The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRC&W) was a railway locomotive and carriage builder, founded in Birmingham, England and, for most of its existence, located at nearby Smethwick, with the factory divided by the boundary between the two places. The company was established in 1854. Production BRC&W made not only carriages and wagons, but a range of vehicles, from aeroplanes and military gliders to buses, trolleybuses and tanks. Nevertheless, it is as a builder of railway rolling stock that the company is best remembered, exporting to most parts of the new and old worlds. It supplied vehicles to all four of the pre-nationalisation "big four" railway companies (LMS, SR, LNER and GWR), British Rail, Pullman (some of which are still in use) and Wagons-Lits, plus overseas railways with diverse requirement including Egypt, India, Iraq, Malaya, Mandate Palestine, South Africa and Nigeria. The company even built, in 1910, Argentina's presidential coach, which still survives, and once carried Eva Perón. Before World War II, the company had built steam-, petrol- and diesel-powered railcars for overseas customers, not to mention bus bodies for Midland Red, and afterwards developed more motive power products, including BR's Class 26, Class 33 (both diesel) and Class 81 (electric) locomotives. Examples of all three types are preserved. Wartime production The company built hospital trains during the Second Boer War. Handley Page Type O bombers and Airco DH.10 Amienss were built in World War I. During World War 2, the company had a major impact on tank production as one of the many companies building the A10 Cruiser tank, Valentine tank, Churchill tank, Cromwell tank and Challenger tank). They led the design and production of the Cromwell tank in liaison with Rolls-Royce and Rover on the Meteor engine. The company also built Hamilcar gliders in 1939-1945. Locomotives Some of the locomotives and multiple units built by the company are listed below: Diesel Locomotives 14 Commonwealth Railways NSU class in 1954. Works number DEL1-14 5 similar locos for Sierra Leone Development Corporation in 1954 (works number DEL 15-19), plus one more in 1962. (work number DEL259) 12 Córas Iompair Éireann 101 class in 1956–1957 (works numbers DEL20-31) 13 locos for Ghana Railway And Harbours Administration (works numbers DEL32-44) 47 British Rail Class 26 in 1958–1959 (works numbers DEL45-91) 98 British Rail Class 33 in 1960–1962 (works numbers DEL92-189) 69 British Rail Class 27 in 1961–1962 (works numbers DEL190-258) 1