 South Australian Railways F242 in 1952 | |
| Industry | Foundry and steel engineering works |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1899 |
| Founder | Samuel Perry |
| Defunct | 1969 |
| Headquarters | |
| Subsidiaries | James Martin & Co |
Perry Engineering was a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state of South Australia.
Perry Engineering had its origins in 1899 when Samuel Perry purchased from the estate of James Wedlock the Cornwall Foundry on Hindley Street, renaming it the Victoria Foundry. He leased or purchased a nearby property on North Terrace and there established a bridge and girder factory. He purchased a large block of land at Mile End with potential for a private railway siding and around 1911 established the factory there, by 1916 it was known as Perry Engineering. [1] [2]
In 1915, Perry purchased the James Martin & Co Phoenix Foundry works in Gawler from the estate of the owner Henry Dutton of Anlaby. The company had recently lost a major contract for locomotives, which may have affected the price, [3] as may have World War I which was then consuming capital and manpower. [4]
James Martin's locomotive manufacturing business was also being challenged by the state-owned Islington Railway Workshops. Samuel Perry transferred most of the heavy work to the Mile End factory, leaving the Gawler works with the rump of the business. He took on his nephew Frank as works manager at Mile End around 1918; [5] In 1930, on the death of his uncle, Frank took over the company, which in 1937 was registered as Perry Engineering Co. Ltd. [6]
Perry Engineering built locomotives for the Commonwealth Railways, South Australian Railways and Tasmanian Government Railways. It also built 19 locomotives for Queensland sugar cane line operators. [7] The Victorian State Rivers & Water Supply Commission purchased eight for construction of the Hume Weir and nine for the rebuilding of Silvan Reservoir.[ citation needed ]
During World War II much of the factory was converted to manufacture munitions and defence equipment including two types of vehicles which were sold to the Americans. One of the two vehicles was the Ferret scout car.[ citation needed ]
A heavy steel manufacturing plant was established in Whyalla in 1958, and the factory at Mile End expanded. [8] In 1947 the company became a public company. In the 1950s, it manufactured mechanical presses for Chrysler, Ford and Holden. [9]
In 1966 Perry Engineering merged with Victorian company Johns & Waygood to form Johns Perry Engineering. [9] The Mile End workshop closed three years later. Ten years later the company had no manufacturing capabilities in South Australia. [6] In 1986 the company was taken over by Boral. [10] As part of a company-wide rationalization, Boral decided to divest its engineering division and subsequently, Perry Engineering was sold to the Pope Electric Motors Group however, due to financial issues and lack of projects & contracts, Pope Electric Motors & Perry Engineering went into administration in 2000 and were subsequently liquidated.
In 2001, most buildings on site were demolished to allow construction of the Mile End Homemaker Centre, then in 2004/2005 the last remaining buildings were demolished to make way for stage 2 of the Homemaker Centre.[ citation needed ]
Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about 40–44 km (25–27 mi) north of the centre of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley. Topographically, Gawler lies at the confluence of two tributaries of the Gawler River, the North and South Para rivers, where they emerge from a range of low hills.
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, and machine tools to service them, throughout the world.
The X class is a class of diesel locomotives built by English Electric for the Tasmanian Government Railways between 1950 and 1952. They were the first class of diesel locomotive to enter mainline service on a Government-owned railway in Australia.
The Grange railway line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia.
UGL Rail is an Australian rail company specialising in building, maintaining and refurbishing diesel locomotives, diesel and electric multiple units and freight wagons. It is a subsidiary of UGL Limited and is based in Melbourne, with a staff of 1,200 across Australia and Asia. It operates factories in Broadmeadow, Maintrain Auburn, Spotswood and Bassendean. While it used to operate a factory in Taree, the plant was shut down and the equipment sold off.
Commonwealth Engineering was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.
The Berrima railway line is a partly closed private railway line in New South Wales, Australia. It was a short branch from the Main South line to serve the Berrima Colliery.
Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland. It built ships and railway locomotives. The Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of Downer Rail.
May Brothers and Company was an engineering and manufacturing firm founded in Gawler, South Australia in 1885 by Frederick and Alfred May.
The South Australian Railways T class was a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways. Several were sold to the Tasmanian Government Railways; some others operated on the Commonwealth Railways.
James Martin & Co was an Australian engineering company which progressed from making agricultural equipment to making railway locomotives.
James Martin was an industrialist and politician in the early days of the Colony of South Australia.
The South Australian Railways F class is a class of 4-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
Samuel Perry was an industrialist in the State of South Australia.
Sir Frank Tennyson Perry was an industrialist and politician in the State of South Australia.
The Silverton Tramway Y class was a class of 2-6-0 and 2-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company of Australia.
The South Australian Railways O Class (2nd) locomotive was a 4-4-0WT built by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1868 for the Launceston and Western Railway Company. It entered service with the South Australian Railways in 1912 and was cut up in 1930.
