View source for St Blazey engine shed

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox railway depot
 | name         = St Blazey
 | image        = St Blazey (Par) railway depot Geograph-3206818-by-Roger-Templeman.jpg
 | image_alt    = 
 | caption      = St Blazey depot
 | location     = [[Par, Cornwall|Par]], [[Cornwall]]
 | coordinates  = {{Coord|50.3521|-4.7092|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
 | owner        = 
 | operator     = [[DB Schenker Rail (UK)|DB Cargo]]
 | depotcode    = BZ (1973-)<ref name="TRC">{{cite web|url=http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Resource_data/AllTimeShedCodes.pdf|title=The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes|date=5 May 2006|work=TheRailwayCentre.com|access-date=27 August 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217221651/http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Resource_data/AllTimeShedCodes.pdf|archive-date=17 December 2013}}</ref>
 | type         = 
 | opened       = {{Start date|1874}}
 | closed       = <!--{{End date|YYYY|MM|df=y}}-->
 | original     = [[Cornwall Minerals Railway]]
 | pregrouping  = [[Great Western Railway|GWR]]
 | postgrouping = GWR
 | roads        = <!-- number of storage roads -->
 | rollingstock = <!-- rollingstock stored at the depot -->
 | routes       = <!-- routes operated from the depot -->
 | former_depot_codes = {{ubl|SBLZ, S<sup>T</sup>B or SBZ (1877 - 1947)|83E (1948 - 1963)|84B (1963 - 1973)<ref name="TRC" />}}
}}

'''St Blazey engine shed''' is located in [[Par, Cornwall|Par]], [[Cornwall]], United Kingdom, although it is named after the adjacent village of [[St Blazey]]. It was built in 1874 as the headquarters of the [[Cornwall Minerals Railway]] but for many years was a depot of the [[Great Western Railway]]. The current depot operator (in 2016) is [[DB Schenker Rail (UK)|DB Cargo]] and the [[List of British Rail TOPS depot codes|depot TOPS code]] is BZ.

==History==
[[File:Cornwall Minerals Railway 060T Treffrey.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cornwall Minerals Railway]] locomotive ''Treffrey'' as delivered to the depot in 1874]]
St Blazey engine shed dates from the opening of the [[Cornwall Minerals Railway]] on 1 June 1874. This line linked [[Fowey]] and [[Newquay]] via [[Par, Cornwall|Par]] in [[Cornwall]]. The engineer was [[Samuel Morton Peto|Sir Morton Peto]] and he built workshops for the railway on the north side of [[Par, Cornwall|Par]], close to the adjoining town of [[St Blazey]]. The workshops included a distinctive [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]] engine shed of nine 70 feet long roads around a [[turntable (railroad)|turntable]]. Each shed road had a 58 feet long pit between the rails for servicing engines. The area also boasted an erecting and repair shop, a fitting shop, a smithy, boiler house and a 2,500 gallon water tower.<ref>{{harvnb|Vaughan|1991|p=}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2016}}

Because of their location, the engine shed was initially known as '''Par'''. On 1 January 1879 a loop line was built to the [[Cornwall Railway]] [[Par railway station|station at Par]] after which the Cornwall Minerals Railway engine shed and [[St Blazey railway station|adjacent station]] were known as '''St Blazey''' to avoid the confusion of two stations with the same name.<ref>{{harvnb|Bennett|1988|p=}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2016}}

The Cornwall Minerals Railway was operated by the [[Great Western Railway]] from October 1877, the GWR shed code being SBZ.<ref name=gworg>{{cite web |url= http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_gwr_sheds.htm |title= Great Western & Western Region Locomotive Depots |author= |date= 2013 |website= The Great Western Archive |publisher= John Daniel |access-date= 14 March 2021}}</ref> A new, elevated coaling road and 45,000 gallon water tank was provided before 1908.

The Great Western Railway was [[nationalisation|nationalised]] into [[British Railways]] from 1 January 1948 and given the shed code 83E.<ref name=gworg />  The first diesel locomotive was allocated to St Blazey in November 1960. The last steam locomotive workings from the shed were on 28 April 1962 and the shed officially closed to steam that month.{{sfn|Bolger|1983|pp=40-41}}

The roundhouse has since been converted into industrial units but since April 1987 the adjacent wagon repair shed has been used to service diesel locomotives, local passenger trains, and wagons used for [[Kaolinite|china clay]] traffic. [[British Rail]] was privatised in the 1990s, the goods traffic and workshops at St Blazey becoming the responsibility of freight operator English Welsh & Scottish Railway (now [[DB Schenker Rail (UK)]]).

