BRITISH RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS, WORKS AND STABLING POINTS.
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WALTON-ON-THE-HILL LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (27E/8R) - The Locomotive Depot at Walton-on-the-Hill was built to serve the sidings and the goods depot at Huskisson by the Cheshire Lines Committee in May 1881. At the time of opening the shed had four engine roads; two were allocated to the MS&LR and two to the GNR. The main shed building was south-east of the line, adjacent to Walton-on-the-Hill station. Beyond the shed building, sidings and lines ran in a north-east direction towards a coaling shed and a turntable. At the north-eastern end the lines and turntable were on an embankment. Within four years there was insufficient space for the locomotives needed to work the local area, so the shed was enlarged to six roads in 1885 and Midland Railway engines began to be stabled there. In 1952 BR re-roofed the shed and they reduced it to four roads; they also replaced the smoke chutes and the interior lighting. Sometime around 1958 the shed turntable failed. It was deemed uneconomical to repair so it was abandoned; thereafter locomotives were turned on the Walton triangle. The depot allocation in March 1959 was 22 engines. 5 of these were tank engines for the passenger services, 5 were Class 3F 'Jinty' 0-6-0T's and the remainder were 0-6-0 goods engines. After November 1960 passenger services from Aintree Central ceased to operate. Walton-on-the-Hill had been responsible for morning services to Manchester Central. With the loss of these trains the shed lost its allocation of passenger engines. In September 1963 British Railways changed the shed code to 8R. However Walton-on-the-Hill did not carry the code for long as it was closed completely in December 1963, and its remaining allocation of locomotives was transferred to Aintree shed. Here, parked down at the side of the shed, is Class J39 0-6-0 No.64740 of 9A Gorton.