Laira TMD
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Laira TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated outside Plymouth, England. The depot is operated by First Great Western. The depot code is LA.
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[edit] History
[edit] Steam shed
Laira was the location of the temporary terminus of the South Devon Railway from 5 May 1848 until 2 April 1849, during which period a small engine shed would have been provided. With the completion of the railway to Plymouth Millbay railway station, a new shed was provided there and the facilities at Laira were dismantled.
A new engine shed opened circa 1901 on a site inside a triangle of lines adjacent to the Cattewater, the estuary of the River Plym. A small railway station known as Laira Halt was opened on the adjacent main line in 1904 but closed again in 1930.
The 1901 shed was a 434 feet by 181 feet roundhouse squeezed into the space at Lipson Junction, between the embankments of the Great Western Railway main line and the line to the London and South Western Railway's terminus at Plymouth Friary. It had a 65 feet turntable and 28 lines radiated from the turntable for stabling locomotives. It was fitted with a 20 ton hoist for lifting locomotives, a 35 ton one being added later.
In 1931 a new four track shed (210 feet by 67 feet) was brought into use just to the south of the roundhouse, funded by a government loan under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929. At the same the coaling stage was raised and a new 50 ton hoist supplemented the smaller ones in the roundhouse.
[edit] Diesel shed
With the coming of diesel locomotives in the late 1950s, a new diesel shed was built south of the steam sheds. The Laira marshalling yard alongside Embankment Road was closed in 1958 to make room for carriage sidings and the new shed, which was fully opened on 13 March 1962, although parts had been in use since 1960.
Laira was designed for servicing and heavy maintenance of the diesel-hydraulic locomotives favoured by the Western Region of British Railways. It also handled the local diesel electric shunter and DMU fleets, although initially serving of these was done at Belmont sidings at Millbay. The depot became well known as the final home of the Western Class, and later for the Class 50 diesel-electrics.
The new building was in reinforced concrete. The maintenance building covered five tracks, and three more were in the smaller servicing building. There were covered fuelling points outside in the yard, supplied by a 45,000 gallon fuel tank. The depot could handle heavy work such as bogie changes and wheel turning, which avoided sending locomotives to Swindon too often.
In the 1970s, a new long shed was built between the diesel shed and the carriage sidings, designed for servicing High Speed Train sets.
Following the withdrawal of steam from the area in 1964, the roundhouse and steam shed are was closed on 13 June 1965 and the area used for additional siding space. This were later modernised and fenced in in readiness for servicing to Channel Tunnel sleeper coaches, but the proposed service from Plymouth to Paris never materialised.
[edit] Shed codes
The following codes have been used to identify locomotives allocated to Laira:
- LA - Great Western Railway
- 83D - British Railways 1949
- 84A - British Railways 1963
- LA - British Rail 1973
[edit] Named locomotives
Locomotives named after Laira shed have been:
- 3326 Laira GWR Bulldog Class 4-4-0 steam locomotive
- 08641 Laira British Rail Class 08 0-6-0 diesel shunting locomotive
[edit] External links
An overhead view of the depot.
[edit] References
- Baker, S.K.. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland. Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86093-553-1.
- Cooke, R A (1979). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR: Section 12, Plymouth. Harwell: R A Cooke.
- Reed, Brian (1975). Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives of the Western Region. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-6769-2.
- Smith, Martin (1995). An Illustrated History of Plymouth's Railways. Caernarfon: Irwell Press. ISBN 1-81760-841-4.
