Gorton Locomotive Works
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Gorton Locomotive Works, known locally as Gorton Tank, was in
History
The original workshops of the
The original motive power depot at Gorton, in the form of a roundhouse, was unique in that it had two roads instead of the customary one with a pillar in the centre supporting the glazed roof. It was later replaced by a larger facility but was converted to a smithy. The locomotive workshops were next to the roundhouse on its Western side, with the carriage and wagon shops and a paint shop on the other side of the loco shops. A reservoir was constructed by the nearby Ashton Canal.
Richard Peacock left the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in 1854 and with
In 1880 Sacré's Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, Thomas Parker, oversaw the construction of new carriage and wagon shops on the site, enabling the original shops to be converted into an enlarged erecting shop the following year. Following Sacré's retirement in 1889, Parker took over as Locomotive Superintendent until his own retirement in 1893. He was responsible for the construction of a new machine shop and stores in 1889, and the enlargement of the motive power depot to accommodate 120 locomotives.[2]
Parker was succeeded by Harry Pollitt, who served until 1900. During this time the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway changed its name to the Great Central Railway following the opening of its London extension to Marylebone station. Pollitt was succeeded by John G. Robinson as Locomotive and Marine Superintendent in 1900 and was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer in 1902.
Under Robinson, new erecting shops were built, and the old erecting shop (the original carriage and wagon shops) were converted into machine and fitting shops; the construction of a new carriage and wagon works at Dukinfield in 1910 enabled additional locomotive work to be carried out in the former carriage and wagon shops.
Grouping and nationalisation
Following the merger of the Great Central Railway and other railways in eastern
Closure
The railway works were closed 31 May 1963 following a reorganisation of railway workshops. Work was transferred to Doncaster.[1] The motive power depot was closed in 1965. A wholesale fruit and vegetable market (New Smithfield Market), a police motor vehicle garage, and a cash-and-carry warehouse now stand on the site. The folk comedy group Gorton Tank were based in Gorton and were popular in the Manchester area.
Locomotive construction at Gorton
Locomotive building began at Gorton under Craig in 1858 with the completion of 0-6-0 No. 6 Archimedes. Over the next sixty years the works constructed many of the MS&LR and GCR locomotives, including Parker and Sacré 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 freight classes and several of the Robinson 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 express passenger and mixed traffic classes. The 500th locomotive was GCR Class 11A (LNER Class D6) 4-4-0 No.858.[1]
From 1911, the works constructed 130 of Robinson's GCR Class 8K (later O4) 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotives. During the First World War the design was adopted by the War Department's Railway Operating Division (ROD) for use in continental Europe. Six of the ROD 2-8-0s were built at Gorton in 1918 and 1919, with the remainder of 521 engines being built by private locomotive manufacturers, including 369 from the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow.[3]
By the end of Great Central Railway ownership in December 1922, 921 steam locomotives had been built at Gorton Works. This figure had reached 1006 by 1951, when the last steam locomotive, a LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 no. 61349 was completed.[4]
Following the
Preservation
Australia
- ROD 2-8-0 J&A Brown 24 (Ex-ROD 2003, Gorton built 1919) is preserved at the Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum in Dorrigo, New South Wales, Australia.[5]
Netherlands
- NS Class 1500 No. 1501 (ex-British Rail 27003) is preserved at the Utrecht Railway Museum by Werkgroep 1501.[6]
United Kingdom
- GCR Class 8K 63601 (EX-GCR 102, Gorton built 1911) is preserved at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough, Leicestershire.[7]
- Barrow Hill Engine Shed in Barrow Hill, Derbyshire.[8]
- British Rail Class 76 No. 26020 is preserved at the National Railway Museum.[9]
- Midland Railway - Butterley.[10]
- Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.[11]
References
- ^ a b c Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (1963), p. 94
- ^ Gosling (1988)
- ^ Rowledge (1977), pp. 7–8
- ^ Larkin (1988), p. 72
- ^ Exhibit List No 39 Dorrigo Steam & Railway Museum 04 January 2023
- ^ "Electric Locomotive". vriendennsm.nl. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Steam Locomotive". sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Steam Locomotive". sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Electric Locomotive". sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Electric Locomotive". em2ls.org.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Electric Locomotive". sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- Gosling, Dave (2005) Gorton Locomotive Works Openshaw Manchester, http://gorton-tank.com/
- Rowledge, J. W. P. (1977) Heavy Goods Engines of the War Department - Volume 1 - ROD 2-8-0, Springmead Railway Books.
- Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, (1963) Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Part 1, R.C.T.S.
- Larkin, E. J. and Larkin, J. G. (1988) The Railway Workshops of Great Britain 1823–1986, London: Macmillan, 266 p., ISBN 0-333-39431-3