Langwith Junction Loco Shed, 1964

Image: © John Sutton Taken: 25 Oct 1964

Langwith Loco Depot was built by the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway and the job of its locomotives was to haul coal from local pits. Class O4/3 63842 was one of the Great Central 2-8-0s built during the Great War for the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers, for use in France. After the Armistice these ROD engines were sold to the LNER at bargain prices and gave nearly 50 years’ service. There were several variations and rebuildings of this class of engine, such as consecutively-numbered stablemate 63843, on the left, one of the O4/7 type, and the O4/8 between the two. These engines would soon be scrapped as British Railways turned to diesels. My notebook tells me there were 41 locomotives on Langwith shed that Sunday afternoon, making it a worthwhile cycle ride from Nottingham, via other engine sheds at Annesley and Kirkby-in-Ashfield (and going on to Staveley – I must have been a fit 16-year-old). Langwith Junction shed closed to steam in February 1966, staff transferring to a new diesel loco depot at Shirebrook West. According to Lawson Little’s “Langwith Junction” (Vesper Books, 1995) the grounded coach on the right was used for first aid and mutual improvement classes; others dotted round the site were used as workshops and mess and locker rooms. In the background are the terraced houses of Eland Road and the corrugated asbestos workshops at the headquarters of W H Davies & Sons, wagon repairers, who had smaller workshops all over the country. In the days of steam the railway and W H Davies were Langwith’s major employers. For another view, see Image

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