Day, Summers and Company
| Industry | Engineering |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1834 |
| Founder | William Alltoft Summers, John Thomas Groves, Charles Arthur Day, William Baldock |
| Headquarters | Millbrook, Southampton, then Northam, Southampton, England |
| Products | Locomotives and shipbuilding |
Day, Summers and Company was a British steam locomotive manufacturer and shipbuilder in the Southampton area. The company's history is complex and involves four men: William Alltoft Summers, John Thomas Groves, Charles Arthur Day and William Baldock.
In 1834, two companies were founded at Millbrook, Southampton. They were Summers, Day and Baldock[1] and Summers, Groves and Day.[2] In 1837, both companies moved to Northam, Southampton.
Groves left in 1845 and Baldock left in 1854. At some point the two companies merged and became Day, Summers and Company.[3]
The first locomotive was "Jefferson" built in 1837, a 2-2-0 for the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in America.
Its engines were generally of the Stephenson "Planet" type. A further 2-2-0 was built in 1839 for the London and Greenwich Railway. This was modified soon after delivery by the addition of a trailing axle making it 2-2-2.
Two more locomotives were built for the London and Southampton Railway and two for Bourne, Bartley and Company. Of the latter, one was sold on to the North Union Railway and the other to the Bolton and Leigh Railway. Both were withdrawn before 1846.
When the London and South Western Railway opened in 1838, Summers Grove and Day carried out much of its repair work into the 1850s, complementing Nine Elms at the other end of the line.
Other new engines may have been built but the records are sparse.
References
- Lowe, J.W., (1989) British Steam Locomotive Builders, Guild Publishing