Three Three issues issues per per year, year,80 80 pages pages packed packed with with articles articles and and images images that that are are Southern Southern related related including, including,where where possible, possible,unseen unseen views views in in every every issue. issue.
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ISSUE 10
Contents Introduction 3 The ‘H2’ Brighton Atlantics in their final years Bill Allen 5 Moving stock at Droxford 1967/68 11 Demolition at Crystal Palace High Level from the camera of R C Riley 15 The Southern Main Line Diesels 19 The Morning after the Night before - Nine Elms, Monday 10 July 1967 33 The Mid-Sussex line or ‘The Brighton goes to Portsmouth’ Origins through to Electrification Jeremy Clarke 43 Electrification in 1938 54 Stephen Townroe’s colour archive: Around the Southern Region 64 Treasures from the Bluebell Railway Museum Tony Hillman 70 Some Southern engines in the 1920s and 1930s 73 Watching trains near Shawford Junction, Part 1 Les Price 77 From the Footplate 80 The next issue of Southern Times, No 11, will contain: More images of the Withered Arm The original ‘Merchant Navy’ class 1948-1960 Plenty of colour from a new archive A brief Lynton & Barnstaple pictorial Focus on Wadhurst ‘Southern ‘Second Class’ From the Bluebell Railway Museum ‘Victorian Interlopers’ From the Footplate etc etc.
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SOUTHERN TIMES
Above: July 1955: the third and most powerful of the three SR diesel-electric locomotives, No 10203, was recorded heading west at Woking with a down West of England service and having the Swindon dynamometer car as part of the formation. Several similar tests were run in June and July with this one most likely that of 7 July. Most of these tests were also on service trains. A contemporary correspondent to the ‘Railway Magazine’ reported the engine as producing some “remarkable” runs between both Waterloo and Salisbury. These referred specifically to the 18 June when the diesel took just 81 minutes 44 seconds for the down run with 367 tons, and 81 minutes 32 seconds for the corresponding up working, despite the latter having a heavier load of 399 tons. Interestingly and despite being only just over a year old at the time the Dynamometer Car trials were taking place, the results showed performance was already falling off by 3-4% on full load. S C Townroe Front Cover: Appropriate for this issue is ‘H2’ Atlantic No 2421 South Foreland at Newhaven in 1947. This is an early colour image from Dick Riley’s archive. (More early R C Riley colour in Issue 11.) R C Riley 6718 / Transport Treasury Rear Cover: An unidentified and decidedly dirty ‘Q’ class 0-6-0 on freight duty at Petworth and bound for Midhurst. Such trains, timetabled though they were, often brought little, or as in this case, no revenue for the railway - certainly that is in the outward direction at least. The brake van has an ‘R.U.’ (restricted use) branding, probably to work between Pulborough and Midhurst only. R C Riley 7108 / Transport Treasury
Copies of many of the images within SOUTHERN TIMES are available for purchase/download. In addition the Transport Treasury Archive contains tens of thousands of other UK, Irish and some European railway photographs. © Kevin Robertson. Images (unless credited otherwise) and design: The Transport Treasury 2025. ISBN 978-1-913251-82-6 First Published in 2025 by Transport Treasury Publishing Ltd., 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe HP13 7PJ www.ttpublishing.co.uk or for editorial issues and contributions email to southerntimes@email.com Printed in Malta by the Gutenberg Press. The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved. Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher. This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the respective copyright holder. 2
INTRODUCTION
R
eaders of Southern Times will be aware that the purpose of ST is to record, report and, I hope, entertain followers of the Southern and to do this we have in the past invariably concentrated on history. Yes, I know in the literal sense we can say that yesterday was history but I see little point in reporting on the trains of last week especially since we can all pop down to our local station and see exactly the same thing today.
ISSUE 10
Changing topics completely, I was recently asked by the publisher to read and pass an opinion on a book devoted to early reminiscences of the Highland Railway. (Being paid to read railway books is such an onerous task.... . ) I will admit I know little about the HR, fractionally more perhaps about the area around Inverness and where I have both worked and holidayed for short periods in the past. The writer was not a railwayman, instead an enthusiast just like all of us, the difference being he was reporting on the scene back in the last years of the Victorian age.
I certainly do not decry the enthusiast of today, he is doing no more than we did a generation or two ago. Likewise today’s recorders of trains rightly have a number of published resources and internet sites available to further their interest. It would also be wrong to think that those who note and photograph the current scene are all of the ‘spotty youth’ age group, I promise there are still a number of more senior ‘spotty youths’ doing the same thing - and long may that continue too.
I learnt much, of the Highland, its neighbour the Caledonian and as time passed and his travels expanded, of the LNWR and others in the early years of the twentieth century. It also got me thinking, this was almost certainly a unique product, a bystander’s view of the railways of that time, sadly his travels did not bring him further south on to the metals of the SECR, LBSCR or LSWR.
The point I am going to make relates to when we can, to use the famed film title, go ‘back to the future’. By this I mean preserving or presenting something that were it not for the dedication, hard work and effort by hundreds, probably more like thousands of individuals and certainly (tens of) thousands of pounds we can again present the past for the benefit of the present. And by this I mean the wonderful reincarnation of the ‘H2’ Atlantic on the Bluebell Railway in the summer.
We may like to think we have much information on our own local railways back in those times and that is certainly true when it comes to dates, facts and figures but what we lack is the equivalent observations spread over several years. True, the contemporary magazines of the period and to an extent some of the early railway books do their very best to describe a picture of the time but it still does not equal what is now available to followers of the Highland Railway. It is for reasons such as this that contemporary recollections and reminiscences are so important.
No 32424 has been a long time in the gestation. Starting with the shell of a boiler, literally everything else has been recreated from scratch, in effect modelling at 12 inches to the foot scale. The results are truly astonishing and deserve the praise and commendation not only of Southern fans but of the heritage movement generally.
In Issue 10 of our sister publication ‘Western Times’ our editorial friends recently received some recollections of a former Paddington clerk in the years just before Nationalisation. Memories such as this are now few and far between, perhaps a reader may have his own or another’s memories tucked away, be assured there will be others who would like to read them.
We are proud then to have as our first article (page 5 et- seq.) a look back at the last days of the original Beachy Head and at the suggestion of Bill Allen. For too long we have looked across at the splendid achievements of Tornado Tornado,, the GWR steam-railmotor, Betton Grange, Grange, and similar, wondering perhaps when the Southern too might have its own flagship, well now we do and Beachy Head can stand proud with the rest. Hopefully too there will be more to come, one thing in particular I look forward to is seeing the return to original condition of No 35011 - or should I say 21C11? I am sure we all wish them well in what is a mammoth task.
Finally an apology. ST9 went to print with a few typographical errors that should not have been there. The fault is mine, illness, hospital, several surgeries and a somewhat protracted recovery meant the checking was not as thorough as it should have been. To those who have rightly sent comments, I apologise. To those who forwarded kind wishes, a sincere thank you. We are not completely out of the woods yet, but I remain hopeful. Kevin Robertson 3
SOUTHERN TIMES
Barnham Junction station and where Bill’s story starts. This is looking east towards Chichester, Southampton and Bournemouth. The branch to Bognor diverges to the left. Lens of Sutton / Dennis Cullum collection 4339
The first Beachy Head. Head. Seen here outside the front of Eastleigh Works on 12 March 1951. MNB / Transport Treasury
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ISSUE 10 The ‘H2’ Brighton Atlantics in their final years Dr Bill Allen OBE
A
sunny summer Sunday in Sussex! The year is 1954 or 1955 and an excited throng of day trippers wait on platform 2 at Barnham station.
well filled train. A wave from the Guard and Trevose Head eases away effortlessly from the station. Today’s adventure has begun.
Most have travelled up the short branch line from Bognor Regis on the 10.07am and others have congregated from the villages around Barnham. Very few have travelled by car - local buses would have been the most likely connection or simply walking.
The arrival in the immediate post-war era of powerful, new Bulleid Pacifics should have transformed Brighton MPD’s (75A) approach to the South Coast services. Sadly, as we shall see, availability was never a constant and failures, substitutions and an actual decision to allocate other locomotives to the rosters was the pattern to come through the 50’s and 60’s.
People of all ages are looking forward to a day out in Bournemouth. It seems strange that living in a seaside resort, Bognor, which itself will be teeming with day visitors from London and the suburbs, that they should choose to travel some 65 miles along the south coast to another, albeit bigger and more sophisticated town. But once there the different pleasures of cliffs, a funicular railway down the cliff from Bournemouth West station and the wide golden sands will mean a good day out and an adventure for young and old.
By 1950 D15s had also completely disappeared from the trains (banned between Havant and Angmering for some reason unknown to the author). The Brighton Atlantics (H1s and H2s) had made occasional trips on the Bournemouth. The H1s were near their end – Nos 32037 and 32038 both withdrawn from Bricklayers Arms in May 1951. The H2s came in and out of store at Newhaven each winter but often worked to Bournemouth in 1950, when a West Country was not available. Austerity and rationing was still severe and all the Brighton South Coast trains were withdrawn in January 1951 as an economy measure.
And what train do they await? The 10 o’clock which has started its journey from Brighton calling at Worthing Central 10.19am, Barnham 10.39am, Chichester 10.50am, Havant 11.3am before continuing on to Bournemouth with stops at Southampton Central 11.42am, Brockenhurst 12.5pm, Bournemouth Central 12.30pm and Bournemouth West, arriving at it’s destination at 12.42pm.
For the summer of 1951 the trains were reinstated –
For your author and only just into double figures in years the excitement is greater because in this electrified area of the Southern Region the Brighton to Bournemouth is steam hauled! One of three trains from Brighton daily in summer to Bournemouth, Plymouth and Cardiff, leaving the electrified line just after Havant. So picture the scene looking due East, the track is on a slight fall into Barnham station. In the middle distance a double semaphore signal guards access to platforms 1 and 2. As the due arrival time approaches, the first indication of the train is the signal rising. The train has the road for platform 2. Tension rises as eyes are strained to the horizon for the first sight of a column of steam indicating the imminent arrival of the train. And here it is, regulator eased, brakes on and a Brighton Atlantic passes the crowds to draw to a stop near the starter and signal box. The passengers open the doors of the Maunsell or Bulleid carriages and struggle in with picnic hampers, buckets and spades, push chairs and small children to try and find seats in the already
Unusual duty, unusual engine, unusual location. This is No 32421 South Foreland at of all places Semley, west of Salisbury in April 1953. Like others of the class, it was allocated to Brighton / Newhaven in the 1950s so we can only conclude it had worked the Brighton - Cardiff as far as Salisbury and was then ‘borrowed’ for another working. No 32421 lasted until April 1956. JTR / Transport Treasury
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Above: No 32424 seen on one of the dead-end roads at Stewarts Lane on an unknown date notice the rail-chocks. Ian Strachan / Transport Treasury Left: Head on at Eastleigh on 31 July 1957. Since September of the previous year No 32424 had been the last member of the six strong class in service and indeed the last of the H1 and H2 designs at work. The engine is seen here amidst the coal dump at the rear of Eastleigh shed. RFS / Transport Treasury Opposite: The classic lines of a Marsh Atlantic – at Eastleigh Works Open Day on Wednesday 7 August 1957 (the works was closed for holidays for the first two weeks of August so there was then no interruption in proceedings). No 32424 had been out of regular use for some time but survived to 1958. ‘I remember our surprise at finding her in the Works yard together with Adams 4-4-0 No 563 - in front’. In the background the carriage works and sidings can be seen with the Eastleigh to Fareham line roughly central in the pictures. Alternative images from the day show No 32424 with the Eastleigh breakdown crane and a ‘King Arthur’ alongside. A few years later the carriage works complex was now either demolished or given over to non-railway use. Bill Allen
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however in advance of that, Southern Region made a decision to send all the Pacifics away from Brighton – 34039 gained celebrity by being re-allocated briefly to Stratford on the GE section of the Eastern Region – 34037/38 went to Plymouth and 34040/41 to Bath for Somerset and Dorset services. The plan was to use Maunsell 3 Cylinder U1 2-6-0s and Fairburn LMS design 2-6-4Ts (being built at Brighton works at that time). In the future both the Fairburns and the later BR Standard 2-6-4Ts appeared spasmodically on the South Coast trains. Water was routinely taken by all locos rostered to the services at Chichester and Southampton Central – thereby meaning no problem was experienced with water capacity with the tank engines. Apparently no difficulty appeared to occur with the reduced coal capacity. Brighton sent out Atlantics on the Bournemouth but clearly the loss of Pacifics was keenly felt and ‘Control’ was forced to rescind the decision regarding the Pacifics. 34045 – 48 were allocated, joined by 34039 back from her Eastern Escapade in March 1952.
