The layout of Oxley shed, circa 1947, helps to identify the roles of each building and shows the overall track layout, while importantly also illustrating the ash shelters installed in World War 11 to help 'hide' the shed from enemy eyes. Author's Collection.

Interestingly, a visit to the shed foreman's office in the summer of 1964 revealed a number of railway artefacts displayed on the corridor wall, including a headboard from 'The Cornishman' titled train, a selection of cab backplate fittings and controls, together with other cast plates and photographs. Also on view was a display case containing a large model of a 2-4-0 locomotive (with a glass see-through boiler) which had originally been constructed at Swindon Works in about 1891 for use in legal proceedings relating to the emission of sparks from GWR locomotives.

It was not long before the resident mix of steam locomotives started to share Oxley with diesel motive power. Although this article is mainly concerned with steam working, it is however thought necessary to present a brief general overview of the drift towards dieselisation at the depot in order to provide a more rounded view of the situation shortly before closure.

Diesel locomotives first came to Oxley as early as 1954, with the allocation of a batch of newly built 0-6-0 diesel-electric shunters, Nos 13034-39, these later being joined by No 13191. However, the first main-line diesel locomotive to arrive was diesel-hydraulic No D1004 Western Crusader, which had initially arrived on 17 May 1962, having piloted 4-6-0 No 6014 King Henry VII into Wolverhampton (Low Level) station on a Paddington to Birkenhead train. No D1000 Western Enterprise soon followed, and these two diesel-hydraulic locomotives were then nominally allocated to Oxley shed for the purposes of crew and fitter training.

At the time, Stafford Road shed was still the supplier of motive power for main-line working, but it was decided that the new 'Western' class diesel-hydraulics (and those yet to arrive) ought to be kept at the somewhat cleaner environs of Oxley, which also had supplies of diesel fuel available on site. The 'Westerns' were soon to replace the 'King' class steam locomotives on the trains to Paddington.

Following the transfer of the former Great Western lines north of Banbury to the London Midland Region in 1963, the 'Western' class diesel-hydraulics were then displaced to the south and replaced by some of the newly-built Brush Sulzer diesel-electrics (later Class 47) and English Electric 'Type 4s' (later Class 40), some of which had been absorbed from Bushbury shed following its closure, thus mirroring the transfer of its steam allocation. The new diesels were soon put to use on the London trains, but the closure of the old GWR route via Wolverhampton (Low Level) on 5 March 1967 coincided with the closure of Oxley shed. During the last years of operation, two Drewry 0-6-0 diesel shunters had also been allocated to Oxley for general use, and sometimes up to three differing classes of main-line diesels could be seen grouped together around one of the shed turntables. Unfortunately the earlier London Midland plans for Oxley shed itself to be converted into a dedicated diesel maintenance and service centre never came to fruition.

A Hawksworth 'County' class 4-6-0, No 1013 County of Dorset, is pictured in the approach yard at Oxley shed, with the coaling bay and overhead water tank in the background. The engine has been coaled and is now having its fire raked. The shed's running foreman appears to be in conversation with the footplate crew. Ultimately withdrawn in July 1965, this 4-6-0 locomotive would be stored at Swindon until being sent off to John Cashmore's yard at Newport (South Wales) for scrapping. J. B. Bucknall.

A WD 'Austerity' 2-8-0, No 90149, is pictured on Oxley shed circa 1962, seemingly in the summer or autumn months. These heavy freight engines, introduced in 1943 as part of the war effort, were designed by R. A. Riddles and were later purchased for use by British Railways, the depicted engine's first BR home being Eastfield shed in Glasgow in April 1948. The reason for the engine's visit to Oxley is not known; it has presumably come on to the shed after hauling a goods working, engines of this class appearing from time to time for servicing. With no shed plate, the 2-8-0 has perhaps just been transferred - it was Canton-based from October 1959 to January 1962, and then it was a Southall shed asset from 28 September until a 2 December 1962 move to Mexborough. J. B. Bucknall.

During the course of the mid-1960s the old ex-GWR locomotives were disappearing rapidly, being replaced at Oxley shed by the increasingly grimy and often badly-maintained former LMS or BR Standard classes. By 1965, the yard at the rear of the shed (as with the sidings) had also become a dumping ground for derelict steam engines of all sorts, including, on one occasion, a few former LNER engines en route for scrapping, which were promptly visited by numerous souvenir hunters.

