The LMS School of Transport was built between 1937 and 1938 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and is now a Grade II listed building used as the Derby Conference Centre.

History

Derby Conference Centre Entrance and stair well window (Geograph 4195021)

The requirements for a School of Transport were announced in November 1936 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for the purposes of training 50 students at a time in the best practices of railway work. Derby was chosen as the site of the school because it was geographically central in the LMS empire, and would enable students to visit the sidings, control office, workshops and other places where they could practice some of the things they were studying. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Josiah Stamp on 22 September 1937. It was designed by the company architect,

William Henry Hamlyn William Henry Hamlyn FRIBA (16 February 1889 – 1968) was an architect based in England noted for his buildings for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was born in Wigan in Lancashire. He studied architecture with Reginald Wynn Owen in ...

and is dominated by the centrepiece of the facade, the entrance portico, with a full height staircase window and roof lantern. A Portland stone arcade with bas-reliefs by Denis Dunlop runs along the first floor. It opened on 22 July 1938 by the

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Leslie Burgin Edward Leslie Burgin (13 July 1887 – 16 August 1945) was a British Liberal and later Liberal National politician in the 1930s. Biography Born to Edward Lambert Burgin, a solicitor, Burgin studied law at the University of London, graduating w ...

. The LMS commissioned various art works for the building. Just inside the main entrance, they installed two mural panels by Norman Wilkinson, one showing an LMS steam ferry, the other three steam locomotives, depicting progress from Stephenson's Rocket to the Princess Coronation Pacific. In the lounge,

designed a mural which shows the development of road and rail transport from 1838 to 1938. It was executed by John Carter, John Ferguson Cooper and Harold Haynes Matthews. The main Hall of Transport in the building contained a large O gauge railway which was used for educational purposes. It survived until the 1960s. The first principal of the School was Colonel Lionel Manton. The school closed as a school for the duration of 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 was used by the Royal Engineers. It was re-opened on 4 March 1946 under its first principal. In 1948 it became the British Rail School of Transport. In 1956 it was expanded with a diesel traction demonstration building and new courses in engineering. In 1976 it was renamed The Railway Engineering School for signalling, telecommunications and electronics. In 1991 a conference suite was constructed for British Rail's Quality and Safety Services Department. In 1994, the British Rail Civil Engineering Training Centre transferred from Watford and the Railway Engineering School, Derby Signalling, and Telecomms Training Centres at six other locations amalgamated to form the College of Railway Technology, relaunched four years later in 1998 as Catalis Rail Training Ltd. After closure in 2007, the building was adapted to become Derby Conference Centre.

References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in Derby School buildings completed in 1938 William Henry Hamlyn buildings London, Midland and Scottish Railway Georgian Revival architecture in the United Kingdom