Kipps Locomotive Depot

It has long been a convenient characteristic of railway operation, to establish the locomotive running sheds or workshops at the top or at the foot of a major incline.  This was no different in the Monklands with the establishment by the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway in 1831, of Mosside Locomotive Works.

1864 O.S.Map of the area mage produced from the http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and  Ordnance Survey.  The building outlined in red would appear to be the shed building, but no track is shown in place at either end.

A 1950s view of Mosside Wagon Works.  Despite the impression of a very run down establishment in the last years of existence, the works were to last until 1966 before being closed.  Can you work out where on the 1930 map above the picture was taken?

The workshops on the South side of the line originally opened in 1831.   The Monkland & Kirkintilloch Superintendent, George Dodds and his three sons Robert, William and George G. Dodds operated the facility.   This photograph of the smaller of the two sheds on the South side of the line was taken by the late James F. McEwan in 1952.  (Photograph used with permission of http://www.victoriantimes.org)

Kipps Incline Foot junction marked the boundary between the M&K and Ballochney railways and also where the Ballochney Railway began its ascent of the first of two rope worked inclined planes.  With the Slamannan Railway already being actively discussed this then was ideal site for the creation of workshop facilities.  The M&K had been using steam locomotives since 1831 and with the opening of the works became the first Scottish Railway Company to build it’s own locomotives.  By the time that the North British Railway took over control of the system in 1865 Mosside was concentrating on wagon repairs, and a running shed was built on the opposite side of the running lines which became Kipps Locomotive Depot.  The exact date that the building was erected is yet to be confirmed, but examination of the 1864 map above would suggest that the building was underway that year but that the trackwork had still to be completed.  As can be seen in the diagram, the shed had three roads, a 45ft turntable and around 1927-31 under the LNER acquired a concrete mechanical coaling stage that was more modern than some larger sheds in the area.   The turntable seems to have been a cause for concern, as several schemes were put forward between 1912 and 1914 to have a larger turntable installed.  the proposal in 1912 was for a 60ft turntable but subsequent proposals saw the schemes scaled down to 50 or 55ft.   The size of the turntable would have meant a tight squeeze when turning most of the tender engines at Kipps, as the overall length of a J36 was 49' 2" (36' 9" wheelbase), a J35 was between 51' 11" and 52' 0½" over buffers, and a J37 may not have made it on at 54' 5½".  The later Ivatt moguls were the largest locomotives to be allocated to Kipps and they measured up at 55' 4" with a 46' 5" wheelbase, rendering them too long for the turntable.  

 

View of the South end of the Shed in April 1958.  Prominent in view are Kipps' Stalwarts J83 No. 68444 and J36 No. 65214.  Also visible is a V1 or V3 on the extreme left hand side, in the Gasworks' sidings and just visible in the centre road of the shed is one of the Diesel Shunters, at this date it would be either D3394, D3395 or D3409.  (Authors Collection)

J83 No. 9797 which became 8444 in the 1946 renumbering then 68444 in BR stock.  This picture is taken from the Cameron Street Level Crossing, which in 1971 became the end of the branch from Greenside Junction.  The cottage in the background was demolished sometime between 1948 and 1953. (Jim Watson Collection, taken by Jim's Father).

While it was open to steam, Kipps shed never boasted a glamorous stud of famous locomotives, being a depot that serviced a modest fleet of mainly freight and shunting locomotives employed on the daily routine of getting the coal from the mines to the iron works and the subsequent iron and steel to the customers.  There was also a tendency for the area to become the lowest level of what would now be known as a “cascading” policy, where obsolete or worn out locomotives eked out their last days before withdrawal.  A good example of this was the last 0-4-0 tender engine in the United Kingdom, a North British design, number 1011 which was finally withdrawn in 1925.  This loco was one of two, classified Y10 by the LNER and built by Wheatley in May 1868 "from pieces of scrapped locomotives". It had three number changes, originally 358, then 358A (1892), then 811 (1895), then 1011 (1901). LNER gave it yet another number, 10011, but this was not applied. The other loco 357/357A(1892)/810(1895)/1010(1901) was withdrawn in April 1921 and thus did not make it to Grouping. 1011 was the regular engine on the branch from Clarkston to Springbank yard and Moffat Mills. (From information supplied by John Walford via Andrew Lait.   Ironically, the glamour appeared after the shed closed to steam, with the transfer in 196? of the four preserved Scottish Locomotives from each of the old Scottish companies