The turntable has been retained to turn the preserved steam locomotives that still visit Cornwall on special main line workings. It as given [[listed building]] status in 1974,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101289905-engine-sheds-stack-and-turntable-st-blaise |title= Engine Sheds, Stack and Turntable. A Grade II* Listed Building in St Blazey, Cornwall |author=  |date=  |website=British Listed Buildings |publisher= |access-date= 14 March 2021}}</ref> and at one time it was listed in Historic England's 'Heritage at Risk Register' as it was ''deteriorating through lack of maintenance''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Engine Sheds, Stack and Turntable, St Blazey Road, St. Blaise - Cornwall (UA)|url=http://risk.historicengland.org.uk/register.aspx?id=1580388&rt=0&pn=1&st=a&ctype=all&crit=blazey|website=Heritage At Risk Register|publisher=Historic England|access-date=2015-11-11}}</ref> but it was renovated in 2016 and was used for a special train on 7 August that year.<ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/610/st-blazey-turntable-is-back-but-duchess-use-prohibited/ |title= St Blazey turntable is back – but ‘Duchess’ use prohibited |author= |date= 19 September 2016 |website= The Railway Magazine |publisher= Mortons Media Group Ltd. |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref>

Goods traffic is still sometimes loaded at St Blazey in the sidings adjacent to the depot.

{{-}}

==Allocation and operation==
[[File:BZ steam allocations.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Bar graph of locomotive types allocaed to St Blazey shed in 1922, 1950 and 1959.|Steam locomotives allocated to St Blazey shed, cotegorised by type.<ref>{{cite book  |last= Rowledge |first= J.W.P. |title= GWR locomotive allocations: First and last sheds 1922-1967 |publisher= David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |year=  1986 |isbn= 0 7153 8820 7}}</ref>{{sfn|Bolger|1983|pp=40-41}}]]

Lines operated by locomotives shedded at St Blazey are mainly the branches from Par to Newquay and associated freight lines and the two lines to Fowey. This resulted in an allocation of locomotives designed for hauling freight trains, and with the tight curves encountered on some of the branches, types with a short wheelbase suitable for such lines were usual. The smallest engine allocated to St Blazey in later years was the tank used for the [[Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway|Lostwithiel to Fowey branch]], which was usually four-coupled. Under the GWR a [[GWR 455 Class|Metro tank]] was usual but under British Rail an ex-GW [[GWR 1400 Class|1400 class]] was used.<ref name=crs>{{cite web |url= http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/st-blazey-depot-and-par-harbour.html |title= St Blazey Depot and Par Harbour |publisher= Cornwall Railway Society |access-date= 27 March 2021}}</ref> In 1960, a [[GWR 1000 Class|County class 4-6-0]] locomotive was shedded at St Blazey as a trial but was moved away later that year.<ref name=crs />

Following the change from steam to diesel the allocation of locomotives at St Blazey was only shunters. There were five {{brc|08}} shunters allocated to St Blazey by the late 1970s<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= British Rail locoshed book |publisher=Ian Allan |location=London |year= 1978 |pages= 5–11 |isbn= 0 7110 0838 8}}</ref> There were three turns for shunters allocated at St Blazey in 1981. One loco was used to shunt St Blazey yard, and a second locomotive was used as trip pilot travelling to [[Wenfordbridge]] clay dries Monday/Wednesday/Friday.<ref>{{cite book |last= Vaughan |first= John |title= Diesels in the Duchy |publisher= Ian Allan |location= Shepperton |year= 1983 |page= 50 |isbn= 0 7110 1326 8}}</ref> The third locomotive was a spare used to provide cover for the shunters at both St Blazey and [[Penzance TMD|Penzance]] sheds. This was a dual-braked example to work both the vacuum-braked 'clay hood' wagons commonly used on china clay trains in the St Blazey area and the passenger stock that would be shunted at Penzance.{{sfn|Castle|Wood|Castle|Woodley|1981|p=30}} In 1995 there were still three Class 08s, although by now all of these were fitted with air brakes.<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= British Railways locomotives and coaching stock 1995|publisher= Platform 5 |location= Sheffield |year= 1995 |pages= 7–11 |isbn= 1 872524 72 9}}</ref> 

