Many of the machine tools, mostly American, in B and D aisles must have looked absurdly large for the work, and for years they were idle most of their time. The prize for size went to a Bement-Miles lathe, which took work up to 125 inches in diameter and had a length of 45 ft between centres; its total weight is not known, but the tailstock alone weighed 8 1/2 tons, and it needed a train of 25 trucks to bring it into the works. Another striking tool was a 28 ft Sellers vertical boring mill, which, like the lathe, is still in use after periodical rebuilds.

The steel foundry was laid out to provide castings not only for the works but also for outside firms; it was equipped with two of the latest 20-ton open hearth rolling furnaces of the Wellman-Seaver type. The iron foundry could deal with castings up to 60 tons and was equipped with two Whiting cupolas, from which in the very early days as much as 22 tons of metal an hour was sometimes tapped.

Hand-ramming machines were provided with a view to upgrading the work and improving the supply of men. The pattern shop was bountifully equipped and soon attracted three hundred of the best patternmakers in the country. The works power plant consisted of a battery of six Babcock and Wilcox boilers and two 1250-hp vertical steam engines of the Corliss type, driving 440-volt 25-cycle a.c. generators. These were installed 'temporarily' in the south-east corner of the main machine shop, where the boiler house with two of the original boilers still remains. Works lighting was by Bremer arc lamps, which Westinghouse had seen on exhibition in London; they were soon known as 'blinking Bremers' from the imperfect carbon feed mechanism. Eight 50-ton cranes were installed, two in each of the machine shop aisles and four in the foundries.

A water supply was obtained from air-lift wells and pumped to a high-level tank, thus providing pressure for hydraulic lifts and sprinklers. The water tower, which was 210 feet high, formed a landmark for many miles, and its somewhat ornate ironwork was crowned with a copper-covered dome, surmounted by a hand grasping forked lightning. Famed locally as 't'Westinghouse tower', it was an appropriately imposing feature for a works that when fully equipped had cost well over £1,250,000.

AT THE LONDON END
While the works was getting under way, changes were taking place in London. In 1901 Westinghouse replaced Benson as chairman of the Board, and there was some reshuffling of directors; R. C. Parsons returned to his consultant's practice.