John G. Larkin

Towards AD 2000

Much has happened since those pioneering and epoch-making days when the first public railway, the Stockton & Darlington, was opened in 1825 for coal carrying and the second, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, was opened in 1830 mainly for passenger carrying. Whereas the railways gradually replaced most of the canal traffic, the motorways — all built since the second world war — have taken over a massive proportion of former rail traffic.

Production Planning and Control

The primary objectives of the main works of British Railways are to provide facilities and resources for the construction and repair of BR locomotives and rolling stock fleets at minimum cost, in accordance with quality assurance standards and specifications set by the Director of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Where manufacturing capacity surplus to the needs of these primary activities can be identified, it is a secondary aim of BREL to optimise the use of such resources by engaging in profitable private-party and export work. Miscellaneous work is also undertaken for all departments of BR, including such major items as the repair of mobile breakdown cranes.

Machinery and Plant

The number and variety of cutting and forming machine tools currently in use in the various machine shops of the main works for the repair and construction of locomotives, carriages and wagons or other aids to production is so great that it is difficult to visualise the dearth of facilities at the beginning of the railway age in Britain. It is appropriate to consider some developments in machinery and plant as well as the materials used since that early date, and also to indicate the importance of the railway engineer in optimising the combined influence of design, materials, tools, machinery and technology.

Railway History Affecting the Workshops

The nineteenth century in Britain, a period of momentous and exciting change, was the era when the railway workshops appeared on the industrial scene in which they were to play a decisive role. The spread of the ‘iron way’ across the country, the development of locomotives and rolling stock, the story of the railway founding fathers, all conjure up a romantic picture closely associated with Britain’s industrial progress. Once the idea of the railway had been conceived, there had to be a place where rails were cast and iron plates and castings made to produce the component parts of the locomotives, carriages and wagons, and where they could be assembled, aided only by the simplest equipment and powered largely by human muscle.

The Railway Workshops in Two World Wars

The main works are not always associated with their war-time record, yet their collective achievements had no equal in non-governmental establishments throughout the two world wars. The works provided the railways with the means to transport troops, evacuees and war materials under difficult and often — in the second world war — dangerous conditions. They also manufactured huge quantities of war products of all kinds, which greatly furthered the war effort of the country. The challenge of those international crises demonstrates the adaptability and skills of Britain’s railway engineers.

Repair of Locomotives, Carriages and Wagons

The history of the repair of railway rolling stock is a sparsely-documented field. Understandably the design and construction of railway vehicles, especially locomotives, has a far greater general appeal than the important task of maintaining the locomotives, carriages and wagons in a serviceable state to enable them to perform their function in a safe and economical way. Yet the cost of a railway vehicle’s main workshop repairs over its total life will amount to some four times the original cost of production.

The Main Works of the Former GWR

The history of the Southern Railway (SR) began with the opening in 1803 of the Surrey Iron Railway, the first public rail transport undertaking in the world. The earliest workshop accommodation in south-east London was provided for the London to Greenwich Railway, opened in 1836, by which time the railways were proliferating, with the opening of the London to Southampton line (1840), the London to Brighton line (1841) and the London to Folkestone line (1843). These routes developed into the London & South-Western Railway, the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SC) and the South-Eastern & Chatham Railway until the amalgamation of 1923. The first locomotive for the South-Western Railway was built by contractors in 1835, and by 1844 locomotives were being built at Nine Elms by Daniel Gooch, who was responsible for the construction at Nine Elms in 1849 of the express locomotive ‘Etna’. In 1890 carriage and wagon work was transferred from Nine Elms to Eastleigh, and locomotive work was similarly transferred in 1909. The first of the Drummond 463 class locomotives were built at Eastleigh in 1912.

The railway workshops of Britain, 1823-1986

Railway history affecting the workshops before the 1923 amalgamation railway history affecting the workshops, 1923 to 1947 railway history affecting the workshops since nationalization in 1948 the main works of the former G.W.R. the main works of the former L.M.S.R. the main works of the former L.N.E.R. the main works of the former S.R. repair of locomotives, carriages and wagons building a locomotive of the Princess Royal type in 1935 works organization and management production planning and control quality assurance machinery and plant specialized activities the railway workshops in two world wars training of staff industrial relations financial control towards 2000 AD.

Works Organisation and Management

In the days of George Stephenson the railway workshops were no different from most if not all other engineering workshops. Apart from the designers no specialist engineers were employed. Machines and equipment were mostly of a very simple character and a high proportion of hand work was involved. The key man was the foreman, or workshop supervisor, on the shop floor, essentially a practical man whose main function was to hand out work in the order he thought fit, to say how it should be done and to see that his staff produced what was required.

Training of Staff

In recent years staff under training in the main works have been divided into eight distinct categories consisting of craft apprentices, craftsmen, workshop supervisory, clerical personnel, administrative personnel, technicians, technologists and professional engineers, and management.