A walk around the Derby Litchurch Lane works during the Greatest Gathering event
Just over a year ago one of the highlights of the Railway 200 events was the Greatest Gathering at Alstom's Derby Litchurch Lane works. The event was reminiscent of the works open days that were commonplace before the privatisation of the railways, though on a much bigger scale. Aside from the displays of modern and heritage locomotives, it was a chance to see inside the UK's last large scale train building site (with other UK works doing little more than final assembly on German, Spanish or Japanese built trains). The event was able to take place at the site due to a downturn in train building at the time. Alstom had completed orders for trains based on its Aventra design, with just an add on order of ten units for the Elizabeth Line to be constructed. Work had begun on refurbishing Cross Country's Voyager fleet and new HS2 trains were still at the development stage.
1914 Map (bottom right of map)
1914 Map (top right of map)
The works was never a locomotive works, it began as the Midland Railway's Carriage and Wagon Works. Derby had a locomotive works to the north of the carriage and wagon works, however that closed in 1990 and the site of it is today occupied by Pride Park industrial estate and Derby College, the latter retaining a couple of the historic buildings.
The modern works is recognisable from that shown on the old maps with a few of the buildings have been replaced by more modern structures more suitable for the modern fixed formation multiple unit trains.
Below - A map of the site seen on one of the walls during the event (click to enlarge).
Below - Entrance to the site from Litchurch Lane itself and A Shop, on the bottom left of the above map.
Below - BR Standard 73129, built at the nearby Derby Locomotive Works. The building behind is the K Shop. The more modern works buildings can be seen to the left, similar brick buildings would previously have occupied that area.
Below - The front of the K Shop.
Below - The A Shop.
Below - The T1 Shop, used for a recently completed contract to supply mono rail vehicles to Cairo.
Below - 46115, an LMS locomotive but one built by North British in Glasgow (site visit). The V Shop can be seen to the right, on the left can be seen the hard standing for pallets of panels and other components used to construct new trains.
In the following section there is a bit of my own guess work as to how the items seen in the works buildings fit in with the train building process. Please comment below if you know otherwise.
Below - Containers of panels for new train bodies seen across one of the transversers from the shop in which they would be assembled.
A road / rail vehicle used to move the parts around the works.
Below - The panels that are welded together.
Below - One of the roof sections in the jig in which it is assembled.
Below - The welding jig used to assemble the sections of panels.
Below - Some of the electrical components.
Below - The jigs on which side, roof and floor components would be put together to form a body shell.
Below - Here's one we made earlier. One of Greater Anglia's class 720 Aventra units.
Below - A Cross Country Voyager in for overhaul, These units were largely built in Bombardier's Bruge works with some final assembly at Crofton (site visit). The works usually just builds new trains but has taken on this work between orders for new stock.
Below - Midland Railway 1000, built in Derby Loco works.
Below - One of the traversers.
Below - A turntable is maintained on the site. It is presumably occasionally required to turn vehicles.
Below - Turning the clock back, the works originally built locomotive hauled coaching stock for the Midland Railway, London Midland and Scottish Railway and British Railways. Multiple unit construction began in the 1930s with what became the Class 502 units for Merseyside.
Below 44932. This was built at Horwich (site visit), behind is the U Shop.
Below - Inside the U Shop are examples of the PEP and Mk3 units of classes 507, 455 and 317 (all York built)
Below - Class 465 unit from the Networker family of units, this particular unit was built at Metro Cammell in Birmingham.
Below - Aventra class 345 unit for the Elizabeth Line seen on the works test track.
Below - On the corner of the G Shop (bottom right on the above map) is the Training Academy.
Below - A class 730 bodyshell and cab in the training academy.
Below - The venerable class 37 locos often haul new trains out of the works, though in this case it had brought a Spanish built Northern class 331 here for the event.
Below - Now outside the works site these former works offices on London Road have been put to new use as a school.
Below - The LMS lettering can be seen above the former doorway. After the grouping of 1923 the LMS built a few new offices as it brought together departments from the railways it took over resulting in a few grand Art Deco buildings such as those at Euston and Leeds.
