In today’s Urbandoned video, we visit a large
abandoned train maintenance depot in the UK. The imposing property is just as impressive from
it’s exterior as it is when you step inside. Within the dilapidated structure, we discover
various trains that have been put out of use, sat deteriorating inside the collapsing building. Each carriage is from a different time period,
making every inch of the exploration interesting. Join us as we venture inside
to find out what remains. Last time we asked a question, we
wanted to know ‘Would you like to see more historic ruins with little left
inside?’ We had many helpful responses, but decided to feature this
one from Ali in today’s video. He wants to see buildings of character, whether
historical or provided by remaining features, rather than empty shells. We agree and will only
show a ruin if there is one or two exceptional details on offer. It might interest some
that we have some ruined properties in our backlog that we think contain that unique
attribute, and they will be shared soon. This week we are asking, ‘Would you like to
see more vehicle graveyards? -‘ as they are popular sites that we haven’t covered often.
They can be small and not enough for a full documentary, but we could combine few to
make an exciting episode. Let us know why in the comments to possibly
feature in our next upload. In the early morning of a cold Winter day, we headed for the old warehouse that
runs beside a functioning trainline. Sticking to the opposite side, it appeared that
we could make it up to the building unseen. Visibly damaged, with boards on each window, it was clear that despite being joined to tracks
buzzing with activity, few had entered the site for years. It seemed fairly sealed until
we found a breakthrough and made it in. Wandering between the ruined trains was a surreal
experience. A mix of falling rain slipping between the holes in the ceiling, peaceful ambience
of birds nesting in the rafters and the eerie silence of a place vacant for decades formed
a stunning scene that felt refreshing to us. The long building boasts two passenger carriages
that would have been inhabited by the public as well as multiple freight cars, some seemingly
more dated than others. Whether the trains were being stored here for maintenance, we don’t
know but clearly they hadn’t been worked on for a long time. Some had even derailed at
points, which might signify their future. Our first target was the blue train that
stretched the full length of the warehouse, snaking over the two tracks
that run parallel along it. It is a Mark 2 car and would have been
built at some point between the 60s and 70s. The way our first interior had appeared, we
had concerns that the cars may have begun to get stripped, however, moments
later, it turned out we were wrong. Seeing the concise control panel for the
modern carriage was very interesting, especially after seeing these sorts of
spaces on a grand scale. At a guess, this car would have been sent to the
shed over 20 years ago in the late 1990s. To contrast, beside the newer train lied an
old brake van, which would be placed at the end of freight trains in the steam era to bring
them to a halt, as older cars had no brakes. We do think that the warehouse itself
was disused before becoming a maintenance structure for the train line. The dates
of the types of trains doesn’t match the decaying state of the building, so we
assume workers would have dealt with the dangerous surroundings, in order
to keep their efforts in shelter. Next up, we took a break from the newer car and couldn’t resist heading inside the
first class boasting, red Mark 1. Built in the 1960s, this is a much older
car than the modern one we entered, which is definitely noticeable by its
welcoming design and architecture. The only downside to this car for us
was that there wasn’t nowhere near as much of it remaining as the blue train. One
carriage was situated at one end of the shed, which contained an array of seats,
one private booth and some toilets. After checking every inch of it for rare
details, we made our way out and towards the final carriage we hadn’t seen yet,
which was located back in the blue train. Despite being in decent condition,
the progressive mould and our lack of respirators was enough reason to rush our
time inside. It was nice to find features in all the separated trains that would, as a
whole, make up one complete railroad vehicle, such as the controller’s room, baggage area,
buffet, toilets and a mail compartment. It was a different sort of site to
explore but we enjoyed every minute of it, having never seen a complex like this before and
not expecting to venture inside one in the UK. Following our departure from the carriage, we headed back onto another section of the gantry
walkway where we could take in the whole scene. With the maintenance depot located next to active
tracks, we would anticipate that it won’t stay like this forever as it’s size and land could
be used for something that would help the line. However, the structure is extremely destroyed
in places and very outdated, so renovation would be difficult and costly. It is up to the owners
of the building as to whether they want to make the plunge into a long, hard recovery process or
demolish the warehouse to make use of it’s space. We hope you enjoyed joining us as we
explored the property. If you did, feel free to like the video and
subscribe to never miss a future upload. Here are some of our photographs
captured at the abandoned transport shed. If you like the look of them, check out our
Instagram page in the description where we post images of our explores months
before they are shared on YouTube. Thanks for watching! Remember you can visit our new website and discord server using
the links below. See you next time!
