Montreal Locomotive Works
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Formerly | Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal Limited |
---|---|
Founded | 1883Montreal, Quebec | in
Defunct | 1985 |
Fate | Sold to Bombardier Transportation in 1988 - locomotive production ended and plant sold to GE Transportation (closed in 1993) |
Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian
Early history
The Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal Limited was created in 1883, producing primarily for the growing domestic market—notably the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Grand Trunk Railway, the Intercolonial Railway and, after 1922, the Canadian National Railway.
Purchase by Alco
In 1901, the American Locomotive Company (Alco) headquartered in Schenectady, New York, was formed by the merger of several struggling locomotive manufacturers. Alco purchased the Locomotive & Machine Company of Montreal in 1904 to tap into the Canadian market with its emerging designs. The Montreal subsidiary was renamed Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) several years later.
MLW became an exclusive Alco design shop and acquired a substantial portion of the Canadian steam locomotive market. The period of railway expansion between 1900 and 1915 was unprecedented in Canada, with many new orders for locomotives from various domestic manufacturers. Protective customs tariffs also discouraged Canadian railways from purchasing American-built locomotives for use in Canada. Several bankrupt private systems, including the
Between 1918 and the period after the
Post-war diesel competition
Following World War II, MLW and other locomotive builders reverted to building locomotives. MLW continued to benefit from Canada's
Mass transit
In 1960, MLW was awarded the contract to build 36 new subway cars for the
Diesel-electric production
In 1949, MLW began to introduce its first Alco-GE-derived diesel designs in response to GMD, mostly switchers, some of which were given different names and slight modifications to distinguish between MLW and ALCO-GE versions. In 1951, MLW began to build Alco-GE cab units for freight and passenger service.
Canadian railways continued to rely heavily upon steam locomotives throughout the 1950s, a time when many United States railroads were dieselizing. (Nevertheless, as in Canada, some Class 1 American railroads continued to use modern steam power through 1959, including the
Throughout the 1960s, Canadian National Railway (MLW's largest diesel-electric locomotive customer) continued to implement purchase policies drafted by its government owners, which spread procurement among all manufacturers. MLW / Alco-GE road switcher designs were also preferred by several railways in North America due to superior rail adhesion at low speeds, making them especially useful on steeply graded rail lines.
Like GMD in London, MLW benefited from Canadian trade policies that were less restrictive than those of the United States in regard to dealing with countries throughout the decolonizing and developing world, permitting MLW to expand a growing export business.
MLW-Worthington
MLW's parent, Alco, experienced several years of declining business during the 1960s following the entry of former-partner
In 1967, Worthington Corporation merged with the Studebaker Corporation, recently exited from the auto business, to form Studebaker-Worthington, with ALCO as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1968, several divisions of Alco became semi-independent subsidiaries, and in a 1969 corporate reorganization, Studebaker Worthington closed the Schenectady locomotive manufacturing facility. The locomotive designs were transferred in 1969 to MLW-Worthington and the diesel engine designs were sold in 1970 to White Motor Corporation. The Alco diesel engine designs went through several changes in ownership as White Motor Corporation formed White Industrial Power, which was subsequently purchased by the British General Electric Company in 1977. Renamed Alco Power Incorporated by GEC, the designs were, ironically, sold to Fairbanks-Morse in 1994.
In this period, MLW-Worthington partnered with Pratt & Whitney Canada to construct the Turbo Train fleet for Canadian National. It also continued engineering development of the ALCO 251 series engine, producing the M640 4000 hp 18-cylinder prototype for Canadian Pacific in 1972. However, by this time CP had settled on the EMD 645 series SD40 and SD40-2 as their standard locomotive, and there were no further orders forthcoming from that company.
Throughout the early 1970s MLW-Worthington continued to build second-generation designs for Canadian railways. The
Purchase by Bombardier
In 1975, the emerging
.The last of the locomotives were retired from service in 2001, although the coaches continue to form the backbone of Via's intercity corridor fleet.By now fully merged into Bombardier, the MLW plant and design bureau also received a spurt of contracts from government-owned Canadian National Railway for the newly designed HR (High Reliability) line of freight locomotives that incorporated the Canadian safety cab or a full-width carbody; namely the 4-axle HR-412 (similar to the M-420) and the full-width carbody 6-axle HR-616.
The HR-616 incorporated another unique design with the "Draper Taper", named for the designer at CN, allowing for rear visibility from the cab. These locomotive designs were intended to replace aging MLW and GMD units CN had purchased during the late 1960s and early 1970s, although only a token combined order of 30 units were built. These locomotives were considered a failure as they lasted only as long as the units they were designed to replace (mid-1990s) and were considered to be mechanically and electrically unreliable, a common complaint with several ALCO/MLW designs.
In a 1985 corporate reorganization, Bombardier ceased manufacturing locomotives and concentrated on producing
The dormant MLW plant was sold to
GE closed the MLW manufacturing plant in 1993. The GE half of the plant was destroyed by fire in 2001; the other portion of the plant remained in use by the
In 2004, the remainder of the enormous complex was demolished. The nearby GE-Camco-Westinghouse plant, which is the only Canadian manufacturer of home appliances, bought half of the property to build its new shipping warehouse and a new parts store. Some of the pile of rubble from the former MLW plant can still be seen on the vacant lot east of the corner of Dickson Street and Souligny Avenue.
Bombardier eventually returned to the locomotive manufacturing business, albeit using largely European or European-influenced passenger locomotive designs that retain none of the Alco/MLW heritage. Bombardier's North American rail manufacturing facilities are in La Pocatière, Quebec; Plattsburgh, New York; and Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 2021, Bombardier Transportation was sold to Alstom, who continue to manufacture their products.
Products
- M-Series Subway Car (1961–62) for the Toronto Transit Commission
- S3 diesel locomotives (1950–1957) based on ALCO S-1 and S-3
- Steam locomotives(1902–1940s) based on American Locomotive Company designs
- Ram tank (1941–1943) as well as recondition of tanks based on M3 Lee from the United States
- Grizzly I cruiser tank (1943–44) for Canadian Army and Portuguese Army based on the M4 Sherman from the United States
- Sexton self-propelled artillery (1943–45) based on M3 Lee from the United States
- Sri Lanka Railways M4 (1975)
- Steam generators for Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station (1962) [3]
Notable locomotives built by MLW
MLW built several of Canada's most famous locomotives. Most notably, Canadian Pacific 2800 series 4-6-4 Hudson class of locomotives. The 2800s became famous after CPR 2850 pulled the royal train across Canada. Since then, later 2800s (numbered 2820–2864) are known as Royal Hudsons, with royal permission granted from the king.
From 1968 to 1982 Via Rail operated a "TurboTrain" passenger service between Toronto and Montreal. The gas-turbine-powered locomotives had been built by Montreal Locomotive Works.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "The Montreal Series (M-1) Cars (1963–1999)". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
- ^ "Bombardier takes over MLW" Railway Gazette International February 1975 page 45
- ^ Annual Report, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Page 8
- OCLC 71286639.