GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Bordesley Shed: gwrbg-shed1734

Photograph showing the Birmingham end of Bordesley engine shed with a locomotive standing over one of the ash pits. This shed was built in 1855 for the broad gauge locomotives that operated on the Birmingham & Oxford Junction Railway, but was modified when the Great Western Railway converted its northern routes to standard gauge. This is why the door apertures appear so much larger than necessary. The shed was a brick structure with large round topped windows and had a gable style roof with central clearstory to assist ventilation. The shed was 327 feet long and 58 feet wide, but an office and store on the right hand side at this end meant the width at this point was 65 feet. The four roads ran the length of the building with 316 feet long pits under each. All four roads were accessible from both ends of the building. The attached store was sixty foot long by seven feet wide, while several separate adjacent buildings included; another store (36 feet by 20 feet), offices (48 feet by 15 feet), smithy (50 feet by 23.5 feet) and a sand furnace (16 feet by 23.5). There was also a Boiler House (20 feet, 7 inches by 18 feet, 4 inches and Pump House (16 feet by 16 feet). In 1902 a new 45 foot diameter turntable was installed in the area behind the photographer, together with a large covered coaling stage, these replaced existing facilities. The Bordesley engine shed closed in June 1908 following the construction of the new facilities at Tyseley.

Robert Ferris

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