Neilson & Co.

About

Neilson & Co. (later Neilson Reid & Co.) was a major Glasgow locomotive builder founded in 1836 by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell. The firm operated initially at Hyde Park Street in central Glasgow before moving to a new and much larger Hyde Park Works at Springburn in 1861, taking the name with it. By the 1890s it employed several thousand men.

Neilson supplied locomotives to British and overseas railways in great numbers, particularly to the Caledonian, North British and the smaller Scottish railways, but also to lines as far afield as India, Argentina and Belgium. Notable Neilson products include several batches of Webb's 'Coal Tank' for the LNWR and many small contractor types.

In 1903 Neilson Reid amalgamated with Sharp, Stewart & Co. (also of Glasgow Springburn) and Dübs & Co. (Polmadie) to form the North British Locomotive Company, at the time the largest locomotive builder in the British Empire. The Neilson site at Springburn closed in the early 1960s.

Locomotives built here

134 Class — Samuel W. Johnson's 1872 GER 0-4-4T suburban class, built at Stratford for the GER's growing London suburban services.
527 Class — Johnson's 1878 GER 2-4-0 express class.
61 Class — Samuel W. Johnson's 1875 GER 0-4-4T suburban class, built at Stratford for GER London suburban services.
CR 123 Exhibition Single Class — Neilson & Co.'s 1886 Caledonian Railway CR 123 — a 4-2-2 single-driver express engine built specifically as an exhibition piece for the 1886 International Exhibition in Edinburgh. Acquired by the Caledonian after the exhibition and worked CR expresses until 1935. Preserved at the Riverside Museum, Glasgow, in Caledonian blue — one of the most beautiful late-Victorian singles to survive.
CR 66 Class — Drummond's 1884 Caledonian Railway 66 class 4-4-0 express engines, built at St Rollox for Caledonian Carlisle and Aberdeen expresses.
Caledonian 294 Class — Dugald Drummond's 1883 Caledonian Railway 294 class 0-6-0 — the "Jumbos", 244 built between 1883 and 1897. The Caledonian's standard goods engine for nearly 80 years; many lasted into BR days. CR No. 828 is preserved on the Strathspey Railway in working order.
GCR Class 8 — Robinson's 1902 GCR Class 8 4-6-0 "Sir Sam Fay" — Robinson's first 4-6-0, named after the GCR General Manager. Built for GCR Marylebone–Manchester expresses. None preserved.
Midland Railway J Class — Johnson's 1890 Midland Railway J class 0-6-0 goods, built at Derby — Johnson's standard MR goods engine, hundreds built between 1875 and 1908 in successive batches with progressive enlargement.
SER Q Class — Stirling's 1881 SER Q class 0-4-4T suburban tank, built at Ashford for SER suburban and country services.

Location	Hyde Park Works, Springburn, Glasgow
Founded	1 January 1836
Closed	1 April 1903