A lover affair with a derelict railway works.
I visited here multiple times during 2011 and 2012 with @kingrat, and a few others, before the floors became unstable and we stopped going after witnessing someone disappear up to their waist. Thankfully they didn't injure themselves. There was something about Wolverton that kept us going back, enough equipment left in the old carpentry and smith sheds to keep it interesting, piles of woodworking forms in the basement, a high level of dereliction that was a beauty to photograph and a feeling that you were always going to enter the basement unexpectedly and suddenly. Access was amusing as it required us to stealthily inflate a pump in the bushes next to the canal, and then attempting to row across the canal without one of us sending us in circles due to a bout of early morning silliness
Short History (I have always meant to update this since buying a book on Wolverton, but it still sits on the to do list):
The Wolverton Railway Works was established in 1838 by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). The railway works is famously known as being the home of the Royal Carriages. The Works were situated at the midpoint of the 112-mile corridor from London to Birmingham. Two towns, Wolverton and New Bradwell were built to serve the railway works, the surrounding villages of Stony Stratford and Newport Pagnell grew substantially once the works opened. A tramway and spur from the mainline were built to transport the workers to and from the site.
When the works first opened, they initially operated as a repair and maintenance facility for the L&BR for locomotives purchased from outside companies. Three locomotives were built ten years after the works first opened. With a rapid expansion and reorganisation of the site, the works started to turn out locomotives in large quantities. Over 166 were built before 1863, when their manufacture ended there. In 1862, a decision by the new parent company (London and North Western Railway) saw the Wolverton Works concentrate on the production of carriages. The production of locomotives was moved to the Crewe works. This decision saw Wolverton become the largest carriage works in the country. In 1901, Wolverton became the first railway works to introduce electricity for use in lighting and machinery. In 1903, a new Royal carriage was built at Wolverton and entered into service. When the LNWR merged to become the London, Midland, Scottish Railway, The Works began to produce wagons alongside the carriages. This work continued until the railways were nationalised, which saw Wolverton demoted to a refurbishment and maintenance works, although wagons and carriages were built up until the 60s. During World War 2, the works joined in with the countries efforts and began to produce the Horsa Glider, repair various bomber and fighter aircraft and convert motor vehicles into armoured vehicles.
The works now has been vastly scaled back, with only a small portion of the site being used as a railcare depot. The rest of the site has ever been demolished and replaced with a super market, converted to new uses or left and remains derelict with plans for demolition in the future. The royal carriage is still housed within the Railcare Depot.
Interestingly, just to the right of this photo is where I discovered just how bad the floor way when relieving myself.
I visited here multiple times during 2011 and 2012 with @kingrat, and a few others, before the floors became unstable and we stopped going after witnessing someone disappear up to their waist. Thankfully they didn't injure themselves. There was something about Wolverton that kept us going back, enough equipment left in the old carpentry and smith sheds to keep it interesting, piles of woodworking forms in the basement, a high level of dereliction that was a beauty to photograph and a feeling that you were always going to enter the basement unexpectedly and suddenly. Access was amusing as it required us to stealthily inflate a pump in the bushes next to the canal, and then attempting to row across the canal without one of us sending us in circles due to a bout of early morning silliness
Short History (I have always meant to update this since buying a book on Wolverton, but it still sits on the to do list):
The Wolverton Railway Works was established in 1838 by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). The railway works is famously known as being the home of the Royal Carriages. The Works were situated at the midpoint of the 112-mile corridor from London to Birmingham. Two towns, Wolverton and New Bradwell were built to serve the railway works, the surrounding villages of Stony Stratford and Newport Pagnell grew substantially once the works opened. A tramway and spur from the mainline were built to transport the workers to and from the site.
When the works first opened, they initially operated as a repair and maintenance facility for the L&BR for locomotives purchased from outside companies. Three locomotives were built ten years after the works first opened. With a rapid expansion and reorganisation of the site, the works started to turn out locomotives in large quantities. Over 166 were built before 1863, when their manufacture ended there. In 1862, a decision by the new parent company (London and North Western Railway) saw the Wolverton Works concentrate on the production of carriages. The production of locomotives was moved to the Crewe works. This decision saw Wolverton become the largest carriage works in the country. In 1901, Wolverton became the first railway works to introduce electricity for use in lighting and machinery. In 1903, a new Royal carriage was built at Wolverton and entered into service. When the LNWR merged to become the London, Midland, Scottish Railway, The Works began to produce wagons alongside the carriages. This work continued until the railways were nationalised, which saw Wolverton demoted to a refurbishment and maintenance works, although wagons and carriages were built up until the 60s. During World War 2, the works joined in with the countries efforts and began to produce the Horsa Glider, repair various bomber and fighter aircraft and convert motor vehicles into armoured vehicles.
The works now has been vastly scaled back, with only a small portion of the site being used as a railcare depot. The rest of the site has ever been demolished and replaced with a super market, converted to new uses or left and remains derelict with plans for demolition in the future. The royal carriage is still housed within the Railcare Depot.
Interestingly, just to the right of this photo is where I discovered just how bad the floor way when relieving myself.
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