Carnforth MPD
Carnforth MPD
The main shed at Carnforth was built during the Second World War in 1942 by Italian prisoners of war, replacing 3 already existing depots – the Furness Railway shed (demolished in 1938-39), the London North Western Railway shed (demolished a few years later) and the Midland Railway shed, located on the line to Hellifield it still stands but is in industrial use.
Carnforth MPD remained relatively undeveloped from its reconstruction in 1944 by the time it closed in August 1968. It was one of the last three depots in the U.K. to close to steam operations – the other two being Lostock Hall and Rose Grove.
A group of enthusiasts, chaired by Dr Peter Beet formed the Lakeside Railway Estates Company, with the idea of preserving both the Lakeside branch line and Carnforth MPD, to provide a complete steam operating system. Negotiations with BR resulted in an agreement to buy the majority of the Lakeside branch, and at Carnforth, rent out the former wagon works, west side sidings, and 3 roads of the former MPD. Beet formed Steamtown Railway Museum Ltd, and the resultant visitor attraction became a mecca for steam enthusiasts, then facing a national ban on steam traction on the BR network.
In 1974 Sir Bill McAlpine became a shareholder in the company, allowing his LNER A3 Pacific 4472 Flying Scotsman to make Carnforth its home for many years. Subsequently McAlpine acquired a controlling interest in the company, in order to fund the purchase of the complete site including the track from BR.
Even after the mainline steam ban was removed in the early 1970s, the site remained a hub for both enthusiasts and major servicing point for steam locomotives and associated rolling stock.
McAlpine’s interest declined, and so did Steamtown through lack of investment. In 1990 McAlpine’s controlling stake was sold to David Smith, who over the following years bought out the majority of the minority shareholders.
A commercial decision was taken not to reopen Carnforth as a museum or visitor attraction for the 1998 season and David Smith later set up the West Coast Railway Company Ltd, to operate heritage steam and diesel trains across the national UK railway network, as well as comprehensive workshop facilities for carriages and steam and diesel locomotives.
K1 62005 has visited Carnforth several times for overhaul and has been located either in the former steam shed or the one remaining Furness Railway shed, with recent additions, where boiler work is concentrated.
