Bescot TMD

Bescot TMD
	A Class 92 locomotive at Bescot in June 2005
Location
Location	Bescot, Walsall, England
Coordinates	52°33′45″N1°59′30″W / 52.5626°N 1.9918°W
OS grid	SP005961
Characteristics
Owner	DB Schenker Rail (UK)
Depot code	BS (1973 –present)
Type	Diesel
History
Opened	May 1967
Pre-grouping	Grand Junction Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
BR region	London Midland Region
Former depot code	3A (1948–1960); 21B (1960–1963); 2F (1963–1973);

Last updated July 29, 2024

Bescot TMD is a locomotive traction maintenance depot in Bescot, an area of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. Situated adjacent to Bescot Stadium railway station, the depot with code BS is currently operated by DB Schenker Rail (UK). Bescot Yard is to the south-east of the depot. This entire complex of track is clearly visible from the northern end of the M6 and M5 motorway junction. The Depot is on the Chase Line and Walsall-Wolverhampton Line.

History

The line via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot is the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. The section between Walsall and Cannock was constructed by the South Staffordshire Railway. The section between Cannock and Rugeley was constructed by the Cannock Mineral Railway. Bescot Yard was opened to handle coal and goods traffic in the Birmingham area, and so needed a depot to provide and service a wide range of locomotives. After the LMS took over in 1923, the shed code became 3A. The shed was rebuilt as a straight-road pre-cast concrete structure with brick infill sides in the 1930s.

The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, remaining open to freight. This brought about the closure of the LMS steam shed, and the opening of the diesel shed. The Walsall line then reopened to passengers in stages.

The diesel depot, itself, was opened by British Rail in May 1967 as a three-track through-road shed, with an adjoining one-track through-road shed for fuelling.^[2]

By 1987, the depot had an allocation of Classes 08, 20, 31 and 47 diesel locomotives.^[3] Classes 45, 56, and 58 could also be seen stabled at the depot.^[4]

Post-privatisation

After the sell-off of British Rail, the shed was allocated to primary freight operator English Welsh and Scottish Railway. However, after the downturn in traffic post the Financial crisis of 2007–08, since 2009 the depot had no allocation of locomotives and was only used for light maintenance and fueling. In December 2013, the former LMS steam Sheds still remained but were isolated from the system and boarded up. Bescot steam shed was demolished during December 2013 and had completely vanished by February 2014

Future

In 2012, Transport authority Centro urged the UK Government to look at making Bescot into a freight station instead of constructing a new station from scratch, in order to cope with increasing freight services. A re-opening of the South Staffordshire Line between Stourbridge and Walsall (it has been closed as far as Brierley Hill since 1993) is also proposed, which would allow freight trains to enter Bescot TMD via the Bescot curve.^[5]

In January 2020 West Midlands Trains announced plans to develop the site as the main depot for their new Class 730 Aventra EMUs.^[6]

Related Research Articles

The Chase Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from its southern terminus, Birmingham New Street, to Walsall, and then Rugeley Trent Valley in Staffordshire, where it joins the Trent Valley line. The name of the line refers to Cannock Chase which it runs through at its northern end.

Walsall railway station is the principal railway station of Walsall, West Midlands, England and situated in the heart of the town. It is operated by West Midlands Trains, with services provided by West Midlands Railway. The main entrance is situated inside the Saddlers Shopping Centre.

St Blazey engine shed is located in Par, Cornwall, United Kingdom, although it is named after the adjacent village of St Blazey. It was built in 1874 as the headquarters of the Cornwall Minerals Railway but for many years was a depot of the Great Western Railway. The current depot operator is DB Cargo and the depot TOPS code is BZ.

Bounds Green Depot, also known as Bounds Green Train Maintenance Centre, is a traction maintenance depot situated in Bounds Green, North London. The depot is to the immediate north of Alexandra Palace railway station. It is presently operated by Hitachi and maintains AT300 units for London North Eastern Railway, Hull Trains and Lumo.

Longsight Diesel TMD is a railway diesel locomotive traction maintenance depot (TMD) situated in Longsight, Manchester, England. The depot code is LO. The depot is located 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly on the eastern side of the line to Stockport. There are various roads in which individual train sets can be overhauled.

