam Locomotive Builders by James W. Lowe. Published in 1975. ISBN 0-905100-816