Nine Elms Locomotive Works were built in 1839 by the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR) adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. The area was formerly mainly industrial ...

in the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Borough of

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

. They were rebuilt in 1841 and remained the principal locomotive carriage and wagon workshops of the railway until closure in stages between 1891 and 1909. Thereafter a large steam

motive power depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine she ...

remained open on the site until 1967, serving Waterloo railway station.

Original works

The original locomotive, carriage and wagon workshops were built by the

(LSWR) adjoining their original passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane in 1839, but suffered a disastrous fire in March 1841. They were rebuilt and from 1843 were used to construct over one hundred new locomotives for the company, to the designs of John Viret Gooch and Joseph Hamilton Beattie.

Second works

Within twenty years of their original construction it became apparent to Beattie that the restricted site originally chosen would be inadequate for the future needs of the company and so the facility was moved to a larger site south of the main line between 1861 and 1865. The second Nine Elms works was responsible for the construction of more than 700 steam locomotives before closure in 1909, to the designs of Joseph Hamilton Beattie, his son

William George Beattie William George Beattie (2 December 1841 – 28 May 1918) was an English locomotive engineer. He was born in Lambeth, London the son of Joseph Hamilton Beattie. He joined the London and South Western Railway in 1862 as a draughtsman at Nine Elms L ...

, William Adams and

Dugald Drummond Dugald Drummond (1 January 1840 – 8 November 1912) was a Scottish steam locomotive engineer. He had a career with the North British Railway, LB&SCR, Caledonian Railway and London and South Western Railway. He was the older brother of the eng ...

. The company enlarged the workshops on a number of occasions and at its height in 1904 the locomotive works employed 2,438 men, building 22 and repairing 450 locomotives in a year. By the mid-1880s it was clear that further expansion at Nine Elms would be impossible. The carriage and wagon shops were therefore transferred to Eastleigh in Hampshire in 1891, allowing for the temporary expansion of the locomotive works and the nearby motive power depot. Ultimately the locomotive works were transferred to Eastleigh between 1908 and December 1909.

Motive power depot

Nine Elms Locomotive Depot Ex-LSW 4-6-0 on turntable geograph-2655940-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The principal function of the adjoining

was to provide and service locomotives for Waterloo railway station. The original motive power depot was opened on the north side of the main line by the

London and Southampton Railway The London and Southampton Railway was an early railway company between London and Southampton, in England. It opened in stages from 1838 to 1840 after a difficult construction period, but was commercially successful. On preparing to serve Por ...

on 21 May 1838. It was closed and demolished in 1865. A second larger shed was built in 1849 on a site later occupied by the Nine Elms Goods Depot. This also closed in 1865. A replacement for these sheds, on the south of the main line, was opened in 1865 and demolished in 1876 to make way for the widening of the main line. A brick semi- roundhouse was built in 1876 and demolished in 1909.Nine Elms early maps
/ref> A large fifteen road (fifteen track) shed was opened in 1885, which later became known as the 'Old Shed'. It was badly damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and never fully repaired. This was adjoined by a ten-road shed in 1910 which became known as the 'New Shed'. The depot was demolished in 1967, after the end of steam working out of Waterloo on 10 July that year. The site is now a part of the

New Covent Garden Market New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London, is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of and is home to about 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies. The market serves 40% of the ...

. The locomotive shed featured in the short film ''London's Nine Elms Locomotive Shed in 1960.''

Original works

Second works

Motive power depot

References

Further reading