BW153/32
Russell Newberry & Company
Date
c1909-
Reference code
BW153/32
Administrative / Biographical history
In 1909 the Russell Newbery Company opened a works at Altrincham to produce lighting sets and generators for country houses and estates. Russell Newbery produced their own engines, which at first were petrol and petrol/paraffin units. By the late 1920s they were experimenting and developing single cylinder diesel engines to power the smaller generators then in production. By 1930 the engines were made by the RN Diesel Engine Company operating in conjunction with Russell Newberry & Company, who continued to produced generator sets, with both firms using the Altrincham works.
During the 1930s the diesel engines were marketed under RN Diesels' name. However, in January 1940 the two companies merged to form Russell Newberry & Company Limited.
From the 1930s the company produced marine diesel engines. The first batch of 6 Star class narrowboat pairs for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (GUCCC) was supplied with Russel Newberry DM2 engines. These were very popular and RN was unable to meet the demand. The National Oil Engine Company at Ashton-under-Lyme was just a few miles from Altrincham and had the capacity to build engines. Following negotiations, RN allowed National to build their own two-cylinder D series under license; this became known as the National 2DM. 38 GUCCC motor boats were originally fitted with Altrincham built DM2 engines whilst those fitted with Nationals eventually numbered 141.