Another “celebrity” was LNER No.4472, no not the A3 pacific “Flying Scotsman”, but a J35 which received that number in the 1946 renumbering scheme which saw the A3 become No.103.
 

	The only photograph I have ever seen taken inside Kipps shed is this one of 68106, taken in 1949 still bearing its LNER number and livery. Behind the locomotive is the  permanently attached wooden tender that was a feature of many of these locomotives, allowing them to be outstationed at work's sidings where coal supplies might not have been readily available Photograph used by kind permission of Archie Noble of the North British Railway Study Group
	Although 68095 was never one of the Kipps allocation, having been allocated to St. Margarets for most of its career, there is a Kipps Connection! The then owner of the Lytham Railway Museum, Jim Morris, visited Kipps shed in 1966 to see the four celebrity preserved locomotives, Caledonian Single 123, Glen Douglas, H.R. 4-6-0 No.103 and Gordon Highlander.  During that visit he mentioned that he was looking for available locomotives for his museum and he was told that a Y9, no. 68095 remained intact at McWilliams scrapyard at Shettleston.  The locomotive was subsequently purchased and transported south to Lytham.  When that museum closed the locomotive was acquired by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society and moved to Bo'ness where it is seen here.  The North British livery is probably fictitious as tank locomotives rarely carried the full regalia.  Note that despite being in N.B. livery the locomotive still carries it's British Railways smokebox numberplate.
	Despite its North British origins, the shed became home to a few Caledonian designed locomotives in the last few years, these included McIntosh 2F 0-6-0 tanks 56161 and 56172, and as seen here Drummond 'Pug' 56029 having been withdrawn and stored at the depot after closure to steam in 1963.  This engine retained the original CR flared chimney. Photgraph used with kind permission of: John H. Wright
	Another two "celebrity" locomotives at the shed were 65285 and 65287, both of which featured cut down chimney, dome and cab.  65285 seemed to be the most regularly photographed locomotive so this one of 65287 still bearing it's LNER number in 1949 is a rarity. Photograph used by kind permission of Archie Noble of the North British Railway Study Group

The J36s were not the first locomotives to have been modified to operate the infamous Gartverrie branch.  The first locomotives to have been modified were two Wheatley design 0-6-0s designated J31 by the LNER, Nos 10180 and 10206, there is a photograph of one of these locomotives, No. 10180 under repair at Cowlairs Works in "North British Album" by A.A. McLean, published by Ian Allan and 10206 was photographed on shed at Kipps (see below).  By 1937 these two locomotives had been replaced by two locomotives selected from class "D" or J33, a Holmes 0-6-0 design, one of which was No.9269.  These locomotives were in turn replaced by the J36s

The modifications were required in order to negotiate a low bridge that took the Gartverrie Quarry branch under the Caledonian Main line near Glenboig, indeed the height restriction was so severe that the NBR operating procedures banned covered vans from using the branch!  For those unfamiliar with the area the Gartverrie branch left the M&K main line a short distance north of Garnqueen South Junction and swung north east as shown on the map below.  The location of the troublesome bridge is highlighted.

The allocation tables below show the locomotives that were allocated to Kipps shed (coded KPS by the LNER recoded 65E by BR in February 1950) in the years following nationalisation until closure (to steam) on the 31st of December 1962.  Following that date the shed remained in use as as sub-shed of Eastfield until 6th November 1967 as a stabling point for the  diesels involved in local trip working, and classes 06, 08, and the North British D27XX 0-4-0 could be found there along with some stored steam locomotives.  Peter Hands, the author of the priceless "What Happened to Steam" series of books mentioned in a letter to me that he visited the shed on the 23rd of November 1963 and recorded stored steam locomotives 56029, 64544 and 64574 along with diesel shunters D2759, D2769, D2777, D3214, D3277, D3395.  Of these only D3395 had been allocated to the shed before closure.  Main line locomotives present were English Electric type 1s (later class 20) D8071, D8074, D8092 and D8100.

