Brent sidings
Encyclopedia
Brent sidings was an important marshalling yard and freight facility on the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 extension to London.

History

The sidings were situated on both sides of the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...

 between and stations, close to the triangle formed where the Dudding Hill Line
Dudding Hill Line
The Dudding Hill Line is a railway line in north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, no electrification, and a 30 mph speed limit with semaphore signalling, and is lightly used by freight and very occasional passenger charter...

 left the main line. When the line from the midlands was quadrupled, the two eastern tracks were used by goods trains; to enable these to reach Brent sidings, a flyover was provided at Silkstream Junction, north of .

Coal trains, each consisting of up to 85 wagons, were despatched from the marshalling yards at Toton
Toton TMD
Toton Traction Maintenance Depot is one of the largest rail depots in the United Kingdom. Toton TMD is bordered by Long Eaton and Sandiacre in Derbyshire and Toton in Nottinghamshire...

 (between Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 and Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

), and received at Brent sidings. Here, they were split up and forwarded to the Midland Railway's own coal depots around London, and also to the London area marshalling yards belonging to other railways.

The coal trains from Toton were so heavy that two 0-6-0
0-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...

 locomotives were usually required; from 1927, special Beyer-Garratt
LMS Garratt
The London Midland and Scottish Railway Garratt was a class of Garratt 2-6-0+0-6-2 steam locomotive designed for heavy freight. A total of 33 were built from 1927, making them the most numerous class of Garratt in Britain.-Overview:...

locomotives were built for this traffic, one of which could handle a similar load as two of the normal locomotives.
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