EASTLEIGH WORKS
Images at and accessable to the Transport Treasury archive
Like most of the railway workshops, there were few tasks the works could not turn their hand to. Ingots or plate steel or other metal received in and then cut or cast into whatever was required. In this example molten iron is being poured into the casting for a cylinder in June 1954. (We are not told what class of engine this was for.) (S C Townroe)
In the process of repair, No 34106 Lydford is positioned on the rollers ready for valve setting. The exterior casing is also yet to be added. (Ken Wightman)
Stranger in the camp - 5: GWR 2-8-0 No 2818 inside Eastleigh works in late 1965 or early 1966. Withdrawn by the Western Region from Neath in November 1963 it found its way to Swindon by the following month, after that languishing around the works area and dump until late 1965. It was then selected for preservation and taken to Eastleigh for a full cosmetic overhaul to GWR livery and now resides at its spiritual home in the STEAM museum at Swindon.
Most scrapping took place at the rear of the works. Usually the first stage was the removal of the connecting and coupling rods, which would make the engine easier to move into the required position with less resistance from the pistons. Then any parts that might be required to be salvaged were taken off, followed by a gradual reduction from the top down. Opposite No 30753 formerly named Melisande is being stripped of parts, above an unidentified 4-6-0 will soon be reduced to pieces that will be craned into wagons and sold off for scrap.
Looking out over the lines at the front of the works, across the line to Fareham, the carriage sidings and what was known as Tipton yard towards the carriage works. Here lines of items of rolling stock may be seen and displaying different liveries. Like the loco works, some new, some in for overhaul or repair and some condemned being stripped of anything useful - ‘twas ever thus. The engine is No 34003 Plymouth, a rebuilt ‘West Country’ fresh from rebuilding. (S C Townroe)
July 1966 and a Portsmouth / Mid Sussex unit has been spray painted in the new BR blue livery. In the background a suburban set has received the same treatment. The hanging cable could supply power to the traction motors from an external source and so afford for limited movement as well as the checking of components. The carriage and wagon works was bombed during WW2 with some damage and loss of life. (S C Townroe)
First and second class upholstery in the colours of the period. Motor coach 3078 may be identified on the left.
‘Eastleigh Works’ is one of a series of 12 books being released in 2025 showcasing railway works and centres to commemorate ‘Rail 200’.
Eastleigh owes its origins as a railway town and was for many years the principal employer in the area with both a locomotive and a separate carriage works.
Although both were amalgamated into one site many years ago, and despite under serious threat of complete closure, the former locomotive works has not only survived but now thrives as an independent workshop repairing and maintaining locomotives and rolling stock that might otherwise be found working almost anywhere in the country.
£16.50
