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Stations, Junctions, etc
Engine Sheds
Other
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Miscellaneous
Industrial Railways: misc_indust217
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View of the Austin factory at Longbridge circa 1908 as seen
from the Midland Railway Birmingham to Gloucester route. One of the land marks
of South Works was the brick water tower, once emblazoned with the company's
name and later with its stylised flying 'A' symbol. it was in 1909 that
planning application was submitted for a paint shop. The timber sheds were
another early Austin investment, located in the south east corner of the site;
planks of ash were stacked behind slatted wooden screens to aid the drying out
of the sap. Before the First World War there was no need for a metal press shop
since the body panels were made of aluminium and could be beaten into shape by
hand on a workbench. The expansion of Longbridge proceeded apace, with just 2.5
acres and 270 employed in 1906, in 1910 it covered 4 acres and employed 1,000.
More planning applications were submitted so that by about 1912 the following
had been agreed Works Additions, Loading Dock Cover, Motor Body & Paint
Shop, Photographic Room and Two-Storey Building etc. It was stated that the
main machine shops covered an area of 47,000 square feet, and were situated in
the centre of the Works. Machines include millers, driffters, turret lathes,
boring drilling, profiling and grinding machines and automatic tools of various
descriptions. All the finished parts were checked for accuracy and
interchangeabilately in an adjacent View Room.
John Baker
BMIHT A153929
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