Gallery
Waleswood at Steamport Southport 1978
Mersey Railway 0-6-4T No.5 "Cecil Raikes" at Steamport Southport in 1988
Southport MPD (Motive Power Depot) is a former LMS railway depot located in the town of Southport, Merseyside. [1]
Derby Road shed first opened in 1890 under the ownership of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. In January 1935, under the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, Derby Road was given the shed-code number 23C, which it was to have for the remainder of its days under the LMS and for the first two years of British Railways ownership. From 1948 Derby Road shed became part of the Liverpool Bank Hall area and, in June 1950, the shedcode was changed from 23C to 27C.
Following the amalgamation of the four pre-grouping companies into BR, Southport shed was given the code 23C, in 1950, and was to be one of the sheds in the Liverpool Bank Hall area. The shedcode 23C, however, would not last for too long, as the Liverpool Bank Hall area number was changed to 27, from June 1950, with the Derby Road shed code being changed to 27C at the same time.
The main locomotive allocations to Derby Road shed over the years were LMS Black 5 4-6-0s, including the two Caprotti valve gear Black 5s nos 44686 & 44687. Alongside the two Caprotti-geared Black 5s were two other engines which would later be preserved, 44767 (the unique Stephenson valve gear Black 5) & 45337, which were allocated to Derby Road in 1962 & 1963 respectively. [2] As well as the Black 5s, other class allocations included: BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0s, LMS Compound 4-4-0s, LMS Fairburn 2-6-4Ts, LMS Fowler 2-6-4Ts, LMS Fowler Class 4F 0-6-0s, alongside numerous pre-LMS machines.
In September 1963 Derby Road's shed code was changed from 27C to 8M (and the shed was transferred from the Bank Hall section of Liverpool to Edge Hill), which it was to carry until the shed's final closure in June 1966. During the time when diesels were taking over from steam engines none of the, then modern, diesels were allocated to Derby Road's 27C (later 8M) shed. Allocation of steam engines to the shed ceased in November 1965 and, by the end of the year, just seven engines were left allocated to the shed, these being three Black 5's and four Fairburn tanks. The majority were transferred to other depots, with one of the Black 5's (one of the Caprotti geared Black 5's), no 44687, being withdrawn from service. The depot closed on Monday 6 June 1966, with the final engines being removed from the site by the 18 June.
Derby Road shed closed completely in 1966, prior to the withdrawal of steam traction on the British Railways network and, alongside being stripped of recoverable materials, the building was also heavily vandalised over the years. In 1971 a group was established, with plans to start up a museum in the former locomotive shed. The building, however, was heavily in need of repairs as there was no track in certain places, the yard was covered in rubble, the shed building had no glass in the roof, the electricity and water supplies had been cut off and BR had severed the rail connection to the shed.
Following negotiations with BR, regarding a lease of the site and buildings, the site was occupied by the group in 1973, allowing the necessary repairs to be undertaken, alongside laying track in the shed, and by August of the same year the first steam engines began to arrive on site. In 1974 an agreement was reached, regarding a connection from BR to the shed, the connection being made through land adjacent to the former goods depot at Kensington Road. By August 1974 the first main line steam locomotives had arrived, which were an LMS Jinty 0-6-0 no 47298 (which was rescued from Barry Scrapyard) & LMS Black 5 4-6-0 no 44806, which at that point had been named Magpie. 44806 had, prior to moving to Derby Road shed, been based at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. It was decided to move it to Steamport after a crack in the firebox opened up, which it wasn't possible to repair at Haverthwaite, due to it being beyond their capabilities and facilities.
Other locomotives that would be based at Derby Road, prior to being restored or where restoration was to be undertaken, included: BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 no 76079 & GWR 5101 Class 2-6-2T no 5193 (later rebuilt as 9351).
In addition to the steam locomotives that were based at Steamport, the depot was also home to non-steam traction, including Class 24 diesel-electric locomotive no. 24 081, Class 52 "Western" diesel-hydraulic locomotive no. D1048 "Western Lady" and the National Railway Museum's Class 502 Merseyrail electric unit driving cars nos. M28361 (a driving motor) and M29896 (a driving trailer).
