Early history (1840-1862)

Activity on the site was started in 1840 by the Northern and Eastern Railway who had opened a new line that joined the Eastern Counties Railway at Stratford. The locomotives were maintained at a roundhouse called the Polygon which was built between July and September 1840 to a design by Robert Stephenson (a surviving example of which can be seen at Derby).^[1]

In 1847–1848 by the GER's predecessor, the Eastern Counties Railway moved onto the site as its own works at Romford had outgrown that site. Railway King George Hudson was behind this move and many of the original buildings were replaced at this time by new buildings. The area was known as Hudson Town for a number of years as the company built a number of houses in the area as well.

In 1850 1,000 men were employed at the works.^[2]

It was not until 1850 that the Eastern Counties Railway under Gooch built a locomotive at the then newly opened Stratford Works. Number 20 was the first of a class of six 2-2-2T locomotives (although three more were also built by R. B. Longridge and Company of Bedlington, Northumberland). Slightly bigger improved versions of the class followed in 1853 and 1854.

Fog signals which contained gunpowder were manufactured at the works with a special reinforced building being provided c. 1855. On 26 February 1857 this building exploded with three casualties. The subsequent inquiry was unable to uncover why the explosion had happened.^[3]

Great Eastern Railway era (1862-1922)

In 1862 the Great Eastern Railway took over the running of the works.

In the 1870s land was acquired to the north and west of Stratford station and new locomotive sheds were built. This site was sometimes referred to as High Meads. However locomotives were still serviced on the original site until the 1880s. The carriage and wagon works expanded into new buildings alongside Angel Road and Leyton Road.

In 1875 a six-month period saw 66 engines repaired.

Between 1870 and 1900, some 960 locomotives were made at Stratford.^[7]

In 1891 the works set a new time record for building locomotives – a Class Y14 tender engine was built in 9 hours 47 minutes from the time the frames were stamped out to the completed and fully functional locomotive leaving the works. This record still stands.^[8]

However a need to find extra capacity for carriage painting led to some 200 carriages per year being repainted at a depot at Felixstowe Beach railway station.^[9]

Wagon building and maintenance moved to Temple Mills Wagon Works in 1896.

An order for two steam breakdown cranes was placed in 1902 and completed in 1908. It was unusual for a main line railway company to build its own cranes and most British companies bought their cranes from either Cowans (Carlisle), Ransome & Rapier (Ipswich) or Craven Brothers (Manchester). The latter of these lasted into British Rail days being allocated to Ipswich and after withdrawal was cut up at Saxmundham in 1967.^[10]

By 1912 some 6,500 people were employed at the works.^[2] During 1912 39 new locomotives were built with 10 others being converted (upgraded?). The new builds included the first five S69 (“1500”) (LNER B12) class 4-6-0 as well as Y14 (LNER J15), E72 (LNER J18) 0-6-0 and G69 (LNER F6) 2-4-2T locomotives.^[11] A total of 82 new carriages were built in 1912 with 51 main line and 31 suburban carriages being built. Additionally a total of 75 non-passenger ^{[Note 1]} vehicles were also constructed including horse boxes, six wheel carriage vans and an elephant van! How many elephants were carried by the latter vehicle is not known.^[12]

During World War I the works undertook war work including munitions manufacture and building a hospital train for the army.^[13] At the beginning of the war the superintendent for the works identified that the works was already pressed to meet the requirements of the Great Eastern Railway and requested the building of a new locomotive repair facility.^[14] With a predicted up-turn in rail traffic likely, this request clearly resonated with the authorities and the Engine Repair Shed, situated on the far western side of Stratford TMD, was opened in 1915.

In addition to its usual load the works overhauled eight Caledonian Railway 0-6-0 locomotives.^[15]

One of the more unusual tasks the works undertook in the war was the construction of henhouses for the GER farm at Bentley, Suffolk. each of which had a works number.^[16]

Late in the war during 1918 Stratford Works repaired two Belgian locomotives. These had been evacuated to France in 1914 when the Germans invaded the country (a total of 250 engines were in fact evacuated) and had been used in France by the Railway Operating Division. They were both 0-6-0 locomotives.^[15]

In a six-month period in 1920 the works undertook 216 heavy locomotive repairs, 40 rebuilds and 11 new locomotives were built.

London and North Eastern Railway era (1923-1948)

At the grouping in 1923, the works passed to the London and North Eastern Railway. Locomotive-building ceased soon afterwards but the works continued to do repairs and maintenance. The last locomotives built on the site were N7 0-6-2T engines. Construction of carriages to GER designs ceased in 1923 with the completion of a batch of coaches for Ilford services, and all carriage construction ceased after 1927 although repairs of carriages used on the Great Eastern section of the LNER continued and new equipment dedicated to this was installed progressively between 1927 and 1931.^[29]

During World War II artillery parts and aircraft components were manufactured by the works. These included parts for tanks, landing craft, coastal defence guns, 2-pounder guns, Hotchkiss Machine Guns, forgings for mortar bomb, valves for oil tankers and parts for road vehicles.^[21]

The works was hit several times during the London Blitz and by a V2 rocket later in the war.^[22]

During the Second World War eight US Army Class S160 2-8-0s were accepted into service on the works (couplings fitted, motion attached, wheels reprofiled) during 1943. Other members of the class were accepted at other works throughout the UK. The locomotives were employed on freight trains in the run up to the invasion of Europe during 1943 and 1944.^[30]

In 1947, 2,032 men were employed in the works.^[31]

British Railways era (1948-1991)

The works passed to British Railways in 1948.

The Polygon which up until stage was thought to be used as a wheel fitting shop was closed and demolished in 1949.^[1]

The original site ceased operation in 1963 whilst the 1915 shed became a Diesel locomotive repair shop, about the same time, as British Railways had learned lessons with regard to maintaining diesel locomotives in steam sheds.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]} In the 1980s many older diesel classes were 'cannibalised' (stripped for spares) at the works to keep other locomotives operational. The diesel repair shop finally closed on 31 March 1991 and the preserved L77 (LNER N7) 0-6-2T, the last locomotive built at Stratford, was on site during the final week of operation along with a Class 40 diesel (which worked on the Great Eastern Main line in the late 1950s and early 1960s).

In the 1970s, part of the site became the Stratford London International Freight Terminal with a number of large warehouses some of which were rail connected. There was also a Freightliner terminal on the west side of the Channelsea Loop Line.

In the 1990s, the site was earmarked for the new Stratford International station and the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre which opened in 2011.