London and North-Western Railway Company's works. In 1864 a very important addition was made to the establishment by the erection of works for the manufacture of Bessemer steel, and, as the whole of the space at that time available had been already occupied, these new works were placed a short distance from the junction, adjoining the Chester and Holyhead Railway. This railway had hitherto run through the works, but it was now thought desirable to divert it, and the land lying between the old line and the deviation was utilised for the new workshops, which thus came to be designated the "Deviation Shops," in contradistinction to the "old works." Other additions to the premises have been made from time to time as required, and the total area enclosed now amounts to about one hundred and sixteen acres; the covered shops and mills comprising thirty-six acres. It must be borne in mind, however, that at these works, not only are the engines used upon the railway made and repaired, but a number of other processes of the most varied description are carried on, including the manufacture of steel rails, signal work, the under-frames for carriages, cranes and machinery of all kinds for warehouses, girders for bridge-building, bricks, and joiners' work for houses, stables, and signal cabins, gas, water, and drain pipes, hydraulic machinery, and a multiplicity of other railway appliances far too numerous to catalogue.
The capabilities of the works are such that the Company is enabled to purchase the raw materials and to become the actual manufacturers of every part of the locomotive engines and other machinery constructed at Crewe, with the exception of brass tubes and copper plates.