Clearly the experiment had failed and West Countrys and H2s re-established an ascendancy that was to continue for some time. However on the other side of the coin, the early fifties started a history of poor availability of the Bulleids. 1952 showed how reliable the H2s were in contrast. Autumn that year saw 32421 South Foreland used on the Bournemouth regularly. Shed staff at 75A bestowed the nickname ‘Old Faithful’ on her and her performance and economy (compared with the more profligate Pacifics) increased her popularity with the enginemen rostered to her. The Railway Observer reported that “... amazingly 32421 was officially in store”! The pattern of problems continued in Coronation Year 1953. 75A must have been a nightmare shed to work at with poor availability of their premium locomotives the West Countrys and the ageing H2s that themselves lacked their previous reliability. But suffice to say they were considered a better option for the Bournemouths and were officially rostered to the trains in the winter diagrams.
The ‘Railway Observer’ comments, “The through trains from Brighton over the Netley line have not been hauled by 2-6-4Ts for some weeks, 34045-7 have been used and keep much better time than the tanks”, and later in the December issue, “32422 ex-store was 3 minutes early with 9 coaches and a van on the Brighton – Plymouth. This excellent performance compares very well with the indifferent performance of the 2-6-4Ts”.
The years 1954/55 marked my arrival on the ‘trainspotting’ scene, as referred to in the introduction to this piece, and in both years H2s were well to the fore. The Railway Observer said that while the rosters list WCs “...doubtless the Atlantics will deputise on one or more of their duties each week”. 7
SOUTHERN TIMES
Public access to the locomotives on display in the works yard was permitted by conveniently placed steps, the visitors literally went where they wished and although not shown here, some would climb on the footplating and elsewhere. There were few if any accidents. Lucas / Transport Treasury
Unfortunately 1956 dawned with ominous signs for the Marsh Atlantics – stored through the winter months once again at Newhaven Shed. None were steamed between 25 January and 9 March. In June Nos 32421 and 32424 joined 32425 at 75A. No 32425 having made an early fleeting appearance on the Bournemouth on 1 June. It is appropriate to retell the events of that year through a quotation from The Railway Observer. “All the H2s had their bogies removed for examination, all except Beachy Head had them replaced, but the locos did no work and were out of traffic” – a fracture on LNER No 60700 had caused a need for this as the H2’s had a similar design of bogie, reminding us of a certain common parentage of the Ivatt, Marsh and Gresley designs.
survived the year and was occasionally used on Duty 730 (the Bournemouth) which was still programmed for an H2 although shown here as a ‘Light Pacific’ turn. 7P/5F (WC)
730
--- Brighton Loco 9.25am // ** Brighton 9.40am P 12.09am Bournemouth Central 12.10pm // 12.18pm Branksome Loco 1.20pm // 1.25pm Bournemouth West Sidings ** E Propel ** Bournemouth West 1.50pm P 4.54pm Brighton 5.37pm E (off 11.0am Plymouth) 5.42pm Hove 6.22pm //
The August edition worsened the story, “It is understood that serious defects were discovered in Nos 32421/26 and as a result it had been decided to scrap both. No 32422 was confined to light duties only and likely to go before the end of 1956. This is sad news for their many admirers, the more so as they were not programmed for withdrawal in 1956 or 1957”.
Except Weds 24/8 & Thurs 28/7,4/8, 18/8 6.30pm Brighton Loco
The turn was manned entirely by Brighton locomen in the week.
The death knell had rung and while the survivors made appearances on the Bournemouth, only Beachy Head 8
ISSUE 10 1. No 1 P&D prepare loco 2. 1st set on 9.10am and work until 4.55pm 3. 2nd set on 4.30pm, relieve at 4.55pm. Work and dispose. Then passenger 8.12pm to Lewes. Relieve No 760 at 8.39pm work and relieve.
less demanding duties than in their heyday, were well received by Brighton and regularly performed on the Bournemouth. The Ls stayed at 75A until June 1959 when transferred to Nine Elms to end their days.
Hence the Brighton men operate to and from Bournemouth including propelling the stock from the West Sidings into the platform at the West station, ready for the early afternoon return departure. It was quite a hard onerous duty with only a break of an hour at Branksome to get some rest and a well-deserved lunch. Even No 32425 was withdrawn despite being in good condition. The loss of the Atlantics left a void that was filled by the transfer from Ashford (74A) in early 1957 of Ls Nos 31776-8.These Wainwright 4-4-0s had been excellent, successful locomotives in Kent and East Sussex for many years and, while they too were on
Through all these changes No 32424 was still in use but fragile – failing twice including blowing out the front end of her left hand cylinder. She survived to be repaired and exhibited at Eastleigh Works Open Day on 7 August 1957. She re-entered traffic to work duties from 75A that autumn but was soon out of use again. After a winter in store Beachy Head re-emerged to work an RCTS special on 13 April before the end came. Attempts to preserve it failed; but how appropriate that on the Bluebell a recreation, phoenix like, of a duplicate Beachy Head has indeed emerged from the ashes. So an era on the South Coast Services had ended – the graceful, Edwardian lines of the Marsh Atlantics were missed by everyone.
Fast forward to 2024 and the newly recreated No 32424 Beachy Head stands outside the shed at Sheffield Park, a credit to all involved in her recreation. Aside from the boiler, salvaged from a garden nursery, the one original component from the original No 32424 is the regulator handle. Tony Hillman
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10
Moving stock at Droxford 1967/68
L
ong before the Mid Hants Railway came to fruition with its headquarters at Alresford and also before the attempt at creating a steam centre at Longmoor, there existed for a short time a preservation site based at Droxford, then the northernmost stub of the former Meon Valley line. The Meon Valley line had opened from Butts Junction (near Alton) to Knowle Junction (near Fareham) in 1903. Engineered to main line standards, albeit only ever laid with a single track and passing loops at the intermediate stations, its rationale continues to baffle historians. Was it a blocking line, an alternative route to the south coast, a genuinely hoped for main line, perhaps all of these things? What we can say is that its building costs appeared to be of little consequence to the LSWR whilst its route through one of the most sparsely populated areas of east Hampshire meant it could never have hoped to develop, based on local traffic alone. In consequence, within less than 20 years of its opening, the passing loop at Privett was taken out of use and just three years later one of the corrugated iron goods sheds from the line was removed and repurposed in the same role at the newly opened Fawley terminus of the branch from Totton (1925). Without doubt the line’s chief claim to fame came when Sir Winston Churchill and other allied leaders met on a special train at Droxford in 1944 in connection with the invasion plans for D-Day. After this the railway returned to its normal slumber and so it came as no surprise when passenger services were withdrawn in 1955 and the section between Droxford and Farringdon closed to all traffic. Stop blocks were erected north of Droxford station whilst a 2-3 times weekly goods operated from Fareham, serving both Wickham and Droxford until 1962. After this ceased British Railways used parts of the line south of Droxford to store redundant goods wagons, a situation not appreciated by local residents and which gave rise to several complaints. (Storing wagons was an issue for BR in many areas at this time. Falling demand for freight meant fewer vehicles were needed and locations were required where wagons might
ISSUE 10
be left pending possible re-use. In reality this rarely happened and such vehicles were eventually carted away for scrap.) Meanwhile an entrepreneur, one Charles Sadler Ashby, leased the line from Droxford south as far as Wickham for the development and testing of his ‘Pacerailer’ project. In essence this was a four-wheel diesel-powered vehicle very much on the lines of a contemporary luxury coach. Two miles south of Wickham a connection remained to the rest of the network at Knowle Junction. Mr Ashby’s plans were for his type of vehicle to be used on small branch lines with operating costs therefore reduced. His initial thoughts had been towards the Isle of Wight lines then under the threat of closure (as indeed they had been for several years) and to this end his ‘Pacerailer’ was transported to the Isle of Wight and placed on exhibition at the Island Industries Fair at Newport. The project also took on the name ‘Sadler Vectrail’. In addition to his ‘Pacerailer’, over time Ashby also purchased ‘Terrier’ No 32646, two 4w Ruston-Hornsby diesel shunters and a former Bulleid Restaurant car. Some running, public or ‘friends’ is not certain, took place between Droxford and Knowle Junction with the diesel shunters sometimes ‘topping and tailing’ either a single or both coaches. Meanwhile he had agreed to allow the Southern Loco Preservation Co Ltd. to store some of their own stock at Droxford, this including USA 0-6-0T No 30064 which arrived ‘dead’ from Salisbury in January 1968. Unfortunately Ashby’s plans for his ‘Pacerailer’ came to nothing and it ended up being destroyed by fire at Droxford on 4 May 1970 at which time Ashby was in advanced negotiations to reopen the line between Cowes and Newport using his design of vehicle. Rumours abounded as to the cause but nothing was ever proven. Soon after British Railways advised they planned to remove the physical connection at Knowle Junction which led to the removal of most of the stock to differing
Opposite and above: A wet Saturday 28 January 1967 was not the ideal day to receive a new addition to the collection at Droxford - but then those involved were hardy souls! Seen in the platform is one of the Ruston diesels attached to the Bulleid restaurant car and which will form the 13.10 working from Droxford to Knowle Junction. Notwithstanding the weather outside there is joviality within and this despite the lack of steam heating. The diesel will propel the coach the seven miles to Knowle Junction. David Idle / Transport Treasury
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SOUTHERN TIMES sites. Sadly one item that did not survive was the Bulleid Restaurant car, Ashby having used this as his site office. The last vehicle to use (part) of the Meon Valley line was a 4-wheel railcar based on an Austin Mini and which was also owned by Ashby.
north and south of the station converted into a cycle/ walking path. The station itself was eventually restored as a private dwelling and the signal box rebuilt as a guest bedroom. Please note the site is private and not open for inspection.
Subsequent to this the stock at Droxford was dispersed to other sites, the rails lifted and much of the trackbed
We would be very interested to hear further information about this early Hampshire preservation scheme.
