GLOUCESTER RAILWAY DEPOT. correct name Gloucester Horton Road Motive Power Depot
site was aquired by Carrillion after railway privatization by PM J Major, i say aquired as our taxes under British Rail paid for most of whats there and a mixture of Railtrack (as it was then) and Jarvis where handed it in 1993. Railtrack became Network Rail and Jarvis went bust and Carrillion where given it. just like that, 2 square acres of prime land not 1/4 of a mile from Gloucester city centre just given away and gues what... yes Carrillion have the site up for sale now............ anyhow enough of the wrongs, here is a bit of its history.
the site was purchased by the Birmingham and Gloucester Rly in 1845 and under a joint venture with the Gloucester and Bristol Rly they applied for permission to build a steam locomotive shed there. this never seemed to materilise and the those two companies merged into the MIDLAND RAILWAY in 1848 and the whole site was sold to the GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY who already had an established broad gauge station adjacent to the site. (the Midland Railway subsiquently built there depot accross the mainline at Barnwood.. report to follow)
the GWR didnt complete the shed and depot until 1854 and added a line to the docks soon after. by 1888 the GWR broad gauge track was replaced with standard guage track and its from this period that most of the buildings on the site date from.
things went well and it was always a busy depot, even under nationalisation in 1948 Horton Rd had over 100 steam locos allocated there and was given the shed code of 85B. it closed to steam in Jan 1966 and the onset of dieselisation meant a fuel point was added and the work bays converted. it ceased to by a maintanence depot in december 1990 but was a booking on point and stabling place for traction for a further 2 years with the staff moving to south Wales and loco repairs spread out around the country.
the site was still used for storage and for track machines and for a short time as a stabling point for a small railway distribution company which also went under. most of the site has been derelict since 1993 and odd bits empty for 3 years. aronists and general fly tippers ruined the place in this period but as its up for sale then who knows whats around the corner.
access fairly tight but no secuirity. its a place i visited many times at work in the 80's and to see it now like this does not make me happy. also every bit of elecrical wire has been stripped from the place and for some reason even the oak florr boards have been stolen in certain rooms.
here are the picks, with some shots of the place when it was a working depot i found in a book, hopefully you can compare those pics with my shots and match the buildingds.
outside looking east
100_3288 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
outside looking west
100_3284 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
the maintanence shed 2011
100_3258 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
the mainanence shed 1977
horton by annoyingly good, on Flickr
inside 2011
100_3269 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
inside 1974
IMG_NEW by annoyingly good, on Flickr
some equipment still in there
100_3276 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3275 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3274 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3277 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
admin block
100_3266 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3261 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3273 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3278 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3279 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3281 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3280 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
fuel and stabling area
100_3259 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3260 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3263 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3267 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3265 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3270 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
some curious thins left there................
a loco repair book
100_3262 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
a class 50 loco schematic diagram for air and vacuum brakes
100_3264 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
a double 16 inch grinding wheel system.
100_3271 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
at the far end of the depot is the old permanent way storage shed, or corregated iron construction used by track workers to hold their bits and bobs.
100_3285 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3286 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
anyone for a 3 aspect BR(W) signal ?
100_3287 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
last bits. the forlorness of it all and the waste oil pump no longer doing its job.
100_3268 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3272 by annoyingly good, on Flickr.
hopefully another new site not reported anywhere else and i hope it pleases some people.thank you and opnce again sorry for the spelling mistakes
site was aquired by Carrillion after railway privatization by PM J Major, i say aquired as our taxes under British Rail paid for most of whats there and a mixture of Railtrack (as it was then) and Jarvis where handed it in 1993. Railtrack became Network Rail and Jarvis went bust and Carrillion where given it. just like that, 2 square acres of prime land not 1/4 of a mile from Gloucester city centre just given away and gues what... yes Carrillion have the site up for sale now............ anyhow enough of the wrongs, here is a bit of its history.
the site was purchased by the Birmingham and Gloucester Rly in 1845 and under a joint venture with the Gloucester and Bristol Rly they applied for permission to build a steam locomotive shed there. this never seemed to materilise and the those two companies merged into the MIDLAND RAILWAY in 1848 and the whole site was sold to the GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY who already had an established broad gauge station adjacent to the site. (the Midland Railway subsiquently built there depot accross the mainline at Barnwood.. report to follow)
the GWR didnt complete the shed and depot until 1854 and added a line to the docks soon after. by 1888 the GWR broad gauge track was replaced with standard guage track and its from this period that most of the buildings on the site date from.
things went well and it was always a busy depot, even under nationalisation in 1948 Horton Rd had over 100 steam locos allocated there and was given the shed code of 85B. it closed to steam in Jan 1966 and the onset of dieselisation meant a fuel point was added and the work bays converted. it ceased to by a maintanence depot in december 1990 but was a booking on point and stabling place for traction for a further 2 years with the staff moving to south Wales and loco repairs spread out around the country.
the site was still used for storage and for track machines and for a short time as a stabling point for a small railway distribution company which also went under. most of the site has been derelict since 1993 and odd bits empty for 3 years. aronists and general fly tippers ruined the place in this period but as its up for sale then who knows whats around the corner.
access fairly tight but no secuirity. its a place i visited many times at work in the 80's and to see it now like this does not make me happy. also every bit of elecrical wire has been stripped from the place and for some reason even the oak florr boards have been stolen in certain rooms.
here are the picks, with some shots of the place when it was a working depot i found in a book, hopefully you can compare those pics with my shots and match the buildingds.
outside looking east
100_3288 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
outside looking west
100_3284 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
the maintanence shed 2011
100_3258 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
the mainanence shed 1977
horton by annoyingly good, on Flickr
inside 2011
100_3269 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
inside 1974
IMG_NEW by annoyingly good, on Flickr
some equipment still in there
100_3276 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3275 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3274 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3277 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
admin block
100_3266 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3261 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3273 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3278 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3279 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3281 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3280 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
fuel and stabling area
100_3259 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3260 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3263 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3267 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3265 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3270 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
some curious thins left there................
a loco repair book
100_3262 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
a class 50 loco schematic diagram for air and vacuum brakes
100_3264 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
a double 16 inch grinding wheel system.
100_3271 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
at the far end of the depot is the old permanent way storage shed, or corregated iron construction used by track workers to hold their bits and bobs.
100_3285 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3286 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
anyone for a 3 aspect BR(W) signal ?
100_3287 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
last bits. the forlorness of it all and the waste oil pump no longer doing its job.
100_3268 by annoyingly good, on Flickr
100_3272 by annoyingly good, on Flickr.
hopefully another new site not reported anywhere else and i hope it pleases some people.thank you and opnce again sorry for the spelling mistakes
Last edited:
