Workers Making Steel Tyres for Locomotives and Carriages at Crewe Works

London Midland & Scottish Railway Collection. Workers making steel tyres for locomotives and carriages at the London & North Western Railway's Crewe works, 1913.

The machinery in this shop was manufactured by J Whitworth of Manchester, who specialised in making machines for cutting and shaping metal.

Crewe was one of the most important railway works in Britain and manufactured a huge range of railway equipment, turning raw materials into finished articles. Opened in 1843, the works constructed locomotives, carriages and signalling equipment, and even made soap for cleaning oil stains!