NORTH-EAST ENGLAND
(Above-Below) A quiet moment in Sunderland South Dock Shed 54A shows Class J27 65861 awaiting its next job in summer 1961. (Below) A Sunday morning visit to Sunderland South Dock on 22nd April 1966 found us barred from entering the main part of the shed. There had been an accident. An ash wagon had been fly shunted into the roundhouse, but as the turntable had not been set correctly, the wagon ended up in the turntable pit and the staff was discussing ways of retrieving it before the Depot Manager found out - he didn't work Sundays. We were told - 'no cameras, no photographs!' In other words, the staff didn't want any proof that an incident had taken place! Therefore we photographed what we could in the shed yard and avoided the roundhouse and the diesels. Class Q6 No 63458 undergoing boiler washout with a tenderless 63346 behind.
(Above-Below) Two Class J27 are undergoing maintenance. (Below) Long withdrawn Class J27s Nos 65831 and 65832 await their fate.
(Above-Below) The unlikeliest candidate for preservation is this rusty-looking Class Q6 63395, but the very opposite turns out to be the case. The loco is now enjoying a new lease of life on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. (Below) The smartest loco on shed that day was WD 'Austerity' Class 8F 2-8-0 No 90434...
(Above-Below) Darlington shed 51A. Now preserved on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Fairburn Class 4MT 2-6-4T No 42085 is coupled to Stanier 2-cyl 2-6-4T 42477. The locos are heading to Darlington shed from the south in July 1965. (Below) Following displacement by diesels and the rundown of Darlington North Road Workshops, six ex-WD 0-6-0ST Class J94s stand withdrawn outside Darlington shed in July 1965. They are 68023, 68060, 68011, 68062, 68043 plus one too dirty to identify.
(Above-Below) Class A1 60124 Kenilworth does 'Thunderbird' standby duty by Darlington turntable in July 1965. (Below) Another 'Thunderbird' 1964 steam style. Gresley Class A3 60036 Columbo standing by Darlington Shed turntable in 1964.
(Above-Below) Class J27 65859 in Darlington Shed Yard on 12th July 1965. (Below) Gateshead Shed was difficult to access due to 3rd rail electrification running past it at one end and a very steep ash bank at the other plus a large contingent of security staff. The only sure way of seeing some of its contents was by being lucky enough to be on a passenger train using the High Level Bridge into Newcastle. These were usually the Liverpool-Newcastle trains, but it was potluck as they were routed whichever way the signalling staff decided. You could pass the shed one day on a particular train, but be routed via the King Edward Bridge on the same train the next day. The following photos were taken one winters day in December 1965 from a moving train with Ilford colour slide film. They are far less than perfect but are a memory for me. Class V2 60976 stands by the coaling stage with part of a diesel brake tender in the foreground.
(Above-Below) The second shot from the train shows Class A1 60141 Abbotsford standing centre stage surrounded by EE Co Type 4 D329, two Class 2s (later Class 24) and a Class 47. (Below) West Auckland 51F was the main shed in South-West Durham. Its allocation included many Class Q6 0-8-0s and Standard 2-6-0 steam locos. Its main work was around the collieries in South-West Durham and the then (1950s) huge complex at Roddymoor near Crook. This complex included extracting various chemicals from coal and producing coke. Prior to 1962, it provided the majority of locos for the haulage of coal & coke over Stainmore to the factories and mills in Lancashire. It also had on allocation one Class J 26 No 65735 which was the regular performer on the daily goods up the Weardale Branch. It was also allocated to freight (mainly coal) on the Deerness Valley Branch near Durham, Durham to Bishop Auckland line, Darlington - Bishop Auckland-Crook - Tow law line, Bishop Auckland- Barnard Castle, The Simpasture branch (Shildon- Stockton) as well as many occasional passenger excursions including Durham Miners Gala and various summer sunday school outings from the colliery villages in its area.
YORKSHIRE
On the 30th July 1967, I travelled down to South Yorkshire to join a shed tour organised by The Luton Railway Circle. We visited Healey Mills, Normanton, Royston and Wakefield situated deep in the Yorkshire coalfield. In those days the NCB had numerous collieries in the area, therefore coal was a staple commodity for shipment by rail, and the sheds we visited survived solely for this traffic. We start at Wakefield MPD, which, prior to closure in 1967, was one of the last sheds with an allocation of steam on the North Eastern Region.
