Recently we visited Barrow Hill roundhouse open day (sort of mini-gala). This is a unique location, the only surviving working roundhouse in the UK. It is used by various companies and groups to restore and prepare locomotives for preservation use, or spot-hire for use on the national rail system. The star of the day was an LNER design class B1 4-6-0. [ September 28, 2005, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
Out front was an immaculate ex-GCR 4-6-0 "Butler Henderson", part of the national collection. [ September 28, 2005, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
On the other end of the train hauled by the B1 was this Brush Type 2 (later class 31) in original livery. [ September 28, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
Inside the roundhouse was one of the original BR days inhabitants [ September 28, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
41708 alongside 70000 Britannia. Quite a size difference between the 0-6-0 and the pacific [ September 28, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
This class 03 shunter has just been started up. [ September 28, 2005, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
The exhaust shows the actual size of the stack, but it appears that Swindon works who built these locomotives thought they were still building steam
Those are great photos, Alan, thanks for sharing. I didn't realize when you said "roundhouse", that you meant a REAL Round House with the turntable inside under cover. With the exception of the B&O Museum, I don't think we have had one of those here in the States for at least 100 years. Your camera work makes it look quite large, which it probably is, come to think of it...
Hank, nearly all our roundhouses were a complete circle of tracks around a turntable, all under cover. The roundhouses themselves were actually square buildings, so some of the tracks could be longer than others.
A class 20 undergoing restoration to working order. [ September 28, 2005, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
The cab end of a class 20 in the new maintenance shed. [ September 28, 2005, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]
The class 20's were very unusual in the UK in only having one cab. They were usually used in pairs with the cabs outwards, giving excellent visibility. Even though they were introduced in 1958, quite a few are still in use on regular freight services.