Larger locomotives were never based here but visited from other depots to haul freight trains. Many of these only operated during the week so that at weekends half a dozen locomotives could be at the depot awaiting active duty.{{sfn|Castle|Wood|Castle|Woodley|1981|p=38}}<ref>{{cite book |last= Kilpatrick |first= R |title= British Rail locoshed directory |publisher= Ian Allan |location= Shepperton |year=  1977 |page= 9 |isbn= 0 7110 0871 X}}</ref> Types that have been in regular use from the depot since the 1970s have been {{brc|25}}<ref>{{cite book |last= Perkins |first= Chris |title= BR Class 24/25 Diesels |publisher= Bradford Barton |location= Truro |year= 1982 |page= 16 |isbn= 0 85153 432 5}}</ref> followed by {{brc|37}}<ref>{{harvnb|Webster|Greengrass|Greaves|1987|p=68}}</ref> and now {{brc|66}}. Other classes have also been used for local freight trains. In 1990, a trial was carried out of a {{brc|56}} as a possible replacement for heavy freights requiring double-headed Class 37s originating from the area. The trial was not successful.<ref>{{cite book |last= Vaugan |first= John |title= An illustrated history of the Cornish main line |publisher= OPC |year= 2009 |page= 89 |isbn= 978 0 86093 625 1}}</ref> One passenger train in the late 1970s was booked for haulage by locomotives normally operating freight trains from St Blazey, this being the summer Saturday service between {{stnlnk|Newquay}} and {{stnlnk|Newcastle}}; a pair of Class 25s taking it to {{stnlnk|Plymouth}}.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ford |first= H.L. |title= Diesels on Cornwall's main line |publisher= Bradford Barton |location= Truro |year=  1973 |page= 63 |isbn= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Lund |first= E |title= to the last drop |publisher=  |year= 1980 |pages= 4–5 |isbn= 0 9507063 0 2}}</ref>

Since the demise of British Rail the depot has been operated by English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS, now [[DB Cargo UK|DB Cargo]]). There have been no locomotives formally based at St Blazey as all shunters in the EWS Great Western Lines pool were officially allocated to [[Cardiff Canton TMD|Cardiff Canton]] depot, although locomotives still used the shed.<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= British Railways locomotives and coaching stock 2004|publisher= Platform 5 |location= Sheffield |year= 2004 |pages= 16–21 |isbn= 1 902336 39 9}}</ref>

The yard was used to store several DMUs overnight for British Rail and later [[Wessex Trains]] then [[Great Western Railway (First Group)|Great Western Railway]]. This meant that several morning services started at [[Par railway station]] and evening ones terminated there.

==References==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Commons category|St Blazey Traction Maintenance Depot}}
*{{cite book | last = Bennett | first = Alan | title = The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall | publisher = Kingfisher Railway Publications | year = 1988 | location = Southampton | isbn = 0-946184-53-4}}
*{{cite book | last = Bolger | first = Paul | title = BR steam motive power depots: WR | publisher = Ian Allan | year = 1983 | location = Shepperton | isbn = 0 7110 1311 X}}
*{{cite book |last1= Castle |first1= John |last2= Wood |first2= Ron |last3= Castle |first3= Simon |last4= Woodley |first4= Geoff |title= Shunter Duties |publisher=Inter-City Railway Society |year= 1981 |isbn= }}
*{{cite book|title=BR Depots|series=Motive power recognition|volume=6|year=1987|first=Colin J.|last=Marsden|publisher=Ian Allan Ltd.|isbn=9780711017191|oclc=18685680}}
*{{cite book | last = Vaughan | first = John | title = The Newquay Branch and its Branches | publisher = Haynes/Oxford Publishing Company | year = 1991 | location = Sparkford | isbn = 0-86093-470-5}}
*{{cite book|title=British Rail Depot Directory|year=1987|first1=Neil|last1=Webster|first2=Robert|last2=Greengrass|first3=Simon|last3=Greaves|publisher=Metro Enterprises Ltd.|isbn=9780947773076|oclc=20420397}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Blazey engine shed}}
[[Category:Railway depots in England]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Great Western Railway]]
[[Category:St Blazey]]