Wakefield 56A
Royston 55D
Normanton 55E
Holbeck 55A
Above-Below) Holbeck 29th May 1967. While driving through Leeds one day I just happened to pass Holbeck shed, so I took a couple of photos over the wall. General view of shed yard with some Sulzer Type 4s (Class 45) and a BR/Drewery 204hp shunter in view. Typical of the scruffy state of BR's stock during the final years of steam, BR Standard Class 7MT No 70046 (minus its Anzac nameplates) heads into the shed yard for the coaling stage. Class 9F 2-10-0 No 92082 coupled to 70046 backs into the yard to get coaled.
York 50A
The York photos were taken on a very dark and misty winters day with a poor camera and slow colour slide film. What you see is a bonus from about 30 unusable photos.
NORTH-WEST ENGLAND
(Above-Below) When my spotting pal, Stephen Dent, left school he went to work for BR. On April 21st 1968 he invited me to join him on his rail pass and visit three sheds in the Manchester area. At each one the depot staff made us very welcome. I have never drunk so much railway tea in my life! We start at Newton Heath 9D, with several weary-looking 'Black 5s' eking out their final days, including the now preserved No 45025...
Newton Heath 9D
Heaton Mersey 9F
Stockport Edgeley 9B
Carnforth 10A
(Above) The last steam-hauled train on British Rail ran on 11th August 1968. Two days later on Tuesday 13th
August I visited Carnforth Shed to view what was left. The shed had officially closed to steam, but there were a few diesels present but no other enthusiasts and very few staff. The weather was poor being very dull, but I took what photographs I could. On arrival at Carnforth, not wanting to trespass, I went along the public footpath that skirts the western perimeter of the shed area and took a few photos over the hedge. First a general view of the shed yard. To the left can be seen a few locos already purchased for preservation behind the turntable road, and to the right a Class 40 is standing outside the shed. (Below) Metro-Vick Co-Bo D5711 awaits its next turn of duty while 44781 and 44758 await their demise.
(Above-Below) End of the line for 44709. BR steam officially ended on 11th August 1968 - well, not quite, as there were still pockets of steam operations. The Vale of Rheidol Narrow Gauge Railway, then still owned by British Rail was still 100% steam. Also there were still several steam powered breakdown cranes stabled at various points around the system. Here we see the Carnforth based steam crane awaiting its next callout top-left of the photo.(Below) A member of the shed staff saw me and invited me onto the site. Evidently the shed master had spotted me trying to avoid trespassing and the member of staff was sent to show me around. The shed staff from the steam side were busy preparing locos for their final journey. This included emptying the boiler and tender of water and shovelling out coal into waiting wagons. The eagle-eyed might sopt a shovelful of coal mid-air from the tender of a 'Balck 5'!
(Above-Below) One of the stars of the '15 Guinea Special' was 'Black 5' No No 44781; it should have been preserved, but missed out. It was purchased by a film company and moved to The Audley End to Bartlow Branch in East Anglia where it was disguised as a Far-East tank engine and 'blown-up' in the making of the comedy film 'The Virgin Soldiers' - a dreadful end for a famous Stanier Black Five. (Below) LNER Class B1 No 61306 waits on the preserved road for a bit of TLC with 42085.
(Above-Below) BR Standard Class 4 No 75043 waits its turn to visit the scrapman. (Below) One of the BR Standard Class 4s fitted with a double chimney was eventually scrapped but lives on as a Bachmann 00 gauge model.
(Above-Below) A Standard Class 4 No. 75027. This loco survived into preservation on The Bluebell Railway. Not so lucky was Stanier 'Black 5' No 45394 acting as a buffer stop!
(Above) Winners and losers...Stanier 'Black 5' No 44758 awaits its call to scrap. (Below) Already purchased for preservation is Fairburn 2-6-4T No 42085 destined for the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway.
'End of Steam' - some member of the shed staff has been out with the chalk!
All photos and text are the copyright of Roy Lambeth. If you wish to discuss the contents of this page, Roy's email address is below. Please note this is not a 'clickable' mail-to link via Outlook Express. You will have to email manually...
