Western Region Steam Locomotive Depots: A Pictorial Study

By Laurence Waters

From the opening of the Great Western Railway in 1838 through to the end of steam traction on the Western Region in 1965 the ‘engine shed’ formed an important role in both the infrastructure and operation of the railway. As the Great Western system expanded so did the need for larger locomotive servicing facilities and from the 1870s right through to the 1930s many sheds were rebuilt into larger locomotive depots or in some cases replaced by entirely new structures

Nationalisation of the railways in 1948 saw the formation of the ‘British Railways Western Region’. Apart from a few early sub-shed closures the number of Western Region steam depots and sub-sheds remained almost unaltered until the regional boundary changes of 1958.

Using black and white and color images from the Great Western Trust archive at Didcot, the book illustrates Western Region steam depots and ‘sub sheds’ that were in operation in the mid 1950s. With many previously unpublished photographs the book should interest modellers, historians and enthusiasts of the Western Region.

Today the unique atmosphere of the steam ‘shed’ can be still be experienced at Didcot, where the original 1932 locomotive shed forms the centrepiece of the Didcot Railway Centre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Feb 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9781399070232

Laurence Waters

A retired professional photographer and photography teacher, Laurence Waters has written or contributed as co-author to numerous books on local history subjects. He has an Oxford University Diploma in English Local History. His main interest, however, is the Great Western Railway and over the years he has written a number of books on the subject. Laurence is currently the Honorary Photo Archivist of the Great Western Trust at the Didcot Railway Centre.

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INTRODUCTION

During the early days of the Great Western, temporary engine sheds were erected as and when the line was extended westwards. It is recorded that the first of these temporary sheds was erected at Drayton in June 1837 in preparation for the arrival of the first two engines purchased by the Great Western, the 2-2-2s Premier and Vulcan. They were delivered by ship from Liverpool to the docks in London, then via the River Thames and the Grand Union Canal to the canal wharf at West Drayton. They arrived at the wharf on 25 November 1837 and from there they were transferred to the new ‘engine house’ (shed) which had been erected at West Drayton primarily to re-assemble the two locomotives. G.H. Gibbs, a Director of the company, in his diaries relates that West Drayton ‘was the first locomotive headquarters with an engine house, coke ovens and a water supply together with an office for the new superintendent’. The only descriptive reference of this first shed states that it was a ‘single road shed about one mile distant from the station’ and that it was ‘constructed of timber and capable of holding two engines’.

E.T. MacDermot in his History of the Great Western Railway vol 1 also tells us that temporary wooden sheds and servicing sidings were opened as the line progressed westwards. These were erected at Maidenhead, Twyford (engine sidings only), Steventon, Faringdon Road and Hay Lane (again engine sidings only). These early sheds and servicing facilities did not last for long, some less than a year. With the opening of the line through to Bristol, more permanent sheds were established at Paddington in 1838 and at Slough, Reading, Bath and Bristol during 1840.

A list of early locomotive sheds (described as stations) is to be found in the Gooch Registers of Engine Coke Consumption. These registers, which date from 1850 to 1863, are divided into fortnightly returns and provide not just details of all of the broad gauge locomotives in service and where they were stationed. As a wonderful bonus, particularly for the genealogists, the names of the locomotive crews are also included in the Registers.

The gradual removal of the Broad Gauge saw many of the early sheds converted to standard gauge, but others were demolished and replaced.

Shed design during the nineteenth century can best be described as piecemeal, with sheds being constructed using either timber, stone or brick, probably the only common building materials being timber and slate for construction of the shed roofs. With the increase in both services and locomotive numbers and the need for regular servicing, many of the smaller sheds were expanded into large locomotive depots. A typical locomotive (motive power) depot would comprise a locomotive shed (sometimes two), plus other essential features such as water and coaling facilities and at least one turntable. Whilst most of these early sheds comprised straight roads, the first of the new design of internal turntable (roundhouse) style shed was opened at Wolverhampton in around 1860. This was followed by similar turntable sheds at Pontypool Road in 1865, at Swindon in 1871, Neath in 1876, Bristol in 1877 (rebuilt as a straight shed in 1934) and at Reading in 1880 (also rebuilt as a straight shed in 1930).