In 1978 a 60-foot turntable was purchased from BR and was moved from its then location at York, by rail, to Derby Road. The former L&YR turntable pit had, prior to the lease of the shed to the group, been filled in with rubble, so before the turntable could be installed this rubble needed to be removed. The shed was also (during the 1980s) popular with steam hauled excursion trains, including the regular "Southport Visitor" trains, which would run from Southport to Manchester and back via Wigan, while hauled by a visiting mainline approved steam engines. Visiting engines for these trains included: 4472 Flying Scotsman, 5407, 5593 Kolhapur, 44932 & 45596 Bahamas.
Around 2000 it was decided to close the Steamport museum, to relocate to Preston and to form the Ribble Steam Railway. Following the closure of the museum, the shed and additional buildings were demolished to make way for the new Central 12 shopping park, which would be built on top of the former shed. Nothing remains of the shed today, apart from the former gates opposite the Bacon Factory at Windsor Road, which are visible from the footbridge.
The British Railways Standard Class 5MT4-6-0 is one of the 12 standard classes of steam locomotive built by British Railways in the 1950s. It was essentially a development of the LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0. A total of 172 were built between 1951 and 1957.
The BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 is a class of steam locomotive, one of the British Railways Standard classes of the 1950s. They were physically the smallest of the Standard classes; 65 were built.
The London Midland and Scottish Railway Stanier Class 5 4-6-0, commonly known as the Black Five, is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives. It was introduced by William Stanier and built between 1934 and 1951, of which 842 were built and were numbered 4658-5499. Several members of the class survived to the last day of steam on British Railways in 1968, and eighteen are preserved.
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for light mixed traffic.
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and replenishing water, lubricating oil and grease and, for steam engines, disposal of the ash. There are often workshops for day to day repairs and maintenance, although locomotive building and major overhauls are usually carried out in the locomotive works.
British Railways built twenty locomotives of the LMS Stanier Black Five type, fitted with Caprotti valve gear, in 1948; the BR Caprotti Black Fives. These were numbered 44738-57, 44686 and 44687. The Black Fives had been fitted with Walschaerts valve gear as standard. In 1947, as part of an experimental programme by George Ivatt to try to improve the already good design, (4)4767 was built with Stephenson link motion. The Caprotti-fitted Black Fives were part of the same programme.
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.
Birkenhead Mollington Street was a former traction maintenance depot located at Mollington Street in Birkenhead, England, on the Birkenhead Dock Branch railway. Although never directly connected by rail, the depot was situated less than 200 m (660 ft) from Birkenhead Central railway station. The depot serviced steam and subsequently diesel locomotives until 1985, when it was closed and demolished. As of 2018, the site of the depot is still disused.
Laira T&RSMD is a railway traction and rolling stock maintenance depot situated in Plymouth, Devon, England. The depot is operated by Great Western Railway and is mainly concerned with the overhaul and daily servicing of their fleet of High Speed Trains and also the DMUs used on local services. The depot code "LA" is used to identify rolling stock based there.
Immingham engine shed, also known as Immingham depot, or more recently as Immingham TMD and always locally as Loco is a railway maintenance depot located on the Immingham Dock estate, in North East Lincolnshire, England. The depot code is IM.
Tyseley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Tyseley, Birmingham, England.
Gateshead TMD was a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Gateshead, England. The depot code was 52A during the steam era and GD later on.
British Railways Standard Class 5 No. 73129 is a preserved British steam locomotive. It is the only surviving Standard Class 5 built by British Railways which was fitted with Caprotti valve gear.
Stratford TMD was a traction maintenance depot located in Stratford, London, England close to the Great Eastern Main Line. It was located just west of Stratford station, on a site now occupied by Stratford International station. The depot was at one time the biggest on the London and North Eastern Railway with locomotives covering duties from express services to freight workings in London's docks.
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 No. 44806 is a preserved British steam locomotive. It was built at Derby in 1944.
There were a number of engine sheds and railway works located in York. The large York North engine shed became the National Railway Museum in 1975.
Carnforth MPD is a former London Midland and Scottish Railway railway depot located in the town of Carnforth, Lancashire, England.
Botanic Gardens TMD was an engine shed in Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, England. As one of the principal engine sheds in the Hull area, Botanic Gardens was the one closest to the main Hull Paragon station and its locomotives were responsible for working passenger services in the area. This entry also covers the engine sheds in the Paragon area that preceded Botanic Gardens.
Manningham Engine Shed was a railway depot located in the Manningham suburb of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The depot was built to provide steam engines for services leaving Bradford Forster Square station and freight traffic from the Valley Road area of the city. It was also responsible for other sites at Keighley and Ilkley with Manningham itself being a sub-shed of Holbeck.