An 'Austerity' 2-8-0 locomotive at Walton on the Hill depot

Image: © John Lucas Taken: 8 Dec 1962

An ex-War Department (WD) locomotive no.90010 stands in the front of the engine shed. 935 of these locomotives were constructed for the British War Department by the North British Co. and Vulcan Foundry between 1943 and 1945, for wartime use. Almost all were used in Europe during the latter stages of the war. They were designated 'Austerity' as they were built as cheaply as possible and expected to have a limited lifespan. After the war, 733 of the engines were taken into British Railways stock and were used throughout the network almost exclusively on goods trains and were invariably very grimy. The last was withdrawn in 1967. One of the type survives at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway it having been imported from Sweden. Walton on the Hill depot stood beside the Huskisson branch which ran from Halewood to Aintree and which was very busy with goods trains until the early sixties. As it happens, this photo was taken just a year before the depot closed in December 1963. The line closed in 1975 and was lifted in 1978. The site of the shed is now occupied by housing and no trace of the railway survives.

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