 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2019) |
Gorton Locomotive Works, known locally as Gorton Tank, was in West Gorton in Manchester, England and was completed in 1848 by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway.
The original workshops of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway were in Newton near Hyde in Cheshire but were inconveniently situated, cramped and makeshift. In 1845 the railway asked their locomotive superintendent, Richard Peacock, to find a more suitable site for a locomotive and carriage and wagon works. The site selected was two and a half miles east of Manchester at the side of the railway line between the Manchester to Guide Bridge. Peacock was responsible for the planning and design of the works, which at the time of completion covered about 20 acres (81,000 m2), and eventually growing to 30 acres (120,000 m2). By the time the works were completed in 1848 the railway had become the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway.
The original motive power depot at Gorton, in the form of a roundhouse, was unique in that it had two roads instead of the customary one with a pillar in the centre supporting the glazed roof. It was later replaced by a larger facility but was converted to a smithy. The locomotive workshops were next to the roundhouse on its Western side, with the carriage and wagon shops and a paint shop on the other side of the loco shops. A reservoir was constructed by the nearby Ashton Canal.
Richard Peacock left the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in 1854 and with Charles Beyer founded the Beyer Peacock locomotive company at Gorton Foundry, directly opposite Gorton Works on the southern side of the railway line. He was replaced by William Grindley Craig, who served until 1859, followed by Charles Sacré until 1886. Between 1871 and 1880 the works was unable to keep pace with new construction and repairs; Gorton therefore manufactured new parts for locomotives that were constructed or renewed at the Sheffield running shed. [1]
In 1880 Sacré's Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, Thomas Parker, oversaw the construction of new carriage and wagon shops on the site, enabling the original shops to be converted into an enlarged erecting shop the following year. Following Sacré's retirement in 1889, Parker took over as Locomotive Superintendent until his own retirement in 1893. He was responsible for the construction of a new machine shop and stores in 1889, and the enlargement of the motive power depot to accommodate 120 locomotives. [2]
Parker was succeeded by Harry Pollitt, who served until 1900. During this time the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway changed its name to the Great Central Railway following the opening of its London extension to Marylebone station. Pollitt was succeeded by John G. Robinson as Locomotive and Marine Superintendent in 1900 and was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer in 1902.
Under Robinson, new erecting shops were built, and the old erecting shop (the original carriage and wagon shops) were converted into machine and fitting shops; the construction of a new carriage and wagon works at Dukinfield in 1910 enabled additional locomotive work to be carried out in the former carriage and wagon shops.
Following the merger of the Great Central Railway and other railways in eastern England and Scotland to form the London and North Eastern Railway as a result of the Railways Act grouping of 1923, most new locomotive design and construction moved to the larger facilities at Doncaster and Darlington Works. Between the 1930s and late 1950s, Gorton Works mainly concentrated on repair and modification of locomotives and manufacture of parts. Locomotives were from throughout the LNER system. British Railways scrapped many locomotives at the works during the run-down of steam in the 1950s and early 1960s Beeching era. The workforce remained large: even in the 1960s the number of men employed at Gorton Works was large enough to sustain nine public houses in nearby Ogden Lane.
The railway works were closed 31 May 1963 following a reorganisation of railway workshops. Work was transferred to Doncaster. [1] The motive power depot was closed in 1965. A wholesale fruit and vegetable market (New Smithfield Market), a police motor vehicle garage, and a cash-and-carry warehouse now stand on the site. The folk comedy group Gorton Tank were based in Gorton and were popular in the Manchester area.
Locomotive building began at Gorton under Craig in 1858 with the completion of 0-6-0 No. 6 Archimedes. Over the next sixty years the works constructed many of the MS&LR and GCR locomotives, including Parker and Sacré 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 freight classes and several of the Robinson 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 express passenger and mixed traffic classes. The 500th locomotive was GCR Class 11A (LNER Class D6) 4-4-0 No.858. [1]
From 1911, the works constructed 130 of Robinson's GCR Class 8K (later O4) 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotives. During the First World War the design was adopted by the War Department's Railway Operating Division (ROD) for use in continental Europe. Six of the ROD 2-8-0s were built at Gorton in 1918 and 1919, with the remainder of 521 engines being built by private locomotive manufacturers, including 369 from the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. [3]
By the end of Great Central Railway ownership in December 1922, 921 steam locomotives had been built at Gorton Works. This figure had reached 1006 by 1951, when the last steam locomotive, a LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 no. 61349 was completed. [4]
Following the nationalisation of British Railways (BR) in 1948, Gorton was used for the construction of 64 electric locomotives of Class 76 and Class 77, between 1950 and 1954, which were required for the newly electrified Woodhead Line from Manchester London Road to Sheffield Victoria. Overhauls of these locomotives were carried out at Gorton. After closure in 1963, this work transferred to Crewe Works.