(Above-Below) A quiet moment in Sunderland South Dock Shed 54A shows Class J27 65861 awaiting its next job in summer 1961. (Below) A Sunday morning visit to Sunderland South Dock on 22nd April 1966 found us barred from entering the main part of the shed. There had been an accident. An ash wagon had been fly shunted into the roundhouse, but as the turntable had not been set correctly, the wagon ended up in the turntable pit and the staff was discussing ways of retrieving it before the Depot Manager found out - he didn't work Sundays. We were told - 'no cameras, no photographs!' In other words, the staff didn't want any proof that an incident had taken place! Therefore we photographed what we could in the shed yard and avoided the roundhouse and the diesels. Class Q6 No 63458 undergoing boiler washout with a tenderless 63346 behind.
(Above-Below) Two Class J27 are undergoing maintenance. (Below) Long withdrawn Class J27s Nos 65831 and 65832 await their fate.
(Above-Below) The unlikeliest candidate for preservation is this rusty-looking Class Q6 63395, but the very opposite turns out to be the case. The loco is now enjoying a new lease of life on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. (Below) The smartest loco on shed that day was WD 'Austerity' Class 8F 2-8-0 No 90434...
(Above-Below) Darlington shed 51A. Now preserved on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Fairburn Class 4MT 2-6-4T No 42085 is coupled to Stanier 2-cyl 2-6-4T 42477. The locos are heading to Darlington shed from the south in July 1965. (Below) Following displacement by diesels and the rundown of Darlington North Road Workshops, six ex-WD 0-6-0ST Class J94s stand withdrawn outside Darlington shed in July 1965. They are 68023, 68060, 68011, 68062, 68043 plus one too dirty to identify.
(Above-Below) Class A1 60124 Kenilworth does 'Thunderbird' standby duty by Darlington turntable in July 1965. (Below) Another 'Thunderbird' 1964 steam style. Gresley Class A3 60036 Columbo standing by Darlington Shed turntable in 1964.
(Above-Below) Class J27 65859 in Darlington Shed Yard on 12th July 1965. (Below) Gateshead Shed was difficult to access due to 3rd rail electrification running past it at one end and a very steep ash bank at the other plus a large contingent of security staff. The only sure way of seeing some of its contents was by being lucky enough to be on a passenger train using the High Level Bridge into Newcastle. These were usually the Liverpool-Newcastle trains, but it was potluck as they were routed whichever way the signalling staff decided. You could pass the shed one day on a particular train, but be routed via the King Edward Bridge on the same train the next day. The following photos were taken one winters day in December 1965 from a moving train with Ilford colour slide film. They are far less than perfect but are a memory for me. Class V2 60976 stands by the coaling stage with part of a diesel brake tender in the foreground.
(Above-Below) The second shot from the train shows Class A1 60141 Abbotsford standing centre stage surrounded by EE Co Type 4 D329, two Class 2s (later Class 24) and a Class 47. (Below) West Auckland 51F was the main shed in South-West Durham. Its allocation included many Class Q6 0-8-0s and Standard 2-6-0 steam locos. Its main work was around the collieries in South-West Durham and the then (1950s) huge complex at Roddymoor near Crook. This complex included extracting various chemicals from coal and producing coke. Prior to 1962, it provided the majority of locos for the haulage of coal & coke over Stainmore to the factories and mills in Lancashire. It also had on allocation one Class J 26 No 65735 which was the regular performer on the daily goods up the Weardale Branch. It was also allocated to freight (mainly coal) on the Deerness Valley Branch near Durham, Durham to Bishop Auckland line, Darlington - Bishop Auckland-Crook - Tow law line, Bishop Auckland- Barnard Castle, The Simpasture branch (Shildon- Stockton) as well as many occasional passenger excursions including Durham Miners Gala and various summer sunday school outings from the colliery villages in its area.
YORKSHIRE
On the 30th July 1967, I travelled down to South Yorkshire to join a shed tour organised by The Luton Railway Circle. We visited Healey Mills, Normanton, Royston and Wakefield situated deep in the Yorkshire coalfield. In those days the NCB had numerous collieries in the area, therefore coal was a staple commodity for shipment by rail, and the sheds we visited survived solely for this traffic. We start at Wakefield MPD, which, prior to closure in 1967, was one of the last sheds with an allocation of steam on the North Eastern Region.
