Philadelphia Works

To serve the Lambton Railway and to carry out repairs for collieries the "Earl of Durham's Engine Works", later better known as the "Lambton Engine Works" was gradually erected alongside the railway at Philadelphia. In 1882 a new locomotive erecting shop was built. This was a tall, airy building, with two through roads for locomotive repairs. The remainder of the building was given over to machinery, and in 1883 a clock was installed to overlook the Works yard. Adjacent to the erecting shop were - and still are - the boiler, fitting and machine shops, so that the Works was almost self-contained. The Works passed through a number of changes of ownership in its time. In 1911 Lambton and Hetton Collieries Ltd was formed by the amalgamation of Lambton Collieries Ltd and the Hetton Coal Co Ltd. Before 1914 the shop handled about 20 repairs a year, which fell to about 12 during the 1914-1918 War. After the War things speeded up and in 1923 no fewer than 31 repairs were handled. Usually there were 4 locomotives in the shop, 2 to each gang, at least one of which was a tender engine. On 1st January 1947 the Works passed to the National Coal Board, and it has since become one of the main repair bases in North-East England. This is an important collection of late 19th century - early 20th century colliery central workshops. LISTED GRADE 2