Ruston & Hornsby engines discovered at Scotland’s secret nuclear plant

Ruston & Hornsby based at Lincoln and Grantham from the end of the First World War until the late 1960s, made small, versatile locomotives, including ones for nuclear power stations.

Two special locomotives, used for radioactive materials were found at at Chapelcross nuclear plant in Scotland and await decontamination and disposal.

These locomotives are still in security due to potential contamination, are part of a long-term decommissioning process.

Lincolnshire engineering company Ruston & Hornsby was one of the early pioneers of diesel-powered vehicles for agricultural, military and railway applications.

It was founded in September 1918 as an amalgamation of two long-established Lincolnshire companies – Ruston, Proctor of Lincoln and Grantham’s Richard Hornsby & Sons.

Both had played a pioneering role in the development of internal combustion engines for industrial and agricultural use from the 1890s.