34-534: Old Oak Common TMD was a traction maintenance depot located west of London Paddington , in Old Oak Common . The depot codes were OC for the diesel depot and OO for the carriage shed. In steam days the shed code was 81A. The depot was formerly the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units from Paddington . However The 'HST' section of Old Oak Common TMD, more commonly known as 'Old Oak Common HST Depot' closed in 2018 with
68-400: A lower brake power output of 105 hp at 1,650 rpm. An unusual feature was the external cardan shaft drive from the gearbox on the rear of a horizontally mounted engine to road-vehicle style reduction boxes outboard of the two axles on one bogie. Later units had two such engine-and-drive combinations placed on opposite sides. Railcars 19–20 were fitted with a separate high-low ratio gearbox on
102-871: A new bespoke depot was constructed at the southern end of the site, between the Great Western depot and the main line, funded by the British Airports Authority to service and maintain the Heathrow Express and later the Heathrow Connect service trains. This was the first new privately funded train depot in the UK since the British railways nationalisation in 1948. The inauguration of the Heathrow Express services saw
136-680: A reduction in steam traction and the implementation of the Beeching cuts , in March 1964 the decision was taken to move the remaining steam locomotive allocation to the 1950s designed Southall MPD , and reconstruct Old Oak Common as a diesel depot. Within a year the majority of the GWR 1906 depot was demolished, with only "The Factory" repair shop, furthest western turntable and parts of the stores remaining. The main service building had 3 tracks, each holding two locos, with inspection pits, fuel supply points and
170-580: A site was acquired in South Acton , south of the Grand Union Canal and on the upside of the mainline. Taking four years to layout and build, designed by G.J. Churchward , it was the largest depot on the entire GWR system, and set the pattern for similar depots throughout the GWR including Tyseley . It had four 65 feet (19.8 m) undergirder turntables , under six-spans of east–west aligned northern-light pitched roofs . The shed covered
204-618: A total area of 360 feet (110 m) (six bays of 60 by 444 feet or 18.3 by 135.3 metres} (six bays of 74 feet or 22.6 metres). The roofs were made of wood and steel rafters covered in Welsh slate tiles, supported on steel or cast iron columns, with solid London Brick Company walls. Laid out in an interconnecting 4-square pattern under the roof, each electrically operated turntable was fully boarded, and had 28 tracks spanning from it, able to accommodate locomotives up to 75 feet (22.9 m) in length. The associated repair shop, termed The Factory ,
238-594: A washing plant on the approach road. Some of the inspection pits in The Factory were also lengthened and deepened and jacks provided to allow for bogie and spring changing. It opened on 20 October 1965. It was the last of six big diesel depots built for the Western Region, the others being Margam TMD 1960, Bristol Bath Road depot 1960, Laira Traction Maintenance Depot , Plymouth, 1962, Landore TMD , Swansea, 1963 and Cardiff Canton TMD 1964. Just south of
272-707: The Class 332 fleet was the last part of Old Oak Common TMD to close following the withdrawal and scrapping of the Class 332 EMUs, closing in February 2021. It has since been demolished. Old Oak Common railway station will open in 2026 as a major interchange station between the GWML, Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and High Speed 2 line from London Euston to Birmingham , Manchester and Leeds . Traction maintenance depot Too Many Requests If you report this error to
306-548: The Swanage Railway . From 2014 onwards, on the former EWS site and northern part of the former Coronation Sidings, a new depot was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction as part of the Crossrail project. Opening on 10 May 2018, it is equipped with stabling and nine maintenance roads. Operated by Alstom, it provides full servicing, maintenance and storage for the Class 345 trains which from operate between Reading on
340-782: The 117.5 miles (189.1 km) miles between Birmingham and Cardiff in 2 hours 20 minutes. This was intended as a businessman's service; fares were charged at the normal rate, although bookings were limited by the 44 seats of the railcar. The next three units, Nos. 5 to 7, entered service in July 1935 and had 70 seats. They were used on services between London, Oxford and Hereford . The next batches of railcars numbered 8 to 34 were of various designs and entered service in batches between 1936 and 1941. Two of these (17 and 34) were designed for express parcels services rather than passenger services. The earlier units operated as single railcars. The final four, numbered 35 to 38, were twin coupled units with
374-475: The 1960s, when they were replaced with the new British Rail "first generation" type diesel multiple units . The original design featured streamlined bodywork, which was very much the fashion at the time. The rounded lines of the first examples built led to their nickname: "flying banana". The preserved W4W is an example of the original, rounded body shape. Later "razor edge" examples, such as No. 27 (pictured), had much more angular (and practical) bodywork, yet
