2. RAILWAYS
  3. BRITISH RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS, WORKS AND STABLING POINTS.

BRITISH RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS, WORKS AND STABLING POINTS.

Photographs in this gallery are of locomotive depots, both steam and diesel, locomotive works, stabling points and withdrawn locomotives but not those being scrapped. Some of these pictures were taken by me, some passed on by friends and others have been bought and are part of my collection. These pictures are published for pleasure/information/research purposes only and are not for sale or copy under any circumstances. Information in captions has been researched as thoroughly as possible but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
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BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018. The depot is seen here in 1980 with Class 310 EMU's inside and a Marston Vale Class 117 DMU.
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BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018. The depot is seen here in 1980 with Class 310 EMU's inside and a Marston Vale Class 117 DMU.

  • BLACKPOOL CENTRAL LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (24E/10B) - This locomotive depot, opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1885, was a brick 8-road dead-end shed to the south of Blackpool Central Station. Despite its fairly glamorous location, the allocation was fairly ordinary in March 1959. Of 39 locos allocated, 6 were Class 6XP 'Jubliee' 4-6-0's, Nos.45571/80/84/88/45653/45705 but the rest were made up of 13 Class 3P 2-6-2T's/4MT 2-6-4T's for local passenger work and 20 Class 5MT 4-6-0's. Of course, this number would be massively swollen during the summer holiday season with visiting engines from all over the country. Indeed, in September 1961, for the 'Illuminations', there were no less than 51 locos 'on shed', 15 'Jubilee's, 2 'Royal Scot's and a 'Britiannia'. The depot closed to steam in November 1964. Nothing now remains of the depot. It is seen here in April 1950 with plenty of engines on shed.
  • BLACKPOOL CENTRAL LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (24E/10B) - This locomotive depot, opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1885, was a brick 8-road dead-end shed to the south of Blackpool Central Station. Despite its fairly glamorous location, the allocation was fairly ordinary in March 1959. Of 39 locos allocated, 6 were Class 6XP 'Jubliee' 4-6-0's, Nos.45571/80/84/88/45653/45705 but the rest were made up of 13 Class 3P 2-6-2T's/4MT 2-6-4T's for local passenger work and 20 Class 5MT 4-6-0's. Of course, this number would be massively swollen during the summer holiday season with visiting engines from all over the country. Indeed, in September 1961, for the 'Illuminations', there were no less than 51 locos 'on shed', 15 'Jubilee's, 2 'Royal Scot's and a 'Britiannia'. The depot closed to steam in November 1964. Nothing now remains of the depot. It is seen herein the early 1960's with several Class 5MT 4-6-0's 'on shed', most of them worked in on excursions, including Nos. 45388, 45414 and 45146.
  • BLACKPOOL CENTRAL LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (24E/10B) - This locomotive depot, opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1885, was a brick 8-road dead-end shed to the south of Blackpool Central Station. Despite its fairly glamorous location, the allocation was fairly ordinary in March 1959. Of 39 locos allocated, 6 were Class 6XP 'Jubliee' 4-6-0's, Nos.45571/80/84/88/45653/45705 but the rest were made up of 13 Class 3P 2-6-2T's/4MT 2-6-4T's for local passenger work and 20 Class 5MT 4-6-0's. Of course, this number would be massively swollen during the summer holiday season with visiting engines from all over the country. Indeed, in September 1961, for the 'Illuminations', there were no less than 51 locos 'on shed', 15 'Jubilee's, 2 'Royal Scot's and a 'Britiannia'. The depot closed to steam in November 1964. Nothing now remains of the depot. Seen here in June 1957 is Gresley GNR/LNER Class K3 2-6-0 No.61808, based at 39A Gorton at that time, having worked to Blackpool on an excursion. It was withdrawn from 40E Colwick in September 1961.
