BRITISH RAILWAYS LONDON WESTERN REGION LOCOMOTIVE DEPOTS 1948-59
In each case - at any given time - every steam locomotive would be allocated to a specific depot. On the Great Western Railway up to 1947 this allocation would be identified by a three latter code painted in white letters just behind the buffer beam. Gloucester Horton Road, for example, was GLO. Further examples of pre-Nationalisation Great Western shed codes are listed below in [ square brackets ]. The codes of Western Region locomotive depots - such as Abergavenny - that had belonged to the London Midland and Scottish Railway before 1948 are shown in ( round brackets).
Upon Nationalisation however, the LMS system of alphanumeric shedplates attached to locomotive smokebox doors was adopted. Gloucester Horton Road thus went from GLO to 85B while Gloucester Barnwood stayed as 22B until becoming part of Western Region during 1957 and being recoded as 85E. Barnwood was further recoded 85C by 1962 after the closure of the former GWR Hereford depot.
The chart below shows the hierarchical relationships between different locomotive depots and the way - during the 1950s -in which they moved from one family group to another as British Railways regions reorganised. From the 1960s onward locomotive depots diminished in number as the traditional labour-intensive practices of steam locomotive maintenance gave way to the more centralised care of a smaller fleet of diesel and electric units.
Main district depots are shown in bold with their sub sheds listed beneath alongside each shedcode.
Castle class 4-6-0 5077 "Fairey Battle" rests on Cardiff Canton Depot (86C) in 1960. Before World War II,5077 had been named "Eastnor Castle": a name carried by fellow Castle class member 7004 by 1948.
For more about British aircraft of World War II - and other eras - in the Jet Age Reserve Model Collection click on the picture
