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History
Heaton Traction Maintenance Depot is situated in Heaton, a residential suburb in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located approximately two miles away from the East Coast Main Line. The shed was originally constructed by the North Eastern Railway (NER) in the mid-1800s, to house steam locomotives that mainly served a considerable section of local passenger traffic from the main line and the Heaton Marshalling Yards. Although Heaton was a busy depot, it was disliked by many of the train crews on account of the needs to pass through three tunnels; toxic smoke would enter the train cabs and this led to breathing difficulties in later life. This problem was resolved in 1905, however, when the railway was electrified.
Following a period of rail nationalisation, which brought the ‘Big Four’ British railway companies together, the Heaton shed was taken over by British Railways in 1954. During this time the shed had ninety five locomotives assigned to it. It is believed that the shed featured in this report closed sometime in the late 1980s, owing to a rapid decline in locomotive hauled services. The shed did, however, remain in service through the 1990s to store non-operational coaching stock. By the early 2000s, the shed was disconnected from the mainline and is not cut off from the remainder of the working depot.
Our Version of Events
It was a gloomy afternoon as we pulled into a small, conveniently located, car park in Heaton. There was a petrol tanker parked nearby, emptying its load for the live maintenance depot. Doing our best to avoid being seen by the workers as we made our way towards the old depot, we slipped off into some nearby bushes. It took a bit of a climb to get into the site itself, but nothing too testing. At this point, we now found ourselves inside a dark overgrown compound. We walked up to the decaying remains of the shed and peered through one of the windows. Inside, we could see that nature had taken hold, as bushes and other plants gripped tightly to the old wooden walkways. Glancing down at the floor we could see some railway lines still in situ, protruding through the overgrowth. While there were no trains, which was a little disappointing, it looked as though there was still some evidence that an old depot existed here.
After several minutes of faffing around, we found ourselves inside. Our only obstacle had been a flight of stairs, before we were suddenly greeted by a huge train depot that is completely overrun with wildlife. Although there wasn’t actually much there, it looked even more incredible from the inside. It was a pleasant walk down to the bottom end, ducking and diving between the platforms, and balancing unsteadily along the graffitied tracks. As we found the shed very photogenic, quite a lot of our time was spent in the main part of the building. There are a few other rooms worth checking out too; the most interesting being the boiler room and the shitters, which were surprisingly intact considering how long the place has been empty. A fleeting glance was all that was required for the last few rooms, they were pretty unexciting. At that stage, with the building completely covered, we made a stealthy walk back to the car. None of the workmen seemed to have batted an eyelid.
Explored with Ford Mayhem.
Heaton Traction Maintenance Depot is situated in Heaton, a residential suburb in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located approximately two miles away from the East Coast Main Line. The shed was originally constructed by the North Eastern Railway (NER) in the mid-1800s, to house steam locomotives that mainly served a considerable section of local passenger traffic from the main line and the Heaton Marshalling Yards. Although Heaton was a busy depot, it was disliked by many of the train crews on account of the needs to pass through three tunnels; toxic smoke would enter the train cabs and this led to breathing difficulties in later life. This problem was resolved in 1905, however, when the railway was electrified.
Following a period of rail nationalisation, which brought the ‘Big Four’ British railway companies together, the Heaton shed was taken over by British Railways in 1954. During this time the shed had ninety five locomotives assigned to it. It is believed that the shed featured in this report closed sometime in the late 1980s, owing to a rapid decline in locomotive hauled services. The shed did, however, remain in service through the 1990s to store non-operational coaching stock. By the early 2000s, the shed was disconnected from the mainline and is not cut off from the remainder of the working depot.
Our Version of Events
It was a gloomy afternoon as we pulled into a small, conveniently located, car park in Heaton. There was a petrol tanker parked nearby, emptying its load for the live maintenance depot. Doing our best to avoid being seen by the workers as we made our way towards the old depot, we slipped off into some nearby bushes. It took a bit of a climb to get into the site itself, but nothing too testing. At this point, we now found ourselves inside a dark overgrown compound. We walked up to the decaying remains of the shed and peered through one of the windows. Inside, we could see that nature had taken hold, as bushes and other plants gripped tightly to the old wooden walkways. Glancing down at the floor we could see some railway lines still in situ, protruding through the overgrowth. While there were no trains, which was a little disappointing, it looked as though there was still some evidence that an old depot existed here.
After several minutes of faffing around, we found ourselves inside. Our only obstacle had been a flight of stairs, before we were suddenly greeted by a huge train depot that is completely overrun with wildlife. Although there wasn’t actually much there, it looked even more incredible from the inside. It was a pleasant walk down to the bottom end, ducking and diving between the platforms, and balancing unsteadily along the graffitied tracks. As we found the shed very photogenic, quite a lot of our time was spent in the main part of the building. There are a few other rooms worth checking out too; the most interesting being the boiler room and the shitters, which were surprisingly intact considering how long the place has been empty. A fleeting glance was all that was required for the last few rooms, they were pretty unexciting. At that stage, with the building completely covered, we made a stealthy walk back to the car. None of the workmen seemed to have batted an eyelid.
Explored with Ford Mayhem.
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