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#1732779799158408-614: The GWML and Shenfield on the Great Eastern Main Line . As a result of the development of the new HS2 station on the site, GWR phased-in a closure programme for its 125 Intercity Fleet depot. In December 2017, maintenance of the Night Riviera was transferred to Penzance Long Rock Depot with the stock laying over at Reading TMD at its northern end. The last HST to run from Old Oak Common ran from OOC to London Paddington station on 8 December 2018. A headboard
442-476: The GWR ordered the next three production units, Nos. 2 to 4, which were built with two engines (instead of one) which allowed them to reach a maximum speed of 80 mph (130 km/h), and included a buffet. These units were delivered in July 1934 and entered service on 15 July 1934 between Birmingham Snow Hill and Cardiff General . This was the first long-distance diesel express service in Britain, and covered
476-581: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 208058859 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:43:19 GMT GWR railcars In 1933, the Great Western Railway introduced the first of what was to become a successful series of diesel railcars , which survived in regular use into
510-503: The area. On the privatisation of BR, the buildings were allocated to English Welsh & Scottish , and latterly operated by its commercial subsidiary Axiom Rail. From 2000 onwards, developments were focused on the southern section of the former GWR site, either side of the 1970s BR High Speed Train depot. Added to in width, this allowed this part of the depot to service all Classes operated by Great Western Railway , Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect . The allocation in 2004 was: By
544-507: The chassis. Another unusual aspect to this system was that vacuum was increased in the vacuum brake cylinder to apply the brakes, this being contrary to normal British railway practice, in which the vacuum is reduced to apply the brakes. The prototype unit, No. 1, made its first run on 1 December 1933 between London Paddington and Reading with a large number of press representatives. Three days later this unit entered public service between Slough , Windsor and Didcot . Soon after this,
578-441: The driver to suit the demand required by a solo railcar, or plus one, or plus two, trailer vehicles. The fuel was the same diesel as was used by the railcar's engines, drawn from a separate 45-gallon tank. The water supply for the heating system was a single 100-gallon tank. Railcars No. 1 to No. 18 were powered by a high-speed diesel engine manufactured by A.E.C , producing a maximum brake power output of 130 hp (97 kW). The engine
612-532: The driving cabs at the outer ends of the set, and were the forerunners of today's diesel multiple units . These had the capacity for 104 passengers, and a standard corridor coach could be installed between the two cars to increase the seating capacity to 184. These were introduced in November 1941 and worked the Birmingham-Cardiff service. Five of the 38 railcars were destroyed by fires: Three of
646-424: The electrification of the GWML from Paddington to Hayes and onto Heathrow Airport using 25 kV overhead catenary. On 26 July 2002, First Great Western opened a new depot on the site of the former carriage sidings to service its Class 180 fleet. The residual GWR buildings were used from the 1970s to house and maintain singular diesel locomotives, special trains, and maintain carriages and freight stock in
680-545: The end of 2009, from north to south, the site layout was: In May 2009, EWS vacated their site. This part of the site, together with the adjacent Coronation Carriage Sidings was fenced off due to compulsory purchase for the Crossrail project. All the remaining GWR Factory buildings and the Coronation Carriage Sidings were demolished by mid-2011, with the former northwestern shed turntable donated to
714-404: The final drive side of the gearbox, which allowed a top speed of about 60–70 mph (97–113 km/h) in high and about 40–45 mph (64–72 km/h) in low. Railcar W20W retains this in preservation. The brake system on railcars No. 2, 3 and 4 was unconventional. Instead of the usual vacuum -actuated tread brakes used on most British rolling stock of the period, an automotive-style system
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#1732779799158748-450: The inside face of one wheel per axle. The vacuum necessary for brake operation was created by three rotary exhausters , two being driven directly from the engines (one by each engine). The third exhauster was chain-driven by the final drive shaft. This arrangement allowed vacuum to be maintained during coasting, when the engines would be shut down. The system operated at a vacuum of 22 to 24 inches of mercury , stored in four reservoirs on
