Warwick Locomotive Depot

Opened: 1871
Location: Warwick, Southern Line
Status: Operational

Warwick has had three lomotive depots over the years. The first was at Millhill (which can be seen from Rose St in Warwick) which opened in 1871 as ‘Warwick’ station. It had an engine shed for one locomotive, a 7.5m turntable and a water tower.

The second depot was built in 1887 at East Warwick which is now Warwick. There was a 12m turntable, a water tower (the old Millhill water tower) and two sidings to stow locomotives. An engine shed was never built.

By the 1900s Warwick became a junction for five rail lines and as many as 60 trains a day would arrive and depart from here. A larger depot was required, so in 1912 a new depot was built on the site where the Warwick Railway Precinct now stands.

The new depot consisted of an engine shed (roundhouse) to hold seven locomotives, a 18.2m turntable and two 24.3m tall water tanks.

The depot was a hive of activity with repair shops employing about ten fitters, carriage and wagon repair shops and breakdown equipment. These were to cover over forty locomotives that were attached to the depot. Some idea of the size of the depot may be gained by the fact that close to 300 people were employed. 130 in Traffic and Maintenance and 152 on the Loco Staff.

The depot was also closed down in 1970 and all the buildings were demolished over the years following. In the end, only the turntable survived, with all the other structures being demolished to ground level, and all the ash pits filled in with earth and ash.

The Warwick Locomotive Depot gained new life in 1995, when work started on the restoration of the depot buildings.