Which ONE depot and ONE works do you wish you had been round?

[alcazar]

Steam, or diesel?

 

Mine would be:

Shed: Bristol Barrow Road in steam days.

 

Works: Darlington, in steam days.

[caradoc]

Depot: Wath, circa 1975, with a camera this time;

 

Works: Swindon 1972, including the scrap sidings.

 

Matt

[Mucky Duck]

As mentioned on another thread… depot: steam – Newton Heath between late 50s and mid 60s.

 

Works, possibly Doncaster or wherever most Gresley Pacifics were built.

[fozzy280472]

Stratford................late 70s/early 80s depot and small works all in one........

 

 

[Guest Phil]

The depot would be Ryecroft (Walsall) in 1965/66 which temporarily took on the role of Bescot while the new diesel depot was built.

 

Here is a fotopic shot of the shed filled with DMUs,brush type 4s, EE type 4s, baby sulzers and EE type 1s. All staple stuff, but it must have been busy.

 

http://roger-walker.fotopic.net/p62316168.html

 

I think I'd like to have been around Wolverhampton works in the late 1950s while BR(WR) were still doing a lot of work on their fleet.

[waggy]

WOODFORD HALSE 38E, late 1950's before the LMR took over and

 

DARLINGTON WORKS

[2ManySpams]

Depot: Exmouth Junction about 1960.

Works: Eastleigh

[Guest Max Stafford]

Carlisle Kingmoor, 1965. OK I walk round it on a daily basis, but I'd have loved to have seen it as was!

 

Dave.

['CHARD]

This is sooooo hard!

 

Phil - your Ryecroft suggestion (and top link, cheers bud!) is hard to beat for me as a local boy. Dave, 12A (and counterpart 64B) in Waverley era circa '67 are sheer class from my enthusiast's perspective but, if I were to be permitted the latitude of a couple of subsheds instead, it would have to be Hawick and Galashiels during a Waverley bash in '66; little traction to speak of, but a stored A4 at Gala and the overall atmosphere would be ample compensation.

 

Works? Inverurie, during the mass collapse of the NBLs; I could take in the Moray Coast too

[Michael Delamar]

sorry cant pic one.

 

either Edge hill shed when they had the lizzies, and all the lines around the shed, Birkenhead Mollington st when it had loads of 9fs

and Aintree shed on grand national day as I live around the corner from there.

 

 

also Crewe works.

 

Mike

[Baby Deltic]

Depot - Finsbury Park in the 60's

 

Works - Stratford late 50's to 70's

[wollastonblue]

I would have loved to go round Stourbridge in late 1950s, so many stories I have heard about the place, and also knowing a couple of ex drivers from there.

[alcazar]

Depot: Wath, circa 1975, with a camera this time;

 

Works: Swindon 1972, including the scrap sidings.

 

Matt

 

 

Done both of those.

 

I NEARLY chose Inverurie woirks, or Stratford when both old, and new works was open, late 50's.

[SXHALL]

Stratford................late 70s/early 80s depot and small works all in one........

 

 

 

 

Would have to be Stratford for me too Fozzy, and the old Ripple Lane depot in Barking as well. Both because I remember seeing them as a child but could never see enough and never will now!

[witherbrow]

Would have to be Stratford for me too Fozzy, and the old Ripple Lane depot in Barking as well. Both because I remember seeing them as a child but could never see enough and never will now!

 

 

it would have to be stratford and ripple lane for me to having grown up longing to be able togo explore tham when i was ickle back in late90's-early 1200's

[The Stationmaster]

Having regularly visited the largest erecting shop in the country (A Shop at Swindon) some of the others would be a bit of an anti-climax but a complete tour around Stratford, warts an' all, in the mid '50s would have been a fascinating experience.

[darrel]

way too dificult in the 90's I went round a lot of depots but had to be selective as to what I photographed as film and deleloping costs were expensive. I wish I could go back in time and take a digital camera with me.

depot eastfield in the 60s when there was steam and grean diesels

works; well not sure if this counts as it was actually a factory pressed steel Linwood 1960 when the class 303's were being built.

[alcazar]

Would have to be Stratford for me too Fozzy, and the old Ripple Lane depot in Barking as well. Both because I remember seeing them as a child but could never see enough and never will now!

 

Stratford in the early 70's was INCREDIBLY atmospheric. You entered through a long tunnel under the running lines. The tunnel had a bend in the middle where the branch to the old works used to be, and sometimes the fence was down and you could go in to the remains of the old works, and stand in some of the old buildings.

The tunnel's bend made it so you couldn't see the end of the tunnel, so you never knew if anyone was on duty. There ALWAYS was in steam days, we NEVER got round.

 

Once you got out of the tunnel a path led you to the depot. It was all mixed up with the old steam shed and parts of the "new" works, (NOT the diesel works), so stuff like 03's and skinhead 31's could be seen poking their fronts out of various buildings, usually surrounded by verdant growth including wild flowers. Marvellous.

[Kenton]

Too many to select (I could spend another lifetime hopping round every shed)

 

But to pick one shed it has to be one of the most peculiar ones ever built.

Nine Elms anytime between 1886 and 1908 while the semi - roundhouse was still in use and the main "Old Shed" shed had been opened.

The semi-circular roundhouse was the only shed to be accessed (all 26 original bays) from 2 adjacent turntables. Also with one extra bay accessed from the rear only by the third turntable on site. That same third turntable providing the only access to the 15 track "Old Shed" (NB the "New Shed" wasn't built until 1910 but that too only had access from that turntable)

To make matters even more interesting access to the turntable from the "outside world" was by a single track along the back of the Goods Yard and Works.

(to put the geography in your mind the running lines are east-west and the sheds are all north-south)

 

Talk about London congestion!

 

As for which Works - well that just has to be Swindon 1910-1930

[Foulounoux]

Having regularly visited the largest erecting shop in the country (A Shop at Swindon) some of the others would be a bit of an anti-climax but a complete tour around Stratford, warts an' all, in the mid '50s would have been a fascinating experience.

 

I still have to regularly visit Swindon but only because the wife shops there.

 

Mine would be Top Shed (I did do Finsbury Park and was taken for a ride in a Deltic when about 10/11yrs old)

(Day when school trips were fun this was one o fhose end of term excursions the previous one had been to Paddington - god bless our geography teacher for creative linking it to education!))

 

And another one for Stratford

 

Although today I would love to visit alsthorm to see TGV's

 

Colin

[edin_bry2x]

Depot - Inverness TMD and CARMD late 80s

 

Works - Springburn

 

bry

[10800]

Brighton (shed and works) at the time of the Leader trials - with a camcorder

[Leicester Thumper]

Depot/Shed: Leicester Great Central 15E anywhere between 1939 and 1964 (engines predominantly stayed the same apart from a few standard classes)

 

Works: going for an opposite here... i'm going with Swindon, BR period, steam era to the last class 14 built.

[Poggy1165]

Gorton - if only for the historic interest of it. 'When I were a lad' it was still functioning, but a shadow of its former glory. I would love to go back and do the shed and works.

[harkins77]

Toton is one I wish I could get round. I've made it upto the security gates but have never been able to get passed security. All I want is some time round the shed and some time round the lines of 60's to finish off my photo collection. Anyone able to help me make this come true I would be greatful.