Ashford Railway Depot, Kent - June 2022

[Landie_Man]

Ashford Railway Depot, Kent - June 2022



Explored in the early summer with @Dragon_Urbex during a small Kent/Essex road trip where we spent a lot of time hanging out at St Martins Asylum. It was a lovely, sunny few days and we had a fairly large hit list, some we won, some we lost.

We descended upon this Old School site in Ashford; Dragon was disinterested, but I found it very interesting indeed, great light and some lovely photo ops here. Ashford Locomotive Works,started operating in 1847, when the South Eastern Railway constructed a new 185 acre Locomotive Repair Works which replaced their earlier works at New Cross in London.

Come 1850, over 130 houses had been constructed for staff, employing over 600 people. In the 1880s the works employed 1,300 staff. The works constructed over 630 locomotives and have built a vast number of different engines; the most notable being The Bulleid 0-6-0 Q1s, and a number of LMSR 2-8-0 8Fs for the war department during the 1940s.

The workshops eventually closed in 1962, whilst wagon manufacture and repairs continued here until 1982 when the entire site finally closed.

In April 2020 Planning Permission was granted by Ashford Borough Council; giving the go ahead for a £250m mixed-use regeneration project. Largely based around a brand new, state-of-the-art TV and Film Production space, the development is estimated to support 2,000 new jobs and create a new hub for the creative industries, which will improve Ashford’s connectivity to London and Europe.

These plans will breathe new life into the Grade II listed locomotive sheds, which will be converted into apartments, workshops and a new Kent Film School. The project will also include the building of a 120-bed hotel, a roof-top restaurant and a multi-storey car park.

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Thanks For Looking,

More At:
https://flickr.com/photos/landie_man/albums/72177720300551262

 

[HistoryBuff]

Awesome photos!

 

[Hayman]

One of the hallowed haunts for railway enthusiasts. I'm more a Great Western man, and when at school we had a visit to the ex-GWR Swindon works. I still remember the smell of the milk-like lubricant used on the screw-cutting lathes. Let's hope Ashord receives a sympathetic re-use.

 

[night crawler]

One of the hallowed haunts for railway enthusiasts. I'm more a Great Western man, and when at school we had a visit to the ex-GWR Swindon works. I still remember the smell of the milk-like lubricant used on the screw-cutting lathes. Let's hope Ashord receives a sympathetic re-use.

That stuff used to stink when it got old and youhad to change it stuff congealed in the sump with swarf. It was a mineral oil mixed with water, I used to make gallons of it when I was an apprentice and get covered in the stuff, it made you smell of it as well. They still use a similar thing now and it still stinks

 

[Hayman]

That stuff used to stink when it got old and youhad to change it stuff congealed in the sump with swarf. It was a mineral oil mixed with water, I used to make gallons of it when I was an apprentice and get covered in the stuff, it made you smell of it as well. They still use a similar thing now and it still stinks

Yes, it did have that sharp smell of sour milk.