Top and right: Stock arrived at Knowle Junction from the direction of Eastleigh. ‘One ‘One Maunsell coach - sign here mate’. mate’. No 76066 will back on to the branch and stop with the vehicle beyond the catch point protecting the running line. The engine would then return to Eastleigh ‘light’. Meanwhile the crew of the Ruston attached the ‘new’ coach to the Bulleid vehicle. Below: The train, now double its previous size, paused at the intermediate station of Wickham for photographs. David Idle / Transport Treasury
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Above: Arrival at Droxford - the attempted placing of the headcode disc will be noted. By this time all signalling had been removed, the points converted to hand operation and the signal boxes at Wickham and Droxford demolished. Centre and bottom: Mr Ashby’s railbus, in appearance not unlike a motor coach. Its design, builder and chassis are unknown - similarly with a road vehicle extending to the headlights. The vehicle mechanics raise many questions although we know it weighed just six tons and could reach 70 mph - it would be interesting to know how this had been established...?. It could also climb gradients with a short section of siding rebuilt to a gradient of 1:10 which the vehicle climbed without difficulty; the vehicle had metal wheels on to which were fitted solid rubber tyres. One question does loom large, exactly how would it be driven? There was just the one driving position at one end and a single door on either side, so was this simply a first prototype which in the production model would have had a driving console at either end, or was it intended that the driver would simply stand up and control the vehicle in reverse from where he was? Sharp eyed observers will notice the ticket machine on the ‘dashboard’ (?). Exterior livery was a light blue and white/cream with chrome fittings and very much a coach / bus type interior. A brief film of the vehicle in action and also showing its interior appears on YouTube under the heading ‘Pacerailer’ which it had by then been named. From the film we learn it could seat 50 passengers. It should be remembered that BR had attempted the salvation of several minor branch lines in the West Country and Scotland around this time with their own version of railbus, sadly they did little to prevent closure and despite Mr Ashby’s efforts it is unlikely he too could have prevented closures unless subsidies had been forthcoming. Exactly how many trips it made on the line from Droxford to demonstrate the potential to prospective operators and other interested parties is unknown. With his bold ideas perhaps Ashby could even be regarded as a latter day Col Stephens. Stephens. David Idle / Transport Treasury
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SOUTHERN TIMES Top: Better weather on Saturday 16 March 1968. The Ruston is in the former Down platform at Droxford - the station even once boasted a footbridge but this had been removed many years earlier. An awning has been erected over the two platform lines with the door to the ‘site office’ open on to the platform. Notice the Railbus is in the opposite platform to the view on the previous page. The small trolley at the rear of the vehicle is not identified. First thoughts are a fuel bowser of sorts which would certainly be removed before the vehicle moved under its own power. There were no facilities, turntable, etc. for turning stock on the line between Droxford and Knowle although it was possible to run round using the platform loop at Droxford. In the distance the single line heads in the direction of the next station at West Meon but will halt abruptly at a set of stop blocks. Centre: Reported as the 14.20 service to Knowle on the same day. The two RH 4wDM locos were originally identified as Comet and Spitfire (it is not known if they retained their nameplates whilst at Droxford). Works numbers were 200793 (1940) and 242868 (1946) respectively. Comet had originally worked for the NCB in the East Wales area before passing to Kilmersdon Colliery. It arrived at Droxford in July 1967. After the operation here ceased its subsequent fate is unknown. Spitfire had been with the North Thames Gas Board at Southall and arrived at Droxford in February 1966. It was subsequently moved to the Isle of Wight Locomotive Society in June 1972. The long refuge siding alongside the single running line was where Mr Churchill’s train was stabled during much of the time his D-Day conferences were taking place here. Droxford was chosen as it was in close proximity to military headquarters at Southwick House (nr Wickham) and was also relatively well protected by the cutting sides. Bottom: No 30064 at Droxford, having arrived from Salisbury. It is not believed this, or indeed the Terrier tank referred to in the text, were ever steamed at Droxford. It later moved to Longmoor and then on to the Bluebell. All images David Idle / Transport Treasury
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Demolition at Crystal Palace High Level ISSUE 10 From the camera of R C Riley The sad end of a once proud station; Crystal Palace High Level. Originally opened on 1 August 1865 it survived until closed to all traffic on 20 September 1954. The impressive terminus building was designed by Edward Middleton Barry and cost £100,000 to build - in the order of £14m today. Four tracks entered the station serving the same number of platforms. A passenger concourse was provided above the tracks at each end incorporating a booking office, waiting and refreshment rooms. The design was very much in contemporary Victorian style with red and terra cotta brick sides and ends and a glass and iron roof - the whole interior protected from the weather. On the approach was a fan of sidings and at the far end a turntable. RCR 323 and 324
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SOUTHERN TIMES
16
Dick Riley visited the location twice to take colour views during the demolition phase. The first on 3 April 1956 - page 15 and opposite - and then again in 1961 - this page. In the 1956 views much of the track remains in situ and although dismantling is taking place it hardly rivals the outright demolition seen later. An unusual feature was that the two centre lines entering the station had platforms on either side, intended to speed the loading and unloading of passengers. One half of the station was intended for first class passengers. Outside, nine sidings, those seen to the right, served to stable carriages waiting to move away the crowds as well as hold waiting locomotives and also deal with goods traffic. At its peak the station could deal with 7,000 - 8,000 passengers an hour. The station’s peak - if there ever really was one - was short lived as after the Great Exhibition of 1851 there was little else to attract the public to the site. Even so the Southern Railway electrified the lines to the location from 12 July 1925 although a traffic census taken the following year showed that despite an intensive service of 53 trains between 6.05am and 11.22pm only 653 passengers arrived and 703 departed - an average of about 26 per train. General wear and tear coupled to limited maintenance and consequential reduced footfall did little to make the adjacent Crystal Palace an attractive visitor destination, over the years being used for various small business displays, and partly as a motor museum. One of the last major exhibitions to be held at Crystal Palace was the Festival of Empire between May and October 1911. The highlight occurred on 30 June with 47 special trains run to the ‘King’s Fete’, to celebrate the coronation of King George V. The line to the station was closed from 31 December 1916 until 1 March 1919 during which time the Palace was used as a (leaking) barracks. Following the disastrous fire which destroyed the Crystal Palace at the end of November 1936 there was little visitor traffic over the line. During WW2 Pullman, buffet and boat trains stock was stored here with just one line available operated as a shuttle from Nunhead. The station were again closed, this time from 21 May 1944 to 4 January 1946, after which wartime damage to the roof meant the need for nets to be draped to protect passengers from the potential of falling debris. There was also an infestation of rats colonising the gaps under the wooden platform. Closure then was inevitable. To the right we see demolition in progress on 15 April 1961 and how to pull down the supporting walls - simply a hawser attached to a bulldozer, the wire passed through one of the decorative arches. RCR 326 (left), and 313, 318 & 320 (right)
ISSUE 10
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SOUTHERN TIMES Left: Looking towards the south portal of Paxton tunnel in 1961 which remains today; as does the retaining wall on the right. Following closure the site was used as a temporary car park before a number of pre-fabs were erected as temporary housing. This was indeed temporary for more permanent housing now occupies most of the site. The large house on the left was not railway related and it too has since been demolished. Bottom: The death throes of a once proud station. Hidden from view underneath is the surviving pedestrian subway superbly engineered by Italian cathedral craftsmen and resembling a Byzantine crypt. It is rightly listed and open for public viewing on occasions. RCR 319 and 325
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ISSUE 10
The Southern Main-Line Diesels
P
ost-WW2 and prior to Nationalisation the Southern Railway published various ideas which they would have implemented had the SR remained as an independent company. The most obvious and most well known was an extension of electrification, accompanying which were notes commenting on how many steam locomotives might consequently be replaced. Nowhere though was there any specific mention of main line dieselisation although it must be recalled the SR had already toyed with three diesel shunting engines since the 1930s. Notwithstanding this apparent electrification ideal, work was also under way on the design for main line diesels to operate trains, principally on the West of England route to Plymouth. Calculations were made which showed that a pair of 1,600hp units hauling a train of 400 tons could in fact better the schedules then in place from the GWR over their own line to Plymouth, each of course hampered west of Exeter in the case of the GWR by the fearsome South Devon banks beyond Newton Abbot, and in the case of the Southern the numerous speed restrictions and curves beyond
Cowley Bridge. Enthused by the prospect, an order for three 1,600hp power units and associated generators / traction motors was placed with English Electric, these were to the same specification as the pair already ordered by the LMS and which would appear as the LMS ‘twins’ Nos 10000/10001. Design of the frames and body structure were in the hands of the SR under the overall charge of Oliver Bulleid in his role as CME but with the actual work the responsibility of the Chief Electrical Engineer C M Cock. Design work would be undertaken at Ashford and it was intended the engines would be built at Brighton. (This was later altered to also be at Ashford, Brighton already working at capacity on new construction.) With a new design, the like of which had never been seen before, there were numerous hurdles to overcome. Foremost among these was the need to keep the axle weight to a maximum of 18 tons which would allow the locomotives to work west of Exeter. Calculations however showed that the overall weight
The unique background of Dorchester station - unique in so far as Up trains originating from Weymouth had to reverse into the platform before continuing their journey - a legacy from the 19th century when it had been intended Dorchester would have been the jumping-off point for a line to Exeter - it never was. More relevant to this article is No 10201, the first of the SR main-line diesel engines fitted with an English Electric 1,750hp power unit, itself uprated from the 1,600hp engine installed in the LMS twins just a few years earlier. All three of the SR machines spent their early years on the Southern Region before being transferred to the LMR where they ceased work in the 1960s. It remains a matter of regret that the historical importance of 10201-3 was not recognised and they did not survive the breakers. S C Townroe
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SOUTHERN TIMES
would be in the order of 126 tons and which divided over two six wheel bogies easily shows this figure was going to be exceeded. The solution came from the brain of Percy Bollen at Ashford, who had the concept for an articulated carrying front axle. Folklore has it that Bulleid was with Percy when the latter came up with the idea - it would be interesting to know the conversation that was exchanged between the two at the time. Consequently the design became a 1Co - Co1 type, the same principal subsequently used on the D200 (Class 40) diesel-electrics of the early modernisation era.
railways, the SR sitting in third place in the queue. But remember the biblical term, ‘He that shall be last shall be first’, well that was how it ended up certainly so far as power output was concerned, for subsequent to the building and delivery of the engines for the LMS and Egyptian contract, EE had found it possible to increase the power output by just over 10% and in consequence the first two power units delivered to what was by now the Southern Region of British Railways were rated at 1,750hp, this comparing with 1,600hp for the LMS and 1,520hp for the overseas engines. (As to why the latter were of a lower output is not explained, though climate may have been relevant.)
Whilst the ideal of a fast service to rival the GWR to the West Country was still in the mind at Waterloo, in 1947 the Chief Civil Engineer had to report that for the present the blanket 75mph speed limit across all lines would need to remain in place, that is until wartime arrears of maintenance had been resolved. In the event this speed restriction was not lifted until 1950.
As could well be expected, there exists numerous correspondence between English Electric, the Southern Region, and British Railways headquarters, one particularly interesting aspect of this being who, or rather more accurately which department, should be responsible for servicing and maintaining the locomotives.
Meanwhile work on the bogies and main frames continued at Ashford and all looked forward to delivery of the power units from English Electric. Unfortunately this was destined to be delayed, for the LMS had achieved priority with an order for two units for their own main line diesels, after which EE were committed to ten power units intended for the Egyptian state
Up to now the small fleet of three diesel shunters had been dealt with at the relevant steam shed. As was learnt in the years to come, this was hardly ideal but as it had worked up to that time, Bulleid, still in his capacity as CME of the now Southern Region, saw no reason for it to change. Whilst we know Bulleid was primarily a steam man, his argument was that as the steam 20
ISSUE 10 Opposite: General layout of Nos 10201 / 10202; note the end profile appeared slightly different when viewed from platform level without the domed roof effect. Despite the various items loaded on to the main frame, the overall bogie weights were identical. Top: Taken sometime between April and August 1950. We are looking at No 2 end of the locomotive corresponding to the right hand end of the drawing opposite. Arthur Taylor Centre: Completed bogie at Ashford in photographic grey. Naturally BFB (Bulleid-Firth-Brown) design wheels are fitted! Not necessarily noticeable is that the traction motors were all nose-suspended, clasp brakes were provided on each wheel, Timken roller bearings were fitted and the centre driven axle incorporated a degree of side-play. This was a bolsterless bogie and proved very successful in service. This aspect was copied for the first generation of BR main line diesels, class 40, 44,45 and 46 and one type of steam engine - ‘Leader’ of course. Bottom: This time it is No 10202 that is depicted and almost complete, consequently we can state this would be around the early summer of 1951. The curved handrail near the cab allowed access to the water filler point for the train heat boiler. A similar fitting was provided on the opposite side of the locomotive. This is one of the few images showing the end connecting door (fitted to Nos 10201 and 10202 only) in the open position. Arthur Taylor
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SOUTHERN TIMES
No 10201 being cautiously manoeuvred into position from Belvedere Road turntable for the Festival of Britain exhibition. The locomotive was out of service, being prepared, on show, and prepared to return to operational condition from January to November 1951. It might perhaps be interesting to know what cleaning arrangements prevailed during this time. Despite being built for and by the Southern Railway / Southern Region, it was then officially allocated to the London Midland Region but ‘on loan’ to the SR. No 10201 was on display in an area near to Hungerford Bridge where other items of BR stock were also placed. These were No 70004 William Shakespeare finished in special exhibition condition, No 26020, EM1 Bo-Bo electric later Class 76, and a Mk 1 coach section showing half of a third class compartment. Lens of Sutton / Denis Cullum collection 1165
fleet would slowly diminish over time so the skilled artisans currently servicing steam would simply switch to other forms of traction. He saw no need for separate servicing facilities for diesel locomotives even though they did have electric traction motors.
