Hopetown Carriage Works, also known as the Stockton and Darlington Railway Carriage Works, was a carriage works of the Stockton and Darlington Railway built in 1853 in Hopetown, near Darlington, County Durham, England. The works built railway carriages from 1853 to around 1884. Now preserved, it is still used as a museum workshop.

Description

The building was to a design by Joseph Spark, completed by architects ''Ross & Richardson'' of Darlington. It is constructed of coursed squared stone and has a roof of Welsh slate; the building consists of a two storey centre section with Venetian style entrance, with two single storey wings.

History

The building was used for the manufacture and maintenance of two axle railway carriages; there were two internal rail track running the length of the building and wings connected to the main network via a small turntables located in the central two storey building. The central building included lifting facilities (later removed). Construction on the site ended in the 1880s (about 1884.) with the introduction of longer wheelbase bogie vehicles for which the works was unsuited - all carriage manufacture was transferred to the

York Railway Works York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

after 1863 under the NER. The building was later used as a store, and to repair wagons, as well as being used as a rifle range by the railway company. In the 1980s the site and building was acquired by Darlington Borough Council and became part of the

Darlington Railway Centre and Museum Head of Steam, formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. It is based inside the ...

. The building was Grade II listed in 1986.

Current use

The

A1 Steam Locomotive Trust The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a Darlington, England based charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of completing the next stage of the locomotive heritage movement, the building of a new steam locomotive from scratch (i.e. not ...

, constructors of the new locomotive 60163 Tornado took over the tenancy buildings east wing in 1995. The

North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG) was formed in 1966 with the intention of preserving some of the steam locomotives then still working on regular goods or passenger trains in North East England. At the time of its formation, ...

(NELPG) took over the west wing in 2002. The New Build

LNER Class P2 The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they were ...

, is being built here by the same people that created Tornado.

References

Literature

External links