Sentinel Waggon Works


Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorries, railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries, buses and locomotives.

History

Alley & MacLellan, Sentinel Works, Jessie Street Glasgow

Alley & MacLellan was founded in 1875 and was based in Polmadie, Glasgow. This company continued in operation until the 1950s. Initially manufacturing valves and compressors for steam engines, and later whole steamships, Alley & MacLellan acquired Simpson and Bibby of Horsehay, Shropshire, manufacturer of steam-powered road vehicles, in 1903. They began producing steam road vehicles in 1905 and in 1906 introduced a five-ton vertical-boiler steam wagon, which featured a two-cylinder undertype engine and chain drive.
Around 1915, Alley & McLellan moved the steam wagon production to a new factory in Shrewsbury and it continued under a separate company, and in 1918 the company also opened a third factory in Worcester specialising in valve manufacture. Both factory buildings were prefabricated in Glasgow for local assembly and in both cases core Scottish employees transferred to the new sites.
Alley & MacLellan continued to operate in the original Sentinel Works in Jessie Street, Glasgow until the 1950s. They produced a wide range of engineering products including compressors, valves, etc. The 'Sentinel' name continued to be used for the products of the original Glasgow works until the mid 20th Century.

Move to Shrewsbury

The company Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was formed when steam wagon production was switched to a new factory, opened at Shrewsbury in 1915. There were several other slight changes to the name over the company's lifetime when further infusions of working capital were required to obviate financial problems.
Alley & MacLellan's early steam wagon was so successful that it remained in production with relatively few updates until the launch of Sentinel's famous Super in 1923. The company also produced steam railway locomotives and railcars, for railway companies and industrial customers.
In 1917, the company was bought by William Beardmore and Company.

Sentinel Waggon Works (1920) Ltd

In 1920, after financial problems, the company was reorganised as Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd. The Sentinel 'Super' model that followed in 1923 was assembled in a radical new plant at Shrewsbury, with a flow line based on Henry Ford's Model T factory at Highland Park, Michigan, with 1,550 vehicles produced.
Sentinel, along with Foden, dominated the steam market, but the 1930s saw the demise of both companies' ranges as new legislation forced the development of lighter lorries, Sentinel surviving the longest.
In 1934, Sentinel launched a new and advanced steamer – the S type which had a single-acting four-cylinder underfloor engine with longitudinal crankshaft and an overhead worm-drive axle. Their Sentinel Waggon Works' design of 1935 led to the production of 3,750 Sentinel 'Standards' in the seventeen years that followed, the biggest selling steam lorry ever. It was lighter and featured a modernised driver's cab with a set-back boiler and was available in four, six and eight-wheel form, designated S4, S6 and S8. In spite of its sophisticated design, however, it could not compete with contemporary diesel trucks for all-round convenience and payload capacity, and was phased out in the late 1930s. It was not the end of Sentinel's involvement with steam, however; the company built about 100 "S" type vehicles for export to Argentina as late as 1950, for use by the Río Turbio coal mine. It has been stated that Sentinel were never paid for the last batch of the Río Turbio production run. At least two of the Río Turbio steam wagons survive in Argentina to this day.
In 1946, Thomas Hill's signed an agency agreement with Sentinel for repair and maintenance of diesel vehicles. In 1947 Sentinel offered to extend the agreement for diesel vehicles to include the steam locomotives and an agency was accepted by Thomas Hill for sales and servicing.

Sentinel (Shrewsbury) Ltd

In 1947, the company became Sentinel Ltd, and had developed a new range of diesel lorries. Despite Sentinel's superbly engineered vehicles, sales diminished throughout the 1950s, and by 1956 the company was forced to cease lorry production. The factory was acquired by Rolls-Royce for diesel engine production, and the remaining stock of parts and vehicles was taken over by Sentinel's chief dealer, North Cheshire Motors of Warrington, who formed a new company, Transport Vehicles Ltd, in 1957 to produce Sentinel-based designs under the TVW name.
In 1963, Thomas Hill's decided to renew the loco agreement and relinquish the diesel vehicle agency, concentrating all efforts on the steam locomotive work.

Rolls-Royce agree to build diesel locomotives

Despite the various interesting developments, Rolls-Royce did not consider railway locomotives to be part of their core business. They had agreed to complete all steam locos on order, and four steam receiver locos ordered by Dorman Long in 1956, but only after much consideration did Rolls-Royce finally agree at the end of 1957 to design and build a diesel locomotive of similar weight and power to the steam loco that had sold so well. Thomas Hill's would assist in the design and development of these diesel machines and would be the sole distributor.