The counter argument over servicing, etc. came from S B Warder in his role as Chief Electrical Engineer. There had always been an uneasy truce between Bulleid the archetypal steam man, and Warder. Warder considered that because the diesel engine was part of an electric generator, the two should be considered as one and therefore dealt with in an electrical workshop.
In some ways Bulleid was outwardly contradicting his own vision for the future especially as steam locomotives to his own designs were still currently being built, the Light Pacifics, and work was continuing on his ‘ultimate’ steam engine ‘Leader’. Considering that Bulleid saw a future for steam it was strange for him to comment about the steam fleet being run down into the future. So was this a comment to appease the popularist feeling of the moment and not create further angst with his contemporaries or had he in fact come to the inevitable conclusion that no matter what he might achieve in the future, steam was in terminal decline? In the opinion of the writer it was the former, he had to be seen to be ‘on side’ when it came to modern traction for by doing so he could well be left alone to continue to develop his steam ideals.
There was never any real resolution to the dispute, except to say that at the time on the Southern and indeed for some years to come, the SR simply did not possess any maintenance depots devoted solely to diesel locomotives and both the main line diesels and shunters would continue to be dealt with in the steam sheds. Indeed the first true diesel maintenance depot would come with the introduction of the Hastings DEMUs, a similar facility built soon after at Eastleigh for the Hampshire sets. After which time modern facilities appeared at several locations dealing with a new generation of diesel-electric main line engines, D50xx and D65xx (Classes 24 and 33 respectively), and by which time of course the original engines, Nos 102013, had long left the SR, never to return. 22
ISSUE 10 The first engine, No 10201, was finally completed at Ashford in November 1950 and immediately began trial working, first in the Kent area and then in late December into Victoria. This was the first time diesel traction, certainly a main line diesel, had been to one of the SR’s London termini; it would certainly not be the last. Proud of their new acquisition, Marylebone decided that the engine should be exhibited at the 1951 Festival
of Britain Exhibition on the South Bank. In addition the decision was taken that until such time as the engine was withdrawn from service for exhibition, it would be transferred to the London Midland Region to work alongside their own Nos 10000/10001. In reality this was a short sighted decision. No 10201 had been built with a gear ratio allowing a maximum speed of 110 mph; it would be a few years later before the next diesel locomotive would appear which could
Top: No 10201 and her sisters all received routine servicing at the less than ideal location of Nine Elms steam shed - but in reality there was nowhere that was any better at the time. It was also here where on one occasion the front carrying axle of No 10201 ‘fell off’ and had to be jacked back on to the rails. It is not clear if this type of servicing / inspection was carried out inside or outside the shed - possibly the simple expedient of the prevailing weather may have made the difference but if the engine was running, diesel fumes inside the shed confines, notwithstanding the smoke chutes, would have made the situation unpleasant to say the least. We should also add that when we speak of ‘servicing and inspections’, who was it who wrote the schedule for these? Alongside is King Arthur No 30751 Etarre. Right: The refuelling point on the south side sidings immediately outside Waterloo. Here there was no protection from the weather. Unlike the WR Gas Turbine which ran on heavy (bunker) oil, the SR and LMR diesels operated on conventional diesel fuel. To effect the fuel transfer, the diesel would occupy the siding on the right and hoses attached to the tank wagon and waist level filling point on the locomotive via the pump seen in the centre. Both Arthur Taylor
23
SOUTHERN TIMES exceed 100mph and that of course was the ‘Deltic’. No 10201 was higher geared than the LMS pair and as such could not work in multiple with them and neither was it suitable for the heavily graded Derby-Manchester section of the former Midland main line. Even so No 10201 did though move to the LMR, as it turned out just for about four weeks, where it was occupied hauling trains between Derby and St Pancras. (One thought does come to mind concerning this brief four-week period, how about driver training? Surely it would have taken a while for any drivers familiar with the route to become conversant with No 10201, hence we might ask exactly how much practical use and how much in the way of revenue did it achieve in that time? We are not told where it was serviced or fuelled in the period. Training so far as SR crews both during testing and subsequently in service is similarly not reported upon.)
the same vicinity was a water column which could be used to top up the water tank for the steam heat boiler. Servicing would be carried out weekly at Nine Elms - it had to be a steam shed, there was nowhere else available. No 10202 was completed in August 1951 and, following successful trial runs, took up revenue earning work towards the end of September. Crews from Nine Elms, Salisbury and Exmouth Junction were involved. Meanwhile No 10201 could only watch from its ‘stuffed and mounted’ position at the Festival site as the various accolades accrued for No 10202. Officially both were still allocated to the LMR ‘...but on loan to the Southern Region’. The success of No 10202 was such that BR decided to retain the first engine on the SR once it was released from exhibition duty and so after some ten months without turning a wheel in traffic, No 10201 was first moved to Ashford for ‘minor modifications’ which had come about as a result of running experiences with the second engine.
Wednesday 17 January 1951 was No 10201’s last day on the LMR, for the time being, for after arrival at St Pancras it departed light engine bound for Ashford and exhibition preparation. Likely work that was undertaken at Ashford was mostly cosmetic and on 30 January it was towed to Charing Cross as the nearest rail access point to the exhibition site.
The plan now was for the second diesel to operate services on the Waterloo - Weymouth line and as a result men from Bournemouth and it is believed Eastleigh were trained on the engine; Nine Elms crews already had this knowledge. Once again a diagram involved two return journeys, this time on a Waterloo and Weymouth schedule, and which included the down, 4.35pm ‘Royal Wessex’.
Meanwhile work on No 10202 progressed, still fitted with the same high gear ratio as its older sister. (New gears had been ordered but these would not be installed, together with some necessary other modifications associated with the change of ratio, until 1953). Again the intention was for No 10202 to be allocated to the LMR and once more restricted to run only as far as Derby. That is until it was calculated that even with the existing high ratio gearing, a single locomotive could handle most passenger trains between Waterloo and Exeter provided loads were restricted to no more than 350 tons, this allowing for the ruling gradient of 1:80 west of Templecombe.
There was a variation on Sundays when the engine from the West of England services did a Waterloo - Yeovil return, then the return ‘Bournemouth Belle’ service, concluding with a return from Waterloo - Southampton Terminus. It would then visit Nine Elms for servicing and resume its Weymouth diagram on the Tuesday. From this we may conclude that the West of England and Bournemouth line engines swapped weekly.
The proposed local idea allowed for two return trips between Waterloo and Exeter daily, refuelling taking place in a siding at Waterloo where a 4,000 gallon tank car and associated filter and pump were provided. In
Interestingly although both Nos 10201 and 10202 had been passed to work west of Exeter neither ever
Opposite top: Object of conversation at Salisbury on Tuesday 11 March 1952. No 10201 has just arrived at the head of the 1.00pm from Waterloo and appears to be in the midst of a crew change. Once they became familiar with the diesel, most crews appreciated the cleanliness and ease of work compared with steam. Unlike the introduction of the Hampshire diesel units on the SR and later the Blue Pullman sets on the LMR and WR, diesel crews at this time were not provided with any special uniform. Notice the draw gear is attached to the bogie and of course traditional route code discs are provided. A single whistle is fitted on the cab roof. Transport Treasury Opposite bottom: Again No 10201, this time on a Bournemouth line working, heading west from Brockenhurst on 24 May 1953. The tumblehome on the locomotive bodyside was identical to the profile of the Bulleid design coaches making up the train. The engine would have been in black with a chrome band, the coaches in crimson and cream, the whole making for a most pleasing sight. R C Riley 4616 / Transport Treasury
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25
SOUTHERN TIMES
One of the daily diagrams for the engines saw a diesel booked to work the 10.40pm Exmouth Junction to Nine Elms freight service. It would be most interesting to know if this actually took place and if so how the engine performed on such a working the lack of information probably means both official and unofficial observers were otherwise occupied at the time! Consequently this image of No 10201 (again) on a non-passenger working is unusual and possibly unique - for the Southern Region at least. Arthur Taylor, who worked for EE but was seconded to the SR to oversee the engines in service, tells the story. “One day in July 1952, No 10201 was used to haul a goods from Brockenhurst to Bevois Park sidings, Southampton. No 10201 had been removed from the down ‘Royal Wessex’ the previous evening with ‘loss of power’. I was called to investigate so the following morning it was put on the 3-coach ‘school’ train to Brockenhurst for observation. The trouble was soon traced to a sticking ‘field divert’ relay which was quickly rectified, and 10201 completed the working to Southampton and back to Bournemouth in time to pick up its normal duty from Bournemouth Central with the 11.30am from Weymouth.” Arthur Taylor
did, although there was a runaway, light, from Exeter Central to Exeter St Davids on one occasion, fortunately without incident.
they became unpopular with the crews. Another issue was water leakage around the seams, this was caused by the rapid heating and cooling of the ‘firebox’. To be fair none of the oil-fired train heat boilers were ever really satisfactory, electric boilers solved part of the problem whilst electric heating would be the eventual answer - but never installed in the early diesel types.
In service, problems were few, with some crews reporting a harsh ride, others commenting the opposite. If there were running difficulties then these were common through the LMR machines, the SR locos and indeed the WR Gas Turbines, and that related to the train heating boiler. To be fair this was a common cause of concern with all the early diesels, some of the common faults being a tendency to self extinguish, creating a build up of oil which would then flash over when any attempt was made to relight, not surprisingly
Repairs that could not be undertaken on shed were usually dealt with at Brighton, the same works dealing with major overhauls. Both 10201 and 10202 visited the Sussex works on more than one occasion although the reason for these visits is not always reported. Waterloo attempted to have at least one locomotive in operation 26
ISSUE 10 at all times, on the occasions when the other might be under repair it appears the West of England line was given priority. As an example of the mileages the engines were covering, it can be reported that in two years No 10202 had run over 203,000 miles. For the time this was an astonishing figure considering this was almost from a standing start with operators, crews and maintenance staff having to ‘learn from scratch’ so to speak. In more modern times and dealing with the much lamented HST sets, some of these were running diagrams covering almost 1,000 miles a day at one stage although the different speeds, technology and indeed the era involved do not make for a fair comparison. What we can say is that it was quickly shown how, and using two return trips on the West of England line as the example, one diesel could replace two steam engines, although to be fair for much of their time on the SR the diesels did have the benefit of a travelling fitter - as indeed did the HST sets in their early days. In view of the previous intention to send Nos 10201/ 10202 to the LMR what follows next is perhaps slightly strange, for in March 1953 the reverse decision was taken and this time the LMS twins were to be transferred to the Southern. The reason given for this was that the SR locos had achieved better reliability than the LMS type and whilst all sorts of reasons might be thought as to why this had been the case, there is no factual evidence to support any conclusion; BR’s reasoning was that better experience for the future could be gained by having all four engines at work in one area. Leading on from this, various comments that might well be made but again without associated evidence. Even so, it should be noted the Fell Diesel mechanical was not transferred and remained on the LMR, as did the WR Gas Turbines which similarly remained on their home region - loading gauge restrictions would have precluded the transfer of No 18000 anyway. The Southern Region now had 140 Pacifics and four diesel-electrics available for its principal services, with the unreliability of the Pacifics, perhaps this was another factor, whilst the comment about gaining ‘experience’ is interesting and almost implies decisions had been made that dieselisation was a foregone conclusion, even if this was a full two years before the publication of the 1955 ‘Modernisation Plan’. To formerly evaluate the efficiency of the SR engines, No 10202 was selected for dynamometer car trials in early 1952. Tests were carried out and back between Waterloo and Exeter on 28 and 30 April 1952 with the
engine hauling a regular service train. At this stage the engine was still fitted with its original gear ratio, a further set of tests run in August 1953 after the gear ratio had been altered. The conclusion was that No 10202 showed an overall efficiency at the drawbar of 19.6%, three times greater than a steam locomotive, the latter also dependent upon the quality of the fuel and willingness of the crew. Nos 10201/10202 had been designed to run in multiple if required, gangway doors being provided in the front at either end (allowing one man to move between locomotives attending to the train heat boiler or other issue whilst at the same time both could be driven by a single driver from the front cab); this certainly never occurred on the SR and it is believed also never on the LMR after they had been permanently transferred to that region. Other than when running light to Brighton (by which route is not referred to) they also remained tied to the Exeter and Bournemouth lines although No 10202 was loaned to Dover in early 1954 to work the Up and Down ‘Golden Arrow’ and Up ‘Night Ferry’; this continued for one week. At this stage readers might well be wondering what happened to the third engine referred to as part of the original proposal in Southern Railway days? The answer is simply that BR failed to confirm the order, slightly strange perhaps when the performance of Nos 10201/10202 is considered and in consequence we may even think that this was much to do with finance. Whatever, the building of No 10203 did in the end proceed, authorised in early 1953, the engine being erected at Brighton and completed in March 1954. At first glance No 10203 appeared identical to its older sisters but both under the skin and indeed externally there were a number of changes. Externally this involved plain sheeting instead of a connecting door at the front whilst the position of the bodyside louvres had also been altered. More important was the provision of a Mk II version of the power unit now uprated to 2,000hp. Gear ratios were to the lower level as fitted to the modified earlier engines. This now gave a maximum starting tractive effort of 50,000lbs and a top speed of 90mph. Other changes included a continuously variable engine speed control and an improved train heat boiler. Like its older sisters, No 10203 satisfactorily completed its initial test runs in the local area followed by main line test runs including a 400 ton train non stop from Waterloo to Salisbury which was taken at an average of 57.7 mph start to stop. Revenue earning service commenced on 10 May 1954. Compared with steam 27
SOUTHERN TIMES
28
ISSUE 10
Opposite: Front end of No 10203, slight detail differences existed between this and the earlier pair, principal amongst these is the lack of a door at the front end. The bulbous protrusions at the bottom of the bogie are covers to the links (in ball bearings) which guide the front carrying axle. Note whilst the engine itself was air braked, train braking was using conventional vacuum. Above: No 10203 brand new in Eastleigh works yard having arrived for weighing. S C Townroe
the performance was considered remarkable, No 10203 taking nine minutes off the Waterloo - Salisbury schedule even with 399 tons at the drawbar.