The shed interior was also a far cry from the halcyon days of the past, and the regular weekend cleaning of the walls and general fittings had long since ceased. The large overhead wooden chutes that carried engine smoke and smog away to the outside had started to rot away, and in some cases had collapsed to the ground. The engine smoke then took to accumulating in the roof space, turning everything sooty black. The floors also became thick with dangerous oil and grease, and this presented a hazard to the unwary, and clearly time was now running out fast for this last outpost of steam in Wolverhampton.

The two turntables had originally been fully decked over with timber boarding which obscured the actual turntable pits, but around 1964 the decking and its supporting structure was removed from the southern turntable; the northern turntable retained its decking until the closure of the shed.

Oxley shed was formally closed on Saturday 4 March 1967, although steam engines still found their way there until the late summer, including 'Black Fives', Stanier '8F' class 2-8-0s, BR '9F' class 2-10-0s and other BR Standard locomotives that were receiving minor running repairs. Some diesel locomotives were also to be found on shed for stabling purposes. However, these visits faded away in due course and the place gradually became derelict, and it was eventually demolished and dismantled for its Randley red bricks, which were considered too useful to throwaway. However, the mess facilities on the eastern side of the shed were retained, and this original portion of the old 1907 building is still in place and has been incorporated into the modern-day traction complex. However the unwanted remains were eventually bulldozed out beyond the rear extent of the old shed, forming a section of the bed for the new Oxley Traction & Rolling Stock maintenance depot, soon to be built on the site.

Another visiting engine at Oxley around the same time is former GWR 2-6-2T No 6143 of Slough shed, which is seen in the shed yard in ex-Works condition. This engine had previously received attention at the Stafford Road Locomotive Works, entering on 2 April 1962 for an Intermediate/Heavy overhaul and subsequently being released from the Works on 17 May 1962, and eventually being returned to Slough in the following June. This 2-6-2T would be withdrawn from service in November 1965. J. B. Bucknall.

Ex-GWR '2251' class 0-6-0 No 2232 Is seen at the rear of Oxley shed, circa 1962. Believed to be fresh from overhaul at Stafford Road Works at the time, the tender has been coaled up ready for a short test run. This Collett-deslgned locomotive was released new from Swindon Works on 31 October 1944, and it would eventually be withdrawn from Worcester shed on 30 September 1964. J. B. Bucknall.

Already devoid of its identifying brass plates, ex-GWR 4-6-0 No 6827 LIanfrechfa Grange receives attention at the rear of Oxley locomotive shed on 30 June 1965. The men seen in the photograph are in fact in conversation with a young apprentice who is hidden away inside the frames of the engine, carrying out an inspection of work required. A Swindon-built engine of 1937, the last transfer for LIanfrechfa Grange would in fact come once Oxley shed was in London Midland Region hands, complete with a '2B' shedcode. Unfortunately, the spell proved brief, between April 1965 and its withdrawal on 30 September 1965, although the year was a vintage one for 'Granges' here as at one point there was an official allocation of fifteen of the Collett class engines on the shed's books. Author. 

Former LMS 'Black Five' class 4-6-0 No 45391 is turned on the 'southern' turntable inside Oxley shed during February 1967 while allocated to Crewe South shed. The boarded covering to this turntable pit had been removed a few years earlier, but that to the rear or 'northern' turntable would be retained to the end. Manual labour remained the means of operation for moving both of the turntables. This locomotive last received Works attention in September 1965, but it would gallantly soldier on until February 1968. Simon Dewey.


Demolition of the red brick-built Oxley locomotive shed took place during the course of 1968, starting at the northern end of the building. The partially-demolished shed is pictured here from its western side in August 1968. Simon Dewey.

On 24 April 1932, Joseph Armstrong designed double-framed '388' class 0-6-0 No 1195 is seen on shed at Oxley. Built over the years 1866 to 1876, with the depicted engine being an 1876 example, some 72 of these so-called Armstrong 'Standard Goods' engines were still in service at the 1923 Grouping, 310 of the class having been built. After World War I the larger number of survivors were to be found in the Wolverhampton Division of the GWR, with the largest number in any one area allocated to Oxley. The last of the '388' class would prove to be Nos 22, 512, 689, 1094, and 1195, with the depicted engine becoming the final member of the class at work. H. C. Casserley.

By the 1930s, Oxley shed was fully integrated with both goods and mixed traffic locomotives, and here we see 4-6-0 No 4918 Dartington Hall outside the shed on 28 October 1934. This Collett engine had been released new to traffic from Swindon Works on 31 March 1929. Author's Collection.
 
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