Toton-Rail.co.uk - Toton yards & surrounding areas

The Toton area

The yards at Toton were always a fascinating place when I was a young spotter, I remember making trips there at weekends, onto the bank overlooking the yards and there was always something happening. How I wish we could go back to the time when you could view numerous BR blue 20's, 31's, peaks, 47's, 56's & the then new class 58's working off Toton. Unfortunately back then I wasn't much of a photographer, and I possess very few good quality photos from that era.

In 1993, I moved to within 2 miles of Toton (& now live less than 1/2 a mile..), and by then having had a few years experience of railway photography, I set about recording the local scene in detail. I didn't drive at that time so I went everywhere by pushbike, often on a sunny morning making my way to the footbridge at the South end of Toton to record the first Doncaster-Mountsorrel passing through, and the early departures ex the yard such as 6T89 to Chaddesden and 8F10 to Mountsorrel which were regularly worked by 37's. Afterwards cycling North along the Erewash canal towpath to Stanton Gate for the next Doncaster-Mountsorrel coming South at mid morning, and the 1st train returning back Northwards after loading..

Please note that I am in no way connected to or work at Toton depot and I cannot arrange for visits or provide contact details for any persons wishing to make a visit to take photographs or other activities.

The Yards

To try and give a brief overview of the yard setup at Toton, refer to the pictures which are taken from the A52 overbridge at the North end of the complex looking southwards and from the footbridge at the South end of the yards.

Picture 1, the Yard to the far left is New bank, comprising 10 through roads which are mostly used for coal traffic and stabling of engineers trains, the yard in the middle of tho photo between New Bank and the through lines is Old Bank, comprising 6 through and 5 dead end sidings, mostly utilised for engineers traffic and wagon storage. The through lines are (L to R): Up/down high level goods, up and down main, and down no.2 goods. 60070 is arriving on an MGR which it will back into a siding on New Bank.

Picture 2, The line on which the train is approaching is down goods no.2, with the closest line branching off to the right being the depot arrival road / the connection to Stapleford and Sandiacre ballast sidings. The line which branches off behind this is the depot departure line. In the distance can be seen Toton North Yard which comprises 3 through reception sidings and a substantial number of dead end roads. 37899/37719 have just departed the North Yard with a Bardon Hill-Doncaster Decoy train of boulders for sea defence work at Hessle. 24/05/99.

Picture 3 shows the large diesel depot at Toton. There are 16 roads in total including 1 wheel lathe road & 5 roads in the 'Cathedral' section which houses the jacks and cranes for carrying out loco & engine lifts. The stabling point for locos 'ready to go' is seen behind the pylon to the left of the washer with class 60's & a class 58 present. The fueling point is to the left of the depot behind the wash plant, with class two 37s present. The train passing on down goods no.2 is 8X09 2045 Didcot-Horbury.

Picture 4 shows the ballast sidings known as Stapleford and Sandiacre sidings. The depot arrival line passes to the left of the sidings and the line to the right of this provides access to the Virtual Quarry to the rear of the depot. The sidings are used for the marshalling of weekend engineering trains. The loco is 37899 which is acting as yard pilot vice a class 08 shunter.

Picture 5 is taken from the footbridge at the South end of the complex and shows the now closed wagon works. Behind the works is Toton West Yard, which is now mainly used for the stabling of stored and condemned wagons, to the right of the wagon works/West Yard is the site of East Yard which was lifted when the complex was rationalised in 1984. The area is now full of silver birch trees which thrive on the old trackbeds, a few years ago they were all cut down and removed as EWS planned to build an international railport on the land. However planning permission was never granted due to problems with road access, and the site was abandoned once again and the trees have grown up once more. There is currently a planning application waiting approval to convert the wagon works buildings and area into a concrete recycling & manufacturing plant which will provide concrete sleepers etc to Network Rail. 60074 & 60060 leave on a train to Oakleigh 29/07/95.

Picture 6 is a view Northwards with the North Yard visible to the top left. Behind the photographer there is an old railway bridge which used to carry a connection from the high level goods lines to the North yard/downside hump, which allowed trains from the South or Nottingham area to cross the main lines without confliction instead of crossing 'on the flat' at Trent or Toton centre. (Hump shunting ceased on the down side in 1978, and 1984 on the upside). This line and the headshunt for the down hump used to cross the embankment and viaduct over the river Erewash just visible on the left. The train is 6T18 0833 Toton-Chaddesden hauled by 37248 08/09/99.

