Knottingley Depot Demolition

[Peter Sarf]

A friend has just told me that apparently Knottingley depot is in the process of being demolished. Is this true ?. I have searched and found nothing.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

If true sad. One of my favourite places. Very difficult to get around even in the early 1980s - not quite as bad in the 1970s but from the top bank you could see all the locos or most anyway. Class 47 or Brush 4s as we called them with 55G Shed allocation were not easy to see anywhere else as of course they were working MGR trains locally. Very convenient location just off the motorways in the north of England.

 

[Iskra]

It is true, DB posted on twitter earlier;

https://twitter.com/DBCargoUK/status/1347493838491889664?s=20

The demolition of one of our most iconic buildings at our Knottingley Depot is underway as we continue with our multi-million pound programme of investment to modernise our property portfolio and improve working conditions.

 

[Bertie the bus]

That tweet says it isn't true. They are demolishing the offices and they will be replaced. They are not demolishing the depot.

 

[LMS 4F]

A place of many memories, once part of my regular beat. The spot where I saw my last 56, 031 after being moved there from Cardiff I believe and also 66 244 to clear them. That was on a regular Sunday morning visit to see the latest arrivals.
The strangest event was the arrest by armed officers or 4 blokes who had been followed all the way from Warrington in the mistaken belief they were armed criminals.
In fact they were spotters and doing a round trip and then o to a Tinsley open day. By then I had climbed a bit up the greasy pole so I brushed them down, apologised on behalf of Cheshire Police and let them go quickly. They were much relieved and definitely had a trip to Knottla they will never forget.

 

[Leeds1970]

quite surprised that its the office block as that is the newest part, built by trainload coal it was originally also intended to incorporate a small signalling centre into the building but the re-signalling never happened

 

[Class 170101]

quite surprised that its the office block as that is the newest part, built by trainload coal it was originally also intended to incorporate a small signalling centre into the building but the re-signalling never happened

Probably cheap construction not designed to last unlike the older buildings.

 

[38Cto15E]

A friend and myself got round Knottingley one Sunday afternoon around 1982, the person in charge was most indignant when he saw us comparing notes at the top of the slope, and he made the effort to come up the bank and give us a bollocking. Fair play to him.

 

[Ianigsy]

I went inside that building on a charity open day a few years back when it was being used as the tea bar and toilets. From what I remember there was quite a big two storey open space in the middle with the mess room downstairs and offices upstairs so possibly not too energy efficient or easy to update to modern workplace accessibility standards.

 

[lincolnshire]

The problem when you have a fancy building like Knottingly depot office / mess room etc when heating, lighting etc needs renewing it cost a fortune to replace as certainly was a fancy building inside and not very space efficient. Also at Knottingley depot in what was the drivers mess room was the back up computer system,s euipment for EWS,s computor system,s I wonder if thats all been moved to a new location. Wonder what the new building will be like? portacabins?

 

[IanXC]

I'm intrigued to hear DB talk about upgrading the site, I thought they'd closed Knottingley depot...

 

[Peter Sarf]

Thanks for the replies. So it seems like only part of the depot is being demolished and principally for improvements. I might not even recognise the bit that is going !.

Yes I seem to recall the slow speed fitted 47s allocated to KY - 47/3s iirc were hard to get. Then came the 56s and one of my last 56s was hiding inside the engine shed. Now its a world full of 66s - and not much coal.

 

[Leeds1970]

as a side note : what is the current state of the 'other' Knottingley depot (former national power) that DB took over is it used for anything or just abandoned ?

 

[class 9]

as a side note : what is the current state of the 'other' Knottingley depot (former national power) that DB took over is it used for anything or just abandoned ?

If your talking about Ferrybridge, it's used by WH Davis to maintain Draxs biomass wagons.

 

[Leeds1970]

cheers