A number of the ill-fated N.B.L. class 21 Bo-Bo’s were stored in the shed including D6104, 25, 27, 34, 36 & 43 following withdrawal in December 1967 until they were cut up between April and June 1968.  Unfortunately I do not have a date when the shed was demolished, but the line was closed and lifted in 1971, so at a guess I would say that it was pulled down about 1969.

Important Note:
The allocation tables would not have been completed without a tremendous amount of research, checking and crosschecking by Andrew Lait, assisted as required by John Walford, who are both RCTS members.  I am extremely grateful for their assistance in completing this part of the site, and for other information and corrections.  Storage and Scrapping details are extracted from Peter Hands excellent series of booklets entitiled "What Happened to Steam" (which I can confirm are still available, I have a contact address which I will pass on to anyone wishing to purchase any copies)

The Kipps Allocation Histories
 

Table 1	Table 2	Table 3
North British Railway Tender Locomotives, classes J35, J36 and J37	North British Railway and North Eastern Railway Tank Locomotives, classes C15, J72, J83, J88, N15, and Y9	LNER, LMS, Caledonian Railway and British Railways Steam Locomotives and BR Diesel Shunters

Table of Books and Magazines with Photographs of Locomotives at Kipps Shed.
 

Description	Date	Book	Page	Author	Publisher
Eastern End of Kipps Shed. Locomotives visible are V1 2-6-2T No.67623 & J36 0-6-0 No.65216.	1961	B.R. Steam Motive Power Depots - ScR	65	Paul Bolger	Ian Allan
General view of Kipps Shed from the East, with J37 0-6-0 No.64579 and (probably) 65285 again	-	The Handbook of Steam Motive Power Depots vol 4 Northern England & Scotland	43	Paul Smith	Platform 5
J36 0-6-0 No. 65249 and J35 0-6-0 N0 64534 at Kipps Shed	30/04/60	Lanarkshire's Last Days of Steam	5	W.A.C. Smith	Stenlake Publishing
Kipps M.P.D.	-	B.R., Past & Present. Vol 31, North West Scotland	156	K. Sanders/D. Hodgins	Past and Present Publishing  Ltd.
Site of Kipps MPD after demolition	-	B.R., Past & Present. Vol 31, North West Scotland	156	K. Sanders/D. Hodgins	Past and Present Publishing  Ltd.
LNER J36 0-6-0 No. 65214 on shed at Kipps	13/05/56	Scottish Steam in the 1950's and 60's	154	David Anderson	OPC
LNER J36 0-6-0 No. 65285 (with cut down cab & chimney) on shed at Kipps	13/05/56	Scottish Steam in the 1950's and 60's	53	David Anderson	OPC
LNER J36 No. 65285 (with cut down cab & chimney) on shed at Kipps (Colour Photo)	-	Steam on Shed	171	John Stretton	Blandford Press
LNER Y9 0-4-0ST No. 68116 on shed at Kipps	13/05/56	Scottish Steam in the 1950's and 60's	156	David Anderson	OPC
Western End of Kipps Shed, with J36 0-6-0 No.65214 & J83 0-6-0T No.68444	1958	B.R. Steam Motive Power Depots - ScR	67	Paul Bolger	Ian Allan
Western End of Kipps Shed, with Y9 0-4-0ST No.68114	1960	B.R. Steam Motive Power Depots - ScR	66	Paul Bolger	Ian Allan
Class N2 No.4739 (BR 69518) at Kipps Shed	c.1935	Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Part 9A (Tank Engines Classes L1 to N19)	Fig. 58	-	RCTS
Class V3 No. 67660 Passing Greenside Junction on a Hyndland to Airdrie Working	08/57	Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Part 9B (Tank Engines Classes Q1 to Z5)	Fig. 51	-	RCTS
J83 class 0-6-0T No.8444 on shunting duties in the wagon works	07/48	British Railways Locomotives 1948	207	Chris Banks	OPC
"McIntosh '498' class 2F 0-6-0T No 56172 is seen at Glasgow Kipps shed	09/54	British Railways Locomotives 1955	131	Chris Banks	OPC
LNER J36 No. 65285 (with cut down cab & chimney) on shed at Kipps	06/55	British Railways Locomotives 1955	165	Chris Banks	OPC
Holmes "D" (J33) 0-6-0 No.9269 rests outside Kipps shed in 1937. (with cut down cab & chimney)	1937	North British Album	82	A.A. McLean	Ian Allan
LNER J36 No. 9714 with cut down chimney , dome and cab	1937	Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Part 5 (J11-J37)	Fig. 308	-	RCTS
J83 No. 8445 with Stovepipe chimney, steam brake (with inside pull rods)	05/48	Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. Part 8B (Tank Engines Classes J71-J94)	Fig. 58	-	RCTS
Last surviving J31 10206 (64) with cut down mountings for the Gartverrie Branch	no date	Locomotives Illustrated No.137. NBR 0-6-0s. LNER Classes J31-J37	13	-	RAS Publishing May-June 2001
J33 No. 9582	c1924	Locomotives Illustrated No.137. NBR 0-6-0s. LNER Classes J31-J37	17	-	RAS Publishing May-June 2001
J36 No. 5285 (with cut down cab & chimney)	19/04/47	Locomotives Illustrated No.137. NBR 0-6-0s. LNER Classes J31-J37	33	-	RAS Publishing May-June 2001

