Location Map

The Kings Road factory in Newbury, Berkshire, with its main entrance in Gordon Road, had a connection at the rear onto the railway system. It was here, where  the completed and tested Sirron diesels were loaded onto a flat bed railway truck for  onward transport to the customer.
Because the works crane was unable to lift the weight of a complete engine, after testing, each engine was broken down, moved onto the rail truck and re assembled.
The Kings Road end of the factory had a large roller shutter door which was kept open in summer and the huge planing machine inside could be watched by curious schoolboys and passers by as it machined large sections of diesels under construction..
I suspect the residents were quite tolerant in those days as the sound and vibration of a large six cylinder engine on test must have been a noisy experience, especially when they were on an extended and possibly overnight test.
If one stands in Kings Road now, looking towards where the factory stood, the current view is the road entrance to SCAT's and Sainsbury's. The goods yard has gone as has the property to the west, all to make room for Sainsbury's and its car park when  the land was sold for development.. The only remaining link with the past is the road that leads from Kings Rd to Sainsbury's which is called Hectors Way. A link to the Hector road maintenance equipment that H Kent Norris developed engines for when the  German engines used by Hector's became unavailable due to the outbreak of the second world war. (There is a brief reference in Peter Humphreys' history)