Also referred to as The Plant, it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it undertook only repairs and maintenance. Today the remaining part is operated by Wabtec.
In 1866, Patrick Stirling was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent, and the first of the 875 class was built in 1886. At this time the works also began building new coaches: in 1873 the first sleeping cars; in 1879 the first dining cars in the United Kingdom; and in 1882 the first corridor coaches. In 1891, 99 locomotives, 181 carriages and 1,493 wagons were built.
In 1889 a separate building for carriages was opened and wagon construction ceased at Doncaster in 1890, and by 1913 all of the work relating to coaches was concentrated in three buildings including a construction facility with 12 roads.[1]
In 1913 "The Plant" employed 4600 and covered 200 acres (81 ha)[2] and from the time of the Great Northern Railway into LNER days the works continued to build a variety of locomotives and rolling stock. During World War II like other workshops it joined in the war effort producing, among other things, Horsa gliders.[3] The carriage building shop was destroyed by fire in 1940. New buildings in 1949 were designed with the British Railways Mark 1 all-steel carriages in mind.
In 1957, BR Standard Class 4 76114, the last of 2,228 steam locomotives, was completed.[4][5] In November 1963 60009 Union of South Africa was the last of an estimated 10,000 steam locomotives to be overhauled at Doncaster Works.[6] Carriage building finished in 1962, but the works was modernised with the addition of a diesel locomotive repair shop. Under British Rail Engineering Limited, new diesel shunters and 25 kV electric locomotives were built, plus Class 56 and Class 58 diesel-electric locomotives.
In 2007, Bombardier Transportation closed its part of the works.[9][10] In early 2008 the main locomotive repair shop which was built on the Crimpsall was demolished to make way for housing. Wabtec continues to conduct carriage refurbishment at the Doncaster site.[11]
^There was a previous claim of a British locomotive reaching 100 mph, and even over 90 years later the competing claims can still produce heated debate. More information can be found at GWR 3700 Class 3440 City of Truro#Speed record
