British Thomson-Houston

An 'electric BRCW type 3' graces a BTH advert in 1960!

The British-Thomson Houston Company Ltd (BTH) was established in May 1896, having recently acquired patents and exclusive manufacturing rights to products previously imported from the US based American Electric Company, a practice established ten years earlier in 1886.

The Power Act of 1900, which brought power supplies to large area of the country included BTH as one of the suppliers. Rugby was selected as a production center with land being purchased in 1900, manufacturing beginning in March 1902, prinicipally steam turbines, motors, converters & switchgear. 1909 saw BTH provide electrical equipment for London's first trolley buses. Equally important was the production of lightbulbs, made possible by the growth of the electricity grid. Expansion because of World War One and afterwards saw factories established at Birmingham, Chesterfield, Coventry, Lutterworth & Willesden, with production now featuring domestic appliances.

A proposed merger of a number of electrical companies in 1926, headed by GEC of America, came to nothing. However in 1928 BTH merged with Metropolitan Vickers, to be followed in 1929 by the merger with Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). The Depression years hit the company hard, but World War Two brought heavy involvement in the aircraft sector, in 1935 they had constructed one of the world's first jet engines. The successes continued into the 1950's, with BTH constructing Europe's largest turbine works, at Larne in 1957.

AEI's internal reorganisations and the continuing rivalry with Metropolitan Vickers presented management with a considerable challenge. One aspect of unification was to promote the AEI brand name in place of the BTH & MV names, a move which backfired on AEI, further impacting profitability. Continued attempts to bring together the two divisions together did not meet with the greatest of success, however all would be of no consequence when GEC successfully bid for AEI in 1967.

Rolling stock on British Railways that utilized BTH electrical equipment (this list is not exhaustive):

BR 0-6-0 shunter, 'Class 08': 3152-3166 (all withdrawn by late 1967), two BTH traction motors.
BR/Sulzer Type 2 Class 24/25: 5000 - 5175 (24001-24150, 25001-25025), four BTH 213hp traction motors.
BTH Type 1 BoBo: 8200 - 8243, four BTH traction motors.
Ruston & Hornsby 0-6-0 shunter: PWM650 - PWM654, one BTH traction motor.
Brush BoBo electric ES1 class (introduced 1902): 26500 & 26501, four BTH traction motors.
Battery Electric LMS shunter (introduced 1917): Bel 2, two BTH traction motors.
LMR Wirral/Mersey emu Class 503 (introduced 1956): M28371M-M28394M, four BTH 135hp traction motors.
LMR Wirral/Mersey emu Class 503 (introduced 1938): M28672M-M28690M, four BTH 135hp traction motors.
SR 6-PUL emu: 3001-3020, 3041-3043: eight BTH 225hp traction motors.
SR 5BEL emu: 3051-3053, four BTH 225hp traction motors.

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