Wolverton railway works was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the 112 mile-long route from London to Birmingham. The line was developed by Robert Stephenson following the great success of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway line.
As of 2010, the facility is much reduced: Railcare operates a full-scale train maintenance, repairs and refurbishment works at the western end of the site, the central area is derelict but slated for redevelopment as canal-side housing, the eastern end is a Tesco store, apart from another canal-side housing development at the extreme eastern end.
I visited this place back 2011 but missed a fair few areas so I always wanted to go back and to try and see a bit more of the live part. A lot more decay has taken place and the site really is going down hill now with some very dodgy looking collapsed roofs and floors.
The site was in administration when me and Southside Assassin went last summer but has since been bought out.
First stop was in the cellars under the East buildings.
Then a look at the areas under the main workshop. This is massive extractor fan used to vacuum up the sawdust from the shop above.
And the extensive ducting.
Derpeness.
Various samplers.
And a rule book.
Then it's up the stairs to the Western end of the site.
Still some quite nice signage about.
Wash-up facilities.
Where the old seat springs go to die.
Ready to go any minute.
Then we moved into the live area, where these mock ups seem to have been left.
Anyone know what these are?
Then we had a sort of high iso mad dash through the live workshops for a quick look at the replica engine and anything else worth checking. To be fair the place is fairly empty and I'm guessing this is due to the place being in admin during our visit.
And finally the replica engine, something I have wanted to see for a long time. It's being kept clean and tidy so someone somewhere must be loving it. It's a LNWR Bloomer class apparently.
As of 2010, the facility is much reduced: Railcare operates a full-scale train maintenance, repairs and refurbishment works at the western end of the site, the central area is derelict but slated for redevelopment as canal-side housing, the eastern end is a Tesco store, apart from another canal-side housing development at the extreme eastern end.
I visited this place back 2011 but missed a fair few areas so I always wanted to go back and to try and see a bit more of the live part. A lot more decay has taken place and the site really is going down hill now with some very dodgy looking collapsed roofs and floors.
The site was in administration when me and Southside Assassin went last summer but has since been bought out.
First stop was in the cellars under the East buildings.
Then a look at the areas under the main workshop. This is massive extractor fan used to vacuum up the sawdust from the shop above.
And the extensive ducting.
Derpeness.
Various samplers.
And a rule book.
Then it's up the stairs to the Western end of the site.
Still some quite nice signage about.
Wash-up facilities.
Where the old seat springs go to die.
Ready to go any minute.
Then we moved into the live area, where these mock ups seem to have been left.
Anyone know what these are?
Then we had a sort of high iso mad dash through the live workshops for a quick look at the replica engine and anything else worth checking. To be fair the place is fairly empty and I'm guessing this is due to the place being in admin during our visit.
And finally the replica engine, something I have wanted to see for a long time. It's being kept clean and tidy so someone somewhere must be loving it. It's a LNWR Bloomer class apparently.