In June 1877, William Dean took over the post of Locomotive Superintendent from Joseph Armstrong. A certain amount of standardisation in shed design took place during Dean’s era, with single turntable sheds opening at Cardiff Canton in 1882, Shrewsbury in 1883, Tondu in 1889, Taunton in 1896, Plymouth Laira in 1901 and at Croes Newydd in 1902. He also opened straight sheds at Southall in 1884 and Exeter in 1894. All were constructed using brick with ‘northlight’ pattern roofs, the latter being a specific feature of Dean designed sheds.

Even with these improvements, by the start of the twentieth century there were still a number of the older shed buildings that required some form of upgrading and enlargement. This problem was partially addressed by G.J. Churchward who had officially taken the role of Locomotive Superintendent (later Chief Mechanical Engineer) from William Dean in June 1902. He was a great advocate for standardisation in locomotive design and also railway infrastructure. The result was the introduction of a Churchward standard design for locomotive sheds. These new and replacement sheds comprised both turntable and straight road sheds and in a number of locations a combination of the two. They were constructed using brick with tiled slate high pitched roofs. The ‘northlight’ roof design favoured by Dean was proving to be maintenance heavy and was abandoned by Churchward. The Churchward sheds were also provided with standard design one or two sided coaling plants, again constructed of brick, with overhead water tanks.

The result was turntable sheds being constructed at Old Oak Common in 1906, Oxley in 1907, Aberdare and Tyseley in 1908, Bristol SPM in 1910, Ebbw Junction in 1915 and Llanelli and Stourbridge in 1925/1926 respectively.

Straight sheds were also constructed at Leamington and Fishguard in 1906, at Cheltenham, Carmarthen and Severn Tunnel Junction in 1907, at Banbury in 1908, Penzance in 1914, Westbury in 1915 and lastly at Aberbeeg in 1919. Many of the larger sheds were also provided with their own locomotive repair shops.

C.B. Collett took over the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer from Churchward on 1 January 1922, and he oversaw the next development in locomotive shed modernisation.

In 1929, the government of the day introduced the ‘Loans, Guarantees and Grants Act’. This enabled the Great Western and other Railway Companies to take out loans with the government guaranteeing to pay the interest for up to four years. This cheap money enabled the Great Western amongst other improvements to replace a number of the older sheds and to generally upgrade many of the existing locomotive servicing facilities. These new ‘Loans Act’ sheds comprised two or four road straight sheds, but with two exceptions, at Cardiff East Dock which had eight roads, and at Bristol Bath Road which had ten.

These ‘Loans Act’ sheds were simply constructed using a steel frame, brick walls, asbestos cladding with a metal corrugated roof. The large shed at Bath Road was however built to a different specification, with full height brick walls and a slate roof. All were constructed basically to the same dimensions as the earlier Churchward sheds. The first was erected at Abercynon in 1929, followed between 1931 and 1934 at Cardiff East Dock, Pantyffynon, Radyr, Treherbert, Didcot, Llandore, Kidderminster and Bristol Bath Road.

In 1918, under Churchward’s direction, Great Western locomotive sheds were placed into seven Divisions that would, with a couple of later additions, last right through to the end of steam traction on the Western Region. The seven Divisions were Paddington, Bristol, Newton Abbot, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Newport and Neath. Also, although the main works were situated at Swindon, it was decided that each division should have its own locomotive repair shop. These were established at Old Oak Common, Bristol Bath Road, Newton Abbot, Tyseley, Worcester, Newport Ebbw Junction, and Carmarthen.

The 1923 grouping saw the number of Divisions extended to nine with the addition of Cardiff Valleys and Central Wales. Also in 1923, the ex-Rhymney Railway works at Caerphilly came into the control of the Great Western. In order to deal with the large number of absorbed locomotives that came into GWR ownership, the works were enlarged and modernised. The ‘new’ works at Caerphilly were officially opened in March 1926 and soon became the main locomotive works, not just for the new Cardiff Valleys Division, but eventually for the whole of South Wales.

At Nationalisation in 1948, some 60 main sheds and no less than 86 sub sheds passed from Great Western ownership to the newly formed Western Region, the sub shed total being the highest number in any of the other newly formed Regions. Nationalisation also brought a certain amount of rationalisation to the region with a number of branch line closures, and by 1954 some 21 sub sheds had been officially closed, although a small number continued to be used as signing on points.

There is a lack of definitive information on opening dates of many early sheds; one assumes that in many instances sheds on branch lines were probably opened with the opening of the branch or soon after. For these, I have used dates supplied to me by the late Eddie Lyons and from my own research. Official closure dates can usually be confirmed using Western Region records, and I have used these in