Rail industry specialist 17D has added to its in-house turning capabilities with the acquisition of a new, compact DN Solutions’ Lynx 2600M lathe from Mills CNC.
The investment has helped take pressure off 17D’s two older CNC lathes that could not keep up with increasing demand for small, high-precision and quick turnaround machined rolling stock replacement and spare parts.
The 10” chuck, 3-axis machine, with a C-axis and driven tooling capabilities, was installed at the company’s 2,500 sq. ft. machine shop facility in Matlock, Derbyshire, in February 2026.
Tristan Dengate, 17D’s owner and managing director, said: “Since Covid, we have experienced strong growth year-on-year. Our sales turnover increased 35% in 2025 from what it was in 2024, and we have doubled our headcount in just a couple of years too.
“This can be explained, in large part, by massive growth experienced with our ‘Main Line’ rail customers, which now accounts for 80% of our annual turnover, as opposed to 20% in 2020, and is at an all-time high.
“Whilst this is great news for us, such a rapid increase in demand from customers for high-quality, quick-turnaround replacement and spare parts was invariably putting pressure on our existing turning operation.
“As a rail maintenance and repair specialist, our business and strong reputation in the market have been built on our ability to machine and supply high-quality replacement and spare rolling stock parts to customers in double-quick time.
“As a consequence, it was clear that we needed to increase and improve our in-house turning capacity and capabilities by investing in a new, high-performance lathe.
The Lynx 2600M is built for heavy-duty turning operations and has a 460mm maximum turning diameter and 658mm maximum turning length.
Since installation, the Lynx 2600M has machined wear and replacement parts for 17D’s Main Line, Heritage and Miniature rail customers.
Tristan Dengate concluded: “Opting for the Lynx 2600M with driven tooling enables us to machine larger parts in a single set up, and the investment has already helped us significantly improve our productivity and process efficiencies and, more importantly, meet our production schedules and hit customer lead times.”
According to the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), over 15,000 passenger railway vehicles were registered in operation in Great Britain as of 31st March 2025, excluding freight rolling stock, which is estimated to be much higher.
With advanced quick-turnaround machining capabilities, rail industry expertise and additional specialisms including reverse engineering, tooling design and manufacture, light fabrication and turnkey solutions, 17D is well placed to grow its market share as a leading supplier of high-quality machined replacement and spare rolling stock parts.