| Industry | Engineering |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad (1847) |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Fate | Sold toElectro Motive Division |
| Successor | Electro Motive Division |
| Headquarters | , Sweden |
| Products | Locomotives, aircraft, turbines |
NOHAB (Nydqvist & Holm AB) was a manufacturing company based in the city ofTrollhättan, Sweden.
The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 asTrollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer ofturbines for hydraulic power plants. In 1865, the company made its firststeam locomotive and in 1912 the 1,000th locomotive steamed out of the factory. In Nohab's anniversary book "The Thousand Locomotive" from 1912, it's mentioned that the company also manufactureddavits forTitanic's lifeboats.
In 1916 the company was reconstituted as a limited company and became NOHAB. In 1920, NOHAB received an order of 1000 locomotives fromSoviet Russia.[1] Only 500 were delivered between 1921 and 1924.
In 1924, Nohab built three steam locomotives,4-6-0 ones for1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge with the respectivebuilder's plates #1727, #1728 and #1729 forEstrada de Ferro Rio d'Ouro in the state ofRio de Janeiro (Brazil). According toE.F. Rio d'Ouro's surviving records, they would not have arrived in Brazil before 1926.
In 1930, NOHAB started manufacturing theBristol Jupiter aircraft engine, under licence from theBristol Aeroplane Company. A couple of years later the aircraft engine division of NOHAB andAB Svenska järnvägsverkstäderna (Swedish Railway Workshop Limited), inLinköping, formed the aircraft manufacturerSAAB.
1930-1936 they built theLjungström steam turbine locomotives.
In 1948 NOHAB supplied diesel railcars to thePortuguese Railways (CP), in both1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)Iberian gauge (theSérie 0100) and1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge versions (theSérie 9100).
In the 1950s, NOHAB started manufacturing diesel locomotives under licence fromElectro-Motive Division ofGeneral Motors.
TheDanish State Railways were a major customer. 35Di 3 were also delivered to theNorwegian State Railways.
In addition to locomotives and aircraft NOHAB was a major manufacturer of turbines for power plants and well known for medium size ship engines. NOHAB also manufactured the hulls for theS-tank.
In the 1970s, the diesel engine manufacturing facility was sold toWärtsilä and became known as Wärtsilä Nohab.[2]
The company wentbankrupt in 1979.
In the early 1960s twenty NOHAB diesel engines were built forHungarian State Railways (MÁV), but due to theIron Curtain, further imports were stopped in favour ofM62 locomotives made inSoviet Union. The Swedish locomotives were classified by MÁV as type M61 and proved versatile, highly reliable as well as economical to run. They were even used to haul non-stoppable radioactive waste transport trains from thePaks Nuclear Power Plant to Soviet reprocessing facilities, despite the availability of Soviet-made M62 engines.
The M61 type has achieved acult status in Hungary because they were used to haul most of express trains to holiday resorts around theLake Balaton region. Their images became closely associated with teenage summer camps, exploration and family recreation during the Socialism era, when foreign travel was highly restricted for the average citizen.
Nowadays, we can find 6+4 operational examples in Hungary. In short, to summarize their fate:
Media related toNydqvist & Holm AB at Wikimedia Commons
