Gorton Works Collection of Engineering Drawings in - National ...

2000-8117Gorton WorksCollection of Engineering DrawingsinContractors’ Rolls© Trustees of the National Museum of Science & IndustryVersion 1.0July 2005

Gorton Works: Engineering Drawings in Contractors’ RollsReference Code(s): GB 0756 2000-8117Title: Gorton Works: Collection of engineering drawings in contractors’ rollsDates: c 1850-1950Level of Description: FondsExtent & Medium of the unit of the unit of description:The collection consists of 5313 surviving drawings relating to 44 rolls of engineeringdrawings. The rolls are each to a small extent incomplete, printed on wax linen andattached to polished wooden rods. There are a small number of loose drawingsboxed separately without an index.Name of creators: Gorton Works Drawing OfficeAdministrative/Biographical History:During the early 1840s several companies were in negotiations for what would later be theformation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. One of these companieswas the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway. On 27 August 1845 theboard of the SA&M decided to construct a locomotive depot and works, chose land atGorton on the outskirts of Manchester and approved plans for construction on 4 March1846. The works were planned by the locomotive superintendent Richard Peacock, thenaged 26, who later became a partner in Beyer Peacock & Co. In the early 1850s heestablished their works directly opposite Gorton Works.The works were completed by 1848. There were separate depots for locomotive work andfor carriage and wagon work, the latter being on two floors with an elaborate lift system totake carriages to and from the first floor. In the early years work was confined to repairsand adjustments. A decision to build locomotives was made in 1857 and the first Gortonbuiltlocomotive appeared in 1858.For the whole of the life of the Works it was common to outsource construction, principallyto Kitson & Co Ltd of Leeds, Beyer Peacock next door in Gorton, and Neilson & Co ofGlasgow. Other contributors to the fleet included Stephensons, Armstrong Whitworth andSharp Stewart.Always confined as to space the Gorton Works soon earned the nickname of ‘The Tank’.Overcrowding became such that in 1910 a new site was opened at Dukinfield, to whichcarriage and wagon work was transferred in 1910.In 1897 the MS&LR was re-styled as the Great Central Railway in anticipation of thecompletion of its London extension. Its headquarters were removed to the LondonTerminus at Marylebone. Following amalgamation under the post-war grouping scheme in1922 the GCR became in turn part of the London and North Eastern Railway. Locomotiveconstruction was increasingly concentrated on the Darlington and Doncaster works, thougha small amount continued after nationalisation under the aegis of British Railways. The lastlocomotives were built during 1950.

Chief Engineers of Gorton Works:Dates Name Company1847-1854 Richard Peacock MS&LR1854-1859 William Grindley Craig MS&LR1859-1885 Charles Reboul Sacré MS&LR1886-1893 Thomas Parker MS&LR1894-1900 Harry Pollitt MS&LR/ GCR1900-1922 John George Robinson GCRFrom absorption into the LNER and later into British Railways overall managementwas vested in the appropriate regional Chief Mechanical Engineer.Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:These drawings were transferred to the National Railway Museum from the formerTransport Museum of the British Transport Commission at Clapham, London, havingpreviously been deposited by British Railways.Scope & content:The drawings held by the National Railway Museum do not represent the full range oflocomotives repaired or constructed at the Gorton Works. They are confined to a numberof rolls of contractor’s drawings. These are sets of drawings for particular types oflocomotive produced by outside contractors. Originally covering all drawings that might berequired for construction and repair, in virtually all cases the drawings showing the generalarrangement of the locomotives and tenders are missing, but the bulk of the sets remains. Inthe majority of cases there is also an index with each set, listing the individual drawingsoriginally provided.The associated list provides a description of the sets of drawings as boxed, using anydescriptive information found on the rolls. It does not list the individual drawings, which arein most cases still attached in their sets to wooden rods. To make the best use of the rollssome knowledge of the successive classification systems used by the MS&LR, the GCR,LNER and British Railways is required. In most cases the rolls already indicate the GCR andsometimes the LNER classification numbers, occasionally only a locomotive number series.In the case of some sets of drawings, as well as the original drawing numbers for the set,there is also an LNER drawing number. However, to access individual drawings from thecollection the only numbering system that works comprehensively is to use the box number,coupled with the drawing number as per the index. It is sometimes also necessary todistinguish whether the drawing relates to the locomotive or the tender where the latterare listed to a separate sequence.Included within the collection are 64 drawings from the LNER period. These mostly relateto O1, O4, O5 and Q1 locomotives, though some other classes are included. Thesedrawings have been separately listed.Related to these drawings are the registers from the Gorton Works Drawing Office and awide selection of drawing schedules, some of which will relate directly to the rolls ofdrawings in this collection. These items are listed below.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:No appraisal has been undertaken.Accruals:No accruals are expected.System of arrangement:In the majority of cases the rolls of drawings have survived remaining attached totheir sticks, and this arrangement has been maintained. The rolls have been boxedand sorted as complete sets in chronological order by company. There are a smallnumber of drawings that do not fall into this sequence.Conditions governing access:Access is given in accordance with the NRM access policy. Material from this archive isavailable to researchers through the NRM Reading Room. The archive is fully open toresearchers. Because the rolls are intact these are sometimes heavy and unwieldy, thereforeparticular care has to be taken in handling the drawings. Several of the engineering drawingswithin this archive are physically fragile due to earlier storage methods and small sectionsmay be missing.Conditions governing reproduction:It is not possible to provide copies of these drawings, other than those from the twoboxes of LNER drawings. None of the drawings have been microfilmed at this stageand there are no surrogates. It may be possible to trace microform versions onaperture cards for the missing General Arrangement drawings by reference to theformer British Rail/ Oxford Publishing Co series available for reference at theNational Railway Museum.Language:EnglishPhysical Characteristics & technical requirements:The majority of the drawings are wax linen affixed in sets to wooden rods. One ortwo rolls have become detached from their rolls. There are a small number ofmiscellaneous loose drawings and blueprints, mainly from the later London & NorthEastern Railway period.Finding aids:There is a tabulated catalogue, which provides a listing of the boxes and a generaldescription of their contents. As most rolls include an index and the numberingsystem within the rolls does not lend itself to a full list of the individual drawings, thishas not been attempted. Individual drawings can only be identified by reference tothe box listing and the roll index within the box.Existence and location of originals:Not applicable