782-541: The nickname persisted for these too. The interiors of railcars No. 1 to No. 18 were heated by using waste heat from the engine cooling water. This system proved unreliable in service due to issues with the thermostatic valves employed. Later vehicles from No. 19 onward abandoned this system due to its unreliability and because their revised specification demanded that they be able to haul steam-heated rolling stock. These later vehicles, No. 19 onwards, were equipped with steam heating systems which were capable of heating both
816-724: The removal of the InterCity 125s from services on the Great Western Main Line (GWML). This closure was to make way for the development of the HS2 project. Maintenance of the new InterCity Express Trains is carried out at North Pole IET Depot which is situated opposite the site of Old Oak Common TMD whilst the Night Riviera sleeper train was transferred to Penzance Long Rock Depot in December 2017. A new depot
850-653: The residual GWR buildings, in the 1960s BR built what was initially the storage depot for the Blue Pullman trains, what later became known as the Coronation Carriage Sidings. In the late 1970s, south of this and almost adjacent to the Great Western Main Line (GWML), BR built a depot for the new InterCity 125 fleet. Until December 2018 these serviced and maintained the Great Western Railway InterCity 125 fleet. In 1997
884-467: The shed housed a standard GWR pattern coal stage, again the largest on the system. It was approached via a 1:50 gradient brick-arch supported ramp, with 1:80 beyond the stage. In 1938, the approach roads to and from the coal stage were doubled, and in 1942 an ash shelter constructed to protect from Nazi Luftwaffe bombing. The four water tanks housed over the stage held 290,000 imperial gallons (1,300,000 L; 350,000 US gal) of water, while sand
918-560: 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 empty coaching stock movements. Following the reconstruction of Paddington station and the introduction of larger locomotives and new routes, the Great Western Railway (GWR) required a larger depot than that at the 1855 constructed Westbourne Park , at which to service its locomotives and carriages. In 1901,
952-528: The vehicle's interior and that of any additional trailed vehicles, via a steam supply to the standard steam heating equipment. Steam was produced by a fully automatic Vapor Clarkson steam generator manufactured by Gresham and Craven Ltd under licence from the Vapor car co. The generator was of the water tube with counterflow arrangement type, and could supply up to 300 lb of steam per hour, at 45 lb per square inch. The quantity of steam supplied could be varied by
986-472: Was adopted, utilising vacuum-hydraulically actuated drum brakes. A vacuum brake cylinder and hydraulic master cylinder set was mounted on each bogie. From the master cylinder, hydraulic fluid passed through hoses to the operating cylinders. The operating cylinders actuated cam mechanisms within the brake drums to apply the internally expanding brake shoes to the inside circumference of the drums. The 20 inch internal diameter cast steel brake drums were bolted to
1020-423: Was allocated to the northeast front of the depot, with 11 roads approached over an electric traverser, and a 12th road direct from the depot throat. Built in a similar style to the depot, it was 195 feet (59 m) by 110 feet (34 m) in size, and housed a 30-long-ton (30.5 t; 33.6-short-ton) crane. There were also separate blacksmiths and carpenters workshops, a stores and a general office. The approach to
1054-608: Was attached to the front power car, 43093, which said: "81A Old Oak Common LAST HST 8th December 2018". 43093 had already been named "Old Oak Common HST Depot 1978-2018" and was in the Legends of the Great Western Railway livery, but even more was added on this date; a logo which read "Old Oak Common History Makers" and another sign which read "Last HST off Old Oak Common Depot 8th December 2018". The Heathrow Express EMU depot which had operated since 1997 maintaining
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1088-656: Was built approximately a 1/4 mile to the east of the existing depot, primarily to service and stable the Class 345 trains that have been ordered for the Elizabeth line part of the Crossrail project. The depot opened in May 2018 and took the name of the existing depot. The area is also where two Great Western Railway main lines divide: the 1838 route to Reading via Slough , and the 1906 "New North Main Line" (present-day Acton–Northolt line ) via Greenford to Northolt Junction ,
1122-421: Was of the straight 6 configuration , with a bore of 115 mm diameter and a stroke of 142 mm. This gave a total displacement of 8.85 litres. The maximum operating speed was 1,800 rpm. Railcars No. 19 onwards were powered by a modified version of the previous engine. This engine was equipped with direct injection and the bore diameter was enlarged to 120 mm, the stroke remaining at 142 mm. This engine produced
1156-502: Was supplied from a separate sand furnace. The whole depot came into operation from 17 March 1906, and became the head of the GWR London operating division. Throughout its GWR and early BR operational life, the depot remained fairly intact and similar to its original layout. The only major difference by the early 1960s was the addition of a pre-war diesel refuelling stage just north of the repair shop, for use by GWR railcars . With
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