London, Chatham and Dover Railway

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Crest of the LCDR on the first Blackfriars Railway Bridge

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company that operated in south-eastern England between 1859 and 1923 before grouping with three other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and eastern/northern Kent, and formed a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. From the start the railway was in an impecunious position.

Although the Chatham, as it was always known, was subject to much criticism for its often lamentable carriage stock and poor punctuality, in two respects at least it was very good: it used the highly effective Westinghouse brake on its passenger stock, and the Sykes 'Lock and Block' system of signalling. It was actually a line with an excellent safety record.

East Kent Railway

Main article: East Kent Railway

The LCDR began life as the East Kent Railway (EKR). Its first line was that from Strood near Rochester to Faversham, opened in two parts:

At this stage the EKR changed its name to the LCDR (1859), even though, as yet, Dover had not been reached..

London, Chatham and Dover Railway

Second London line

  • 1 June 1864: the first section of railway to serve the City of London, when the line from Herne Hill to Blackfriars Bridge station (south of the river), was opened
  • 1 June 1865: Ludgate Hill station opened (closed 3 March 1929) across the river. In 1886, St Pauls station was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway: it was reached on a parallel bridge across the river.

Later openings

Dates to be established

  • branch line to Gravesend (Gravesend West) was constructed from the Chatham Main Line at Fawkham Junction (just before Longfield station).

Formation of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway

On 1 January 1899 the undertaking of the LCDR was, by arrangement, joined with that of the South Eastern Railway for united working under a Management Committee composed of the directors of the two Companies. The arrangement was confirmed by Act of Parliament on 5 August 1899 by the South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway Act 1899.

The rolling stock and steamboats of the two companies were thereafter worked as one concern. Some rationalisation of competing stations occurred but it was not fully resolved. Between 1902 and 1904, connections were built to allow LCDR trains through running on ex-SER lines, notably in the Bickley area where the two main lines crossed. The rationalisation of the lines in Thanet to create a line which ran through from Margate via Ramsgate to Minster did not take place until after the grouping. The former Ramsgate Harbour station of the Chatham, accessed via a line through a tunnel leaving the current line near what is now Dumpton Park, then became part of the beach facilities. See South Eastern and Chatham Railway and South Eastern Railway.

Line details

Principal engineering works

  • Blackfriars Bridge: 933 ft (279 m) long
  • Battersea Bridge: 740 ft (222 m)
  • Viaduct carrying extension to Blackfriars: 742 brick arches, 94 girder bridges

Steepest gradient

  • Rochester Bridge - Sole Street: five miles at 1:100

Tunnels

  • Shepherd's Well Tunnel: 2376 yd (2138 m)
  • Sydenham Hill Tunnel: 2200 yd (1980 m) - this was allegedly Queen Victoria's least favourite tunnel

Locomotive Works

  • The locomotive works were at Longhedge, in Battersea, and the old erecting shop can still be seen. The former SER works at Ashford took over locomotive building for the joint concern, but some building work at Longhedge continued for a few years.

Rolling stock

Both the South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway companies's locomotives were painted black each with their own style of lining but, when taken over by the South Eastern and Chatham Railways Managing Committee (SE&CR), dark green was adopted with an elaborate lining scheme. After some trials with a hybrid colour scheme (SER maroon on the upper parts and LC&DR teak on the lower), the SE&CR adopted the dark maroon/lake livery for passenger stock. Ex-LC&DR locomotives were renumbered by adding 459 to the running numbers (ie locomotive No 1 became No 460, etc); SER locomotives retained their existing mumbers.

For a small and indigent company the Chatham was lucky in its locomotive engineers. After a very patchy start, with a miscellany of Cramptons and other oddities, it had two very competent engineers.

William Martley was appointed in 1860, and commissioned some very effective performers, notably the 0-4-2 well tanks of the 'Scotchmen' (1866) and 'Large Scotchmen' (1873) classes for the suburban services; and the 'Europa' class (1873) of 2-4-0s, which ran the mail trains to and from Dover, the Chatham's crack service.

William Kirtley came from the Midland Railway in 1874, following the death of Martley. He was the nephew of Matthew Kirtley, the Midland's famous locomotive superintendent. Kirtley produced a series of execllent designs, robust and good performers - the A series of 0-4-4 tanks for suburban services, the B series of 0-6-0 goods engines; the T class of shunting engines; the M series of 4-4-0 express passenger engines; and a final R series of enlarged 0-4-4 tanks.

These rather than Stirling's Ashford products formed the basis for SE&CR development under Wainwright, not least because it was Robert Surtees from Longhedge who led design work for the succesor organisation. The R series led to the SE&CR's R1 and subsequent H class; the Bs to the famous C class; and the Ms to the D and E classes, which in their rebuilt Maunsell form may have been the best British inside-cylinder 4-4-0s.

1923 Grouping

In 1923 the LCDR and the SER, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) were joined to form the Southern Railway.

References used

  • The South Eastern & Chatham Railway (O.S.Nock, Ian Allen Ltd,1961) - particularly for the EKR history
  • Railway Year Book 1912 (Railway Publishing Company)
  • Railways of the Southern Region (Geoffrey Body, PSL Field Guide, 1989)
  • "The Locomotives of the London Chatham and Dover Railway", D L Bradley, Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, 1960
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