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway.
Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific engines. An A1 Pacific, Flying Scotsman, was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100 mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468 Mallard, still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world (126 mph).
John George Robinson CBE, was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922.
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company closed its railway operations in the early 1960s. It retained its stock market listing until 1976, when it was bought and absorbed by National Chemical Industries of Saudi Arabia.
The Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 8K 2-8-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for heavy freight. Introduced in 1911, and designed by John G. Robinson, 126 were built for the GCR prior to the First World War. Including wartime construction for the British Army ROD and the post-war GCR Class 8M, the class and its derivatives totalled 666 locomotives.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class O4 initially consisted of the 131 ex-Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 8K 2-8-0 steam locomotives acquired on grouping in 1923. The engines were designed by John G. Robinson and built at the GCR's Gorton Locomotive Works, Manchester.
Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England.
The British Rail Class 77, also known as Class EM2, is a class of 1.5 kV DC, Co-Co electric locomotive. They were built by Metropolitan-Vickers in 1953–1954 for use over the Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield.
The Great Central Railway Class 11F or Improved Director Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive designed by John G. Robinson for passenger work. The LNER classified them as Class D11 from 1923. They were based on the earlier GCR Class 11E "Director" class.
The Great Central Railway Class 9N, classified A5 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-2 tank locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for suburban passenger services. They were fitted with superheaters, piston valves and Stephenson valve gear.
The Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 9F was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1891 and 1901. From 1923 the locomotives were redesignated Class N5.
The London and North Eastern Railway Class U1 was a solitary 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt locomotive designed for banking coal trains over the Worsborough Bank, a steeply graded line in South Yorkshire and part of the Woodhead Route. It was both the longest and the most powerful steam locomotive ever to run in Britain. It was built in 1925 with the motion at each end being based on an existing 2-8-0 design. The original number was 2395, and it was renumbered 9999 in March 1946, and then 69999 after nationalisation in 1948, although it retained its cab-side plate bearing its original number throughout its life. The locomotive ran for some time as an oil burner, and was tried out on the Lickey Incline in 1949–1950 and again, after the electrification of its home line, in 1955. These trials were unsuccessful, and so the locomotive was withdrawn in 1955 and scrapped.
The Railway Operating Division (ROD) ROD 2-8-0 is a type of 2-8-0 steam locomotive which was the standard heavy freight locomotive operated in Europe by the ROD during the First World War.
Wath marshalling yard, also known as Wath concentration yard, was a large railway marshalling yard specifically designed for the concentration of coal traffic. It was set at the heart of the South Yorkshire Coalfield, at Wath-upon-Dearne, approximately halfway between Barnsley and Doncaster, in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and closed in 1988.
Stratford Works was the locomotive-building works of the Great Eastern Railway situated at Stratford, London, England. The original site of the works was located in the 'V' between the Great Eastern Main Line and the Stratford to Lea Bridge route and in the early years was also the home of Stratford Locomotive Depot. The final part of the works closed in 1991.
Thomas Parker was Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from 1886–1893. He introduced a new type of locomotive in Britain, which used a Belpaire firebox.
The GCR Class 1B was a class of 2-6-4T (tank) locomotives on the Great Central Railway. They were notable as the first locomotives of the 2-6-4T wheel arrangement to be used by a British standard-gauge railway; there had been two narrow-gauge examples on the Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway since 1904.
The Great Central Railway 9K and 9L classes were two related classes of 4-4-2T Atlantic steam locomotives. They were both intended for suburban passenger services. After the 1923 Grouping, they served the LNER as classes C13 and C14.
The GCR Class 9Q, classified B7 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for fast goods, relief passenger and excursion services on the Great Central Railway. They were a smaller wheeled version of Robinson's earlier Class 9P "Lord Faringdon" express passenger class.