Swindon Works

[EbbwJunction1]

In the Great Western Echo (the magazine of the Great Western Society) for Winter 2024, there's a panoramic view of Swindon Works. It was taken from the roof of the Pattern Store Tank, but sadly it's undated. Amongst other things, it shows the "A" Erecting Shop, the Reception Shed and, in front of the former, "The Barn" where light boiler works were undertaken.

Including boilers on trolleys, there are almost 50 locomotives shown, and I'd like to ask a question about one of these. To the side of "The Barn", it looks very much as if there's an ex-LMS Ivatt 2-6-2 tank. This surprises me, as I didn't think that Swindon overhauled anything that wasn't originally a GWR locomotive. I've found that some were allocated to the Western Region of BR in the 1950s and 1960s; these included nos. 41202, 41203 and 41249 which were allocated to Bristol Bath Road in 1959.

So, although the allocation timescale is at the end of the 1950s, would they have been sent to Swindon for overhaul or returned to (say) Derby or Crewe? If the former, could the mystery loco be one of the ones listed above?

Your help with this will be appreciated; thank you.

 

[Clarence Yard]

Swindon were responsible for the maintenance on the SR fleet (41290-41319) up until late 1956. The WR fleet were still dealt with at Crewe during this period.

 

[Harvester]

Then Eastleigh took over the SR examples (41290-41319) from late 1956 onwards. The WR allocated locos continued to be the responsibility of Crewe, so the photo showing the Ivatt 2-6-2T at Swindon must have been predated late 1956.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Swindon were responsible for the maintenance on the SR fleet (41290-41319) up until late 1956. The WR fleet were still dealt with at Crewe during this period.

Then Eastleigh took over the SR examples (41290-41319) from late 1956 onwards. The WR allocated locos continued to be the responsibility of Crewe, so the photo showing the Ivatt 2-6-2T at Swindon must have been predated late 1956.

Thank you, both, that's very interesting.

The description in the magazine says "Mid 1950s", so I guess that it's likely that it would have been one of the SR fleet rather than the WR fleet.

Do either of you know whether there are there any records available of the maintenance of the SR fleet at Swindon prior to 1956, please?

Thanks again!

 

[Rescars]

Swindon were responsible for the maintenance on the SR fleet (41290-41319) up until late 1956. The WR fleet were still dealt with at Crewe during this period.

There must have been a good reason for this, but it does seem odd that these fleets were being transferred to other regions for maintenance when there would appear to have been the skills available for this to have been carried out locally. There is a logic in the work bring done at Crewe, which built many of the class in the first place, but if Swindon could look after the SR locos, how come they didn't look after their own?

 

[43096]

There must have been a good reason for this, but it does seem odd that these fleets were being transferred to other regions for maintenance when there would appear to have been the skills available for this to have been carried out locally. There is a logic in the work bring done at Crewe, which built many of the class in the first place, but if Swindon could look after the SR locos, how come they didn't look after their own?

Balancing workloads between different workshops would be one possible explanation?

 

[Harvester]

There must have been a good reason for this, but it does seem odd that these fleets were being transferred to other regions for maintenance when there would appear to have been the skills available for this to have been carried out locally. There is a logic in the work bring done at Crewe, which built many of the class in the first place, but if Swindon could look after the SR locos, how come they didn't look after their own?

I suspect that until late 1956 Eastleigh wasn’t fully equipped to handle heavy repairs to modern non-Southern designs, so the region’s Ivatt 2-6-2 tanks were sent to Swindon. By the time Eastleigh was upgraded (late 1956) Swindon would be experiencing capacity problems as it geared up for pending Warship (class 42) construction, hence responsibility for the SR Ivatts could be shifted to Eastleigh.

 

[Clarence Yard]

Eastleigh was dealing with various Standards and Fairburn 2-6-4T tanks in 1954/5.

Swindon didn’t have capacity issues either. The reallocation was all about balancing workloads at a time when the total of needed steam overhauls all over the BR system was starting to decrease. The Standards and Ivatts were the “swing variables” in re-allocating work between the then regional workshops.

SR simply had enough spare capacity in 1956 to take on the work.

The capacity issue at WR workshops only became an issue much later on, which led to WR allocated 57xx pannier tanks being overhauled at Eastleigh (alongside SR allocated examples) and by Beyer Peacock, in Manchester.