Tyseley Locomotive Works
Tyseley Steam Locomotive Depot 1908–2004 : A short review
Tyseley depot began its life as an operational steam depot in July 1908, and replaced an earlier and smaller shed located at Bordesley closer to the centre of Birmingham. It was a standard brick built Great Western Railway two-turntable shed. The original plans made provision for a further two turntable shed units (roundhouses) to be added at the rear (Warwick Road end), but these were never built. On the west side of the shed, there was a large repair shop (known as the factory) and this was equipped with heavy lifting gear, an electric traverser for moving locomotives between workshop roads, and various smiths shops. Following the GWRs tradition of standardisation, the whole design was similar to that of sheds at other locations in the network including Old Oak Common (the main GWR London shed close to Paddington).
The turntables were 65 feet in diameter and were originally manually operated. The arrangement allowed for the addition of electrical drive later on if needed (it was needed, and now is electrical). Twenty-eight engine roads radiated from each turntable and these were all provided with inspection pits. The roads were of varying length and gave accommodation for approximately thirty-six tender engines and twenty-eight tank engines. The two turntables were linked internally by one road from each turntable running through to the corresponding road on the other turntable.
The east roundhouse catered for passenger engines, whilst the west one catered for goods (freight in 1990s railway parlance) engines. Tyseley initially was the home of seventy-two engines. Most of these were smaller types and were used for goods duties, local passenger work and some express work. Tyseley always had to play second fiddle to Wolverhampton Stafford Road, which handled the important expresses from the West Midlands to London Paddington. Consequently its allocation of engines was mainly tank engines and mixed traffic types.
Tyseleys existence owed a lot to the opening of the North Warwick Line (also in 1908) which gave a more direct route between Tyseley South Junction and Bearley leading on to Stratford, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, South Wales and the West Country.
The depot was equipped with a standard GWR coal stage with a two-road ramp approach. The coal stage was built in between the entrance roads to the two roundhouses. Above this was a water tank with a capacity of 98,000 gallons and this supplied all the watering facilities within the yard and shed.
Read more about the History of the Locomotive Works: http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/tlw_history.htm
Visit the Museum: http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/brm.htm