Lost Leeds Steam – Farnley Junction Shed (25G / 55C) #leeds #farnley #locomotive #steam #fyp

🚂✨ Lost Leeds Steam – Farnley Junction Shed (25G / 55C) ✨🚂

Step back in time to the age of steam as we uncover the fascinating story of Farnley Junction Motive Power Depot, once coded 25G and later 55C. Situated just two miles south-west of Leeds City Station, this forgotten engine shed played a crucial role in keeping both freight and passenger traffic moving through West Yorkshire.

In its prime, Farnley Junction was a hive of activity. The depot was home to over 20 WD 2-8-0 freight locomotives, along with a strong allocation of the versatile Black Fives. It also serviced visiting locomotives, most often of LMS origin, before they returned to duty. The 12-road shed echoed daily with the sounds of coaling, watering, and shunting, as steam power dominated the lines to Manchester and Liverpool.

Rare photographs from the early 1960s capture the human side of the story: crews posing proudly beside their engines, smoke drifting through the air, and locomotives preparing for their next duty. Among them, a Black Five heads off to Leeds City to take over a Liverpool working. On another day, under the water column, stood the famous Royal Scot No. 46108 “Seaforth Highlander”. While the shed never officially had Royal Scots allocated, for a few months in 1962 and 1963, Farnley Junction became their final resting place—housing condemned giants waiting to be taken away for scrap at Crewe Works.

By the mid-1960s, the writing was on the wall. Steam was in decline, and Farnley’s allocation shrank drastically. Where once there were rows of working engines, only a few Black Fives, a solitary 8F, and some Jubilees remained. On 31st October 1966, the shed closed its doors for the last time, ending an era for Leeds railwaymen and enthusiasts alike.

Today, Farnley Junction has vanished almost without trace. The site has been redeveloped, mainly for housing, and no physical remains of the shed survive. Only old maps, photographs, and the memories of those who worked there remind us of its importance. For rail historians and steam enthusiasts, Farnley Junction is a symbol of both the power of the steam age and its rapid decline during the 1960s.

In this video, we’ll explore:
🚂 The locomotives that called Farnley home – Black Fives, Jubilees, WD 2-8-0s
📜 The history of its shed codes, from 25G to 55C
📷 Rare photographs and stories from its last years of steam
🏚 What became of the shed after closure and what the site looks like today

If you enjoy railway history and stories of lost engine sheds, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. Your support keeps these forgotten places alive in memory, and there are plenty more journeys through Britain’s steam past still to come.

#FarnleyJunction #Shed25G #LeedsHistory #BritishRailways #SteamRailways #RailwayHeritage #BlackFive #RoyalScot #LostSheds #trainspotting

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COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:- Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.