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The Crewe Locomotive Works in Cheshire employed 7,000-8,000 men at the start of World War One. Established in 1843, it was one of the main hubs for producing railway engines and repairing or maintaining them.

With the outbreak of hostilities, the Works continued to make engines but also turned to making munitions. They laid down a special plant for turning out copper driving bands for shells. They also made two completely equipped armoured trains for coastal defence, which were stabled on the Norfolk coast and north of Edinburgh for sea defence and were fitted with gun trucks that had a range of three miles.

A total of 138 special vehicles that could run on roads and railways, called Crewe tractors, were made here. They were deployed on the Western Front on the light railways in the advanced battle area to put down the tracks which connected the front line to the transport system. Among the unusual items produced at the Works were artificial limbs; these were initially made before the war for those working on the railways but, during WW1, they were sent to hospitals for soldiers who had lost an arm or a leg.

Much of the site once occupied by the Works has now been sold off, with the remaining works owned by the Canadian engineering company; Bombardier.

Location: Crewe Railway Station, Nantwich Road, Crewe CW2 6HR
Image of an armoured train
Photograph courtesy of Imperial War Museums

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