Charles Brown (1827-1905). Founder of the Swiss Locomotive Works in Winterthur
1827 He was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex on 30 June 1827.
Apprenticed at Maudslay & Field in London, but started his own workshop before the end of his apprenticeship.
In 1851 Brown was invited to start building steam locomotives at Sulzer in Winterthur.
1863 Birth of son Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown, in Winterthur, (died Lugano 2 May 1924), who became a major developer of electricity generating and traction machinery.
1871 Charles Brown left Sulzers to form the firm which became SLM (Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works), which was noted for its rack locomotives.
1878 He replaced the traditional sharply closing valves by a steam distribution with elliptical motion. [1]
1879 Joined I Mech E
1880 Manager, Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur
He was involved in the development of electric locomotives in the 1880s.
1885 Manager, Maschinenfabrik, Oerlikon, Switzerland
1890 Messrs. Charles Brown and Co., 91 Rione Amedeo, Naples, Italy
1905 He died on 6 October 1905 in Basle.
Obituary 1905 [2]
AT the ripe age of seventy eight years, there died at Basle at the end of last week Charles Brown, who was widely known in Europe as a highly successful engineer, and who played a very great part in the development of the machine industry of Switzerland. Charles Brown was by birth an Englishman. His activity was displayed mainly in the construction of steam engines; in 1851 he was appointed engineer in the construction work shops of the firm of Sulzer at Winterthur, and with his aid the business of that firm flourished exceedingly. In 1871 Charles Brown undertook the technical management of the then newly founded Swiss Locomotive Works at Wintertbur. Towards the end of the eighties he joined the Oerlikon Machine Works, and afterwards he was engaged busily at Naples, whence he removed to Basle. The Basler Nachrichten speaks thus of this pioneer of engineering in Switzerland: " He was a genial engineer, and, seeing that he struck out into new paths in his special departments, he is to be rank ed among the founders of technics in Switzerland. To his joy, Brown was able to witness the success of his sons, for the firm of Brown, Boveri and Co. won a world-wide reputation in a short space of time, and is one of the leading machine works on the Continent." It is highly gratifying to note that the entire Press of Switzerland speaks of Charles Brown in glowing terms, and acknowledges that to him is due the greatest meed of thanks for the growth of the Swiss engineering industry.