Existence and location of copies:Not applicableRelated units of description held at the National Railway Museum:Reference Description2000-8118 Register of drawings nos. 1-6844 July 1858-May 1905, GortonWorks Drawing Office2000-8119 Register of drawings nos. 6845-13950, May 1905-Oct 1922,Gorton Works Drawing Office2000-8120 Register of drawings nos. 13951-18632, Oct 1922 – Jan 1963,Gorton Works Drawing Office2000-8121 List for 2-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8122 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8123 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8124 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8125 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8126 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8127 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8129 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8130 List for 4-4-0 locomotives, no date2000-8131 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8132 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8133 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8134 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8135 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8136 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8137 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8138 List of Director Class 1912-19232000-8139 List for 4-4-2 locomotives, no date2000-8140 List for 4-4-2 locomotives, no date2000-8141 List for 4-4-2 locomotives, no date2000-8142 List for 4-4-2 locomotives, no date2000-8143 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8144 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8145 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8146 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8147 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8148 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8149 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8150 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8151 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8152 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8153 List for 0-6-0 locomotives 1906-19202000-8154 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8155 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8156 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-1919

Reference Description2000-8157 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8158 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8159 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8160 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8161 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8163 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8164 List for 4-6-0 2 cylinder locomotives 1913-19192000-8165 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8166 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8167 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8168 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8169 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8170 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8171 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8172 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8173 List for 4-6-0 4 cylinder locomotives 1918-19222000-8174 List for 0-8-0 locomotives 1907-19452000-8175 List for 0-8-0 locomotives 1907-19452000-8176 List for 0-8-0 locomotives 1907-19452000-8177 List for 0-8-0 locomotives 1907-19452000-8178 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8179 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8180 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8181 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8182 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8183 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8184 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8185 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8186 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8187 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8188 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8189 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8190 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8191 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8192 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8193 List for 2-8-0 locomotives 1910-19432000-8194 List for 2-4-2T and 4-4-2T locomotives, no date2000-8195 List for 2-4-2T and 4-4-2T locomotives, no date2000-8196 List for 2-4-2T and 4-4-2T locomotives, no date2000-8197 List for 2-4-2T and 4-4-2T locomotives, no date2000-8198 List for 0-6-0T locomotives 1905-19132000-8199 List for 0-6-0T locomotives 1905-19132000-8200 List for 0-6-0T locomotives 1905-19132000-8201 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date2000-8202 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date

