Carriage Works and Steam Shed Newton Heath

The new lines which the (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) Company have in hand have already been noticed in our columns, and it is proposed to deal with the new carriage works and steam shed which are approaching completion at Newton Heath.

The new carriage works, which form the more important and extensive of the two undertakings, are conveniently placed at the junction of the new loop line from Victoria Station with the main Rochdale line at Thorpe=s Bridge, about a mile beyond Miles Platting Station. Of the great extent of this truly magnificent establishment it is difficult to convey any satisfactory idea. The “erecting shop” - the chief feature of the works - is said to be the largest room save one in the United Kingdom. Figures give no exact notion of its size. It is in length 888 feet, and has a uniform breadth of 170 feet. Roughly speaking it is 300 yards long and 60 yards wide, and covers an area approximating to that bounded by Market Street, Mosley Street, Cross Street and an imaginary extension of Chapel Walks to Mosley Street. This is only one section, though the largest of the works. It may help to the notion of vastness to state that the area of roofing of the works is about 72 acres, and that if the glass in the roofs and windows could be put together piece by piece it would form an immense sheet covering six acres. About 11 million bricks have been used in the construction of the building and several cargoes of timber brought specially from Florida have gone to form the 225,000 square feet of flooring. The fact that from 800 to 1,000 men and women are to be employed at the works adds little to the weight of these figures.

Hitherto the Company have produced much of their passenger rolling stock at their joint locomotive and carriage works near Osbourne Street, Oldham Road, and at the branch carriage works at Southport; but for some time past it has not been possible with both these works in full operation to manufacture carriages at a rate sufficient to supply the increased demands of the traffic. ...

The arrangements of the new works at Newton Heath is easily described. Running parallel with the loop line, but at a considerable elevation above it stands the great erecting shop. On the side of the erecting shop nearest the line and corresponding in length with the shop is a covered shed through which run several lines of trails. This shed, which is 38 feet wide and of great height, will form an admirable Alifting shop@ where repairs can be made to carriages already in use. The shed is connected with the erecting room by four iron sliding doors fixed at regular intervals, and each giving a passage way of 40 feet, and it may here be mentioned that on the other side of the erecting room there are corresponding doors connected by cross-ways laid in the flooring. Once in the erecting shop the visitor cannot fail to be struck with its extent, and by the general handsomeness of the apartment. Its spick and span newness gives a sense of cheerfulness. There is plenty of light and air, and viewed in the aspect of the health of the numerous workmen who are to be engaged in it, it is in every respect a splendid workroom. The occupation of Her Majesty=s inspectors of factories would be gone if all workrooms were built with such attention to necessary matters as this. The room is lighted from the roof, which is 45 feet high. The roof is constructed in three bays supported on light wrought iron lattice girders; in their turn supported by two rows of pillars which run lengthways through the apartment. The timber principals carrying up the roof rom the girders are connected by wrought iron tie-rods, and the general appearance of the room has been much improved by the judicious mingling of colours in the painting of the ironwork. We have spoken of the room as simply an erecting shop, but it should be stated that a little less than a third part of the room - to be exact 228 feet from the Newton Heath entrance - is cut off by a light wooded partition from the rest of the building and will be uses for the purpose of a painting and varnishing room. This latter will be kept at a uniform temperature of 70 degrees for the purpose of drying the carriages as they are painted. On the north side of the erecting an paint shops a series of smaller but still spacious workrooms occupy, with the offices, the whole length of the building. The former are for the cabinet making, upholstering and finishing departments, and also offer some excellent stores for the housing of materials; whilst the offices, separated by a corridor from the noise of the paint shop, have their own special arrangements and conveniences. For the removal of carriages four Abogies@ of novel design are to be placed one on each of the crossing ways which are laid through the room opposite the large slide doors already mentioned. The carriages will be built on lines of rails laid through the shop lengthwise, and by the bogies and the crossings the removal of carriages is easily effected.

To the rear of the main building, and running parallel with it is another long range of premises in separate blocks, including the sawmill, the lathe shop, the iron store and the magnificent dining rooms for the workmen. At the Newton Heath end of the works these parallel lines of premises are connected by the lodge, beyond which the intervening space will form a spacious yard for the reception of materials. Over the offices, the lodge and the men=s dining room are apartments for the female workers all on one floor. Here a large number of women will be engaged in making trimmings and curtains for the better class of carriages, and here they will have their own dining-room, kitchen and other offices. By this arrangement the separation of the sexes will be complete, this being the only part of the works which is not on the ground floor. Passing from the main building already described through the lodge the dining-room for men only is reached. An examination of this fine apartment and its adjuncts reveals on behalf of the Company the most kindly and thoughtful consideration for their employees. The room measures 80 feet by 50 feet. The ceiling is elegantly corniced and the walls are tiled with a creamy glazed tile to shoulder height. Adjoining is a spacious kitchen, with a patent cooking range, and next to it a larder, with handsomely fitted lavatory beyond. All these rooms are removed from the workshops, and we commend the as a model of judicious arrangement to all public companies who are large employers of labour. We understand that it is the intention of the company to offer their workpeople dinner at cost price, and we cannot but think that if this policy of the Company in providing comfortable rooms and cheap, though good, meals are generally adopted there would be fewer complaints than we now hear of the difficulty of retaining the services of the best class of artisans. In any case it is hardly to be expected that any employer would loose by following this excellent example.