Picture 7 is an aerial view taken in 1998, showing the layout of the complex virtually as it is today. the up & down hump control towers are visible, but these have since been demolished. Compare this view with the 1951 view below.

Picture 8 is an aerial view taken from 1951, Compare this to the view above and see how much rationalisation affected the yards. Aerial pictures nos.7 & 8 reproduced from "Toton Yards & the Erewash valley - A brief history".

For details on how to get to Toton, refer to the trainspots website: Trainspots website=Toton

Photographs of workings taken around the Toton area:

	37377 & 37370 depart on the Up High level goods with a 6Z69 1359 Toton-Croft Quarry on 26/07/99, this is my favourite viewpoint at Toton, but it's now somewhat overgrown..
	08529 shunts an array of wagons whilst performing the tea time wagon works trip on 03/12/97. There were usually two trips performed by the pilot 08 at this time, a morning trip aorund 1000 and a tea time trip around 1600. The works has now officially closed and an application has been made to the local council to convert the works into a concrete recycling and manufacturing plant which may receive and send materials by rail from proposed new sidings here.
	58003 arrives at Toton on the down high level goods line with 7D71 1610 Asfordby mine-Toton, 18/10/96.
	Inside Toton TMD on 25/10/96, 56107, 56132 & 58033 stand receiving attention with other class mates.
	On 18/08/01 37415 & 37419 & GIF liveried 37800 stand in Toton New bank yard waiting to leave with 8G32 0930 to Bescot. The dead end sidings at bottom right have since been connected and are now through sidings.
	Inter-city liveried (with swallow but without lettering) 37152 arrives at Toton on the down high level goods line with 6P55 1441 Norwich CP-Toton Old Bank diesel fuel tanks on 21/08/95, this was a class 31 turn and quite rare to produce a 37, especially a Motherwell example. This loco is now preserved at Peak Rail.
	37516 in Loadhaul colurs but without logos passes through Toton on the morning of 05/06/96 with 6M64 0558 Doncaster Wood Yd-Mountsorrel ballast empties.
	58030 passes Toton Jn with 8F10 0833 Stapleford & Sandiacre-Mountsorrel ballast empties on 27/04/98.
	37372 arrives at Toton from the Trent direction with 6T21 1603 from Chaddesden on 26/06/01 .
	56099, 56134 & 56048 await a decision on their future at Toton on 13/05/05, they had been brought to Toton for possible use in the Fertis reinstatement plan, but in the end were never used.
	37057 arrives at Toton on the down high level goods line from Meadow Lane Jn (just out of sight around the bend in the distance), the train originating from Beeston Yard, conveying a Balfour Beatty Kirow crane. 6M05 1600 Beeston-Toton, 10/07/02.
	37516 passes Toton Jn on 21/02/00 with 7T05 1405 Toton-Nottingham Eastcroft trip conveying YOB crane 81528.
	60080 passes Toton Jn on 21/08/02 after stopping for a crew change with 6V04 0013 Port Clarence-Westerleigh oil tanks.
	Loadhaul liveried 56118 is standing in New Bank yard with 6A11 0556 Maltby-Ratcliffe on the morning of 21/08/02. This view is obtained from the public footpath over the hill overlooking the east side of Toton.
	Trainload coal liveried 58030 departs Toton on 02/07/93 with 7F29 0947 Toton-Drakelow PS.
	Mainline blue 37798 departs Toton yards passing Stapleford with 4S64 1414 Corby-Mossend cartics vice the booked class 56 on 02/09/99.
	Dutch liveried 47308 is seen inside Toton TMD on 26/04/98 undergoing an intermediate overhaul for Freightliner.
	Two Inter city liveried 47/8 locos operated by Virgin Cross Country stand in the Cathedral at Toton undergoing attention on 29/08/98, EWS obtained the contract for the day to day maintenance of the Virgin 47 fleet and were regular visitors to Toton.
	Toton did a manic chopping job on two class 37's for use within the depot to carry engines whilst locos were in the Catherdral for overhaul. This used to be 37070, renumbered as EC1, these 'vehicles' have since been scrapped.
	58050 TOTON TRACTION DEPOT departs Toton North Yard under a pitch black sky & rainbow with 6T02 2053 to Bentinck on 10/06/98.
	47004, 47798 & 47799 stand at Toton fuel & inspection point at the Eastern side of the shed during the open day on 29/08/98.
	37073 is seen inside Toton shed during the open day on 29/08/98.
	58035 passes Toton old Bank yard on the down goods with 7H95 0826 Calverton-Toton New Bank on 03/12/97, the train will set back onto New Bank from Stapleford and Sandiacre. The golden light was fantastic and the frost and clag from the power station also add to the winter atmosphere. The point heaters below the A52 bridge I was standing on were throwing out flames about 1 foot high into the air !
