Paxman has been involved in a wide range of engineering activities over the years and there are many strands to its history. The diversity of the material now available here - on more than 80 web pages - precludes the adoption any simple system of indexing in, say, chronological order or by technology.
Below I have attempted to order individual web pages within broad categories. Whether you are just browsing, or are searching for some specific information, a quick look at the category headings should give you a good idea of what material is available. Within each section you will find a summary of the content of each page in it and a link to the relevant page. Alternatively, you can search the site as explained in the next section.
At the foot of each web page you will find a link back to this page.
Search This Site
1. Enter the word(s) and/or name(s) to be matched in the blank box below,
2. Select the desired search option from the drop-down menu of the second box,
3. Click on the 'Search' button to the right.
• Please note the SEARCH FACILITY IS ONLY AVAILABLE WHEN YOU ARE ON-LINE.
• The Rich Text Files (*.rtf format), available for downloading from the Downloads page, are not indexed.
Steam: General, Stationary Vertical & Horizontal Engines
Description of Paxman's Drop-Valve engines with pictures, power outputs, dimensions and speeds. These were offered as a cheaper alternative to the Paxman-Lentz engine.
Order, customer, and application details of the approx 130 Paxman-Lentz steam engines built between 1907 and 1934, together with details of over 30 Lentz conversions carried out by Paxman on other engines.
Text and illustrations reproduced from Paxman publication No 700A, dated December 1913, giving details of the Company's range of portable steam engines. Types described are single and double cylinder, log-burning, straw-burning, semi-portable and compound. Also has brief details of the Company's traction engines.
Full text and illustrations reproduced from Paxman publication No 682, dated August 1913. The information is likely to be particularly useful to those responsible for the restoration, maintenance and operation of Paxman portables in preservation.
The first of three pages about known surviving Paxman steam portables. This page has details and photographs of some surviving Paxman portables in the UK and Overseas except Australia. It also carries technical information of interest to restorers and enthusiasts.
A second page has information on and pictures of Surviving Paxman Portables in Australia.
A third page is an extensive Listing of Known Surviving Paxman Portables.
Listing of all traction engine orders placed with Paxman, with details of engine numbers and customers. Available for downloading as an RTF (Rich Text Format) file.
Misc Products: Refrigeration Compressors | Road Making Plant | Paint Making Machinery | Hydraulic Machinery.
The history of Paxman's manufacture of refrigeration compressors for the Linde British Refrigeration Company, later the Lightfoot Refrigeration Company, from 1890 to the 1950s.
Road making plant designed and built by Paxman in the 1920s for the Neuchatel Asphalte Co, and orders placed by Neuchatel for Paxman steam portables to drive them.
Paint mills and mixers manufactured by Paxman from 1925 to 1928, and then from 1933 to 1941, and the sale of this part of the business to Keenok & Co in 1942.
Hydraulic machinery manufactured by Paxman in the late 1920s and during the 1930s, and Paxman's acquisition of the West Hydraulic Engineering Co of Luton.
Details and history of a large Paxman vertical heavy oil engine built in 1930. Originally sent to Blenheim, New Zealand, for power generation, it is still there and in good working order.
Listing of Davey Paxman Vertical Heavy-Fuel-Oil engines and Heavy Duty Diesels built in the late 1920s and the 1930s. Also some Vee form VRAs and VRBs. Listing shows Order Numbers, customers, and other details of nearly 500 engines.
A breakdown by engine type and customer of the 394 Ventura engines in service as at 31st May 1967 and history of the engines supplied for the 1960s 'Linesman' Distant Early Warning radar system.
Descriptions of the turbocharging arrangements on Paxman's VP185 high-speed diesel engines. Includes technical descriptions of the turbocharging arrangements on the standard 'single box' 12VP185, the 18 cylinder VP185 and the 'two box' 12VP185.
History of Paxman's sourcing of crankshafts for its diesel engines, of its in-house crankshaft manufacturing operations, and some technical aspects of crankshafts for high-speed diesels.
Recollections of John Langford who built and tested YHAs as an apprentice at Ransomes, Ipswich, in the 1950s. He subsequently worked on 12TPs in the Royal Navy, then on RPHs in various oilfields, before joining Paxman as a Service Engineer.
Diesel Engine Applications (except Rail Traction - see next section.)
How Paxman started to supply engines for oil well drilling shortly after World War 2 and became a major supplier of diesel 'package' sets to the oil exploration and production industry.
Not about rail traction as such, but details of orders placed with Paxman by the Great Eastern Railway between 1887 and 1918 for a variety of stationary engines, boilers and pressure vessels.
History of Paxman's involvement in supplying Lentz valves for steam locomotives during the 1920s and information on some technical issues relating to Lentz valve gear for locomotives.
Extracts from a 1957 company brochure giving details of railways in various parts of the world operating Paxman engined locomotives. Several locomotive photographs and illustrations.
Company Ownership, Associations, Management and Re-organisations.
Extracts from financial reports including Orders, Sales Turnover and additional financial performance figures covering the period 1st April 1980 to 31st March 1993, taken from Annual Reports to Employees.
The Paxman Machine Shops - 1982 to 2003. A description of Paxman's machine shops, their people and plant during the last two decades of manufacturing at Standard Works.
History of Modern Wheel Drive Ltd and its gearboxes. MWD boxes were used with Paxman TP engines on World War 2 Tank Landing Craft, and with later Paxman engines for marine applications up to the 1960s.
The story of the Gay Viking class of fast merchantmen, powered by Paxman VEE RB engines, which ran the German blockade of the Skagerrak in World War II to bring vital ball bearings from Sweden to the UK.
It's good to have feedback. The page has a link to a simple form for emailing me your comments, suggestions, corrections, and contributions of additional material. These will be appreciated and acknowledged.
Links to other websites and details of some museums. A number have specific Paxman connections and others are of wider general engineering interest.
Pages in Preparation
As at January 2010 a good deal of material still awaits editing and conversion into additional web pages which I hope to publish in due course. Among the topics I plan to cover are:
An overview of Paxman's history from 1945 to 1965 (a very busy period which many people consider to have been Paxman's heyday).
Paxman's boilermaking activities from 1945 to 1969.
Paxman personalities during the post-World War 2 period.
An overview of the Company's history from 1985 to 2000.
The story of the Paxman VP185 engine.
Torsional Vibration and Viscous Dampers.