Wakefield 56A
Royston 55D
Normanton 55E
Holbeck 55A
Above-Below) Holbeck 29th May 1967. While driving through Leeds one day I just happened to pass Holbeck shed, so I took a couple of photos over the wall. General view of shed yard with some Sulzer Type 4s (Class 45) and a BR/Drewery 204hp shunter in view. Typical of the scruffy state of BR's stock during the final years of steam, BR Standard Class 7MT No 70046 (minus its Anzac nameplates) heads into the shed yard for the coaling stage. Class 9F 2-10-0 No 92082 coupled to 70046 backs into the yard to get coaled.
York 50A
The York photos were taken on a very dark and misty winters day with a poor camera and slow colour slide film. What you see is a bonus from about 30 unusable photos.
NORTH-WEST ENGLAND
(Above-Below) When my spotting pal, Stephen Dent, left school he went to work for BR. On April 21st 1968 he invited me to join him on his rail pass and visit three sheds in the Manchester area. At each one the depot staff made us very welcome. I have never drunk so much railway tea in my life! We start at Newton Heath 9D, with several weary-looking 'Black 5s' eking out their final days, including the now preserved No 45025...
Newton Heath 9D
Heaton Mersey 9F
Stockport Edgeley 9B
Carnforth 10A
(Above) The last steam-hauled train on British Rail ran on 11th August 1968. Two days later on Tuesday 13th
August I visited Carnforth Shed to view what was left. The shed had officially closed to steam, but there were a few diesels present but no other enthusiasts and very few staff. The weather was poor being very dull, but I took what photographs I could. On arrival at Carnforth, not wanting to trespass, I went along the public footpath that skirts the western perimeter of the shed area and took a few photos over the hedge. First a general view of the shed yard. To the left can be seen a few locos already purchased for preservation behind the turntable road, and to the right a Class 40 is standing outside the shed. (Below) Metro-Vick Co-Bo D5711 awaits its next turn of duty while 44781 and 44758 await their demise.(Above-Below) End of the line for 44709. BR steam officially ended on 11th August 1968 - well, not quite, as there were still pockets of steam operations. The Vale of Rheidol Narrow Gauge Railway, then still owned by British Rail was still 100% steam. Also there were still several steam powered breakdown cranes stabled at various points around the system. Here we see the Carnforth based steam crane awaiting its next callout top-left of the photo.(Below) A member of the shed staff saw me and invited me onto the site. Evidently the shed master had spotted me trying to avoid trespassing and the member of staff was sent to show me around. The shed staff from the steam side were busy preparing locos for their final journey. This included emptying the boiler and tender of water and shovelling out coal into waiting wagons. The eagle-eyed might sopt a shovelful of coal mid-air from the tender of a 'Balck 5'!
(Above-Below) One of the stars of the '15 Guinea Special' was 'Black 5' No No 44781; it should have been preserved, but missed out. It was purchased by a film company and moved to The Audley End to Bartlow Branch in East Anglia where it was disguised as a Far-East tank engine and 'blown-up' in the making of the comedy film 'The Virgin Soldiers' - a dreadful end for a famous Stanier Black Five. (Below) LNER Class B1 No 61306 waits on the preserved road for a bit of TLC with 42085.
(Above-Below) BR Standard Class 4 No 75043 waits its turn to visit the scrapman. (Below) One of the BR Standard Class 4s fitted with a double chimney was eventually scrapped but lives on as a Bachmann 00 gauge model.
(Above-Below) A Standard Class 4 No. 75027. This loco survived into preservation on The Bluebell Railway. Not so lucky was Stanier 'Black 5' No 45394 acting as a buffer stop!
(Above) Winners and losers...Stanier 'Black 5' No 44758 awaits its call to scrap. (Below) Already purchased for preservation is Fairburn 2-6-4T No 42085 destined for the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway.
'End of Steam' - some member of the shed staff has been out with the chalk!
All photos and text are the copyright of Roy Lambeth. If you wish to discuss the contents of this page, Roy's email address is below. Please note this is not a 'clickable' mail-to link via Outlook Express. You will have to email manually...
chairman@dmm.org.uk
