Northampsmith MPD

**Northampsmith Motive Power Depot** (aka **Northampsmith MPD**), also know by its shedcode of **6L**, is a locomotive depot where the locomotives on the Gladsville line are stationed. This was removed sometime around 1984 by British Rail.

## History

### 1901-WWI

Northampsmith's MPD wasn't built until 1901 by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) as a servicing facility for mainline locomotives but grew into a full motive power depot due to locomotives need to operate a branch line to Gladsville. The original locomotives were all of mainline service and kept on standby or relief duties for passing locomotives that would call in to Northampsmith station heading north towards Midland Railway (MR) metals. The depot was just a single stone shed capable of holding four locomotives.

### WWI-WWII

During the First World War (WWI), Northampsmith was filled with ROD-liveried goods locomotives (one included a GCR Robinson 8K 2-8-0), since the line had been taken over by the British Army since the start of the war. Around this time, the shed was extended to cope with the increase in rail traffic and now had the capabilities of storing around 12 locomotives for either mainline or Gladsville duties. It was around after the Grouping in 1923 when a certain L&YR 28 was allocated to the depot along with an L&NWR "Chopper" tank.

In 1937, due to decrease in traffic along the line, the Gladsville line was reclassified from a mainline to a secondary route or "branch line" and the motive power depot's locomotive's were now allocated only for that line. WWII saw large amounts of military traffic along the line by most the United States Army Transport Corps (USATC) with S160 2-8-0s being infamous by locals. In 1942, the original she complex was bombed and destroyed by a German air raid and left the shed out of action for the rest of the war.

### 1946-1962

Following WWII, Northampsmith MPD was rebuilt with the side walls of the original shed being salvaged and the original stonework replaced by a concrete structure. A Fowler 2P 4-4-0 was brought in to replace the Chopper tank destroyed in the 1942 air raid.

### Moorland Steam Railway era (1962-1983)

After 1962, the shed came under shared control of both the Moorland Steam Railway and British Railways with either companies locomotives being able to use the site. The site was mostly unchanged from the moment MSR operations began and in 1978, proposals were soon being pushed to management that the shed was not in any interest to be repaired and the idea of demolishing the shed came into being. In 1983, Northampsmith MPD was soon announced for demolition and in August that year, the shed was brought down with the side windows being salvaged for future usage. This coincided with the redevelopment of the former Gladsville Dockyard for MSR operations.

Locomotives from the MSR were stationed at the nearby diesel depot before the opening of Gladsville MPD and Dentin MPD before the end of 1989.

## Basis

Northampsmith isn't based on any particular MPD in the UK but is inspired by Bolton MPD (shedcode 26C later 9K) in Lancashire, England. The depot was the centre of Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) operations and the main centre of LMS operations in Lancashire, being just 6.2 miles away from Horwich works, where many members of Bolton's family members worked. The shed closed by British Railways in July 1968 and has long since been demolished.

## Trivia

Northampsmith MPD is made from the sides of a Melcafte kit for an engine shed with a scratch built roof and rear. This is to show that Northampsmith was rebuilt from the original shed, destroyed in WWII by a single bomb dropped by Nazi aircraft.

Northampsmith MPD's demolition in 1983 is based on the fact that many locomotive MPDs were demolished after steam was banned for the mainlines in 1968.

The site of Northampsmith MPD was later reused for Northampsmith Railway Museum. This museum is run by the Moorland Steam Railway and is used mainly for displaying locomotives that aren't operational.

* This was inspired by the usage of the former site of Galen Junction MPD in the Dark Railway Series by being reused for the Galen Juction Railway Museum and Caracus Smash Ltd.

Gladsville MPD was built as both a copy of Northampsmith MPD before it was bombed and as its replacement.

According to Shane Sowter, Northampsmith MPD's shedcode is 6L. This is fictional because the highest shedcode in the Chester area is 6K (Rhyl MPD)

* Bulldog and Kenneth were only locomotives on the railway to display this shedcode in the series.
* The shedcode is absent on the steam locomotives because their faces cover their smokebox door, which the shedplate (along with the numberplate) is fitted to.