  • BLAIR ATHOLL LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT - This small stone-built 2-road dead-end shed was built by the Highland Railway in 1862 at the west end of the station, accessed from the northbound line. The shed replaced a much smaller shed at the east end of the station. The turntable was on the north side of the shed building, approached, like the shed, from the west. The shed was rebuilt in 1940 and closed in 1962 with the end of regular steam on the Highland Main Line. The shed never had a fixed allocation, being a sub-shed of Perth South, but in the later 1950's typical inhabitants might been an LMS 2-6-4T, often Nos.42168 or 42169 and a couple of ex-CR Class 3P 4-4-0's, such as 54489 depicted here.
  • BLAYDON LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (52C) - The depot here was a double roundhouse built by the Nortjh Eastern Railway in 1900 to the east of Blaydon Station. It had sub-sheds at Hexham, Reddsmouth and Alston. In April 1959, it had an allocation of 52 engines, 4 tank engines for local passenger duties, 9 shunting tanks and the remainder were all goods, or mixed traffic engines at best. It closed to steam in June 1963 and was used as an engine dump, playing host to 22 withdrawn engines including 3 Class A3 and 5 Class A2 Pacific's. Seen here in August 1960 is Peppercorn LNER/BR Class K1 2-6-0 No.62060, a Blaydon based engine at that time. it was withdrawn in August 1967 from 52H Tyne Dock.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2B/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. In March 1959, Bletchley had an allocation of 54 engines, mostly goods engines and tank engines for local passenger services, several of them Class 4F 0-6-0's such as 43841 seen here. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2B/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. In March 1959, Bletchley had an allocation of 54 engines, mostly goods engines and tank engines for local passenger services. Seen here in November 1959 is Hughes LMS 'Crab' Class 5F 2-6-0 No.42781. At that time it was based a 2B Nuneaton but was withdrawn in December 1962 from 6A Chester. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. In March 1959, Bletchley had an allocation of 54 engines, mostly goods engines and tank engines for local passenger services. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018. This view from 1955 shows LMS Class 4P 2-6-4T No.42582, a Bletchley engine, with the sheds in the background.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018, as seen in what is probably a drone picture. A Class 230 unit stands to the right of the shed.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018. Seen here is 08754, on hire from Freightliner, drawing EMU 321 403 out of the shed in 2004.
  • BLETCHLEY TRACTION MAINTENANCE DEPOT (2b/4A/1E/BY) - The original London and North Western Railway locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility opened in 1851. However during the 1870's the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys, a 6-road dead-end shed. These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the West Coast Main Line, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. The end of British Rail steam in Bletchley came in July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to Oxford. This was locomotive LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No.48610. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the Varsity line flyover, in a new purpose built facility. Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 It closed in June 2008. Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at the King's Heath depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Following the introduction of the Class 230 diesel units, which are used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line, the depot was bought back into use in September 2018. The depot is seen here in 1980 with Class 310 EMU's inside and a Marston Vale Class 117 DMU.
  • BLISWORTH LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT - This is a view from the Stratford & Midland Junction Railway towards to LMS mainline at Blisworth in 1933. This small corrugated iron motive power depot was built in 1882 by the Northampton & Banbury Junction Railway, together with a turntable and other servicing facilities. This was closed in 1929, but locomotives continued to be serviced in the yard until the closure of the station in January 1960. It must have done wonders for the view from the signal box!
  • BOAT OF GARTEN LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT - Built by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1866, Boat of Garten was sub-shed of Keith Junction and, from 1949, Aviemore. It was a stone-built two road dead-ended shed built on the east side of the line, north of the station. Having no fixed allocation, it was used as an out-shed for engines based at it's mother shed, generally perhaps the two or three required for local duties. Ex-HR 'Small Ben' Class 4-4-0 No.54398 BEN ALDER, a 60C Inverness engine, was withdrawn in February 1953 and was stored here from 1955 until the shed closed in November 1958. It is seen here in 1955.
  • BOLTON LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (26C/9K) - The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway opened the depot at Bolton in 1874, a 12-road brick-built dead-end shed. From a peak of around 60 engines at its height, the allocation in March 1959 was down to 36 engines, 16 of them tank engines for local passenger services and the remainder goods engines. As steam retreated northwards and many depots closed, the allocation grew again to 57 engines by April 1965. The depot closed to steam in July 1968, just before the end of steam on British Railways, and is seen here in May 1968 with engines mainly of Classes 5MT and 8F on shed.
