Day out at Barrow Hill Railway Museum, Trains Galore
In this video we visit the Barrow Hill Engine Shed and Roundhouse near Chesterfield in Derbyshire.
Barrow Hill Roundhouse is the last surviving railway roundhouse in the United Kingdom with an operational turntable. Built in 1870, it was threatened with demolition in 1991 when the site was closed by British Rail. It was saved by a group of dedicated volunteers who have transformed it into a unique railway museum and events venue. In 1998 it opened to the public.
These days, it includes a cafe, a great display of heritage and stored modern working engines. Turntable demonstrations take place every few hours on most days. A working signal box also gives demonstrations further up the yard.
As well as engines including a mixture of steam engines, electric and diesel locos in the shed. There is usually an interesting mix of other locos in the sidings outside including at the time of our visit a class 91, class 45, class 82 and class 57.
This is also home to the Deltic Preservation Society who reside in one of the units at Barrow Hill. In here you can see work being carried out on the three resident class 55 Deltics. One of the highlights of the trips for me was sitting in the cab of 55008 which sit to the back of the shed.
A brief history of Barrow Hill
The North Midland Railway reached Staveley by 1841 when the original Barrow Hill station opened on April 6th. It closed on November 15th 1888 and with the opening of the Clowne and Mansfield branch the new station opened the same date. The station was renamed “Barrow Hill & Staveley Works”. An engine shed was built near the station in 1865 with a capacity for four engines.
In 1866 the Midland Railway signed an agreement with Staveley Works whereby they purchased and would operate the works internal private railway for 100 years. The vast increase in traffic created a need for more locomotives and a much larger shed. The result was the present Roundhouse.
The former steam roundhouse located at Barrow Hill near Chesterfield, is a unique example of 19th century railway architecture. It is the last surviving operational roundhouse engine shed in Great Britain.
Construction commenced in July 1869 and it was completed in November 1870. The Midland Railway Company contracted I.E. Hall to build the depot. The final cost being £16,445 4s 9d. It comprises 24 roads of which the longest is 80 feet and the shortest 60 feet. Following the opening in 1870 it was in continuous use until it finally closed its doors in 1991 after a working life of 121 years.
When the Midland Railway introduced their system of shed codes in 1898, Barrow Hill was given the code M24. This was later changed by the LMS to 18D in 1935. In February 1958 it changed again to 41E when the area was taken over by the Eastern region of British Railways. On October 4th 1965 after the depot closed its doors to steam it was given the code letters BH.
3 авг 2023
