BRITISH RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS, WORKS AND STABLING POINTS.
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CARLISLE KINGMOOR LOCOMOTIVE DEPOT (12A/68A/12A/KM) - This very large depot was opened by The Caledonian Railway in 1876 and rebuilt in 1916 as a brick 8-road through shed with attached repair shops to service the marshalling yards that surrounded this border outpost. In March 1959, it was home to 143 engines covering the full range of ex-LMS classes including no less than 18 Class 6XP 'Jubilee' 4-6-0's, 5 BR 'Clan' Class Pacific's and 50 Class 5MT 4-6-0's! By April 1965, this had declined to 119 with the withdrawal of most of the pre-Grouping locos but it now housed 62 Class 5MT 4-6-0's, 16 'Britannia' Pacifics and Class 9F 2-10-0's among others. As electrification of the WCML advanced, so its roll of notables increased. In March 1967 it could lay claim to no less than 25 'Britannia' Pacific's, though not all in traffic. Increasingly, as 1967 wore on, it became a dump for withdrawn engines and closed to steam in January 1968. A new diesel depot on the same site was opened in January 1968 but this closed in 1987 and lay derelict until 1998 when the site was taken over by Direct Rail Services, who operate a fleet of Class 88, 68, 66, 57, 37 and 20 locomotives and, although concentrating mainly on nuclear traffic when first formed, they now operate traffic of all types. Although DRS have a large fleet of active locos, there are many stored there as well. The depot is seen here in LMS days.