Shops
Photo by Bonnie Alexander.
For thirty years the WK&S maintenance shops consisted of a few lean-tos and then a small shack built from recycled garage doors. All locomotive and rolling stock maintenance was performed out in the weather. That began to change in 1996 when a new 54' x 100' maintenance building was erected. The new building includes a machine shop and carpentry shop plus two 100' long equipment bays. In 2004 a new construction project was begun to bring track to the building. By the end of 2006 the track project was complete. Finally, locomotives and rolling stock can be maintained and restored in from the rain and winter weather! The picture at the top of the page was taken during a Santa Claus Special weekend from 2006.
In the earliest days of WK&S operations there was no well or other watering means at Kempton. Locomotives were stored, serviced and watered on the passing siding at Wanamaker. Water was supplied from a nearby creek via a primitive pumping arrangement. There's a shed next to Wanamaker station which I believe was an existing relic from the Reading Company. In 1963 and early 1964 the shed may have served as the first WK&S shop. The photo below was taken in late 1963 or early 1964. Note the pipe and hose arrangement which was fed from a pump down by the creek. The building visible behind #2 is Wanamaker station. The building visible in front of #2 is the old Reading shed. The shed still stands and is used for storage. By 1964 plans to drill a well at Kempton were underway.
Number 2 taking water at Wanamaker. Photo by Dave Thomas.
Same scene as above with #250 in the foreground. Note that neither locomotive is fully assembled. Photo by Dave Thomas.
Back at Kempton a rudimentary coal dock was built along the lower passing track sometime in 1963 or early 1964. By May of 1964 a row of Reading Company lean-tos had been placed by the coal dock and were subsequently used as maintenance sheds. And by the summer of 1964 the well and water plug were ready to go. After that the steam locomotives were stored and serviced at Kempton.
This postcard image at Kempton is interesting for what it doesn't show. The beginnings of the coal dock are visible in the distance by the end of the fence. But there are no maintenance sheds and no water plug. The picture is from late 1963 or early 1964.
Here's a better view of the first rudimentary coal dock from May 1964. The maintenance sheds are now in place.
Next is another view of the maintenance sheds from the mid 1960s. The oil shed on the left still stands to this day, well preserved by its contents. Note that the coal dock has been refined and considerably enlarged. The space between the passing track and maintenance sheds is where the maintenance pit and pit track will be built between 1971-74.
The original WK&S "shops" at Kempton.
The following pictures show just two examples of the sort of heavy outdoor work that was performed for more than 40 years before the new shop building was in full operation.
Number 2 had its running gear refurbished. I believe this picture is from the 1960s.
In the early 1980s Lackawanna #582 had a truck out for brake rigging repairs.
Around 1975 the WK&S built a small shack made from recycled garage doors. The garage door shop had an inside dividing wall along the roof line. The north side included a short section of track running perpendicular to the lower passing track. It was intended to store an MOW speeder, but was more often just used for general storage. The south side was a workshop and crew hangout and included a coal stove. A small lean-to addition was subsequently attached to the east side of the building and served as a small woodshop. The garage door shop was demolished soon after the big new shop was erected in 1996.
Garage door shop before the new shop.
Garage door shop after the new shop. What a difference! Crews would soon move into the new shop and raze the old. The old coal bin was made of timber and right next to the dock. The conveyor was between the bin and garage door shop
Here's another shot of the new shop before the old shop was torn down. The lean-to addition was the woodshop.
The old shop being demolished. The lean-to woodshop is already gone. The old shop's outline can still be seen immediately north of the coal dock.
Here's the new shop without track from around 2003.
The old timber coal bin was replaced by one made of concrete blocks. The conveyer was moved to between the new bin and the dock. This change occurred in the late 1990s or early 2000s as I recall.
At the beginning of September 2004, WK&S crews began the long awaited task of building track into the new shop building. The project included lengthening and realigning the pit track. The picture below shows the first of three new switches that will connect the passing track with the pit track and shop building. The two cabooses sit on an original section of the pit track which was first built in 1971-74. For more pictures and information about these track projects go to my Kempton Yard page.
Beginning of the shop track project in 2004.
October 2004 - a new "storage building" was added beside the shop.