Diesel engine starter contactors could burn.
Such achievements though were destined to be (temporarily) short lived for like No 10201, No 10203 was taken out of service from 25 May and 4 June for display at Willesden for the International Railway Congress. Interestingly, whilst the Fell diesel and Gas Turbine No 18000 were present, there was no place for either of the LMS ‘twins’.
Traction motor and main generator commutator issues.
Returning to service, No 10203 was, and again like its sisters, not faultless, in general terms the early diesels both SR and LMR were known for their unreliable train heat boilers and a tendency to drip oil. The latter could lead to fires when a following steam engine might stop at the same point and hot ash or cinders ignite the residue. Other issues noted and applicable to all three were: Big end bearing and connecting rod failures. Problems with the gearing to the oil and water pumps.
Fires on the underframes.
Engine ventilation (Nos 10201 / 10202). Loose tyres. Mention has been made earlier of the justification given as to concentrating all five engines on the SR but inevitably the time would come when various conclusions would need to be drawn from this and that time came in a report from C M Cock of the Railway Executive entitled ‘Weakness in Operation of Diesels’. English Electric too had identified their own issues operating a diesel fleet which were summarised as: Too many crews involved. Three separate departments involved - Motive power, Electrical and Mechanical, 29
SOUTHERN TIMES
30
ISSUE 10
Opposite top: Also on ‘olde England’, this is No 10203 which fell off at Norwood Junction en-route to exhibition at Willesden in May 1954. As this engine was not fitted for multiple unit working there are no flaps for jumper connections. Similarly, without a gap being needed within the cab for the connecting door it is not known if the driver’s desk was identical with the earlier engines. The briefcase on the buffer was not part of the design! S C Townroe Opposite bottom: Modern traction on display at Willesden. No 10203 in company with a diesel-shunter, Gas Turbine No 18000 and the Fell diesel-mechanical. Arthur Taylor Above: Almost at the end of its time on the Southern Region, No 10203 rounds the curve of the Bickley Spur with the ‘Golden Arrow’ service. None of the three diesels ever carried names. Lens of Sutton / Dennis Cullum 2431
Running shed maintenance facilities bad. Repair shops. At Brighton components have been seen to be left lying on the workshop floor and ‘diesel’ appeared to be the odd one out. Much discussion followed. There would never be a true reconciliation until one type of motive power became dominant, at that time it was steam, proper maintenance facilities were still some way away, allied to which there would come a complete change in attitude. Dynamometer trials, see page 2, were also carried out with No 10203 with the same engine also spending a short time working on the Eastern Section and on the
same ‘Golden Arrow’ / ‘Night Ferry’ turns as had 10202. These would be some of its last Southern Region duties although the start of July 1955 saw No 10203 working between Waterloo and Exeter. It was now the last of the diesels on the SR, Nos 10201 and 10202 having been transferred to the LMR in March/ April 1955. No 10203 would follow in July. It would be five years before another main line diesel was regularly seen, the D65xx type (we may exclude the Class D50xx series as these were transfers from the LMR). At their new home the three ex-SR engines continued 31
SOUTHERN TIMES
Top: No 10201 in service at Willesden Junction on the London Midland Region in charge of the 4.15pm Euston to Bletchley working, 16 July 1960. The engine retains the five route discs that it had on the Southern and has also gained an electrification warning flash. Some freight working with the SR engines did take place on the LMR especially in their latter years. David Idle / Transport Treasury Bottom: Three stalwarts laid aside at Derby on 8 May 1966 having been out of use for more than three years, Nos 10201, 10000, and 10202. Two of the former SR locos, Nos 10202 and 10203, had each been stored out of use at Derby for 13 months before being formerly withdrawn - all three of the SR types officially suffering this fate on 7 December 1963. All three seen here would languish in their withdrawn state for more than four years before being towed to Great Bridge and scrapping in early 1968. LMS No 10000 followed a similar path both as regards withdrawal date and its disposal. The exception was LMS No 10001 which continued to work until March 1966 and was eventually scrapped at North Acton in February 1968. A great pity that none of these pioneers was saved to show the development of main line dieselisation although a ‘new-build’ No 10000 is being developed.
to perform in similar fashion to when working out of Waterloo. They even sported the standard green livery applicable to diesel locos although perhaps the original black and chrome still looked better.
laid aside as unserviceable by the end of 1962, never to work again. No 10202 survived until the end of the following year but like its sisters was subsequently sent for scrap. All three met their end at John Cashmore’s Great Bridge (Tipton) site.
In the end the first to go were Nos 10201 and 10203
Next time: The original Merchant Navy class 1948 - 1960 32
Nine Elms The Morning after the Night before Monday 10 July 1967
F
or well over a century there had been a railway workshop and latterly a steam depot at Nine Elms. The first was in 1839 and on the opposite side of what is now the main line adjacent to the then passenger terminus. Subsequent to this the area developed piecemeal, both the original station giving way to a new terminus at Waterloo and the locomotive works moving to what was then a greenfield site at Eastleigh. An ‘engine house’ however remained, different sizes and slightly different sites developed but all within what was still the Nine Elms area. From 1839 through to 1967 the local area would be ‘serenaded’ (some might say this is the wrong word but steam sounds can be soporific to the enthusiast), with the noise of engines arriving on shed, being serviced and then leaving, ready to take up their next duty. One hundred plus years until suddenly on the morning of Monday 10 July 1967 there was a different sound, in effect the sound of nothing. Anyone who has ever lived near to a main road will confirm the brain can almost get used to the constant sound, getting to the stage of almost blocking it out completely. Instead one becomes almost aware again when the sound stops for some reason and quiet descends. It would be interesting to know if that is what
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the residents surrounding Nine Elms shed noticed that morning; gone was the sound of escaping steam, of coal dropping into bunkers and tenders, of wheels slipping on none too well maintained rails and of the uneven exhaust note of a Bulleid Pacific - the latter once heard never forgotten. Monday 10 July was indeed the morning after the night before. Now there was no more steam. No engines to prepare, no engines to service. Almost all was quiet, except now and for the next few weeks there would be a new sound, of motion being dismantled, rods being dropped perhaps and then craned into tenders or bunkers, of coal being emptied and deposited on the ground or in wagons, of men perhaps engaged in their last few days or weeks of work before being made redundant. Skills and a lifetime of experience now of little use; there were few jobs available at the local labour exchange for former steam engine artisans. Any number of photographers gained access to Nine Elms before the end of steam but after that time they, like the steam engine, mostly faded away. One who did not was David Idle and as a result we have a record of that Monday morning and engines which look almost ready for another days’ work, a day though that will never come.
Right: No 34047, formerly carrying the name Callington Callington,, outside the shed on 10 July 1967. This engine had been officially withdrawn from Bournemouth week ending 25 June 1967 but is seen at Nine Elms seemingly intact and looking ready for work. According to the excellent ‘Southern Steam Operations 1966/67’, by Ian C Simpson, this engine had been stopped at Feltham with a hot box (which axle is not reported) back on 11 May and remained at Feltham Shed until moved to Nine Elms sometime between 25 June and 1 July. Overleaf: Bulleids, and Standard 4s, both tank and tender types at Nine Elms - see also information on page 37. The West Country will be noted as part separated from its tender. All images David Idle / Transport
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Opposite top: No 35007, formerly Aberdeen Commonwealth, Commonwealth, at rest having been withdrawn the day before. This engine would already have been cold having last worked a train on Thursday 6 July. This is the second Bulleid behind the West Country (the identity of which remains unknown but could be 34008) seen in the view over the previous two pages. Opposite bottom: No 34047: Unlike some engines which languished at Salisbury and Weymouth for some months, time was already counting down for No 34047 as she was noted dumped at The United Wagon Co. Newport on 16 October 1967 along with another 10 Light Pacifics, Nos 34005/8/9/17/26/32/57/88/98/ and 104, none of which would survive into preservation. Above: Class 4 No 76064. This engine is known to have worked the 08.54 Waterloo - Southampton (Eastern) Docks train on Saturday 1 July after which its movements are unknown. It was an Eastleigh based engine and as demolition at that depot was due to start immediately on 10 July, it may well have been specially moved to Nine Elms. This is the second locomotive in the image on the following page. Official withdrawal was on 9 July.
Don’t forget copies of many of the images that appear in
SOUTHERN TIMES are available as downloads. 37
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Top: No 76064, an unidentified Light Pacific and Class 4 tank engine. Bottom: A very derelict looking pair of Standard engines. No 73022 had ceased to work from at least 16 April 1967 and No 80012 before this on 19 March. Opposite. No 34057 formerly Biggin Hill. Hill. This engine had been the subject of a failed preservation attempt. The following year Black 5 No 45110 was purchased and named RAF Biggin Hill although the engine had never been named in BR days. No 34057 had been a Salisbury engine and was withdrawn week ending 7 May 1967 although, and again according to Ian Simpson, its last recorded work was on 29 March. It should be recalled that at that time, a relatively minor defect would be sufficient to result in withdrawal. (If any reader has details of why particular engines were withdrawn we would be most interested.)
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Above: Derelict Class 2 No 41284, once used on carriage shunting and other similar duties, now sits awaiting its fate and also without a chimney. This engine was another withdrawal from March 1967 and with the crank pins on the driving wheels all still set in the same position indicating the coupling and connecting rods have been removed and the engine not moved since. A class 4 tank, No 80145 (withdrawn 25 June 1967), awaits its own turn to be dealt with. Within the actual shed on that morning were several other engines including No 35030 with various chalk embellishments as having been the engine of the last steam hauled train into Waterloo the day before, also Nos 35028, 73119, and 34001 plus other Bulleid and Standard types. Fast forward three weeks to 1 August.... Left: Loco utensils, once a valuable commodity now so much rubbish - but collectable and valuable again in later years. (The buckets - perhaps not.) Opposite top: No 34034, once proudly carrying the name Honiton and which did not quite make the very end being withdrawn one week before on 2 July. This was one of 14 steam engines taken out of service between 11 June and 2 July, leaving 71 steam engines to carry on to the final weekend. Opposite bottom: No 75075 has had its remaining coal removed, which looks to have been of poor quality, and with its rods removed these are now being loaded into the tender. Scrap merchants purchased engines by weight and would object if the rods were not present. This engine was another that survived until the bitter end.
