Steam shed Laira was the location of the
temporary terminus of the
South Devon Railway from 5 May 1848 when a small
engine shed would have been provided. With the completion of the line to
Plymouth Millbay railway station on 2 April 1849 a new shed was provided there and the facilities at Laira dismantled, although it remained a junction for the branch line to Sutton Harbour which was
mixed gauge for the use of the
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway. The
Great Western Railway, which had
amalgamated with the South Devon Railway on 1 February 1876, a new engine shed opened at Laira in 1901 on a site inside a triangle of lines formed by the main line, Sutton Harbour branch, and a curve that was mainly used by
London and South Western Railway trains to reach their terminus at
Plymouth Friary. A
sewerage treatment facility and poor ground conditions constrained the site of the shed to the north west corner of the triangle (near Lipson Junction) . It was adjacent to the Embankment Road with the estuary of the
River Plym just the other side of the road. The shed was a brick
roundhouse with a
turntable in the middle. 28 lines radiated from the turntable, one for access and the remainder for stabling locomotives. Locomotives approached from the east (Laira Junction) passing a coaling stage. A small railway station known as
Laira Halt was opened on the adjacent main line on 1 June 1904 but closed again on 7 July 1930. Initially Laira was only used for goods locomotives but after the passenger locomotive shed at Millbay closed in 1924 it became very crowded. In 1931 a new long and wide shed with four tracks was brought into use just south of the original roundhouse, funded by a government loan under the
Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929 (
20 & 21 Geo. 5. c. 7). This became known as the 'Long Shed' or 'New Shed'. At the same time additional sidings were laid near the coaling stage (which was doubled in length) and a second track connected to give a separate exit route from the roundhouse. The new shed was built over part of the area previously used by the sewerage treatment facility. A new line connected Laira Junction with Mount Gould Junction (the southern point of the triangle of lines surrounding the shed. This line became known as the 'Speedway' and allowed locomotives to turn on the triangle rather than on the turntable inside the roundhouse. During
World War II a covered extension was added on the south side of the coaling stage to give an additional place to refuel locomotives.
Diesel shed ' stand outside the long servicing shed. The main maintenance shed is the taller building behind.
Warship Class diesel-hydraulic locomotives started to appear in 1958 and were at first accommodated in the Long Shed alongside steam locomotives until the diesel maintenance depot had been finished. Laira was designed for the servicing and heavy maintenance of the diesel-hydraulic locomotives favoured by the
Western Region of British Railways, the first of the region's purpose designed large diesel depots. It also handled the local
diesel electric shunter and
DMU fleets, although servicing of the latter was done initially at Belmont sidings at Millbay. This area was later modernised and fenced off in readiness for servicing the
Nightstar Channel Tunnel sleeper coaches, but the proposed service from to Paris
Gare du Nord never materialised. CrossCountry will withdraw its Class 43s by October 2023 when their lease ends. Great Western Railway has started to reduce the number of its Class 43-powered services in December 2022 with the aim of withdrawing most of them by December 2023. The space freed will allow them to move the maintenance of all their Class 802s to Laira. ==Historic allocation==