Gateshead TMD

Gateshead had several sub-sheds, some of which had sub-sheds of their own. When Sunderland (which was formerly 54A) became a sub-shed of Gateshead, it, along with its own sub-sheds, received new codes with Gateshead's 52 prefix.

This shed was allocated similar types of east coast main line (ECML) locomotives as Gateshead. Heaton had (and still has) extensive carriage sidings. It would also encompass South Gosforth Car Sheds, where the Tyneside electric stock was stabled, including the NER Class ES1 shunting locomotives for the steeply graded Quayside Branch. Heaton and South Gosforth are the only surviving former sub-sheds of Gateshead; all of the others listed here are now closed.

Heaton carriage sidings' ability to accommodate the fixed rakes of carriages, power unit and driving van trailer of an HST played a major role in the decision to close Gateshead, whose cramped location between Askew Road and the Tyne offered limited scope for expansion. This was effectively the same reason that Darlington replaced Gateshead as the location of the NER's main works.

Which, by 1955, also included Hexham and Alston.

The northernmost extent of Gateshead's control, which included the shed at Alnmouth.

Allocated locomotives for use on the former Blyth & Tyne lines in South-East Northumberland.

Allocated locomotives mainly for use on the heavy mineral traffic in the Northumberland coalfield, North Blyth was at Cambois, and was later replaced by an entirely new diesel depot (Blyth Cambois TMD). The new depot closed in 1994.

(54A until 1958) - last MPD in the region with an allocation of steam locomotives, with the last examples leaving in 1967. Also included Durham, which did not have a BR shed code.

(54B until 1958) - provided motive power for freight workings on South Tyneside, including the iron ore workings to Consett. Also encompassed Pelton Level MPD near Stanley.

(54C until 1958) - a quadruple roundhouse which after closure and demolition later became the site of Park Lane Goods Depot. An idea of the volume of freight - particularly coal - traffic once handled within a relatively small geographical area by Gateshead, Sunderland and their various sub-sheds can be gained from their 1950 locomotive allocations with no less than 59 Q5, Q6 and Q7 0-8-0s for heavy mineral workings (Borough Gardens alone had 22) along with almost 200 assorted 0-6-0s.

(54D until 1958) - provided facilities for locomotives working the lines in and out of Consett, (only the former Stanhope & Tyne route remaining for traffic to and from the steelworks by 1980, when the plant finally closed) as well as being allocated snowploughs which were essential in winter due to the town's location being a high fell on the edge of the Pennines.

The shed was home to numerous express locomotives, such as the 35 pacifics allocated in 1954. Newcastle Central station pilots and various other smaller locomotives for local passenger trains and goods workings were also based at the depot.

The experimental water-tube boilered "W1" 4-6-4 No. 10000, which became known as the "hush-hush" due to the secrecy surrounding its construction, was also stabled at Gateshead before being converted into a more conventional locomotive.

In BR days, the shed continued to house mainly ex-NER/LNER locomotives, the BR standard classes being somewhat conspicuous by their absence from north east lines (one exception being a modified batch of the massive "9Fs" which had been specially fitted with large Westinghouse air pumps; these locomotives were stabled at Tyne Dock shed and employed on the heavy iron ore trains to Consett Steelworks where the pumps were needed to operate the air powered doors on the large bogie ore hoppers).

Gateshead also provided motive power for Dunston Staithes, to the West, which had restrictions in place regarding locomotives that could work on them, these being, in LNER and BR days, J71 and J72 0-6-0 tanks and a pair of Y3 sentinel geared locomotives affectionately known as "pups". The 0-6-0 tanks propelled loaded trains out of the Norwood Coal Yard onto top of the Staithes where the waiting pups shunted the wagons into position above the loading chutes, while the empties rolled back off the staithes under gravity and would be collected for their journey back to the colliery by an 0-8-0 from Blaydon or Borough Gardens. Bowes Bridge, which never had its own shed code, was also a sub-shed of Gateshead and was allocated a pair of N10 0-6-2 tanks for working the sections of the Tanfield Branch level enough not to require rope haulage.

The last of Gateshead's steam allocation left in October 1965, with steam lingering on in a revenue-earning capacity in the north east at Sunderland MPD, a handful of industrial locations and NCB lines for a few years before being phased out altogether (although it never completely disappeared from the region, the Tanfield Railway having reopened as a preservation centre just as the last survivors of the NCB steam fleet were retired).

Diesels on shed included the following:

• Class 03 shunters
• Class 08 shunters
• Class 25[2]
• Class 45 "peaks"
• Class 46 "peaks"
• Class 47/4s used on Trans-Pennine services
• Class 55 "Deltics" used on East Coast Main Line expresses.
• Class 56

After closure in 1991, the depot stood for a number of years until its last remaining resident, 08 618 (which had been loitering in the shed since being withdrawn in February 1990), was sold for scrap to TJ Thomson of Stockton-on-Tees, and cut up on site in February 2001, just before most of the buildings were demolished.