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Top and bottom: Railway Clearing House maps of 1910 showing the relationship between the LSWR, LBSCR and SER (above) at Guildford, and below, between the first two named at Havant. Right: Archibald Scott of the LSWR.
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The Mid-Sussex line or ‘The Brighton goes to Portsmouth’ Origins through to Electrification Jeremy Clarke
A
subjective look at what became the Brighton’s Mid-Sussex line may not immediately show it was constructed piecemeal, almost all as a result of unlooked for competition. But it may also show any suggestion of ‘fast’ running was not possible north of Epsom and restrictions further south also limited the schedules even the best trains could be set to achieve. The London & Brighton Railway opened the most southerly part of its main line, from Haywards Heath to Brighton, on 21 September 1841. By that time it had already spent seemingly unnecessary time and finance in heading westward, opening a line along the coast on 12 May 1840 to the thriving commercial port of Shoreham, set at the mouth of the River Adur. By so doing it enabled materials for the continued construction of that last part of the main line, as well as necessary rolling stock to be brought in by sea and expeditiously transported. Had the company already got its sights on the supreme naval base at Portsmouth? Whether or not, it took another five years before the five-mile stretch between Shoreham and Worthing came into use and the best part of two years more before the company finally reached Portsmouth, on 14 June 1847. By that time, through amalgamations with the London & Croydon and several others, the London & Brighton had become the more descriptive London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. Meanwhile, the London & Southampton Railway – originally promoted locally in Southampton in 1831 as the Southampton, London & Branch Railway & Dock Company - had also had designs on the City, opening a branch from Bishopstoke (Eastleigh) to Gosport on 29 November 1841(1). This had followed the Company’s second metamorphosis two years earlier into the London & South Western Railway. The change was perhaps a sop to the denizens of Portsmouth who had a distrust of the motives of those people camped around the Test estuary. Confinement of the Gosport branch line to the west side of Portsmouth harbour and termination at that town was due to successful objections by the Admiralty to any breaking of the landside defences. The South Western was thus naturally alarmed when those same
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Admiralty objections were overridden during passage of the Brighton’s Portsmouth Bill. Immediate retaliation resulted, the LSWR placing a Bill before Parliament for construction of a connection from the Gosport branch at Fareham to a junction with the LBSCR line east of Cosham. Authorisation being received, this line opened for goods traffic on 1 September 1848 and to passengers a month later. The two rivals for London-Portsmouth business now found themselves with a similar route mileage: after negotiation they agreed to joint ownership of the line across Portsea Island from the meeting point at Portcreek Junction, and to take an equal share of the overall receipts from the two routes. As always where a duopoly creates a lack of competition, Portsmouth suffered a poorer service to the Capital than it deserved. Was it a surprise then that the population soundly backed proposals made in 1852 for a more direct route to London? Inevitably, the two companies
Map showing where the east to south curve from the South Eastern line to the Portsmouth Direct would have been built. More than a century and a half later the earthworks for this spur still remain.
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Map taken from the Railway Gazette Jun 1938 - see page 54.
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Remnants of the atmospheric system briefly operated by the London & Croydon Railway; the last atmospheric train ran to Croydon on 4 May 1847. Unlike Mr Brunel’s atmospheric South Devon line, this similar London scheme has received scant attention from historians.
fought the Direct Portsmouth Bill in Parliament tooth and nail: Royal Assent was, nevertheless, received the following year. Though this new speculative venture started from a junction with the Woking-Godalming branch – completed on 15 October 1849 - the South Western’s Chairman, William Chaplin, would have nothing to do with it. Whether he was keen to ensure his company’s safe if rather uneasy relationship with the Brighton should not be jeopardized, or because he still held to the rule that fares be charged by the mile, the Portsmouth Direct promising to lose him more than twenty miles of income are matters perhaps best left unconsidered. As a result the contractor Thomas Brassey saw the 31¾ route miles of track he had completed by 1857 rust away for more than a year. That fallow twelvemonth period seriously frustrated Archibald Scott, the South Western’s aggressive General Manager, who had several times unsuccessfully pressed Chaplin to take advantage of the competitive edge this route would give the South Western. Scott very probably learned early on that in that year the South Eastern had been offered the opportunity to work Direct Portsmouth traffic by way of a new spur from west of Shalford on the Redhill-Guildford line to the Portsmouth Direct south of Shalford Junction. The necessary embankment was raised and is still visible albeit disguised now by trees, though the bridges over the River Wey and its flood plain were never built, the SER having declined the offer. Looked at logically from that company’s point of view and considering the geographical and business reasons of the time, maintaining the status quo was a necessity. (2)
Scott’s opportunity to proceed came when Chaplin retired through ill-health in the autumn of 1858. He wasted no time in securing a deal for the LSWR to lease the ‘Direct’ line at £18,000p.a. Dare I suggest the speed by which things were settled were due to him having already begun negotiations behind Chaplin’s back? On learning of this agreement the Brighton promptly threatened to prevent LSWR Portsmouth trains joining its coast line at Havant and thus deny them access to the town. Despite this the South Western openly advertised it would begin using the Direct line on 1 January 1859. Scott clearly had concerns for he aimed to run a goods train through on 28 December 1858 and thereby create a precedent. He failed because the Brighton prevented the train crossing the junction. After some skirmishing at the actual junction between workers from both sides that caused little damage, except perhaps in hurt pride, Scott retreated to Guildford. The Brighton winning the battle but losing the war, the South Western being granted the legal right to work between Havant and Portcreek Junction from 24 January. William Chaplin, a great servant and twice Chairman of the South Western, died in April 1859. I wonder whether the wrangling over the ‘Direct’ in the South Western’s corridors of power perhaps hastened his demise. The Brighton’s mileage disadvantage as a result of the Court’s decision grew at a stroke from a few chains to more than twenty miles. A price war erupted until returns had sunk so low it threatened the financial stability of the two companies. Negotiations had to follow, the subsequent agreement dividing the receipts two-thirds in the South Western’s favour. The LBSCR Board nevertheless recognised that to challenge the LSWR at Portsmouth and to maintain and increase its share of the growing traffic to the Isle of Wight – 45
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A rare find, an original LSWR working timetable of January 1861 giving details of the passenger service on the Portsmouth direct less than two years after opening. In the down direction, just five passenger and one goods train are shown as running between Waterloo and Portsmouth on weekdays; six and one goods in the up direction. The journey times a minute over two hours and at worst two hours 45 minutes. minutes. Readers may raise a wry smile at the heading of train No 2 in the up direction on Sundays being specifically noted as for ‘Sheep and Goods’.
popularised by the patronage of the Royal Family – it had to shorten its own two-sided roundabout route via Brighton.
passing loops provided at stations - though with an eye to the line’s future potential, Brassey had built doubletrack infrastructure throughout. However, the South Western appeared to be in no hurry to take advantage of Brassey’s forward thinking: doubling the track took until 1878.
This would result in the Mid-Sussex line, although even at that time parts were already in existence. The branch to Horsham from Three Bridges had opened as early as February 1846, under the auspices of ‘The Mid-Sussex Railway Company’; authorised in 1857, it had been extended to Petworth on 10 October 1859. The Brighton absorbed the Mid-Sussex – in which it had an interest since inception - in 1862, and used it as a start for the ‘short cut’ into Portsmouth. A nine-mile long line from it at a new junction at Hardham (where the line to Petworth now diverged), about 12½ miles south of Horsham, opened down the Arun Valley to the coast line near Ford on 3 August 1863. At a stroke this cut off some ten miles from the distance via Brighton besides eliminating the need for reversal there. Portsmouth trains were immediately switched to the new route.
The Brighton by contrast set quite enterprising timetables, although timekeeping in general was not particularly good. In part this was due to the section of double-track line north of Redhill still being shared with the South Eastern. Parliament had insisted ownership of the 11½ miles between Norwood and Redhill should be split laterally and equally at Coulsdon, the southern half being awarded to the South Eastern, which thus had control of the junction with the Tonbridge line at Redhill. Not surprisingly, the SER appeared to take full advantage, at least until it had opened the final part of its own independent main line between St Johns and Tonbridge in June 1868. The Brighton’s search for a solution to the mileage disadvantage thus continued.
Though the South Western still retained a mileage advantage of more than twelve miles, this was offset to a degree by nominally un-enterprising schedules. This was not just due to complacency because it still retained the lesser distance but also because the ‘Portsmouth Direct’ line was laid with single track -
In consequence we have to move closer to London and the London & Croydon Railway, which had opened in 1839 from Corbetts Lane Junction on the London & Greenwich Railway to [West] Croydon, thereby forming the oldest part of the LBSCR under the amalgamations of 1846. The company had extended its line to Epsom 46
ISSUE 10 Top: The ‘old’ station at Havant but can we be totally certain which one? What we can be certain about is that the first station here was opened by the LBSCR in 1847 just over a quarter of a mile east of what became the site of the present station site. This first station took the name Havant Halt. It survived until consumed by fire. It was replaced by a second ‘Havant’ some 200+ yards west of the former Havant Halt and now handled trains both on the LBSCR line and trains coming from the north on the Portsmouth Direct. From this we may conclude the fire and closure of Havant Halt must have taken place soon after 1859. This second station also had a short life and was re-sited 300+ yards west in order to act as a junction station for the then new Hayling Island line service in 1867. This third station survived until rebuilt by the Southern Railway in 1938. It is believed the illustration is of station No 2 which was replaced in 1867. Middle: Barnham station viewed east towards Ford. The station here opened on 1 June 1864 at the same time as the three and half mile branch from here to Bognor. It replaced a station at Yapton which closed the same day. Doubling of the branch and the provision of a new signal box took place in 1911. Bottom: Also looking east but this time with the double connection to the branch shown on the right. Note the station was referred to as ‘Barnham Junction for Bognor’. A refreshment room existed at the station by 1895 and the following year a news stand was opened. Rebuilding took place to the present day station in 1929/30. (The present day name ‘Bognor Regis’ came about in consequence of King George V staying nearby whilst recuperating from lung surgery in 1928. After His Majesty returned to London the Bognor Urban District Council petitioned the King to allow the suffix ‘Regis’ to be added to the name of the town. The request was presented to the king’s private secretary, who in turn delivered it to the king. King George is reported to have replied, “Oh, bugger Bognor” whereupon the private secretary responded to the council, “...the King has been graciously pleased to grant your request.” The change of name from Bognor to Bognor Regis took effect from 26 July 1929. 1929.
