Abstract

Historical railway stations bear witness to history. The development of the Turkish railway network has a long-established history. In this respect, station buildings stand as a vivid historical testament to the TCDD (The Turkish State Railways). They constitute a considerable part of Turkey’s architectural heritage with their original and authentic architectural features and their pioneering building techniques. However, today the structures of many historical stations have strayed from their original specifications, in part due to the effects of repair works undertaken with no knowledge of the original specifications, and the later annexes attached to the buildings. Some of the stations were simply neglected and fell into a state of disrepair. Others, left unused for a variety of reasons, were eventually demolished. Units such as the locomotive depots and water depots, operating on steam locomotive principles, have been affected the most by technological developments, as witnessed in the changes to rail transport. Once diesel and electrically-driven locomotives were put into use, some depots fell into total disuse. Others survived for repair and maintenance work, or through the development of the new annexes. As part of this study, a restoration project was prepared for the derelict Kırklareli Locomotive Depot. Proposals were made to maintain the old structure but with a new function, the regaining and restoring of the authentic architectural values and the original construction system.