Heaton TMD
 | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 54°59′13″N 1°33′54″W / 54.987°N 1.565°W |
| Characteristics | |
| Owner | Northern Rail |
| Depot code | 52B (1950-1963) HT (1973-present) |
| Type | Electric, HST, DMU |
| History | |
| Original | North Eastern Railway |
| Pre-grouping | LNER |
| Post-grouping | British Railways |
Heaton TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it is located next to the East Coast Main Line, around 2 miles (3 km) east of Newcastle Central. Heaton was a sub-shed of Gateshead between 1963 and 1967.
History
Originally built by the North Eastern Railway to provide steam locomotives serving principally the extensive Heaton marshalling yards and freight traffic, but also a considerable proportion of main line and local passenger traffic from Newcastle Central.
The location meant that it provided motive power to the .75 miles (1.21 km) and steep Riverside Branch. Unliked by crews due to the need to pass through three tunnels the and resultant toxic smoke in their cabs, in 1905 it was electrified using 750VDC technology, with power supplied via both overhead catenary and, within the tunnels, third-rail. Both of the BTH/Brush 640 hp (BR Class ES1) locomotives were based at Heaton, designed as a Bo-Bo with central cab. They worked from the shed until 1967.
Coded 52B in the NE Region (Newcastle District) under British Railways, in 1954 it had an allocation of 95 locomotives, comprising:16x 4-6-2; 17x 2-6-2; 1x 4-4-0; 14x 2-6-0 (9 LNE + 5 LMS-type); 14x 0-6-0; 12x 2-6-2T; 1x 0-6-2T; 18x 0-6-0T; and 2x ES1's.[1]
Present
After demolition and redevelopment to disel traction in the 1960s by British Railways, today the depot is operated by Northern Rail, and mostly houses stock operated by them and Grand Central. The depot code is HT.
The basic allocation consists of: Class 142; Class 156
Although not allocated to the depot, Classes 91, 180, 220 and 221 as well as HSTs may also be visible. This is because East Coast, Grand Central and CrossCountry all sub-contract some of the maintenance to this depot for their trains.
Northern Class 158s, Class 144s and Class 150s also regularly visit Heaton for maintenance.
Sewerage and clean out
Heaton used by the main express operator of the East Coast Main Line to store stock overnight. In 2004-6, this lead to a dispute between the RMT and then operator GNER. Legally in the UK, train operators are allowed to discharge 5 imperial gallons (23 L; 6.0 US gal) of sewerage per carriage per journey, on to the railtrack. Most Mk3 carriages have only holding tanks, not fully compliant toilet tanks. Further, Heaton then had no toilet clean-out facilities. However, in the 2000s both the RMT and politicians were concerned at the environmental impact of this legacy issue. In 2006 the RMT agreed waste tank and clean out developments at Heaton with GNER, plus new clean out procedures at all other depots, to solve an ongoing dispute over sewerage spray.[2]
Access
The depot is closed to the general public. Only those with an official pass can access the depot, or those attending the occasional open days organised by Northern Rail.
The nearest station, from which the depot can also be seen, is Chillingham Road Metro station,[3] whilst the nearest mainline station is Manors. The entrance to the site is from Benfield Road, just south of where the ECML crosses it.
References
Notes
- ^ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heaton_Locomotive_Depot_geograph-2354955-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
- ^ "Toilet waste 'sprays' track staff". BBC News. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "depot information northern". Retrieved 4 October 2011.
Sources
- Baker, S.K. (1980) [1977]. Rail Atlas of Britain (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86093-106-4.
- Baker, S.K. (2007) [1977]. Rail Atlas - Great Britain & Ireland (11th ed.). Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-86093-602-2.