Gimson and Company were founded in 1840 by Josiah and Benjamin Gimson on Welford Road in Leicester. The company were listed as Engineers, Ironfounders, Boiler Makers

Boilermaker

A boilermaker is a trained craftsman who produces steel fabrications from plates and sections. The name originated from craftsmen who would fabricate boilers, but they may work on projects as diverse as bridges to blast furnaces to the construction of mining equipment.-Boilermaking:Many...

 & General Machinists. They later moved to Vulcan Works, Vulcan Street, Humberstone Road, Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

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Expansion

Between 1876 and 1878 a new works, Vulcan Foundry, was developed at the side of the Midland Railway mainline. The site covered three and a half acres, the foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

 shop was 180 ft by 62 ft. It had a workforce of 350 men and all lifting was done with steam hoist

Hoist

Hoist may refer to:*Hoist , a machine for lifting loads*hoist controller, a machine for raising and lowering goods or personnel by means of a cable*Hydraulic hooklift hoist, another machine* Hoist , another machine...

s and travelling cranes

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

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Products

Stationary steam engine

Stationary steam engine

Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or...

s, passenger and goods lifts, boot and shoe machinery, agricultural machinery

Agricultural machinery

Agricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.-Hand tools:The first person to turn from the hunting and gathering lifestyle to farming probably did so by using his bare hands, and perhaps some sticks or stones. Tools such as knives, scythes, and wooden...

.

Preserved steam engines

Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engines;

• Four of 1885 at Claymills Pumping Station
  Claymills pumping station
  Claymills Pumping Station is a restored Victorian sewage pumping station on the north side of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was designed by James Mansergh and used to pump sewage to the sewage farm at Etwall....
  
  , Burton on Trent.
• Four of 1891 at Abbey Pumping Station
  Abbey Pumping Station
  The Abbey Pumping Station is an industrial museum in Leicester, England, on Corporation Road, opposite the National Space Centre.-History:The museum was previously a pumping station used to pump sewage to treatment works at Beaumont Leys, and was opened in 1891...
  
  , Leicester

Single-cylinder condensing rotative beam pumping engines of 1879;

• One at Snibston Discovery Park, Coalville
  Coalville
  Coalville is a town in North West Leicestershire, England, with a population estimated in 2003 to be almost 33,000. It is situated on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junction 22 of the M1 motorway where the A511 meets the A50 between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and...
  
  , Leics
• One at Forncett Industrial Steam Museum, Forncett St. Mary, Norfolk

Horizontal single cylinder of 1899;

• One at Hall & Woodhouse Ltd., Brewery, Blandford St. Mary, Dorset.

Wall-mounted vertical single cylinder lift engine;

• One at Abbey Pumping Station, Leicester