Reference Description2000-8203 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date2000-8204 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date2000-8205 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date2000-8206 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8207 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8208 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8209 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8210 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8212 List for 2-6-4T and 0-8-4T locomotives, 1914-19322000-8213 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8214 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8215 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8216 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8217 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8218 List for 4-6-2T locomotives 1910-19222000-8219 List for 0-4-4T for LD&ECR, no date (1897-1898?)2000-8220 List for 0-6-0T locomotives, no date (1897?)2000-8221 List for 0-6-2T locomotives, no date (1895-1900?)2000-8222 List for 0-6-4T locomotives, no date (1904-1906?)2000-8223 List for class B17 4-6-0 locomotives 19342000-8224 List for class J94 0-6-0ST locomotives, no date2000-8225 List for classes K1 and B1 4-6-0 locomotives 1948-19492000-8226 List for class N7 0-6-2T locomotive 1925-19272000-8227 List for Austerity Class O7, c 19432003-9250 Gorton Locomotive Works, Openshaw, photographs: TheGorton Works Collection 1890-19631996-7884 Great Central Railway Ambulance Trains 1914: album ofphotographs and description by JG Robinson.1975-7027 Steam locomotive, Great Central Railway, 2-8-0 No 102 builtGorton 1911 [On loan as at 2005]1978-7030 Steam locomotive, Great Central Railway Director Class 4-4-0No 506 ‘Butler Henderson’ built Gorton 19201978-7005 Electric Locomotive BR Class 76 No 26020, built at Gorton19511978-8090 (&1/2) Three unpainted locomotive works plates, Gorton Works19111978-8129 Locomotive works plate Gorton Works 1907, ex-GCR 0-8-4Tworks no 50031978-8132 Locomotive works plate Gorton Works 1904, ex-GCR 0-6-0No 51841978-8146 Locomotive works plate Gorton Works 1907, ex-GCR 0-6-0No 2891978-8184 Locomotive works plate Gorton Works 1932, ex-LNER 0-8-4TNo 27991978-8185 Locomotive works plate Gorton Works 1910, ex-GCR 0-8-0

Reference Description1978-8264 Locomotive works plate Gorton 1955 ex-BR No 1066 CoCoelectric locomotive 27001 Ariadne1978-8265 Locomotive works plate Gorton 1954 ex-BR No 1071 CoCoelectric locomotive 27006 Pandora1985-8214 Locomotive works plate Gorton 1951 ex-BR No 1022 BoBoelectric locomotive 26015Related units of description held at other depositories:Repository Reference DescriptionGreater Manchester A/GCR/3/ variousCounty Record Office,56 Marshall StreetNew CrossMANCHESTER, M4 5FUTel: 0161-832-5284Institution of MechanicalEngineers Library,1 Bird cage WalkLONDONSW1H 9JJTel: 020-7973-1265Institution of CivilEngineers,1-7 Great George StreetLONDONSW1P 3AATel: 020-7665-2043Manchesterand Local Studies,Central LibrarySt Peter’s SquareMANCHESTERM2 5PDTel: 0161-234-1980ArchivesThe National Archives,Kew, RICHMOND,SurreyTW9 4DUTel: 020-8876-3444IMS 42/2-4OC/3209M10/22/7/1Township ofOpenshaw RecordsRAIL/ 226Great Central Railway –RolledPlans of Gorton WorksPlans and valuations of GortonWorks c 1893General description of the Worksand the Modes of Construction:Francis Douglas Fox 1899Great Central Railway, GortonTank Works, 1898Records of the Great CentralRailway Company 1852-1958The National Archives RAIL/ 463 Records of the Manchester,Sheffield and Lincolnshire RailwayCompany, 1840-1967The National Archives RAIL 226/102 Gorton Works Visitors’ Book,1911-1924The National Archives RAIL 226/641 Gorton Works: visitors’ register1896-1924

Publication note:No secondary works have been published relating to this collection.Archivists’ Note:Martin Bashforth, Access Team Content Developer, National Railway Museum,devised and created the box catalogue during April-July 2005.Rules or conventions:Catalogue created in accordance with ISAD(G): General International StandardArchival Description (Second Edition), International Council on Archives, Ottawa2000.Date of descriptions/revisions:The description to the catalogue was written by Martin Bashforth, Access TeamContent Developer, National Railway Museum, July 2005.Useful Publications relating to this archive:• Dow, George: Great Central Vol. 1 (LPC 1959)• Dow, George: Great Central Vol.2 (LPC 1962)• Dow, George: Great Central Vol. 3 (LPC 1965)• Johnson, EM: Locomotives of the Great Central Railway Vol. 1 1897-1914 (IrwellPress 1989)• Johnson, EM: Locomotives of the Great Central Railway Vol.2 1912- British Rail(Irwell Press, 1992)• Lowe, James W: British Steam Locomotive Builders (Goose & Sons, 1975)