Fletcher, Jennings & Co.


Fletcher, Jennings & Co. was an engineering company at Lowca near Whitehaven, Cumberland, England.

Overview

Fletcher and Jennings took over the business of Tulk and Ley in 1857. From then, until 1884, the company concentrated on four and six-coupled industrial tank locomotives, although other goods such as bridge girders, and blast-furnace shells for the burgeoning local iron industry, were also produced. By then nearly two hundred locomotives had been built and the company acquired limited liability as Lowca Engineering Company Ltd.
In 1905, the name changed again to the New Lowca Engineering Company Ltd., but the company was receiving fewer orders. After a disastrous fire in 1912, all production ceased and the company being finally wound up in 1927.

Surviving locomotives

Preserved locomotives manufactured by the company include:
NameGaugeTypeBuild dateWithdrawnWorks numberNotes
Talyllyn186442Preserved on the Talyllyn Railway in mid Wales
Dolgoch1866-63Preserved on the Talyllyn Railway in mid Wales
Sten Sture1873-119Rebuilt to Side Tank form. Located in Sweden.
Captain Baxter1877-158Preserved on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex
Townsend Hook18801952172LPreserved at Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre in Sussex.
William Finlay1880-173LBought by the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Tywyn, Gwynedd in 2016 for display.
Hariette1883-190Located in Mauritius
Regina1889-204Located in Mauritius
-1890-207Located in Mauritius

Other locomotives

Other locomotives manufactured by the company include:

In fiction

The fictional locomotives Skarloey Rheneas and Smudger from The Railway Series and Thomas and Friends, were built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. Captain Baxter also made an appearance in Railway Series book 18 Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine.
Captain Baxter appeared in the movie Muppets Most Wanted, modified to look like an old American locomotive and renamed to "Randy Stevenot No.3".