A small unoccupied space intervenes between the men=s dining room and the iron store, beyond which, in the order named, are the lathe shop, 330 feet by 80 feet; and the sawmill, 250 feet by 80 feet. The lathe shop has been constructed with the view of hereafter introducing side galleries, by which a very large additional working space will be gained. Between the lathe shop and the sawmill are on one side the boiler house, which it is intended to receive three large boilers, and on the other the economiser-house, which is to be fitted with one of Green=s patent fuel economisers.. The motive power of the establishment is to be supplied by three engines each of 40 horses= power. A tall circular shaft which stands next to the economiser-house not only carries off smoke from the boilers, but also all the foul air generated in the drainage of the works, the drains being directly connected with the shaft. In the sawmill it was necessary to keep the floor clear of obstruction. The roof has accordingly been constructed in a single span of 80 feet. The “mill” is cellared throughout, and the whole of the gearing being concentrated below the flooring the work will be carried out with the minimum of danger. Throughout this second range of premises the rooms are of a uniform height of 30 feet and the principle of lighting through the roof has been generally adopted. The workmen in these departments will, therefor, have equal sanitary advantages with those in the main building. .... To the rear of the second range of premises is the smithy. The place is of large dimensions, being 270 feet by 80 feet and will provide work for a considerable number of hands.

The works are heated throughout by steam conveyed from the boilers in 2 inch pipes. By this means the paint shop obtains the necessary degree of temperature for drying purposes, and the steam, after passing through the various departments, is returned to the boilers without waste. The most perfect arrangements have been made to guard against the possibility of fire, and the provision made for the sanitary condition of the works is unexceptionable. In the matter of machinery, upon which the company are expending a large sum, care has been taken to see that everything is of the newest and most improved pattern. The contracts for the production of the machinery have been entrusted to Messrs Fairbain of Leeds; Messrs Robertson of Rochdale; and Messrs Craven and Messrs Hulse of this city. Between 200 and 300 machines of various makes are to be laid down. The works are already sufficiently advanced to receive carriages, and it is hoped that they may be completed by June next. The operations of the existing carriage manufactory in Osborne Street are to be transferred tither, and the space thus gained at the old works will be utilised in an extension of the locomotive works adjoining. Mr Frederick Attock of Stratford (Great Eastern railway) has been appointed superintendent of the new carriage department.

The new steam shed which the Company has erected stands at the junction of the Hollinwood line with the line to Rochdale, and just outside Newton Heath station. The shed is intended to supersede the smaller building of the same kind near Miles Platting station which has long been too small for the Company=s requirements. The new building covers three acres of ground, and its 24 “tracks,” to use an Americanism, will hold 200 mixed or 180 long engines with tenders. Like the carriage works, the building is of brick, and is lighted from the roof, the windows in the side walls being an additional feature. Its total length is 312 feet, and in what must be called its breadth it measures 328 feet. In speaking of the shed we speak of the whole of the building, excluding only a range of workshops and offices of no great extent on the south side, where repairs not sufficiently important to send an engine to the locomotive works will be undertaken. An excellent feature in the building is to be noted in the system of ventilation. As the engine stands on the track its funnel enters a continuous smoke trough, which is every few yards divided so as to gain the form of an inverted hopper, at the apex of which is the ventilating shaft. As there are no fewer than 480 of these shafts passing through the roof, ample means is provided for carrying away the smoke from the engines. There are the usual pits below the tracks, the floors of which are partly concreted and partly covered lengthwise with a perforated grid, which has the merit of draining off water, while it prevents the fouling of the drains by ashes dropped from the firebox of the engines. The shed is approached from the Manchester side, where there is to be erected a coke stage for watering and coaling three engines at a time. The stage will be provided with hydraulic machinery for hoisting the coal to the tenders, and a capacious tank to be constructed above the stage will contain a water supply to be kept in reserve if at any time the ordinary supply drawn from the Corporation mains and the canal should fail. It may be mentioned that the most elaborate arrangements have been made within the shed for the washing and cleaning of engines. Down each roadway - which must not be confounded with the sunken road below the tracks - have been placed seven hydrants, fixed in spacious basins below the level of the floor, and each supplied with screw, nozzle, and hose complete. The cleaner has thus everything ready to his hand, and by filling the tank of the engine from the hydrant one operation is saved at the coke stage. It has been said that entrance is gained at the Manchester side, but the tracks are continued outside the building at the opposite end. By means of a small steam engine and a traverser, a locomotive can be passed from one track to another, and in this way an engine which is at the end of the building and is required for use can be taken from the shed without the removal of other engines which may be standing before it on the same line of rails. The turning of the engines will be effected by two turntables placed at convenient positions near the entrance to the shed. We are informed that the shed will find employment for 1,000 men.

Both these important works just described have been constructed under the personal superintendence of Mr S Meek, the Company’s engineer; and of Mr C W Green, the Company’s architect; with Mr W J Holroyd as clerk of the works. Messrs Robert Neill and Sons, of this city are the contractors.