	37071 climbs the high level goods line at Toton on 22/06/98 with 7M64 0558 Doncaster-Mountsorrel formed with a rake of Redland self discharge wagons.
	Withdrawn 56042 stands in the old training compound at the South end of Toton TMD, the loco is standing on class 58 style bogies which were fitted to 56042 for assesment prior to the class 58's being built. Toton at that time wasn't a secure location like it is now, and anyone could wander in and photograph, vandalise or rob parts/scrap from locos stored in this area.
	66118 & 66111 top-and-tail an engineers train from Leagrave to Toton early on a Sunday morning in June 2006.
	47780 departs Toton on the morning of Monday 25/07/02 with 5Z46 0642 Toton-Bounds Green after stabling at Toton New Bank over the weekend after working a charter in the East Mids area..
	56022 in original BR Blue livery arrives at the South end of Toton North Yard on 05/02/93 with an empty MGR from the nearby Ratcliffe power station.
	45029 stands on one of the fuel roads at Toton during an official visit with permits during June 1986.
	A line of withdrawn class 20's stand in old cement sidings close to the road entrance to Toton depot on 11/09/92, they were stored here when a mass cull on the fleet commenced due to the new class 60 fleet taking over their duties. There were 2 sidings full of locos here, visible from left to right here are 20058/148/170/197/010/141/028 & 20074. A557.
	This is the derelict shell of the down side hump control tower at Toton seen in 1993 shortly before demolition works commenced to keep out the unsavoury characters that were being attracted to take drugs etc inside.
	60059 passes Toton Jn on the down high level goods line with 6M87 Ely-Peak Forest on Saturday 02/12/06, the lattice footbridge is due to be replaced by a bland slab sided new bridge in June 2007. The beauty of digi is shown here with the photo being taken at 1358, and posted on the web site 20 minutes later - living locally also helps obviously!
	60007 descends the Down High level goods line into Toton with 6M95 1715 Ratcliffe PS-Tunstead limestone empties on 15/07/03.
	Check out the difference in vegetation etc with the view of 60007 above, this is 56129 descending the high level goods line with 6E40 Corby-Lackenby empty steel circa 1984, 56's were used on these trains during the miners strike to keep them employed due to the lack of coal trains in the North-East. Photo by Richard Stanton.
	67014 & 67001 depart Toton on 02/02/07 with 6K50 1515 Toton-Crewe infrastructure trip which is being regularly hauled by pairs of these locos at the moment.It is hard to pick out in the 67's shadow but all the track associated with the wagon works has just been lifted, marooning a couple of BDA's & plate wagons in front of the shed.
	I was invited to attend the press unveiling of 90024 in GNER colours at Toton TMD on 28/05/99 on behalf of one of the railway publications, on arrival at the paintshop it was clear that despite the best efforts of the paint shop staff, it was never ever going to be ready in time. Here the staff are reflected in the shiny new paintwork as they apply the transfers for the loco number onto the orange stripe.
	Seen from the opposite side to where the staff are applying the numbers & GNER lettering, a member of the EWS paint booth staff applies the orange paint to the ETH boxes on the bufferbeam. Note the cab windows, light clusters & TDM cables still masked from when the GNER blue was applied, and the lack of yellow warning panels, which were added later in the afternoon. Living locally I managed to arrange a follow up visit for the next morning to acquire a shot of the finished loco.
	Having arranged the previous day to reattend at Toton to see the finished article, I arrived at Toton at around 0715 on Saturday 29/05/99 having come straight from a night shift. The sky was clear blue but 90024 was inside the main shed, after seeing the depot foreman I was sent to the staff mess room to await 'final cosmetic attention' to be completed and a driver found to shunt it outside for me. After over an hour, having thought i'd been forgotten about, I was summoned to the front of the shed to find the gleaming 90 standing with 56118 & 58013. After obtaining my required images I inquired if there was any chance of touring the rest of the shed front as it was nicely stacked out with various liveried class 37's, 47's, 56's & 58's.. A nice mornings work, but I was certainly ready for bed after finally leaving Toton at around 11am !
	90024 is again seen ex works at Toton on 10/08/06 after being repainted from GNER livery and unveiled to the press in the new colour scheme for locos dedicated to working the WCML sleeper services, fortunately it was ready this time!.