Last steam locomotives

In 1958, the last two Sentinel steam locomotives were delivered, marking the end of an era. Two of the newly developed steam receiver locos were delivered and proved very satisfactory in service, but Dorman Long did not approve. There had been a change of opinion among their engineers as well as a change of circumstances, and they were now favouring diesel locomotives. The last two steam receiver locos were built but never delivered and ultimately all four were converted to diesel hydraulic.

Diesel production commences

The prototype Sentinel diesel locomotive was built and ready to commence trials on the former Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway early in 1959. It met with the approval and enthusiasm of the company's prospective customers and before the end of the year 17 locomotives had been sold and delivered. The company was ready to produce a maximum of four locomotives a month.
By 1963, four different Sentinel diesel models were being produced, commencing with the 34-ton chain drive 0-4-0 powered by the Rolls-Royce C6SFL six-cylinder engine of . This was followed within a year by a 48-ton 0-6-0 rod coupled machine, fitted with a Rolls-Royce C8SFL eight-cylinder engine of . Between 1963 and 1966, a fleet of these diesel locomotives, eventually numbering five 0-6-0s and eighteen 0-4-0s, was supplied to the Manchester Ship Canal Company for use on the navigation's private railway network.
Also, in 1966 the Portuguese Railways were supplied with thirty six 42-ton 0-6-0s fitted with C8TFL Mk IV engines. These were destined for shunter services as CP Class 1150
These Sentinels demonstrated their suitability for heavy work, but heavier and more powerful locos were called for, particularly by the steel industry, and before the end of 1963 a 74ton 0-8-0 powered by paired C8SFL engines and a 40-ton 0-4-0 fitted with a C8SFL engine had been added to the range.

Sentinel Steelman

A shaft drive 0-6-0 machine was now being developed at Shrewsbury using the new DV8T engine. Considerable interest in this loco was expressed by Stewart and Lloyds mineral division at Corby who were operating more than 20 steam locos, mainly of the Austerity type. This new locomotive Steelman was eventually delivered to Corby in late 1967, about two years overdue. The prototype locomotive proved satisfactory and three more were ordered by Stewart and Lloyds and one by Richard Thomas and Baldwins, Scunthorpe. Stewart and Lloyds' programme to replace more than 20 steam locos over the next few years the future for Steelman looked good.
British Railways offered Stewart and Lloyds 26 second-hand Swindon-built Class 14 diesel hydraulic locomotives. The rod-coupled Class 14 were powered by a Paxman engine with Voith Transmission and were capable of doing the work required at a fraction of the price of new Steelman locomotives. No further "Steelman" locos were built at Shrewsbury.
In 1979, ICI Billingham wanted two heavy locomotives to replace their ageing Yorkshire Janus locomotives. Their engineers visited many industrial sites, and steelworks in particular, to evaluate available locomotives. Their requirements were discussed with various UK locomotive manufacturers, and they ordered an updated version of the Sentinel Steelman design. Two machines were delivered toward the end of 1981.
UK sales of Sentinel locos were now fewer than 10 per year, their only overseas success had been to license the assembly of 36 0-6-0 locomotives by Sorefame for the Portuguese Railways in 1965/66. These locomotives became the CP Class 1150.

Road vehicles

Steam wagons

  • Alley & MacLellan five-ton steam wagon – now commonly referred to as the "Standard" Sentinel
  • Super Sentinel
  • Sentinel DG4
  • Sentinel DG6
  • Sentinel DG8 – world's first four-axle, twin steer truck
  • Sentinel S4
  • Sentinel S6
  • Sentinel S8

    Diesel lorries

  • Sentinel HSG
  • Sentinel DV44
  • Sentinel DV46
  • Sentinel DV66
  • Sentinel aircraft tug

    Diesel buses

  • Sentinel 32-seat bus
  • Sentinel HSG
  • Sentinel SLC4-40
  • Sentinel STC6-44
  • Sentinel SL chassis

    Railway vehicles

The locomotives and railcars used the standard steam lorry boilers and engine units.

CE Class

'''Centre Engine'''

BE Class

Balanced Engine
'''Double Engine'''

100 hp steam locomotives