Railway Technical Centre

The Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in London Road, Derby, UK, was built by the British Railways Board in the early 1960s to be its technical headquarters.

The RTC centralised the technical services provided by the regional Chief Mechanical & Electrical Engineers (CM&EE) to form the Department of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (DM&EE).In addition, it housed the newly-formed British Rail Research Division which reported directly to the Board. The latter is well known for its work on the experimental Advanced Passenger Train (APT). At that early stage this was a concept vehicle, and in time the DM&EE applied the new knowledge to existing practice in the design of the High Speed Train (HST), the later prototype APT-P and other high-speed vehicles.

History

The Research Division was the first to move into the purpose-built accommodation on London Road. This was formed initially with personnel from other departments around the country, including the Electrical Research Division from Rugby, the Mechanical Engineers Research Section, the Civil Engineering Research Unit (Track Lab), and the Chemical Research Unit, while the Scientific Services Division occupied the former LMS Scientific Research Laboratory building across the road known as Hartley House. The embryo RTC site (mainly Kelvin House and the Research Test Hall) was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in May 1964. Later additional buildings were added: Trent House and Derwent House, the Advanced Projects lab, then Stephenson House, Lathkill House and finally Brunel House.

In addition to the research employees, the RTC became the headquarters of the DM&EE. This brought together engineers from the regional departments, together with its Drawing Offices, the Engineering Development Unit (EDU) workshop from Darlington, the Workshops Division (which later became BREL) and it was also home to the Board's Central Purchasing Department. Strange to relate but the layout of equipment within the new workshop was as near as possible the same as the original. Following this came the Plastics Development Unit from Eastleigh, which, among other innovations, was responsible for the design of the High Speed Train's streamlined cabs as well as the prototype Mk3 coach doors.

When research and testing required stretches of real railway line, the Research Division used the BR test tracks at Old Dalby, near Melton Mowbray, and at Mickleover in Derby.

British Rail was able to announce that "The Railway Technical Centre at Derby is the largest railway research complex in the world."

RTC Today

At privatisation, most of the facilities were taken over by commercial railway engineering companies, and it was marketed as the "rtc Business Park" renting space to a range of small consultancy firms. It has become a shadow of its former self and railway research is no longer carried out at the RTC. The site is additionally being used as a Network Rail road vehicle park and a scrap material store and items awaiting disposal. The announcement in 2006 by AEA Technology Rail that they intend to close the former Research Test Hall is the final nail in its coffin. The former RTC site is also used by RVEL and RC&WS To carry out repairs to railway vehicles. A large part of the site is used as storage and an operating base by Serco and Network rail, whose rolling stock on site forms part of Network Rail testing trains. Usual traction on these trains is either DRS 37's (6 are allocated to the RTC for the purpose) or class 31's.

References

External links

* [http://www.traintesting.com TrainTesting.com - Personal Website of a former RTC employee]
* [http://www.old-dalby.com Old Dalby railway test track]
* [http://www.departmentals.com departmentals.com]