Airdrie Shed
 

Little has been recorded about this depot due to its early demise.  The following information was obtained from Ewan Crawford's Website, with further information from ""LMS Engine Sheds - vol 5, The Caledonian Railway" by Chris Hawkings and George Reeve.  The depot was opened on the 19th of April 1886 along with the rest of the infrastructure of the Caledonian Railway's Airdrie Branch.  It was a two road wooden shed with a 42ft turntable and open coaling stage.  Administratively it was considered a sub-shed of Dawsholm in Glasgow.  An extension of the shed was ordered on 5th October 1897, at a cost of £200 but only two years later, on 21st November 1899, the building was entirely burnt down, a common hazard when wooden structures were used to house locomotives with their associated glowing embers and such!  The cause of the disaster was recorded as being 'officially unknown'.

On 6th February 1900 the CR Engineers Department, Western Division, pondered its successor- the 'New Engine Shed, Airdrie', to 'accomodate 12 Engines to replace the shed destroyed by fire'. An estimate of £3,300 was approved and the new shed, enlarged to three roads and doubled in length, duly appeared, occupying part of the old site and utilising the old pits. The contract had been approved on 1st May 1900 and the shed opened in November. A more substantial coaling stage was now provided, on a modest earth ramp, but the old turntable was dispensed with. Airdrie's dozen or so locos were in any case all tanks, 4-4-0Ts and 0-4-4Ts for the passenger service with 0-6-0Ts and 0-4-0STs on goods and shunting work, and the triangle formed by the lines to Whifflet and Newhouse was on the shed's doorstep. ln September 1906 further improvements were under consideration: 'Airdrie; proposed extension of coaling bench accommodation and covering over the same; also the erection of a sand kiln. Estimate £350. Approved'. On closure, in LMS days, part of this covering found its way to Yoker at a cost of £260.  Airdrie remained home to a handful of 0-4-4Ts, 0-6-0Ts and 0-4-0STs, finally closing on 11th September 1939.

The closure was probably not unexpected, as the writing was already on the wall for the Airdrie branch.  The passenger service to Newhouse was withdrawn in 1930, the steelworks at Calderbank had closed in 1931 and the branch to Newhouse singled in August 1939.  By the end of the War the branch had been reduced to little more than a siding from Whifflet.