The depot was built as part of the
Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan of the 1960s opening in April 1964 replacing Millhouses, Grimesthorpe, Darnall and Canklow steam sheds. It was situated adjacent to, but at a higher level than, the new
Tinsley Marshalling Yard alongside the
Sheffield District Railway. Diesel locomotives had been stationed at the old steam shed at
Grimesthorpe until the new facilities were completed and the locomotives were moved to their new home. The site also included a small electric locomotive servicing shed at the south end of the Secondary Yard, replacing the facilities at
Darnall.
Diesel railcars, which had been serviced at Darnall, were moved to a new servicing depot adjacent to the "Fish Dock" at the south end of
Sheffield Midland station. During the
sectorisation period of
British Rail, the depot came under the control of
Railfreight Distribution (RFD). The sub-sector was responsible for non-trainload freight operations, as well as
Freightliner and
intermodal services. In 1995, as a part of the reorganisation for
privatisation, RFD was required to relinquish some of its
Class 47s to Freightliner. The following year,
EWS bought RFD, mostly for the lucrative
Channel Tunnel operations. Since the Class 47s were considered life expired by EWS management, and there were other depot facilities relatively close by (
Toton,
Bescot and
Doncaster), and the other RFD locomotives were all electrics based at
Crewe Electric TMD, the need for the Sheffield depot was deemed unnecessary. On 28 March 1998 the shed closed and by March 1999 had been demolished. The site of the sidings was reopened in 2021 as a terminal for intermodal freight services. ==Allocations==