Davenport Locomotive Works
The Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, Iowa, USA was formed as the W W Whitehead Company in 1901. In 1902 the company commenced building light locomotives. The Company was renamed the Davenport Locomotive Works in 1904.[2]
In late 1930 Davenport was licensed to assemble and market R G LeTourneau Inc products under the Davenport-LeTourneau brand. The agreement is believed to have ended in 1935 when LeTourneau moved to Peoria, Illinois. Davenport also sold Davenport-Winchell three-wheel roller conversions of industrial wheel tractors, Davenport-Frink snow plows, which were built in license from Frink Sno-Plows Inc, and Reynolds patented Mov-Mor rotary scrapers.
In 1933 the company was again restructured and renamed the Davenport-Besler Corporation which continued in business until 1956.
The company had built small steam locomotives early on; its first
An extensive range of diesel locomotives in all industrial sizes followed, utilizing either mechanical
Davenport built a number of locomotives for the
Three Davenport 500 HP locomotives (built 1952) of the State Railway of Thailand[3] are still in service as of March 2023.[4]
Various Davenport locomotives are preserved in the US as well as in other parts of the world.
Preservation
- ST Locomotive of 1917 at the Illawarra Light Railway Museum
- Davenport-Besler #2245 - a 30 ton 3 ft (914 mm) gauge 0-4-0 Diesel switcher of 1937 at the Colorado Railroad Museum
- Davenport #2240 30 ton 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) US Construction Railroad[5] during the construction of the Hoover Dam and kept at the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, Nevada
- Davenport Locomotive Narrow Gauge (painted Wayne County Roads No 7) is on display at the John D. Dingell Transit Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
- Davenport #5240 - a Arroyo Grande, CA[6]
References
- ^ Alabama Power Company Steam Engine No. 40 Interpretative Sign; Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Calera, Alabama
- ^ http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/msc/ToMsc100/MsC81/MsC81_davenportbesler.html#box1 University of Iowa Special Collections Department, Papers of Davenport Besler Corporation
- ^ Hewitt, Sam (30 April 2018). "Davenport diesel survivors soldering on in Thailand". The Railway Magazine. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ^ Langham, D. (March 30, 2023). "Diesels from long-defunct U.S. builder Davenport still operating in Thailand". Trains Newsletter. Kalmbach Media. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- ^ US Construction Railroad
- ^ Firing Up and Running the WWI Davenport Trench Locomotive
External links
