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Landore Depot's quiet closure.


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The Depot has closed apparently. The last Class 43's for maintenance have departed. Whilst the 08's are due to shortly depart. Not sure if HST's are still being Refueled over night though. No fan fare, no fuss. Nothing to celebrate or commemorate the Depots closure.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e246RpB3-qg

It hasn't quite closed; the two power cars that left today for Penzance had been in for heavy maintenance, but light maintenance and exams will continue into September (info via Facebook 'Railways in South Wales' from someone working there)

Sad to see it go; my father's family had close links with that part of Swansea, and dad had been offered the chance to work there when he left school in 1926. He turned it down because advancement prospects were slow, and got indentured with RT&B at Cwmfelin steelworks instead.

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The Depot has closed apparently. The last Class 43's for maintenance have departed. Whilst the 08's are due to shortly depart. Not sure if HST's are still being Refueled over night though. No fan fare, no fuss. Nothing to celebrate or commemorate the Depots closure.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e246RpB3-qg

 

A regrettable consequence of the way the railway has changed although South Wales was I think always a little overdone with diesel depots right from the time they were built in what even than was very much a changing traffic scene.  if anything sectorisation and privatisation has probably given Landore a longer life as a maintenance depot than it would have enjoyed under BR ownership.  A sad occasion all the same for those of us who down the years have worked in the Swansea area and worked with Landore based staff as part of our regular working scene.

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I will remember it as one of the 'white heat of technology' depots built to accommodate the WR's hydraulic revolution; it was still in full swing in my days on the railway in the 70s, but the writing was already on the wall with the HSTs, in hindsight.  Canton loco is a semi-dereclict ruin, and I'm not sure how much is left at Bath Road.  Ebbw, Margam, and Severn Tunnel no longer exist; they are either houses or waste land with a railway somewhere nearby.  Sectorisation and privatisation have put paid to the need for loco depots of this sort, but it is sad and Landore, always our Canton rivals, had a great esprit de corps dating back to steam days that was still apparent in the 70s.

 

Enthusiasts tend to measure these things in terms of locos and buildings, but a shed is more than that, much more; at the risk of sounding maudlin and trite, it's the men, the culture, the banter, that is to my mind the greatest loss.  It seems paradoxical to me that at a time of increasing traffic on the railway places such as this are not enjoying a second golden age, but the railway is not what I thought it once was; adapt or die, and it adapted into something I'm not sure I recognise, as an ex BR man.

 

Landore RIP.

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I will remember it as one of the 'white heat of technology' depots built to accommodate the WR's hydraulic revolution; it was still in full swing in my days on the railway in the 70s, but the writing was already on the wall with the HSTs, in hindsight.  Canton loco is a semi-dereclict ruin, and I'm not sure how much is left at Bath Road.  Ebbw, Margam, and Severn Tunnel no longer exist; they are either houses or waste land with a railway somewhere nearby.  Sectorisation and privatisation have put paid to the need for loco depots of this sort, but it is sad and Landore, always our Canton rivals, had a great esprit de corps dating back to steam days that was still apparent in the 70s.

 

Enthusiasts tend to measure these things in terms of locos and buildings, but a shed is more than that, much more; at the risk of sounding maudlin and trite, it's the men, the culture, the banter, that is to my mind the greatest loss.  It seems paradoxical to me that at a time of increasing traffic on the railway places such as this are not enjoying a second golden age, but the railway is not what I thought it once was; adapt or die, and it adapted into something I'm not sure I recognise, as an ex BR man.

 

Landore RIP.

 

Landore depot's effectively being replaced by a new IEP depot to the east of Swansea station where the mail sidings used to be so I imagine some at least of the Landore men will transfer across.

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Landore depot's effectively being replaced by a new IEP depot to the east of Swansea station where the mail sidings used to be so I imagine some at least of the Landore men will transfer across.

The Landore staff could apply for a job with Hitachi, there was no transfer option. Any staff who did get a job effectively left rail employment with all the repercussions on pension etc.
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I've been wondering about landore when I drive past it, shame it's going to close, my stepfather's brother Bernard used to be a fitter there, and I had the chance of a look around, but for some reason I declined the opportunity!

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They wound down Springs Branch around 1991, by transferring traincrew to either Wallgate or Warrington.

The depot was still functioning up to privatisation as a maintenance facility although its darkest era wasn't far around the corner when it served as a locomotive abbatoir.

 

But now look at it! New unit depot.

 

Never say never and I hope Landore gets through this as SP did.

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Landore's future depends on the road access, one entrance off the Morriston Road up a steepish incline that a Canton driver of my acquaintance who I will not name and shame here (he is passed on long ago) once drove a Castle down as a passed fireman, causing much traffic chaos.

