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Engine sheds could be found in many towns and cities, as well as in rural locations. They were built by the railway companies to accommodate the locomotives that provided their local train services. Each engine shed would have an allocation of locomotives that would reflect the duties carried out by
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When a steam engine arrived on shed, it would drop its fire and the ash that had built up would be removed. Disposal of the ash was a filthy job and carried out at quiet times, although some bigger depots had facilities for disposing of ash more efficiently. Study of photographs from the steam era
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In the UK, the general practice is that one shed would have a number of smaller sub-sheds where there were fewer facilities. When engines allocated to sub-sheds required repairs, they were often exchanged for a similar engine or perhaps just visiting the main depot on a Sunday when traffic levels
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Another key requirement of the steam engine is a supply of water which is carried in the tenders or tanks of the engines. In
Australia, water was also carried in water gins (a water tank mounted on a wagon) due to longer distances covered and scarcer water resources. In depots where the limescale
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The maintenance of the new diesel locomotives in filthy steam sheds soon proved difficult and, although some old sheds survived, many new diesel depots were built on new sites or on the sites of the old steam sheds. The major problem was the disposal of oil, which initially was left lying around
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Engine sheds would carry out basic maintenance and the bigger sheds would carry out more complex repairs. Locomotives that required further repair were sent to the company's locomotive works. Withdrawn locomotives could often be found at some depots before their final trips to the scrapyard.
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The drivers and fireman were the visible face of the engine shed and, as such, certain sheds had reputations for clean locomotives thanks to the dedication of those men. Many companies allocated a specific main line locomotive to a crew and they would usually take a personal interest in the
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Many engine shed workers put up with very poor conditions for many years. In the 1950s and 1960s, the rise of manufacturing industry saw many staff leaving the railway for better working conditions (and pay) and many railways started to modernise as a result.
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Later turntables were electrically operated. Many diesel locomotives in the UK have a cab at each end removing the need for the turntables. However, in
Australia and America, there are a number of single ended locomotives and turntables are still in use.
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Many drivers would spend their own time on improving their knowledge and sharing best practice with younger drivers. The footplate staff (as drivers and fireman were known) were unionised from the 19th century and in the UK were generally in the
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are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilities are provided for refuelling and the replenishing of water, lubricating oil and grease and, for
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Locomotives generally ran on coal. Initially this job was done by hand and many depots had significant coal stacks on site. These would be neatly constructed with the outer walls constructed of dry blocks much in the style of a
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The tasks were not that much different in that diesel locomotives were fuelled rather than coaled, although they did require water as early diesels were equipped with steam generators for train heating purposes.
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Around railway networks, there are locations just used for the coaling/fuelling of locomotives and the stabling of stock, either overnight or between duties. These are generally not regarded as engine sheds.
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In terms of locomotive allocation, it seems to have been the practice that for some railways locomotives were all allocated to the main shed but in others each shed had its specific allocation of locomotives.
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locomotives required turning so they were facing the right way before their next duty. In the early days, these were typically around 45 feet long. As the technology improved and engines got bigger, then the
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informs us that the turntable was manufactured by "Cowans
Sheldon & Co. Ltd. of Carlisle. (Cowans Sheldon invented the loco brake system vacuum operating mechanism), Stewarts Lane TMD, South London,
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causing pollution and safety issues. The new depots were equipped to deal with diesel fuel and the ability to access the underside, as well as upper body work, was improved.
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The turntables for straight and dead end sheds were generally outside. Those in roundhouses could be inside, such as those at York in the UK, or outside, such as that at the
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After completing their last duty and arriving on shed, locomotives would have a regular boiler washout to remove scale, improve efficiency and protect safety.
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got longer. In order to turn a locomotive the engine had to be balanced quite precisely on the turntable and it could then be literally pushed around.
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in the UK, the sludge was discharged into a tank and emptied every three years or so with the sludge being dumped into the sea at
Lowestoft.
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above the neighbourhoods indicated where the engine shed was. The sheds were not clean places to work. The large east London depot of
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with smaller pieces behind these. As technology advanced and the bigger sheds got busier, this process became mechanised and huge
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Some turntables could be powered by fixing the vacuum brake of the engine to the turntable and using that to turn the engine.
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had an engineman's dormitory and its occupants would “wake up with a layer of coal dust covering them and the bed”.
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tank engines, they would be allocated to shunting duties in goods yards, carriage sidings, goods depots and docks.
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Each railway company had its own architectural design of engine shed, but there were three basic designs of shed:
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cleanliness of their engine; some companies offered a prize to the crew of the best kept engine.