	37608 is seen on the rear of 1Z14 Derby RTC-Barrow Hill-Derby RTC calibration run on 23/03/07, the train was booked to make numerous trips all running via Duffield except this first outward run which was booked via Toton to turn the train. I had come home off nights without thought of going for it as the weather was dull & cloudy but then it started breaking with sunny intervals so I made a last minute dash, unfortunately the sun dipped as the lead loco 37612 passed beneath the bridge I was standing on, and then came back out full as soon as the train was too far out of reach!
	47377 waits access down the hump into the North yard as unusually 20155 leads a freight out of Toton to the South after climbing the down hump, 04/05/84. Compare the view with that of the test train above and can you pick out the viaduct etc. Photo: Alan Walker.
	GBRF owned 66726 passes Toton on 28/03/07 with EWS working 6E52 1048 Peak Forest-Peterborough, EWS are in a predicament at the moment with a shortage of locos and this was the second day that 66726 had been hired in to help.
	BR blue liveried 37308 stands in Toton New Bank sidings on 07/04/03 waiting to leave with 7E15 2229 Toton-Peterborough infrastructure working, ex works 47793 can be seen on the shed.
	Seen from the A52 road bridge at the North end of Toton, 66160 head south along the up high level goods with 6V37 Lackenby-Margam steel whilst 37426 approaches with 7B04 1500 Bedford-Toton New Bank spoil returning from a weekend possession, 25/05/03.
	37406 has just backed into Toton New Bank sidings on 09/05/03 with 6G25 0503 Bescot-Toton infrastructure trip. 37406 had just been overhauled at Cardiff Canton and was sent overnight to Toton for attention to its bodywork at Toton's new paint facility. After getting the gen I made many frantic mobile calls to all the local photters who may have been interested in this rare working, but only one had their phone switched on and managed to get out of bed in time to join me on the bridge!
	47853 tails a returning railtour from Barrow Hill to Kings Cross on 19/05/07, the lattice footbridge us due for renewal in June 07.
	37410 departs Toton on 31/05/07 with 6G45 1638 to Bescot, Euroshed 66243 is dead in train en-route to France.
	60054 stands at Toton on Sunday 17/06/07 after arriving from the Erewash valley blockade north of Toton, the shed can be seen in the background with numerous 60s & 66s outside.
	37418 and a line of class 58s (L>R 0??/023/036?/012/008) rust whilst awaiting their fate in the scrap lines at Toton on 17/06/07.
	Mainline blue liveried 60011 passes my favourite spot at Toton on 04/10/96 with 7A12 0730 Welbeck-Ratcliffe. So much has changed since this image was taken, the loco is stored with fire damage, the viewpoint is completely overgrown, the footbridge has been replaced with a smaller, bland slab sided structure, the wagons have all but disappeared from the railway and the wagon works in the background is closed and derelict. The moral is to record things now that seem everyday occurrences, but in a few years will be just memories..
	37408 Loch Rannoch departs Toton on the morning of 08/08/97 with 7P10 0801 Toton-Longport with withdrawn HEA wagons for conversion into MEA box wagons at Marcroft engineering, Stoke.
	60084 heads down the high level goods line on approach to Toton Jn with 6P12 1330 Ratcliffe PS-Toton MGR empties on 10/07/02.
	A specially cleaned 37427 & 37411 depart Toton on 13/10/97 with 1Z46 1520 Toton TMD-Kings Cross. This train was a VIP special for EWS senior managers and invited guests which included bankers that were being invited to support EWS financially in their rolling stock investment plans... class 66s and new wagons. This was a lucky shot with the sky opening to a big blue hole just as the train was hauled off the shed by an unidentified plain grey 37 which was then uncoupled from the North end to allow the 37/4s to head south.
	Stored 60003, 60011 and 37402 stand at the rear of Toton TMD on 07/02/08.
	BR blue 8136 & green 8016 depart Stapleford and Sandiacre sidings adjacent to Toton TMD with a loaded mineral train on 10/05/1973, note how there are no lines of stored locos in front of the shed like there is now! photo: PR Collection.
	Green 8301 & Br blue 8023 pass Stapleford immediately North of Toton yards with a a loaded coal train believed to have emanated from the Kirkby area on 14/06/1972, note the industrial skyline provided by Stanton ironworks which has now all closed and also the colour lights on the gantry which have route indicators for movements into the now lifted Stanton Gate up sidings. photo: PR Collection.
	58030 passes Stapleford & Sandiacre on arrival at Toton with 7A14 0916 Clipstone-Ratcliffe on 09/03/98, this view is from the A52 road bridge looking North.