Tinsley Motive Power Depot, latterly Tinsley Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) was built as part of the Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan of the 1960s opening during 1965 and situated adjacent to, but at a higher level than the new Tinsley Marshalling Yard alongside the Sheffield District Railway in Tinsley, near Sheffield but accessed, by road, from Brinsworth, near Rotherham.
Diesel locomotives had been stationed at the old steam shed at Grimesthorpe until the new facilities were completed and the locomotives were moved to their new home. The site also included a small electric locomotive servicing shed at the south end of the Secondary Yard, replacing the facilities at Darnall. Diesel railcars, which had been serviced at Darnall, were moved to a new servicing depot adjacent to the "Fish Dock" at the south end of Sheffield Midland station.
During the sectorisation period of British Rail, the depot came under the control of Railfreight Distribution (RFD). The sub-sector was responsible for non-trainload freight operations, as well as Freightliner and Intermodal services.
In 1995, as a part of the reorganisation for Privatisation, RFD was required to relinquish some of its class 47s to a new sector; Freightliner. The following year, EWS bought RFD, mostly for the lucrative Channel Tunnel operations.
Since the Class 47s were considered 'life expired' by EWS management, and there were other depot facilities relatively close by (Toton, Bescot and Doncaster), and the other RFD locomotives were all electrics based at Crewe Electric TMD, the need for the Sheffield depot was deemed unnecessary.
In 1998 the shed closed and by June 2006 the site had been completely cleared for new development and all that remained was the abutments of the rail overbridge used for access.
In October 1965 the allocation of motive power to Tinsley depot was as follows:
Rail Centres n°11: Sheffield, S.R. Batty, 1984. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1366-7
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