  • BOLTON LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (26C/9K) - The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway opened the depot at Bolton in 1874, a 12-road brick-built dead-end shed. From a peak of around 60 engines at its height, the allocation in March 1959 was down to 36 engines, 16 of them tank engines for local passenger services and the remainder goods engines. As steam retreated northwards and many depots closed, the allocation grew again to 57 engines by April 1965. The depot closed to steam in July 1968, just before the end of steam on British Railways, and seen here in April 1968 with engines of 5MT 4-6-0 type of both BR and LMS origin. At least 73019 knows where it's going - straight to Cashmore's!
  • BOLTON LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (26C/9K) - The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway opened the depot at Bolton in 1874, a 12-road brick-built dead-end shed. From a peak of around 60 engines at its height, the allocation in March 1959 was down to 36 engines, 16 of them tank engines for local passenger services and the remainder goods engines. As steam retreated northwards and many depots closed, the allocation grew again to 57 engines by April 1965. The depot closed to steam in July 1968, just before the end of steam on British Railways. Seen here is LMS Class 5MT 4-6-0 No.44947, a Bolton engine from September 1964 until withdrawal in June 1968. Note the Class 04 shunters on the right.
  • BOROUGH GARDENS LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (52J) - A sub-shed of 52A Gateshead, Borough Gardens lay just south of Gateshead East Station and consisted of 4 brick-built roundhouses. In 1950 it had an allocation of 47 engines, mainly shunting tanks and ex-NER goods engines. It closed in June 1959. Here we see three locos on the ashpit in very early BR days, all of them seem to be Class J24 0-6-0's. No.5600 never received its BR number and was withdrawn from Borough Gardens in October 1950. No.5644, also based here, lasted until August 1951.
  • BOSTON LOCOSHED (40F) - The locoshed at Boston was opened in 1875 and, although not large, always housed a very eclectic collection of locos. It seemed to be where the old and worn out were sent to see out their days - the GCR Atlantic's, the GNR K2's, the Ivatt 4-4-0's and a real ragbag collection of GNR 0-6-0's. In April 1959, it was home to 51 locos, no less than 27 Ivatt Class 4MT 2-6-0's, many of them M&GN refugees, 7 Class K2 2-6-0's, 11 Class J6 0-6-0's, 3 Class J39 0-6-0's and 3 Class J69 0-6-0T's. It was coded 40F by BR and closed to steam in January 1964. Seen here in 1954 with a B1, a J6 and J69 in shot.
  • BOSTON LOCOSHED (40F) - The locoshed at Boston was opened in 1875 and, although not large, always housed a very eclectic collection of locos. It seemed to be where the old and worn out were sent to see out their days - the GCR Atlantic's, the GNR K2's, the Ivatt 4-4-0's and a real ragbag collection of GNR 0-6-0's. In April 1959, it was home to 51 locos, no less than 27 Ivatt Class 4MT 2-6-0's, many of them M&GN refugees, 7 Class K2 2-6-0's, 11 Class J6 0-6-0's, 3 Class J39 0-6-0's and 3 Class J69 0-6-0T's. It was coded 40F by BR and closed to steam in January 1964. Seen here in June 1961 is Robinson GCR Class 9J LNER Class J11 0-6-0 No.64320, a Louth engine, withdrawn from 40B Immingham in October 1957.
  • BOSTON LOCOSHED (40F) - The locoshed at Boston was opened in 1875 and, although not large, always housed a very eclectic collection of locos. It seemed to be where the old and worn out were sent to see out their days - the GCR Atlantic's, the GNR K2's, the Ivatt 4-4-0's and a real ragbag collection of GNR 0-6-0's. It was coded 40F by BR and closed to steam in January 1964. Seen here in 1954 with various K2's in the picture. In August 1950 the depot had been home to 9 loco's of this class.
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