12V CAR TYRE PUMP

A scanned dateless postcard of Colonel Crompton's Arc factory on Writtle Road Chelmsford Essex in the UK probably taken around the time the factory opened in 1896 by legendary local photograher Fred Spalding. This is a completely different scene now with only the building on the far left alongside the pathway remaining. (another floor was added at a later date) The rest is all gone. The area in the foreground is now a roundabout.

When i get the time i'll post a modern shot of this view.

Colonel Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton (1845–1940) was an innovator of electrical engineering and was a pioneer of electric street lighting and electric traction motors in the UK. The company he founded also manufactured electrical switchgear, alternators and generators for power stations in the UK and worldwide.

Crompton set up his original factory known as the 'Arc Works' in Queen Street in 1878. After a fire destroyed that factory in 1895 he built a new electrical engineering factory also called the 'Arc Works' as shown here in Writtle Road. He called his new company 'Crompton and Co'. In 1927 it became Crompton Parkinson after the 'Crompton and Co' algamated with another UK electrical engineering company 'F&A Parkinson Ltd' to become the well known 'Crompton Parkinson Ltd'. During World War II the factory was frequently bombed by the Luftwaffe. In 1969 the company was downsized and operations moved elsewhere after a takeover by the Hawker Siddeley group. The site was then taken over by Marconi Radar Systems Ltd.

The Marconi factory closed in the early 1990s after years of decline and after a few years of dereliction, the site was demolished except for the front building. An awful housing development called 'The Village' was opened here around 1999 with as many houses and flats crammed into the site as possible. At least the developers had the good sense to name the roads Rookes Crescent, Evelyn Place, Crompton Street and Parkinson Drive as fitting tributes to the Colonel Crompton who contributed to the majority of the history of the area all those years ago.

Indirectly this factory is the reason i call Chelmsford my home. My Grandfather moved to Chelmsford from the Liverpool area in 1930 specifically to work for the Colonel..

..and the rest as they say is history.

British Railways Class 33035 was built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company as part of a batch delivered to the Southern Region of British Railways in May 1961. It features an 8 cylinder Sulzer diesel engine rated at 1550hp driving Crompton Parkinson traction motors earning the class the nickname “Cromptons”. This class of locomotive spent most of their working lives hauling passenger trains around the Southern Region, particularly Electric Multiple Units that were working on non-electrified routes. As a result all were fitted with Electric Train Heating (ETH) and some received multiple unit working controls.

When new the locomotive was turned out in British Railways locomotive green and initially allocated to Hither Green wearing the number of D6553. Later in the 1970s the locomotive received British Railways corporate blue livery and was renumbered to 33035 under the then-new Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) scheme.

Towards the end of the locomotives service career it was repainted into Network SouthEast livery, becoming one of only two Class 33 locomotives to receive this livery.

The locomotive was officially withdrawn from active service at Stewarts Lane depot in October 1996 although it is believed that it hadn?t hauled any trains since 1994. It was purchased for preservation in 1997 and moved to Barrow Hill, Chesterfield. While there 33035 has been extensively restored and painted into British Rail Blue livery. The Pioneer Diesel Locomotive Group are the proud restorers and carers of this locomotive.

Technical Data
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC MACRO EX Lens
Exposeure Program: Aperture priority
ISO: 160
Aperture: f5
Speed: 1/800 sec
HDR: Photomatix from 2 images
Processing: Photoshop CS5
Filter: NIK ColourEfex