The Steaming Sixties: #10 -Scottish Sheds Swansong- Stirring Episodes From The Last Decade Of Steam

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The Steaming Sixties: #10 'Scottish Sheds Swansong' (IR788)

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Product No.: IR788
Title: The Steaming Sixties: #10 'Scottish Sheds Swansong'
Author(s): Anderson, Paul
Illustrator(s): N/A
Publisher: Irwell Press
ISBN: 9781906919788
Condition: New
Binding: Laminated Pictorial Boards
Dust Jacket: None
Edition: 1st Edition
Publication Year: 2015

Features: 64 Pages with Colour Photos.

There were 44 coded sheds in Scotland during BR days and with one exception all of them lasted until the 1960s. In addition around forty sub-sheds and a number of signing-on points were in use. St Margarets, in the east end of Edinburgh, was a classic example of a shed having outstations, no less than eight sub-sheds and eleven signing-on points existing at one time or another.

There were little sheds like Helmsdale and Forres, with an allocation of just five locos some time during the 1950s and enormous depots such as St Margarets, with 221 engines in 1950 and Polmadie in Glasgow with 182 in 1959. Each shed had its own character and the allocation reflected its duties. In 1950, nine out of twelve locos at Fort William were named K2s and K4s, the balance being three 0-6-0s for goods. At the same time, the six residents of Helensburgh were all V1 2-6-2Ts for suburban passenger work. Also in 1950, only three of the 35 engines at Grangemouth were classed as passenger locos.

Then there were the two main sheds with Pacifics and other large engines for express passenger trains, Polmadie serving the West Coast south from Glasgow Central and Haymarket for East Coast services out of Edinburgh Waverley. This book is a glimpse of locos on shed in Scotland during the last decade of steam, although a few interesting 1959 views have been included. It is obviously not comprehensive as everything depended on where A.G. Forsyth ventured, when he went (the weather was always vital for success) and what he decided to photograph. Haymarket, St Margarets and Dalry Road in Edinburgh are featured, but in their declining days.

The same applies to Polmadie, Eastfield and Corkerhill in Glasgow. Perth and Dundee are covered well, as are less celebrated sheds such as Bathgate and Dunfermline. There is also an impression of the final years at Thornton, Ferryhill and Stirling. Hints of Hawick, Dawsholm, Balornock, Ardrossan and Kittybrewster are included. Finally, the sub-shed at Montrose gets a look-in and two immaculate locos are seen at Inverurie Works. The reader will no doubt enjoy seeing several engines in sparkling condition, including WD 2-8-0s. Not every BR loco was disgracefully filthy in the 1960s!