# Bescot Steam Shed



## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

Hi all;
In the large railway yard just short of Walsall opposite the M6 motorway lies a decaying relic of another era,an era when the railways served the industrial needs of our once great nation and privatisation and the greedy shareholders were a million miles away.!!Tucked away in the top right hand corner lies Bescot steam shed built by the LNWR to service the hundreds of locos working the West Midlands goods trains.With the rundown of the railways Bescot shed was made redundent and was finally replaced by the modern diesel maintenance depot on March 28th 1966.Since that day it has remained abandoned and slowly rotting,a monument to our once great railway past.
External view of the 8 road shed building.





The inside of the shed, has in the intervening years, become a forest.But the unique atmosphere of a large steam shed is still in evidence.








Internally the vegetation has all but engulfed the building,here is a view looking from a store room into the main shed.




At the far end of the building the weeds are slightly less in evidence and the rear wall is still visible.








The entrance to the messrooms and toilets is visible here.




Once inside it is quite clear that many of the local youth have visited in the last 43 years.this is the entrance lobby.





and this WAS the toilets and shower block.




Upstairs were Mess and locker rooms.




Along the sidewall of the main building are many rooms of various shapes and sizes all are completely stripped and there are few clues to their usage.
































......and finally the Fire alarm.




Thanks for viewing !!!


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## Black Shuck (Aug 1, 2009)

Thats excellent stuff Fluffy. I love that shed, it gives a great insight into our Railway heritage. You got any idea of the Shed Code?


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

Yes B/S it was 3A.


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## Black Shuck (Aug 1, 2009)

Nice one Fluffy I will google it! Ta.


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

Great explore there.
I love the old railway stuff.
Pic number 2 is the one for me, i'm amazed i've never seen this before. Has no one else done it before?

Nice one!


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

Hi Phill;
As far as i can tell no-one has posted anywhere about this shed.Have visited it a couple of times now and it is an intriguing place.I find it unbelieveable that it is so difficault to find out the usages of some of the rooms-the ones in pictures 16 and 17 for instance.The room in 16 backs onto 17 but is about 2 foot lower it has a small hatch 2 foot above floor level and 3 pipes (with air tight seals)which lead into the room in 17.Also in 17 is that caged chute which runs from the roof to a hinged hatch in a seperate room !!
The room in pic 12 is behind those hatches in pic 18 yet there is no door entrance to it.If you look at bottom right in pic 12 there seems to be a doorway but in the adjoining room there isn't.!!!!I could climb thru the hatch but as the floor inside is lower i couldn't get back out again.!! Strange eh !!


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

Hey..mysterious stuff here.
You don't think you've found the secret hiding place for the 'ghost engine' strategic steam reserve do you?? 
How ace would that be?


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

With the present operaters of our railway system,if the strategic reserve ever was found,it would be sold for scrap and the money put into the shareholders pockets !!!!icon_evil


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

fluffy5518 said:


> With the present operaters of our railway system,if the strategic reserve ever was found,it would be sold for scrap and the money put into the shareholders pockets !!!!icon_evil


It would make a great story anyway.
I love the thought of engine drivers been sent home early from work, there steam engines never to be seen again lol.
Some great secret underground tunnel with rows of rusting engines just waiting to be found.

We can dream on


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

THE ULTIMATE URBEX DREAM !!!!
Tell you what, you search North of Leeds and I'll search the South and if either of us find it will keep it our secret !!!!


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

fluffy5518 said:


> THE ULTIMATE URBEX DREAM !!!!
> Tell you what, you search North of Leeds and I'll search the South and if either of us find it will keep it our secret !!!!



It's a deal lol


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

There's a guy here saying they kept the S.S.R in Box tunnel until 1982, they were cut up amid tight security e.t.c.
Make of it what you will 
http://www.willys-mb.co.uk/strategic-reserve.htm


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## mal33bb (Aug 1, 2009)

*fat cat lottery*

Conspiracy Theorists unite the once fear of Communists fell apart the rusty Revolution ,


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## fluffy5518 (Aug 1, 2009)

Although i doubt a lot of 'official line' stories in this dubious world in which we live,i have to say that the idea of a strategic reserve hidden somewhere under our noses (even in the sixties) was a bit far fetched.And i'm pretty sure that there are no 'LOST' steam loco's as all have been accounted for either on scrapping or preservation.!!!
I could be wrong though!!!


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