BRITISH RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS, WORKS AND STABLING POINTS.
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DERBY WORKS - Around 1840, the North Midland Railway, the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Railway set up workshops to the rear of Derby station. When the three companies merged in 1844 to form the Midland Railway, Derby became its headquarters and the workshops merged to become the Midland Railway Locomotive Works. After improving the workshops and facilities, including a second roundhouse in 1847, it was decided that the railway should build its own engines. New building began in 1851 but throughout its existence the Midland never became fully self-sufficient, usually having its locos built by private contractors to its own designs. A further, much larger, roundhouse was built in 1852, followed by a large rectangular engine shed with two turntables in 1890. The original North Midland workshop, which by then had become offices, was raised by one storey in 1859–60, the clock tower being increased in height accordingly. A long footbridge was added from the entrance door to the front of the station, of which only a fragment remains today. By the end of the 1860's the Works had expanded to such an extent, that, in 1873, it separated into the Locomotive Works, remaining behind the station, and Derby Carriage & Wagon Works, further south, off Litchurch Lane. Sameul Johnson became the new Locomotive Superintendent when Kirltey died in office in 1873. His engine policy was to build small, 4-coupled passenger engines and 6-coupled goods locos, a policy that persisted at Derby almost to the Grouping, despite the fact that these locomotives proved to be underpowered and double-heading on trains was both common and acceptable. In 1909, Henry Fowler became Chief Mechanical Engineer. He updated and rebuilt many of Johnson's locomotives but the engine policy did not change much. In 1923, the LMS took over the Works, but things did not really change until Stanier became CME in 1932. He was a Swindon man and started to adopt GWR practices, replacing the myriad of small engines produced by the constituent companies with standardised classes of six-coupled and eight-coupled locomotives. With Nationalisation in 1948, the Works produced 106 Standard Class 4 2-6-4 tank engines, then from 1951 to 1957 turned to Standard Class 5 4-6-0's, 110 in all. The last steam locomotive to be built was BR Wtandard Class 5 4-6-0 No.73154, bringing the total to 2,941. In 1948 the first British main-line diesel electric locomotive had been driven out of the paint shop by Ivatt himself, number 10000, just in time to have LMS livery. Its sibling 10001 began its life in British Railways livery. In 1952 the experimental diesel-mechanical locomotive, the Fell diesel, went into service. There matters rested until British Rail's Modernisation Plan and in 1958 production began on the first ten Type 2 main line locos, later known as the Class 24. In 1959 the first of the Type 4s, later classified Class 44 emerged from the works. The Class 24 were followed by the Class 25, and the Class 44 by the Class 45 and Class 46. The full complement having been achieved in 1962, new production was concentrated at Crewe, but Derby received one more order when Beyer, Peacock & Company asked to be released from its contract. When production ceased in 1966, over 1,000 diesel locomotives had been built at Derby. The only new build after that time was six electric non-driving motor coaches in 1977 for the Advanced Passenger Train formations. In 1964 British Railways established the British Rail Research Division, which reported directly to the British Railways Board, and moved into the new Railway Technical Centre. In 1969 the workshops were turned into the BR subsidiary British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) which also had its headquarters in the Railway Technical Centre. In 1990 the closure of BREL Derby locomotive works was announced. The locomotive works was mostly demolished, part of the plant was used for bogie production by Bombardier Transportation. The Works site, along with the land formerly occupied by Chaddesden sidings and the gas works, was renamed Pride Park, part of which is occupied by the Derby County Football Club's Pride Park Stadium. Seen here undergoing overhaul in August 1951 is Gresley LNER Class J38 No.64789, a 40A Lincoln engine at that time, withdrawn in July 1960 from 31B March.