- Old Oak Common TMD
-
Old Oak Common (OC) Current operator First Great Western
Heathrow ExpressLocation Locale Old Oak Common, London Coordinates 51°31′30″N 0°14′48″W / 51.524873°N 0.24672°W Depot code 1950 - 1973 81A 1973 to date OC History 1906 Opened by GWR 1965 Closed to steam 2009 Original depot closed Old Oak Common TMD is situated to the west of London, in Old Oak Common. The Traction Maintenance Depot is the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units which utilise Paddington Station. The depot codes are 'OC' for the diesel depot, and 'OO' for the carriage shed.[1] In steam days the shed code was 81A.
The area is also the location where two GWR main lines bifurcate:[1] the 1838 route to Reading via Slough, and the 1906 New North Main Line via Greenford to Northolt Junction, the start of the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway line. The former is in use for regular passenger services; the latter is used overwhelmingly by freight trains and ECS movements, though the 2007 timetable[2] shows a single weekday train from Gerrards Cross via West Ruislip to Paddington.
Contents
Railway Depot
GWR and steam
The site at Old Oak Common is the ancestral home of the Great Western Railway's primary London locomotive depot. Following the reconstruction of Paddington Station and the introduction of larger locomotives and new routes, the GWR required a larger site at which to service its locomotives and carriages. A site was acquired in South Acton, south of the Grand Union Canal, which came into operation from 17 March 1906.[3][4]
Following a number of reconstructions and enlargements, the GWR built a north-light roofed four-turntable building, whose design became the template for other major GWR depots, including Tyseley.[5] The structure remained complete until diesel locomotives replaced steam and, as of 2007, only the rear-most part of the servicing depot still stands.
Today
Today the northern part of Old Oak Common is divided into two:
The remaining Great Western Railway buildings adjacent to the canal were part of EWS and latterly operated by their commercial subsidiary Axiom Rail. Since the introduction of the InterCity 125 trains in the 1970s, this site maintained freight locomotives and more recently carriages for charter trains. The site included the Lift Shop, the Pullman Car Shed (where the Blue Pullman trains were once maintained) and the former heavy repair building known as 'The Factory'. This site, together with the adjacent Coronation Carriage Siding was fenced off in 2009 due to compulsory purchase for the Crossrail project. All the remaining Great Western Railway buildings are to be demolished. The turntable has been donated to the Swanage Railway and is now in storage in Purbeck.
Adjacent to the Great Western Main Line is the second part of Old Oak Common TMD, the High Speed Train depot. Here trains which operate the First Great Western services, the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are maintained.
South of the line is North Pole depot, where the Eurostar trains which operate on Channel Tunnel routes used to have their UK base. With the opening of the new international terminal at St Pancras railway station, all servicing was moved to the new Temple Mills depot located near Stratford International. The North Pole depot is approximately half a mile south-west of Willesden TMD.
Allocation
In recent years, the EWS site has had no regular allocation of locomotives but services visiting locomotives from other areas of the UK and is also a host to visiting preserved locomotives.
The First Great Western and Heathrow Express site is the home of the following stock:
- Class 43 High Speed Train – used for First Great Western long-distance express services
- Class 57 – locomotive used for First Great Western Night Riviera Sleeper services
- Class 165 – two- or three-coach Turbo DMU used on commuter services to London (ex First Great Western Link)
- Class 166 – three-coach Turbo DMU used on longer commuter services to London (ex First Great Western Link)
- Class 360 – five-coach EMU used on Heathrow Connect services (joint operation with BAA)
- Class 332 – four- and five-coach EMU used on Heathrow Express services.
- Class 180 – 'Adelante' diesel multiple unit used for semi-fast services – to assist Hull Trains with maintenance.
Notes
- ^ a b Baker 2001, p. 20, section B2
- ^ 2007 timetable (p.15)
- ^ Significant Events in the History of the Great Western Railway
- ^ Lyons 1974, pp. 54–56
- ^ Tyseley 100 Open Weekend - 28/29 June 2008[dead link]
References
Categories:- Railway workshops in Great Britain
- Railway depots in London
- Great Western Main Line
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.