Dennis Wickham founded the company in 1886 as Motor Car and General Engineers. He came from a brewing family and an early product was machinery for breweries. The company operated as D Wickham & Co. Ltd of Ware & Stevenage (Hertfordshire, UK), Wickham Rail Ltd of Suckley & Bishop's Frome (Worcestershire, UK) and Wickham Rail Cars of Goodyear (Arizona, USA).
Early products and services provided by D Wickham & Co included castings (e.g. manhole covers), brewery equipment and car repairs. Wickham built their first railcar, for the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge Taltal Railway in Chile, in April 1922. Their last was outsourced in 1991.