DONCASTER LOCOMOTIVE WORKS ARCHIVE; PART 1: DRAWING OFFICE RECORDS

GB 756 2000-7200

DONCASTER LOCOMOTIVE WORKS ARCHIVE; PART 1: DRAWING OFFICE RECORDS

1850 - 1968

The material consists of c. 13,000 drawings, and 100 registers and schedules.

The drawings relate to the construction of London and North Eastern locomotives with occasional drawings from other railway companies and constructors. Most of the drawings are on linen. The majority is in a reasonably good condition but a number have the remains of decaying sticky tape attached.

Each drawing has a letter code and a number. The letter code runs from 'A' through to 'Z' and each section covers a group of related locomotive parts. The contents of the letter-coded sections are detailed at the beginning of the drawings list.

The drawings within each letter-coded section run in sequence from I. There is a great variation in the size of the sections, some having only a few hundred drawings and some having more than a thousand. Some drawings have more than one part; a few drawings have over a hundred parts to them.

Each drawing may include the drawing title, date of drawing, tracing and checking, and details of locomotive class or type, order numbers, dates, additional information and numbers of related drawings. Many drawings are signed by the Chief Mechanical Engineer.

There is no complete run of drawing registers. The registers and lists comprise parts of sequences of drawings and lists of drawings for certain specific locomotives or types of locomotives. More work is required to determine dates of compilation and the scope of this material.

The drawings are arranged in drawing order number within each alphabetically labelled section.

The registers are arranged in following sub-classes:-

Main drawing register series (Inventory numbers GB 756 2000-7200 to 2000-7211)

Rough drawing register series (Inventory numbers GB 756 2000-7212 to GB 756 2000-7228)

Schedules i.e. lists of drawings for a distinct class of locomotive (Inventory numbers GB 756 2000-7229 to GB 756 2000-7286)

Miscellaneous lists, including carriage and wagon drawing registers (Inventory numbers GB 756 2000-7287 to GB 756 2000-7299)

English

The condition of the drawings and registers and lists is very variable. Whether or not original material will be made available for use or copying depends on its condition, size and copyright restrictions.

This material formed part of the British Transport Commission's collections formerly housed at the Museum of British Transport, Clapham. It was transferred to the National Railway Museum in 1975 under the terms of the 1968 Transport Act.

The condition of the drawings is very variable: some are very fragile, faded and torn.

Inventory numbers drawings 2000-7304

Inventory numbers registers etc 2000-7200 to 2000-7299

Catalogue version 2.1 March 2000

© Trustees of the Science Museum 2000

Version 2.0 Modified to include microfilmed drawings by Julia Hudson, Archives Assistant

Version 1.0 This catalogue was compiled by MF Berry, Assistant Curator Archive Collections at the National Railway Museum, based on work carried out by R Durack, I Watson, J Peck, A1 Locomotive Trust, A Makepeace, D Huntington, V Lawlor, E Atkinson over the period 1994 - 2000

The archive is the property of the Trustees of the Science Museum.

No appraisal or destruction work on the archive has been carried out by either the Museum of British Transport or the NRM. The archive as catalogued is that transferred to the BTC from British Railways. However, anecdotal evidence from former railway employees indicate that significant quantities of drawings were disposed of whilst the archive was still at Doncaster Works. None of the sections has a complete run of drawings.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF DONCASTER LOCOMOTIVE WORKS

Doncaster locomotive works was built for the Great Northern Railway and became one of the principal locomotive works of the LNER in 1923. Doncaster was chosen because of its proximity to large coalfields, centres of iron-founding and good water communications. The works became known to generations of railway workers by its nickname "The Plant".

1852 March Works tendered for and built by G & A Holme.

1853 July Approximately 500 men were transferred to Doncaster from temporary repair accommodation at Boston

1853 Dec Number of employees rose to 950. The original works covered 11 acres including 5 acres of covered shops but there was an almost continuous process of extension throughout the next 130 years.

1854 Original smithy was extended.

1866 Existing erecting shops extended to provide for the construction of new locomotives which until then had been purchased from private builders. Gas plant was built to supply the works.

1881 Gas plant extended and iron foundry built.

1882 New boiler shop built

1890- One new erecting shop and additional machine shop added

1891 c. 3500 men employed in the locomotive and wagon works at Doncaster; 300 locomotives, 3735 carriages and 15,226 wagons passed through for repair and 99 new locomotives 181 new carriages and 1493 new wagons were built.

1907 Drop stamps installed and boiler shop extended.

1910, 1913 Electric generating equipment was modernised.

1923 London & North Eastern Railway was created, the second largest of the "Big Four" group of companies established by the Railway Act, 1921. It had the largest number of main works, from Inverurie in the north of Scotland to Stratford in the east end of London. LNER had four main locomotive works headed by a Mechanical Engineer who as well as running the locomotive works and C & W works also controlled the functions of the CME's department within his area including maintenance of outdoor machinery and electrical services and provision of technical stores. LNER works retained greater autonomy within the company than was the case on the other three railways.

1923 Resignation of Sir Vincent Raven, North Eastern Railway, retained for one year by LNER as advisor. Appointment of Nigel Gresley, formerly CME of the GNR, as Chief Mechanical Engineer for the company.

1927 R A Thom appointed Mechanical Engineer, Gorton and later at Doncaster. O S Bulleid appointed Assistant to Chief Mechanical Engineer

1935 New engine weigh-house built

1936 Central air compressor station built

1941 Death of Sir Nigel Gresley, Chief Mechanical Engineer. Edward Thompson appointed to replace Gresley

1946 Arthur H Peppercorn, Chief Mechanical Engineer, until 1947

1948 Nationalisation

1957 October Last of over 2200 steam locomotives built at Doncaster left the works in at which time, work switched to the construction of diesel-electric locomotives

1947 c. 3185 staff members were employed and 7 new locomotives were built, 582 heavy repairs and 156 light repairs were carried out.

1962 Works modernised as part of the main works rationalisation plan arising from the formation of British Railways Workshops division. The diesel locomotive repair shop was the largest shop in the works with other sections for the repair of power units, train heating boilers, traction motors, generators and ancillary equipment. At this time the works was devoted entirely to the overhaul and repair of diesel main -line and shunting locomotives.