{"id":1446,"date":"2022-04-25T15:59:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T15:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ernstkers.nl\/blog\/?p=1446"},"modified":"2024-02-01T13:29:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T13:29:20","slug":"merryweather-sons-steam-tram-locomotive-builders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ernstkers.nl\/blog\/merryweather-sons-steam-tram-locomotive-builders\/","title":{"rendered":"Merryweather and Sons, steam tram locomotive builders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The sole surviving Merryweather steam tram locomotive, works no.110 of 1881, RSTM no.2, in the Nederlands Spoorweg Museum in Utrecht in December 2008. (Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Actually the title of this page is wrong. The major activity of the Merryweather company was always making fire fight equipment. As such it was founded in 1692, although originally with a different name. Over the next 144 years the name changed several times with new owners and associates joining or leaving the firm. Fire fight equipment and its history is very interesting, but this page is about the second product that made Merryweather famous: steam tram locomotives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In 1836 Moses Merryweather took over the company he joined 29 years before as an apprentice. Later also his sons joined and the company became Merryweather & Sons. Moses died in 1872. In 1873 Merryweather made the machinery of a by John Grantham designed steam tramcar. The car went for several years on trials on different locations and moved in 1875 to the Wantage Tramway. This was the first tramline in the UK using steam traction. It triggered Merryweather to start building steam tram locomotives. In April 1875 Merryweather patented their own locomotive design. Merryweather wasn’t the first building steam tram locomotives, at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean they were already introduced before 1870, but the company was a pioneer in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Small Merryweather steam locomotive on trials with the North Metropolitan Tramways in London in 1878. It then went to Wantage and might be Merryweather works no.9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kinnear Clark<\/strong>1<\/sup> said that Merryweather produced three sizes of locomotives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n