Longsight Electric TMD is an AC electric railway locomotive traction maintenance depot situated in Longsight, Manchester, England. It is one of the largest train depots in the United Kingdom and can hold 179 carriages at any one time.

Tyseley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Tyseley, Birmingham, England.

Cardiff Canton TMD is a diesel locomotive traction maintenance depot in Cardiff, Wales. Its depot code is CF. It is operated by Transport for Wales. The depot is used by Transport for Wales fleet and some Cross Country Class 170s.

Neville Hill is a railway train maintenance depot in Osmondthorpe, Leeds, England on the Leeds to Selby Line. The depot is situated 2 miles 14 chains (3.5 km) to the east of Leeds railway station on the north side of the line.

Thornaby TMD was a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Thornaby, England, latterly operated by DB Schenker. The depot was situated to the east of Thornaby, on the northern side of the line to Middlesbrough.

Tinsley Motive Power Depot, latterly Tinsley Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD), was a railway depot in Tinsley, South Yorkshire, near Sheffield. Access by road was from Brinsworth, near Rotherham. The depot was situated on the freight line between Treeton Junction and the A631 Shepcote Lane.

Eastfield TMD was a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Glasgow, Scotland. Eastfield was a steam shed under British Railways with the depot code 65A; the diesel depot was coded as ED under the TOPS scheme from 1973.

Derby Etches Park is a railway traction and rolling stock maintenance depot (T&RSMD) operated by East Midlands Railway, and situated in Derby, England. The depot is located to the east of Derby railway station. InterCity and Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) trains are serviced and maintained here. The depot code is DY.

Bescot Yard is a railway yard in Bescot, a suburb of Walsall in the West Midlands, operated by DB Cargo UK. The yard is the major freight yard of the region, handling all of the rail freight movements and most of the railfreight traffic around the West Midlands.

Holbeck TMD is a traction maintenance depot located in Holbeck, Leeds, England. The depot is located on the west side of the line from Woodlesford, and is 57 chains (1.1 km) south of Leeds railway station.

Coldham Lane Depot is a traction maintenance depot located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The depot is situated on the eastern side of the Fen Line and is to the north of Cambridge Station.

Blyth Cambois TMD was a traction maintenance depot located in Blyth, Northumberland, England. The depot was situated on the west side of the branch line from Bedlington Junction to Blyth Docks.

Buxton TMD was a traction maintenance depot in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The depot was situated on the west side of the Buxton line, to the immediate north of Buxton station.

Shirebrook TMD was a traction maintenance depot located in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England. The depot was situated on the freight-only line between Pye Bridge Junction and Shirebrook Junction, which is now part of the Robin Hood Line. The depot was on the east side of the line, adjacent to the closed Shirebrook West station.

Wigan Springs Branch TMD is a traction maintenance depot located in Ince-in-Makerfield, England. There has been a motive power depot in the area of the current depot since the 1840s.

References

1 2 "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Smith & Stuart 2010 , p. 57
↑ Marsden 1987 , pp. 25–26
↑ Webster, Greengrass & Greaves 1987 , p. 9
↑ Peter Rhodes (14 January 2012). "Freight increase may see rail yard expand « Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
↑ "Proposed state-of-the art train depot to bring over 100 new jobs to West Midlands". West Midlands Trains. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.

Sources

Baker, S.K. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland. ISBN 0-86093-553-1.
Marsden, Colin J. (1987). BR Depots. Motive power recognition. Vol. 6. Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 9780711017191. OCLC 18685680.
Smith, Paul; Stuart, Philip (2010). Railway Depots. Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 9780711034822. OCLC 528397749.
Webster, Neil; Greengrass, Robert; Greaves, Simon (1987). British Rail Depot Directory. Metro Enterprises Ltd. ISBN 9780947773076. OCLC 20420397.

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[TRC-1] 1 2 "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[SmithStuart2010-2] Smith & Stuart 2010 , p. 57

[Marsden1987-3] Marsden 1987 , pp. 25–26

[WGG1987-4] Webster, Greengrass & Greaves 1987 , p. 9

[5] Peter Rhodes (14 January 2012). "Freight increase may see rail yard expand « Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. Retrieved 19 January 2012.

[WMR-6] "Proposed state-of-the art train depot to bring over 100 new jobs to West Midlands". West Midlands Trains. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.

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