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The layout at Arundel Junction on 26 September 1929 some few years prior to electrification, the signal box of the same name may be seen on the left. In the distance the line to the left is the Mid-Sussex route to Arundel and Horsham; to the right the railway continues to Worthing and Brighton. Immediately right is the Littlehampton branch whilst on the left is the route to Ford, Barnham, Havant and Portsmouth. Wallis collection / Bluebell Museum
Taken on the same day, this time we are looking at the same location from the east with the Mid-Sussex (Arundel) line coming in from the right. The line to Littlehampton (left) formed a triangle with the Brighton - Portsmouth route, the embankment forming the third side of the triangle visible running left to right. There were signal boxes at each of the branches of the triangle, respectively Littlehampton Junction and Ford Junction. Wallis collection / Bluebell Museum
on 10 May 1847, having defeated a South Western Bill aiming for the town from Surbiton. Parliament decided the Croydon’s offer of a fast, atmospherically-powered railway through several large and established villages, neither of which the South Western proposals could match, was to be preferred. The atmospheric system
was then already in operation between Forest Hill and Croydon and undergoing trials northward to New Cross. (In the event it proved a costly failure, no train on the Epsom line being so worked. The last atmospheric train ran to Croydon on 4 May 1847.) 48
ISSUE 10 The LSWR eventually got to Epsom on 4 April 1859 but from Raynes Park, its station lying on the other side of the main (A24) Worthing Road from the Brighton/ Croydon one. The South Western made an end-on junction at Epsom with a line to Leatherhead promoted by the local Epsom & Leatherhead Railway Company. This line had been opened jointly with the LBSCR two months earlier, though the LSWR had purchased it prior to opening. By 8 August the Brighton had bridged the main road and extended its track through the South Western’s Epsom station to gain the joint line to Leatherhead. As there was no question of the Brighton taking advantage of the South Western’s facilities here, two independent lines for its use were laid between the up and down platform lines. (Coincidentally the South Western began a full service over the Direct Portsmouth south of Guildford that same day.) Why the two companies appeared to act so amicably in this respect is something of a mystery. Perhaps the South Western had already calculated that any extension the Brighton might make towards Horsham and the Coast through the Arun gap would not pose a serious threat to its mileage advantage. While the Brighton was languishing at Leatherhead it prepared for the next push south. This made use of the gap in the North Downs carved by the River Mole, and promised to be straightforward though a tunnel would be needed to get beyond a large chalk outcrop into the valley at Mickleham. The Mole meandered around this on a tightly-curved 180° bend. Moreover, the long climb out of the Mole valley and across the broken nature of the western extremity of the Weald north of Horsham promised to demand more capital to finance progress. The Brighton opened its own station at Leatherhead alongside the joint one and to the south of a new junction with the joint line on 4 March 1867: Brighton trains reached Dorking a week later. Extension on to Horsham was achieved on 1 May that year, the junction with the branch from Three Bridges being to the east of Horsham station. The LBSCR immediately switched its Portsmouth services to the route, thus avoiding that shared section of the main Brighton line to Redhill. General use of the route through Croydon did not last long, following opening of the ‘cut-off’ between Peckham Rye and Sutton on 1 October 1868. This added complexity to the junctions at Streatham on the Victoria-Balham-East Croydon line which the company had completed six years earlier. Transfer of Portsmouth traffic to run via Peckham Rye cut another 1¼ miles off the journey though clearly still having little impact on how much further Brighton trains
travelled than their South Western counterparts. As time passed the Brighton and South Western achieved quite cordial relations, so much so that, despite more failed Admiralty objections, on 2 October 1876 a ‘joint’ line of ¾-mile was opened from a new high-level island platform at Portsmouth & Southsea station to a station right on the Harbour front, permitting the Isle of Wight ferries to tie up alongside the platforms.
The route described A little more than 1½ miles out of London Bridge station an LBSCR train for Portsmouth turned away from the Greenwich viaduct and the main London-Brighton line at Blue Anchor Junction to take the suburban South London Line, opened on 13 August 1866. A few hundred yards beyond Blue Anchor a single island platform station, South Bermondsey, is passed. Until mid-1928 this station was situated north of South Bermondsey Junction where a spur to the main line branched away: it had opened as Rotherhithe. The present station is set on the bed of a central up line provided between London Bridge and Peckham Rye on opening of the line to Sutton. It was put out of use between South Bermondsey Junction and closed Old Kent Road station on 1 January 1928. In the early 1960s Old Kent Road Junction, 2¼ miles from London Bridge, was decommissioned and lifted, but following track reinstatement from it to the East London Line south of Canada Water it reopened on 9 December 2012, permitting London Overground services to join the SLL and reach the Windsor side of Clapham Junction via Factory Junction and Latchmere Junction. Heading south now, the SLL passes through Queen’s Road, nowadays with a ‘Peckham’ suffix to distinguish it from the ex-LSWR station at Queens(town) Road, Battersea. This is another single island platform although the central up line here was not taken out of use until 1933, it was left in place for years afterwards. Curving round to face WSW and on to a brick arch viaduct, the South London passes beneath the exLCDR Catford Loop at Cow Lane to reach Peckham Rye, some 3½ miles from the start. The tall and very stately station building by Charles Henry Driver in the Italianate style and now Grade II listed, stands in the tight gap between the SLL and the Catford Loop. Following years of neglect and abuse it was refurbished and some parts that had remained unused for many years brought back into use, all largely as a result of campaigns mounted by local people. Total renovation is 49
SOUTHERN TIMES incomplete at the time of writing, the final phase of the upgrade to make the station fully accessible receiving Planning Consent in August 2023.
has four platforms, two of them as a centre island. Two double track spurs at the south lead to the West End of London & Crystal Palace line which opened on 1 December 1856. The West Norwood spur, for Crystal Palace services, leaves at the platform end, while the Leigham spur towards Streatham Hill and Balham departs five chains further on.
As at Queen’s Road and South Bermondsey, the single island on the Brighton side occupies the trackbed of the former second up line. All three of the stations passed through so far had very narrow side platforms since the third line was laid, its removal providing space for these wide islands instead.
The north end of the 302-yard long Leigham tunnel marks the start of the steep descent into the Wandle valley while the 220 yards of Streatham tunnel leads us to Streatham station, one of three ex-LBSCR establishments in the town and a little more than 7½ miles into the journey. It is set on the High Road, the A23 to Brighton, its building and ticket office being on the bridge over the line at the up end. The goods yard was limited in size, the main freight facilities in the area being concentrated at Streatham Common station.
The Midland and London & North Western railways owned jointly the coal yard at Peckham Rye, set at ground level between the two sets of track. A lift moved the wagons down to it from a pair of sidings off the SLL up line. The tracks inset among the cobbles of the yard remained in place for years after closure in 1958: it passed through several commercial uses as time progressed. There were no local goods facilities here, no part of the site being suitable.
A double-track spur leaves on the down side at Streatham Junction to join the Victoria-East Croydon main line at Streatham Common. Having bridged that route, a double track spur from its down side at Streatham North Junction ‘flies’ in to join the Portsmouth line’s up side at Streatham South Junction: the up side then gains another spur from North Junction’s up side. The spurs were both originally constructed before the turn of the 19th century as single tracks that continued north as far as Clapham Junction, thus providing about 2¼ miles of quadrupled line. Both spurs were subsequently doubled but the up side one has been singled for many years though it carries traffic in both directions. Within another few yards the line to Wimbledon via Tooting bears away on the up side at Wimbledon Junction - Streatham Junction South No 2 in LBSCR days - to head north west.
Eleven chains beyond Peckham Rye the Portsmouth route turns sharply away from the SLL to head south west towards Sutton, the line opening on 1 October 1868. Peckham Rye shops, which came into use in 1909 to service the trains working the new electrified service over the South London, were set into the angle of the junction. Housing now occupies its site. Dulwich has two stations, East (4m 23ch) where signalling responsibility passes to the Victoria Control Centre, and North (4m 64ch), anachronistically about SSW of its neighbour. The station building here is in brick with stone decoration and a two-storey stationmaster’s house attached. To a degree the elaborate design was needed to satisfy the architectural demands of the Dulwich College Estates. It has however lost its very fine chimneys and decorative balustrades.
On a 1 in 100 downgrade now is the extensive Eardley sidings, the Brighton’s main carriage berthing centre in London, which stretched for more than three-quarters of a mile, and once lay on the down side of the route, conveniently positioned for easy access to both the LBSCR termini. There has been a limited amount of development on it but the area has largely returned to nature.
The Chatham’s main line from Victoria is bridged at the south end of the long North Dulwich viaduct: the decorative balustrades had been insisted upon by the Trustees of the Dulwich College Estates, a fact applicable to all railway bridges bordering their land. The line then passes the site of a long gone LNWR coal and goods depot located at the north end of the 331-yards long Knights Hill tunnel to arrive at Tulse Hill (6m 07ch). Here it has topped the head of the almost continuous climb out of the Thames valley, the mile between North Dulwich and the tunnel being the steepest of the gradients faced at 1 in 90.
The line now turns towards the south and within yards of the 9th milepost reaches level ground: Mitcham Eastfields station is a quarter mile onward. This opened on 2 June 2008, primarily as a result of a long campaign by local people, the area having relatively poor public transport links. It lies either side of the Eastfields Road level crossing, the down platform to the south, up one to the north. With Mitcham Junction being 1¼ miles away the campaigners had a point. Entry to that
Tulse Hill is the junction for the ex-LCDR spur from Herne Hill opened on 1 January 1869. This, mainly at a gradient of 1 in 66, comes in from the north. The station 50
ISSUE 10 Arundel prior to electrification. Top: Likely a service to either Bognor ‘(Regis dependent upon the date) or Portsmouth departing, from the shape of the cab spectacle we may identify the locomotive as an ‘H2’ Atlantic. Above the train is the outline of the signal box, replaced at the time of electrification. The view also shows the comodious goods shed and starting signal for the bay platform - used for local trains to Littlehampton. Wallis collection / Bluebell Museum Bottom: A second view looking south, this time taken from the footbridge which lies hard by the road bridge carrying what is the A27 over the railway at this point. (The road remains a single carriageway in each direction to this day.) Wallis collection / Bluebell Museum
51
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formed part of the Brighton’s preparations for extension of the overhead electrification planned to terminate here. The war in 1914 halted progress. Electric services were finally introduced on 1 April 1925 but only as far as Sutton: Cheam never saw the ‘overhead’. Ewell East is just over sixteen miles into the journey. The Southern provided the suffix to distinguish the station from the South Western’s Ewell station which it suffixed ‘West’ at the same time.
The tram track flies over on our route’s return to the roughly southerly direction. The climb out of the Wandle valley is easy as far as Hackbridge (11½m) but the next two miles heading south west are a 1 in 96/86 assault on the dip slope of the North Downs, the line passing through Carshalton (12m 30ch) to a summit only ten chains short of the approach to Sutton.
Another 1¼ miles further on the line passes through the site of the Brighton’s Epsom Town station and its locomotive depot, a small, two-road brick shed with a slated roof and 40’ turntable crammed in on the up side. The station and shed were both closed at electrification from London Bridge via Mitcham Junction on 3 March 1929.
The line from London Bridge via West Croydon appears on the down side, facing and trailing crossovers between the two placed at just over 13½ miles into the journey. Sutton station is nine chains further on. The layout was installed at electrification in 1928. Previously, the two routes simply came together before separating, the one for Epsom, the other to Epsom Downs. That branch was independently promoted as the Banstead & Epsom Downs Railway in 1862, acquired by the Brighton two years later and opened on 22 May 1865. Sutton station has four platforms, the two on the Epsom Downs line curving sharply away to the south while those on the Portsmouth route run straight ahead, the line following the London & Croydon’s route to Epsom.
The ex-LSWR’s Epsom station is seventeen miles and fifty-two chains from London Bridge via Mitcham, more than three miles further than that from Waterloo. The Southern rebuilt the station prior to electrification in 1929 in much the same style as its contemporaries at, for example, Sutton, Richmond and Wimbledon. The building, on the south side, was demolished in 2010 for redevelopment, completed in early-2013 with office, supermarket, residential and hotel accommodation included. The four running lines were retained but divided around two island platforms and so arranged as to give a degree of parallel working. Trains at the outer face of the up platform can make only for Raynes Park and those at the inner face can similarly go only to Sutton. Incoming Waterloo trains are confined to the inner face of the down platform but the outer face, while accessible only by ex-Sutton trains, is signalled for reversible working. It is extended to form an electrified down berthing siding.
Sutton’s station building is at the down end facing the High Street, built by the Southern in 1930 for the opening of the line to Wimbledon. It is typical of Southern architecture of the time, single storey in rendered brick with a ridged roof and tall windows in sets of three, and two wide entrances into the booking hall. A large canopy was later added to the length of the building. The Southern Railway always appeared oblivious to the advantages of integrated transport: a cab rank fronts the station but local buses found themselves stabled at various points in the streets.