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Details of the vacuum operating system. The clutch lever can be seen in the foreground. The
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Inlandsbanan Water crane - similar cranes were found at engine sheds as well as stations.
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LNWR locomotive 790 Hardwicke on the
National Railway Museum turntable in York, UK.
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show it was not uncommon for piles of ash to be scattered around the depot site.
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in
Germany are specialised depots, often responsible for a single locomotive
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Straight – a number of tracks that would be accessible from either end;
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or goods (freight) facilities, not to vehicle maintenance facilities.)
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208:"Enginehouse" redirects here. For other types of engine houses, see
194:"Engine shed" redirects here. For the theatre of the same name, see
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LMS 4-6-0 5690 LEANDER at
Carnforth in the UK under the mechanical
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The equivalent of such depots in German-speaking countries is the
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that depot. Most depots had a mixture of passenger, freight and
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864:. No. 58. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 40–45.
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Rail yard for cleaning, repairing and maintaining locomotives
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There were six primary activities that took place at sheds.
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Dead End – a number of sidings accessible from one end only.
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Essery, Bob (April 2012). "Engine sheds and locomotives".
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421:Worcester Locomotive Depot (UK) in April 1959
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403:East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Company
833:Great Eastern Railway Engine Sheds Part 2
808:Great Eastern Railway Engine sheds Part 1
182:Learn how and when to remove this message
80:Learn how and when to remove this message
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387:– where the tracks would radiate from a
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43:This article includes a list of general
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831:Hawkins, Chris; Reeves, George (1987).
806:Hawkins, Chris; Reeves, George (1986).
643:Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
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120:adding citations to reliable sources
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750:List of British Railways shed codes
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709:privatisation of British Rail
335:Engine sheds in the steam era
232:Peterborough, South Australia
892:Example boiler washout video
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647:National Union of Railwaymen
203:Train depot (disambiguation)
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64:more precise citations.
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131:"Motive power depot"
116:improve this article
1036:Classification yard
760:Ipswich engine shed
665:An evening view of
513:Norwich engine shed
221:Brainerd, Minnesota
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1249:Signalling control
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1031:Balloon loop
995:Ladder track
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109:verification
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1427:Locomotives
1199:Buffer stop
1159:Water crane
1071:Track gauge
1010:Tie/Sleeper
693:work trains
686:Osaka Metro
590:works plate
450:Ash removal
285:, the term
274:locomotives
172:August 2023
62:introducing
1411:Categories
1372:Industrial
1356:Water stop
1317:for trains
1309:Roundhouse
1283:Structures
1269:Train stop
1219:Guard rail
1194:Block post
1182:and safety
1179:Signalling
1110:third rail
1083:Rail track
1076:dual gauge
960:Baulk road
786:References
755:Roundhouse
740:Bus garage
707:Since the
543:turntables
385:Roundhouse
352:Mexborough
339:See also:
243:Suonenjoki
142:newspapers
70:April 2024
45:references
1322:for goods
1264:Tell-tale
1095:Rail yard
1061:Guide bar
1041:Headshunt
1024:Trackwork
990:Fishplate
980:Date nail
941:(history)
878:226087101
870:1753-2469
770:Rail yard
689:Chūō Line
482:Stratford
389:turntable
356:Yorkshire
1377:Military
1334:building
1304:Platform
1214:Derailer
1132:Roll way
1051:Junction
950:Axe ties
724:See also
608:Sub-shed
506:Watering
442:Activity
348:shunting
1387:station
1382:Private
1329:Station
1005:Profile
955:Ballast
645:(later
599:Repairs
533:Turning
467:Coaling
409:, USA.
247:Finland
156:scholar
58:improve
1149:Switch
1137:Siding
937:Tracks
876:
868:
839:
814:
538:Tender
376:Design
367:0-6-0T
363:0-4-0T
158:
151:
144:
137:
129:
47:, but
1365:Types
1344:ghost
1339:clock
1313:Shed
927:Rail
675:India
639:ASLEF
628:Staff
329:class
287:depot
264:, or
260:) or
163:JSTOR
149:books
1392:list
1349:list
970:Cant
874:OCLC
866:ISSN
837:ISBN
812:ISBN
669:and
622:here
135:news
1169:Wye
649:).
593:UK.
405:in
365:or
313:or
270:TMD
258:MPD
118:by
1413::
872:.
794:^
673:,
624:.
331:.
325:Bw
315:Bw
252:A
245:,
1297:/
920:e
913:t
906:v
880:.
845:.
820:.
500:.
391:;
268:(
256:(
212:.
205:.
198:.
185:)
179:(
174:)
170:(
160:·
153:·
146:·
139:·
112:.
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77:(
72:)
68:(
54:.
20:)
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