Doncaster Works
Encyclopedia
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Always referred to as "the Plant", it was established by the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
and Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
. Until 1867 it only undertook repairs and maintenance.
In 1866, Patrick Stirling
Patrick Stirling
Patrick Stirling was Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway.His father Robert Stirling was also an engineer. His brother James Stirling was also a locomotive engineer...
was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent, and the first of the 875 class was built in 1886. At this time the works also began building new coaches, with, in 1873 the first sleeping cars, in 1879 the first dining cars in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and, in 1882 the first corridor coach
Corridor coach
A corridor coach is a type of railway passenger coach divided into compartments and having a corridor down one side of the coach to allow free movement along the train and between compartments....
es. By 1891, 99 locomotives, 181 carriages and 1493 wagons were being built in the year.
Among the locomotives the works produced were the Stirling Single
GNR Stirling 4-2-2
The Great Northern Railway No. 1 class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. Designed by Patrick Stirling, they are characterised by a single pair of large driving wheels which led to the nickname "eight-footer"...
s, the Ivatt Atlantic
GNR Class C1
The Great Northern Railway Class C1 is a type of 4-4-2 steam locomotive. One, ex GNR 251, later LNER 2800, survives in preservation.- Development :...
s and the Gresley Pacific
LNER Class A1/A3
The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley...
s, including the world famous Flying Scotsman
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
, the first locomotive to achieve 100 mph and also run from London King's Cross to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
non-stop; and Mallard
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard
Number 4468 Mallard is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built at Doncaster, England in 1938. While in other respects a relatively typical member of its class, it is historically significant for being the holder of the official world speed record for steam...
which achieved the top speed of 126 mph on 3 July 1938 to become the world's fastest steam locomotive, a record that she still holds to the present day. These have hauled such trains as the 'Flying Scotsman
Flying Scotsman (train)
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
', 'Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee (train)
The Silver Jubilee was a named train of the London and North Eastern Railway . It commenced service on September 30, 1935, the train travelling between London King's Cross and Newcastle. It did this at an average speed of 67 mph, taking four hours to complete the journey.The train was made in...
', 'Coronation
The Coronation (train)
The Coronation was a named passenger train of the London and North Eastern Railway which ran between and . Named to mark the Coronation of King George VI, the service started on 4 July 1937...
' and the 'Elizabethan''. Doncaster also constructed the carriages for the last of these.
The works continued building all kinds of rolling stock. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, like other workshops it joined in the war effort, among other things, producing Horsa gliders
Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...
for the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
airborne assault. The carriage building shop was destroyed by fire in 1940. New buildings in 1949 were designed with the BR standard all-steel carriages in mind.
In 1957, the last of over two thousand steam locomotives was built and, in 1962, carriage building finished, but the works was modernised with the addition of a diesel locomotive repair shop. Under BREL
BREL
British Rail Engineering Limited , was the railway systems engineering division of British Rail, until the design and building of trains in the UK was privatised in 1993. On 31 October 1969, the company was incorporated as British Rail Engineering Limited.-Main products:The vast majority of BREL's...
, new diesel shunters and 25 kV electric locomotives have been built, plus Class 56
British Rail Class 56
The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp , and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement...
and Class 58
British Rail Class 58
The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co-Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. Introduced in 1983, they followed American practice of modularisation. From new they were painted in grey Railfreight Sector livery, instead of BR blue...
diesel-electric locomotives. In July 2003 'The Plant' celebrated its 150th anniversary, with an open weekend; a link to the picture gallery for the weekend can be found below. The works is now over 157 years old.
In early 2008 the main locomotive repair shop which was built on the crimsal was demolished to make way for housing.