Ashford railway works

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Ashford railway works was in the town of Ashford in the county of Kent in England.

It was built by the South Eastern Railway in 1845 moving from New Cross in London. The Locomotive Superintendent was James I. Cudworth. In 1853 he built the first of ten 'Hastings' class 2-4-0 locomotives. In 1855 he built two freight engines. An unusual feature was a dual firebox, each side fired alternately. Over the next twenty years, he built 53 freight locomotives at Ashford and around 80 larger ones with six foot driving wheels, plus the first eight of his sixteen express passenger locos, the 'Mails', with seven foot drivers. He also produced four classes of 0-6-0 tank locomotives.

In 1878 James Stirling, the brother of Patrick Stirling of the Great Northern Railway took over and introduced a deal of standardisation. He believed in the benefits of the pony truck and produced a class of 4-4-0 with six foot drivers and his '0' class freight with five foot drivers. He also produced over a hundred 0-4-4 tank engines, and in 1898 the 'F' Class.

In 1888 the railway amalgamated with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway and the 'B' class appeared, along with a class of 0-6-0 tanks. Following this came H.S.Wainwright's six-coupled freight locomotive. Wainwright was followed by R.E.L.Maunsell, who introduced the 'N' class 2-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive and, shortly before amalgamation, in 1923 the 'K' class 2-6-4 tank loco.

Following the amalgamation into the Southern Railway, more 'N' class locomotives were produced, and parts for 'K' class locos that were assembled by Armstrong Whitworth of Newcastle upon Tyne. It continued producing steam locomotives until 1944, and in 1951, the diesel electric locomotive number 10202. In 1962 locomotive production and repairs shifted to Eastleigh.

From 1850, it had provided all the company's new carriages and wagons. This continued with continental ferry vans, Freightliner vehicles, merry-go-round coal hopper wagons and the Cartic4 articulated car transporter. It was one of BREL's main wagon works, but as trade declined it operated on an ever-decreasing scale until it shut down in 1982.

[edit] References

• Simmons, J., (1986) The Railway in Town and Country, Newton Abott: David and Charles
• Larkin, E.J., Larkin, J.G., (1988) The Railway Workshops of Great Britain 1823-1986, Macmillan Press