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Stratford Engine Works

From London's Ghost Acres


The Eastern Counties Railway opened their railway workshops at Stratford in 1847. The Eastern Counties Railway originally had workshops in Romford but moved to Stratford when they were unable to expand on the Romford site. The move and construction of new works was planned by railway king George Hudson, who also built up the neighbouring ‘Hudson’s Town’ for railway workers accommodations (Rail UK). These accommodations were necessary because the works were one of the largest employers in Britain and the local area did not have enough qualified workers (Brownlee 2010, 34). By 1862 the Great Eastern Railway had bought up all the railways in the area, including the Eastern Counties Railway (Brownlee 2010, 8).

Stratford Engine Works began as a repair shop before it advanced to building locomotives. Railway works consisted of individual workshops that made the separate parts which were then put together when the locomotive was erected. Stratford works had a tender ship, smith and boiler shop, engine house, turntable, erecting shop, and various supporting stores and offices (Brownlee 2010, 31). The first locomotive was built at Stratford in 1851 and the site made a world record in 1891 when workers constructed a Class Y14 engine in nine hours and 47 minutes (Rail UK).

Stratford Works would have used iron from Sweden, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Coal would have been used in some of the workshops and was largely mined in Britain, but also shipped in from Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Norway.

http://railuk.info/history/gethistory.php?id=617

http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/2812/1/Brownlee_-_MA_dissertation_-_2010.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford_Works


Operation

1847 to 1991


Location

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Located in

London


Produced

Locomotives


Used Raw Materials

Iron, Coal


Ownership

From To Owner
1847 1862 Eastern Counties Railway
1862 1923 Great Eastern Railway
1923 1948 London and North Eastern Railway
1948 1991 British Railways


Industry

From To Industry
1847 1991 Engineering Industry


Description