Improve your goods sheds with this guide

An invaluable reference resource for goods sheds.

When modelling locomotive sheds, I invariably turn to Adrian Booth’s Industrial Railway Locomotive Sheds but I’d yet to find a similar book for goods sheds. The closest I’d come is this overview but it’s more of general guide to them and good as it is, its doesn’t help when modelling and scratch building.

This is a shame because goods sheds played a hugely significant role in just about every railway and main stations and are fascinating buildings to model yet lacking a comprehensive guide and photos I feel my pint-sized renditions lack the detail they deserve.

One the useful illustrations and plans in the book.

Well at last I’ve found a resource for them.

It’s a book, also available as PDF download, from Historic England and it’s a superbly informative guide to these essential, interesting, buildings.

Cunningly titled The Railway Goods Shed and Warehouse in England it’s a comprehensive look at the structures around England. In addition to approx. 80 photos there are also sections on how goods sheds functioned, internal plans and designs of sheds used by the principal railway companies, including LB&SCR, LSW, GWR, LNWR, Midland, GER, GNR.

If you’re modelling a goods shed is an invaluable aid, especially if you’re making one from scratch and want photos of the materials and designs used.

The Railway Goods Shed and Warehouse in England can be viewed on the Historic England website. Alternatively, if you’re like me and want it in printed form for your bookshelf, a paperback version can be purchased here.


> A final, personal, note: I spend a huge amount of time testing, photographing, writing and researching techniques for these articles and pay for all the running costs of MRE out of my own pocket. If you found this article useful you can support me by making a donation on my fund-raising page. Thanks and happy modelling, Andy.
Founder of ModelRailwayEngineer, Andy Leaning

Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.

Afflliate disclosure:The links on this page may take you to carefully selected businesses, such as Hornby, Amazon, eBay and Scale Model Scenery, where you can purchase the product under affiliate programmes. This means I receive a small commission on any orders placed although the price you pay does not change. You can read my full affiliate policy here. I also sell my my own ready to use, pre-made and painted buildings and terrain features. browse the range.
4 comments
  1. Hi Andy – many thanks for identifying “The Railway Goods Shed and Warehouse in England” – it’s full of superb pictures which are ideal for the scratch-builder (as well as a mine of information to catch up on as the evenings start to set in!).

    • Hi David, yes, it’s a great book, wish I’d known about it earlier. Would like to see some photos of your models, do you have any you could send over?

      Cheers, Andy

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