DEPOT VISIT
AS the 19th century drew to a close, the North Eastern Railway concluded that it needed another depot in Leeds to augment capacity. Accommodation at the former Leeds and Thirsk Railway’s Holbeck depot (about half-a-mile north of the ex-North Midland Railway’s shed of the same name, which remains in rail use today) was considered inadequate, so in 1899 facilities were opened on the other side of the city at Neville Hill.
Costing £132,971 and occupying an 11-acre site on the northern side of the route used by trains to and from York and Selby, the engine shed, coal stage, washing shed and sidings were among the initial steps in developing what has been a key piece in the jigsaw of Yorkshire’s railway operations ever since. But things have never really stood still.
Neville Hill had 96 locomotives on its books by 1904 and facilities were extended.
At grouping, the depot passed to the London & North Eastern Railway. During the 1930s, a wide variety of locomotives could be found on shed, ranging from NER Classes G5, N8, N10, A6, A7, A8, J71, J72 and J77 to Classes B13, B15, B16, C7, D17, D20, D21, D49, as well as J21, J25, J27, Q6 and steam railcars. In addition to the ‘D49s’, bigger locomotives within its allocation in the 1950s included LNER ‘A3s’ (or later, A1s), LMS ‘Ivatt’ Class 4s and War Department (WD) 2-8-0s.
In 1960, with steam in decline, modifications were made to accommodate a running shed and repair shop for diesel multiple units. By the end of the decade, it provided what was regarded at the time as a comprehensive facility for the maintenance, servicing, cleaning and stabling of DMUs, locomotives and carriages. It took on work previously done at Leeds Central, City, and Bradford Forster Square stations, Manningham
