Скачать или смотреть Britain's Lost Railway Remembering Willesden 1A's Legacy!

Step back in time to the golden age of steam with the fascinating story of Willesden Depot 1A—once one of the busiest and most important railway depots in London.

Opened in 1873 by the London & North Western Railway, Willesden quickly became a vital locomotive shed for the West Coast Main Line. Serving trains in and out of Euston Station, it handled a huge variety of engines: from powerful freight locomotives to fast express passenger machines. The depot grew in size and importance, with major expansions in 1898 and again in 1929, when a vast new roundhouse was added to cope with the ever-increasing traffic.

At its peak in the 1950s, Willesden 1A was home to over 120 locomotives. Everything from 4-6-0 express locomotives, 2-8-0 freight haulers, tank engines for suburban passenger work, and even the pioneering LMS diesel-electric twins, 10000 and 10001, were based here. The shed was a hive of constant movement—steam, smoke, and the sound of engines filling the air.

But change was coming. By the early 1960s, British Railways was rapidly modernising. Steam was being replaced by diesel and electric traction, and older depots built for coaling and ash disposal were suddenly outdated. Willesden 1A, once at the cutting edge, now found itself obsolete.

In August 1965, steam operations officially ended at Willesden. The shed buildings and the towering coaling plant were quickly demolished, bringing nearly a century of railway history to an abrupt end. Yet the site didn’t stay silent for long. By 1967, a brand-new Freightliner terminal opened on the very same ground, signalling Britain’s shift towards containerised freight.

Today, almost nothing remains of the original Willesden 1A depot. The footprint is buried beneath modern rail freight operations, and only photographs, records, and memories keep its story alive. Across the tracks, however, a modern traction maintenance depot still carries the Willesden name—servicing electric trains and multiple units that serve London’s busy commuter routes.

This video explores the rise, life, and fall of Willesden Depot 1A, revealing why it mattered so much, how it helped power Britain’s railways, why it declined, and what you can still see at the site today.

👉 If you love lost railways, steam nostalgia, and hidden stories from Britain’s transport past, then this is a story you won’t want to miss.

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