Carnforth - ten years on...

TEN years ago this month, the end of steam on British Railways was reaching a climax. The last official workings were due to take place over the weekend 3-4 August, with a grand steam finale the following weekend. Locomotive No. 44871 at Carnforth Motive Power Depot on 13 August 1968, was the last locomotive to remain in steam at a British Railways depot, and that evening its fire was dropped giving it a place in history. Dennis Lovett takes up the story . . .

During those last weeks Carnforth had become a popular place for the many railway enthusiasts who made a pilgrimage there. To someone like me, who had been born in the 1950's, this was the last opportunity to take in all the delights and mystery of the machines that had served our railways so well. As a 14-year-old schoolboy, with a notebook and a Kodak Instamatic camera, I set off for Carnforth, a place that I had never even heard of, but since then have been unable to forget. Now just a few minutes from the M6, the place where it all happened 10 years ago remains. And whenever an opportunity exists, Carnforth MPD or Steamtown, as it is now known, provides an ideal stopping place on the way north. This article sets out to give an impression of the last days of steam and the way that Carnforth has retained its features to become one of our biggest steam centres. In either guise it gives modellers an opportunity to see what modelling a depot of this size involves, before building a home to house one's collection of locomotives.

Historical Notes
Carnforth is situated on the main London-Carlisle main line. This line was built by the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway, and became part of the London & North Western Railway in l859. A junction with the Furness Railway line to Barrow was established in 1846. Much mineral traffic was destined for Midland Railway Metals, and the Midland opened a joint line with the Furness Railway in 1867. This new line connected with the Lancaster (Green Ayre to Settle Junction on the main Leeds-Carlisle line at Wennington. All three companies serving Carnforth had locomotive depots in the town, and the situation did not change until after the grouping when all three companies became part of the LMS in 1923. The Furness shed was made redundant and the allocation split between the two remaining sheds. The site of the demolished Furness shed was used for the building of the present structure during the war (opened in May 1944 . Locally based prisoners of war were employed during its construction. The ex-LNWR shed was demolished and the Midland shed was sold to an industrial concern and is still in use to this day. Carnforth remained a locomotive depot of some importance right up to the end of steam. The shed closed in March I969 with a diesel allocation) and over 300 men were made redundant. When the last steam locomotives were being withdrawn, several had been acquired from British Rail with a view to them being used on the Lakeside line, and were stored on site. From Christmas 1968 two roads of the shed were leased for steam locomotives to be stored. When the depot closed on 31 March 1969 the rest of the depot was taken over. The Lakeside Railway eventually went its own way and some of the locomotives went with it. Steamtown, however, had been born, and since then has become an important asset to the railway preservation movement. With steam railtours much in demand, Carnforth has become a centre of increasing importance. Steam locomotives require turning, coaling, etc., and Carnforth, with a 70 ft. turntable and 150-ton coaling plant, is the ideal place to do it.

For the modeller
In the 10 years since the end of steam on British Railways, Carnforth MPD has changed very little. Apart from the conversion of rooms to provide a gift shop and a refreshment room the lifting of a few sidings and the addition of the small halt for train rides, etc., much of the character of 1968 has been retained. This gives the modeller two options in considering a model of Carnforth MPD. He can either model the site as it was in BR days or, for those who favour electric and diesel traction, adopt the site in its present role as a preservation centre. The track plan shows the depot in its present state. By comparing photographs it is possible to see that the present car park has been extended by lifting some trackwork which on 3 August 1968 stored redundant locomotives. Ice cream huts, the small halt, etc., have been omitted from the plan. Anyone considering modelling a depot of this size will obviously have to reduce the length of the shed, etc., and omit various details (e.g. the trackwork to the east of the turntable). This will depend on the amount of space available for the model.

Article from "Railway Modeller",  August 1978 reproduced by kind permission of Peco Publications.

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