 

This access will be pivotal to decisions regarding development when the land is sold off, which is will be quite soon probably.  Housing, industrial estate, a single large facility of some sort like a hospital are all possibilities.  I cannot see a future for the site in railway use, and suspect that the East to West junction avoiding line will be taken out of use and possibly breached for better road access. 

 

All a bit depressing.

 

Bath Road is very isolated in terms of road access, but a prime site for industrial development; the local economies of Swansea and Bristol are radically different!

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I agree about road access being 'difficult'- pulling on or off the Swansea- Morriston road has always been 'challenging'. I don't think there is any way, however, that an access road could come in from the Brynhyfryd side without demolishing a lot of houses, and carrying out major earthworks. 

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This access will be pivotal to decisions regarding development when the land is sold off, which is will be quite soon probably.  Housing, industrial estate, a single large facility of some sort like a hospital are all possibilities.  I cannot see a future for the site in railway use, and suspect that the East to West junction avoiding line will be taken out of use and possibly breached for better road access. 

 

 

The East to West Junction line is being re-signalled and there are no plans to close it as it is in fairly regular use, as for Landore itself there are plans for the franchise that takes over from Arriva are going to be using it.

 

Ian

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The Landore staff could apply for a job with Hitachi, there was no transfer option. Any staff who did get a job effectively left rail employment with all the repercussions on pension etc.

 

This is not unusual.

 

The new brand new depots built at Southampton and Northampton which service the 350 / 450 / 444 fleets are run by Siemens - and all the staff are thus outside the railway setup (no railway pension, no travel perks, not part of the TOCs pay negotiations, etc

 

The same is true with the new Three Bridges and the Ashford depot which are run by Hitachi under the same principles.Central Rivers which looks after the XC fleet is a Bombardier responsibility.

 

The DfT and the TOCs like this setup as it reduces the direct headcount of the company, follows the Governments beloved 'outsourcing' principles, allows the TOC to get out of having to give staff perks - plus allows the depot operator to start afresh with inferior pay, T&Cs, etc.

 

As a result transfers tend to be limited and most staff at these new depots are fresh recruits to the trade as it were rather rather than transfers from existing / closing depots

 

By contrast places like Selhurst, Bournemouth, Etches Park, Bounds Green, Ramesgate, Hornsey etc are still very much part of the relevant TOCs empire. Staff working there will have inherited their T&Cs from British Rail and as such there is limited room for the TOC for cutbacks. Such things as travel perks, membership of the Railway Pension scheme, etc are preserved.

Edited by phil-b259
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Please can the OP correct the spelling of the thread title?

 

Thanks!

 

Paul

I am trying to work out whether it should say 

Landore Depot's not quite closure.

or

Landore Depot's quiet closure.

 

I hope they have told the staff still employed there that it is closed.

Edited by royaloak
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi,

 

Whilst doing a bit of research on Landore depot a came across this thread. I recently had the opportunity to shoot and create a high-resolution virtual tour of Landore depot months before it's closure, whilst I was there they were repairing the penultimate HST power car before the doors finally closed on locomotive repairs. I thought the contributors of this thread may be interested in the tour which can be seen here: http://createdbyrich.com/landore/

 

Thanks.

Edited by Stretchdj
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Diesel Depot Roof profiles

Interesting thread and link to the Landore closure.

My brief exposure to DMD and DSD design was in BR(E) CCE's in the early 1960s.

We were all under firm orders from the C.C.E. A.K.Terris personally to design structures for diesel traction with prominent double pitch roofs to facilitate dispersal of diesel fumes.

 

Noticing that one of the Landore sheds had a stepped profile roof profile, I Googled 'images' to quickly check what seems the most enduring of Diesel traction structures.

I'd say the Eastern Region double-pitch (as at Finsbury Park and Tinsley) won through-  but these days with a much higher vertical clearance before the springing of  a shallower pitch to the roof (and with a lot more roof mounted extraction equipment).

Can I ask those still engaged in such work:

Do you think that our old Chief's views about the natural dispersal of diesel fumes plays any part in the variables of designing contemporary diesel traction servicing and maintenance facilities?

dh

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Somebody has created a virtual tour of Landore & Old Oak Common depots.

 

This was posted over on RailUK forums:

 

Landore Virtual Tour: http://createdbyrich.com/landore/

Use this link if viewing on an Apple device: http://createdbyrich.com/landore-ios/

 

For those who missed the Old Oak Common tour: http://createdbyrich.com/old-oak-common-virtual-tour/

Use this link if viewing on an Apple device: http://createdbyrich.com/ooc-virtual-tour/

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