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Commonwealth Engineering began as Smith & Waddington in 1921- a small firm building custom bodies for motorcars and small buses. The Depression forced a restart as Waddingtons Body Works leading shortly after to a move to Clyde in western Sydney. A larger factory enabled the company to begin building railway rolling stock but the advent of the war brought new changes. The Federal government took over control and the plant became a manufacturer of wartime products—aircraft hangars, pontoons, ocean going lighters—as well as large number of freight wagons. The company was so successful that the Federal government took up the controlling shares in 1946 and the name changed to Commonwealth Engineering.
Post war brought huge contracts for double deck buses and passenger railway vehicles. In the early 1950’s the company expanded into Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. By 1955 an agreement was signed with the Budd Company of Philadelphia giving Comeng a license to build stainless steel passenger train in Australia. It was a turning point in the company’s fortunes, leading to a production of a new generation of passenger vehicles which set the stage for Comeng to become the premier train manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere. This is Volume 1 of five volumes |
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