Courtesy of Scottish Screen Archive

The North British Locomotive Co. was formed in 1903 by the amalgamation of two locomotive manufacturing companies in Springburn, Glasgow. With a history dating back to 1811, the combined business was poised to become a significant world force in the production of railway engines for British rail companies, with, by the 1950s, some 90% of its production exported worldwide. Engines produced at Springburn in the 1940s are still in service in the 2003 in South Africa and South America.

Railway engine manufacture was Glasgow's second largest heavy industry, after shipbuilding.

This newsreel item describes how locomotive production was increased as part of the war effort, producing locomotives to support the Second Front - the allies' invasion of continental Europe in 1944. During the war there was a shortage of manpower in the factories. Women were recruited into jobs traditionally done by men, and retired craftsmen were drafted back into the factories to help train the new workforce and supervise the skilled engineering processes.

Kenneth Broom

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