Portfolio of about 100 original watercolour cartoons by Arthur Gooch, 1947 - 1948. The images depict daily working life at the London & North Eastern Railway’s King’s Cross Passenger Locomotive Depot. Gooch is believed to have been a 'shedman' and coaling plant operator who was based at the depot.

These cartoons by Arthur Gooch represent the working and social relationships amongst the ‘shedmen’ working at the King's Cross Passenger Locomotive Depot at a time when Britain was recovering from the Second World War. They are believed to include caricatures of Gooch’s colleagues and superiors. They reference the 44-hour working week, lack of money to spend on days off, soap rationing, coal theft, police activity and the employment of ‘Free Poles’, who had served with the British armed forces during the Second World War. They also depict the challenges associated with keeping a tired, war-battered railway network moving, work during the harsh winter of 1946-47, and the nationalisation of the railways in January 1948.

The depot depicted in the watercolours, which included a coaling plant, turntable and inspection pits, was established in 1924 as an outstation of King's Cross 'Top Shed', and was located to the north-west of the station near the entrance to Gasworks Tunnel. It allowed the quick servicing of locomotives – particularly those allocated to tightly-scheduled suburban passenger duties – at a more convenient location than the main shed, which was some distance away from the station. The depot was closed in 1979.