December 2016
I have wanted to visit this place for a long time, and with some time off work, I finally got the chance to check it out. It turned out to be quite ordinary, with many empty rooms and a bathroom that still had toilet paper and soap. The building is located right behind the District Emergency Control Centre Bunker, and across from it, the Crewe South Junction Signal Box is directly opposite. Inside what is effectively an oversized garden shed, there are a few large training rooms and a couple of small offices. Most interesting items have already been taken away, but it was worth a visit before the demolition crew moves in.
History
This building, which was affectionally known as “The Bungalow” was home to the Virgin Trains Training School was initially established by British Rail for the same purpose. It contained classrooms used to train railway staff from the London Midland region for various jobs. After the UK rail network was privatised in the late 1990s, Virgin West Coast took over ownership and continued to operate it as a training facility, alongside two other sites in Crewe. These facilities are still in use by Avanti, the successor to Virgin Trains, which uses them for classrooms and simulators. Once Virgin left, the building served as an unofficial maintenance and storage space for the nearby Crewe Railway Station until it was abandoned due to a power cut. In 2020, the building was demolished, and the land is gradually returning to nature.
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Canon EOS 60D, 10-18mm EFS
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