Leaving the station another electrified siding appears on the up side which, at its up end, gave access to a turntable supported by the quarter-circle buttress of the bridge over West Street. The line now turns towards the south west, climbing at 1 in 100 for a mile to the summit at the now closed Epsom Common signal box, and then falling for two miles into the Mole valley. Ashtead is two miles beyond Epsom and on a downgrade of 1 in 128: it opened with this part of the line on 1 February 1859. The M25 passes over before Leatherhead, 21¼ miles from London Bridge. Had the outbreak of war in 1939 not curtailed the Southern’s Leatherhead branch at Chessington, and had subsequent Green Belt legislation ultimately prevented completion, it would have made a junction with the Portsmouth route at a
Immediately west of Sutton the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway line diverges on the up side to plunge for more than a mile into the Wandle valley on the 1 in 44/49 gradient of ‘The Wall of Death’, a reflection of the steep-sided chalk cuttings and high retaining walls that channel the curving descent to West Sutton. This line opened on 5 January 1930, built specifically for electric traction. Cheam is a mile beyond Sutton and at one time had central ‘through’ lines. That layout and station building 52
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Modern Horsham. 4-Cor unit 3158 forms the rear of a train from the coast whilst Lav and Bil sets repose in two of the other platforms. Present in the down loop is M7 No 30055; the two discs indicating a service to Guildford via Christ’s Hospital. Transport Treasury C731
point now under the motorway’s slip roads at junction 9. The original Leatherhead terminus was slightly to the north of the present station, closing with the southward extension to Dorking on 4 March 1867. That same day the South Western opened its own terminus to the west of the Brighton one, the junction to access it being a few chains north. The South Western opened the line to Effingham Junction from Leatherhead on 2 February 1885 but Southern rationalising saw a new junction for the Effingham line go in south of the LBSCR station to allow closure of the South Western one. The change was introduced on 9 July 1927, the Brighton station thus being used by all trains. The station entrance is on the up side and, perhaps as a dig at the LSWR, is a fine, single storey building in an Italianate style now Grade II-listed. Built in red brick but with stone decoration above the lintels to the several round-top windows in the booking hall, the style is almost repeated in the two-storey stationmaster’s house at the north end. A canopy raised high on slender iron columns fronts the single-storey part of the structure. The down side building is similar but much less decorative.
Both companies had separate goods facilities, west and east of their respective lines. In 1906 the South Western was authorized to build a small, two-road engine shed here with a 55’ turntable outside it. This succeeded an earlier one from the late-1880s. It could house four engines but did not survive long after the electrification between Raynes Park, Dorking and Effingham Junction in July 1925. The line now follows the River Mole closely for 4¾ miles, passing to the west of it south of the junction with the line to Effingham. Though the route is a more or less straight line along the valley, the Mole is not. The track thus gently rises and falls because of the variations in height of the banks as the river meanders. At a little less than 1¾ miles from Leatherhead the line meets the chalk outcrop noted earlier and on which the 13th century Michelham Priory stands: it is pierced by way of the 524 yards of Mickleham tunnel. The Mole is crossed almost in the southern tunnel mouth, and for the third time shortly before Box Hill & Westhumble station (24½m) is reached. The village of Westhumble
Text continued on page 59 53
SOUTHERN TIMES Engineer. The many civil engineering works, including the signalling and the laying of the conductor rails and the erection of the substation buildings, have been undertaken by Mr George Ellson, the Chief Engineer. The greatly increased traffic facilities, including a virtual doubling of the train mileage, standardised timings, and accelerated schedules, were prepared by Mr E J Missenden, the Traffic Manager, and his staff, and having got a good thing, the Southern Railway, under the direction of Mr C Grasemann, the Public Relations and Advertising Officer, is now telling the public about it. Standardised timetables have always been a feature of the Southern electric services, both on the main and suburban lines. With the more recent extensions (Eastbourne and Hastings in 1935 and Portsmouth Direct in 1937) a number of operating problems presented themselves in the coastal area, where trains from various directions crossed or passed each other, but in no case has the compilation of satisfactory timetables been more difficult than on the Mid-Sussex and Sussex coast lines, where all the main line trains and many of the locals must make connections and clear other trains at three or four different points without upsetting existing electric schedules on other routes. Taken generally, the main line services are improved principally by acceleration and by an increase in the number of through trains, rather than by the total number of trains. On the local services there has been a great increase under all three headings. A total of 4,015,194 electric train miles a year has replaced 2,051,655 steam train miles, representing an increase of over 95 per cent, but additional steam train miles aggregating 23,400 miles will be run on adjacent steam worked lines in order to give more frequent services in connection with the electric trains. For the fast trains a four-car vestibuled set is the basic unit, from which are built up eight-car and twelve-car trains as required. Some of these four-car units include a buffet car. Local trains are made up of one or more twin-car sets, some of which are of the non-vestibuled corridor pattern. A total of 292 new carriages has been provided.
Not surprisingly the Southern Railway were keen to promote their latest step forward into electrification and the new scheme featured within the pages of the July 1938 issue of the Southern Railway Magazine. Around the same time the Railway Gazette released one of their special issues (38 pages in total of which 18 were devoted to advertising), the cover from which is shown above. In truth the coverage in the RG was far more detailed and is quoted below. The conversion of these Sussex lines under the Portsmouth No 2 scheme, comprises the electrification on the 600V dc third-rail system of 75 route miles and 165 track miles, which is to be officially opened on 30 June 1938 with a regular electric service starting on 2 July. Electrification has been carried out at a cost of approximately £2,750,000 in connection with the Government guarantee scheme, and under the aegis of Sir Herbert Walker, the work having been brought to completion under the present General Manager, Mr G S Szlumper. As with the previous main line conversions, the present scheme was prepared and carried out by Mr Alfred Raworth, the company’s Electrical Engineer for New Works, and that gentleman has been responsible also for the design, layout, and installation of the whole of the electrical equipment. The rolling stock, apart from the electrical equipment, which came under Mr Raworth’s jurisdiction, was designed by Mr R E L Maunsell, and, more particularly the buffet cars, his successor, Mr O V Bulleid, the present Chief Mechanical
Through Train Timetables The basic feature of the through services is an hourly service of fast trains from London to the principal places served, viz., Horsham, Pulborough, Arundel, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Chichester and Portsmouth. Those to Littlehampton are routed via the Brighton main line as far as Preston Park; the other hourly service caters for all the places just mentioned and runs from Victoria via Horsham and down the MidSussex line. 54 54
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Head Codes A considerable amount of thought has been devoted to the head codes carried by the various trains running over the newly-electrified lines with the object of giving at a glance as much information as possible. A study of the attached table will show that all the main line trains
running via the direct line between Ford and Arundel junction have an even initial figure, whereas all trains running via Littlehampton have an odd initial figure. All London - Portsmouth trains running via the Mid-Sussex line and the direct line from Arundel junction starting from either Victoria or London Bridge have 2 as the initial figure, whereas those running between London
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and Portsmouth via Littlehampton have 7 as the initial number. Direct trains between London and Bognor Regis have 4 as the first number, whereas any running via Littlehampton have a head code beginning with a 9. Similarly London trains to Littlehampton via the MidSussex line have 5 as the initial number. In all services from London which run over the newly-electrified lines, the second figure in the head code indicates the route being followed over the first portion of the journey. For example, trains from Victoria routed via Mitcham junction carry 0 as the second figure whether running to Portsmouth, Bognor Regis or Littlehampton; the figure 6 represents the route via the Quarry line, and 8 that via Redhill and Horsham and a similar distinction has been made for trains starting from London Bridge. Numbers 80 to 89 inclusive are reserved for any future services; otherwise practically all numbers from 1 to 100 are now in use by Central Section electric trains. Goods traffic over the electrified lines is still operated by steam locomotives. In addition, there are a number of parcels, light goods and fruit trains along the coastal line, and also from such places as Bognor Regis to Horsham and London Bridge, and at certain seasons the London-bound traffic, consisting mainly of fruit and vegetables, is quite heavy. It is to stable the engines required for these trains and for special excursions that the engine shed at Bognor Regis has been retained. 56 56
ISSUE 10 10 ISSUE Certain push-and-pull steam passenger trains still work over short stretches of the newly-electrified section, such as those between Midhurst and Pulborough, which come on to the Mid-Sussex line at Hardham junction, and the Guildford to Horsham sets, which run over electrified tracks between Christ’s Hospital and Horsham. The Horsham - Steyning - Brighton steam trains also use the Mid-Sussex line between Horsham and Itchingfield junction. Civil Engineering In most electrification schemes of any magnitude, numerous engineering works are necessary in order to deal with the longer trains, and also to provide facilities for making up and dividing the trains, and these works must be done coincidently with conversion. In addition, in all Southern electrifications the opportunity has been taken to modernise many station buildings and layouts, and the present scheme is no exception, for this forms a not inconsiderable part of the civil engineering work undertaken. All stations and halts have been altered to take either twelve-car express trains (Sutton, Dorking, Horsham, Pulborough, Arundel, Littlehampton, Barnham, Bognor Regis, and Chichester) or four-car sets, the nominal standard length in the first case being 820 ft. and in the second case 260 ft. Another work resulting directly from electrification is the provision of berthing sidings
for electric trains, and these have been laid down at Warnham, Littlehampton, Ford, Barnham, and Bognor Regis, as well as at New Cross Gate and Streatham Hill, which are not actually on the newly-electrified lines. The re-positioning of cross-over roads clear of the platforms, and the lengthening of the platforms, has in many cases necessitated important alterations to the layout of the tracks. At Dorking North the down bay has been converted into a loop, and the two platforms have
been extended to accommodate twelve-car sets. This lengthening has involved widening the underbridge over Lincoln Road. At Three Bridges, platforms 3, 4, and 5, used by Horsham line trains, have been lengthened at the London end over the High Street. On the sections from Dorking North and Three Bridges to Horsham, little work has been done except for platform raising and lengthening, and slight re-arrangement of tracks (e.g. moving the position of crossovers) and the provision of additional goods yard accommodation at Crawley. North of Dorking, the electrification of the Sussex lines has necessitated lengthening to 820 ft the platforms at Sutton, where the Victoria – Bognor - Portsmouth hourly express trains will normally make a stop. Horsham station is being completely rebuilt, and the track layout has been altered as indicated in one of the accompanying diagrams. There are now two through roads and two loops, with island platforms serving up and down trains respectively. The old subway is being replaced by a footbridge, and a new block of station buildings erected on the up side. A passimeter booking office is also being provided on the down side. At Pulborough the lengthening of the platforms has involved alterations to the subway, as previously the headway of this was on the platform ramp. The platform lengthening at Arundel necessitated rearrangement of the goods yard access lines. Previously, the local trains from Littlehampton arrived at an up bay platform now incorporated in the goods yard, then reversed over to the down line and back again to the down bay ready for the return journey. By the provision of a facing crossover just south of the station, these
trains are now taken direct to the down bay. A long retaining wall necessitated by the platform lengthening has been built to the south of the station, and there is 57
SOUTHERN TIMES also a new signal box of the latest Southern standard type to the south of the down platform.
Centre: From the ‘Railway Gazette’ / ‘Southern Railway Magazine’, Horsham station in the process of rebuilding. Bottom: Arundel Junction looking east with a train coming off the Mid-Sussex line in the direction of Ford.
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Text continued from page 53 is on the west side of the line while the great chalk buttress of Box Hill rises a mile to the east, beyond the river and the main A24 Worthing road. The station building was another designed by Charles Henry Driver. The owner of Norbury Park, Thomas Grissell, had insisted on such architectural excellence to compensate for him permitting the railway to cross his land. Like Leatherhead it is in red brick and stone with tall, steeply-sloping roofs, an ornamental turret and a massively-columned porch over the entrance to the booking hall. It is Grade II listed but now in use as residential and commercial accommodation. Over time the station name was presented in several ways without any apparent consistency. Local consultation in 2006 saw it settled on as it is now. Incidentally, Thomas Grissell and any subsequent owners of Norbury Park had the right to stop any train at the station: the right was withdrawn by the Transport Act 1962 though had probably not been exercised for fifty years before then. The Mole now begins to turn away to the east while the line leaves the valley and passes under the A24 to come to Dorking (25½m). From early Southern days this station had the ‘North’ suffix tacked on to differentiate it from the Dorking station on the South Eastern’s Redhill-Guildford route. (The SER’s Boxhill & Leatherhead Road station, only about 200 metres south of the Brighton’s Dorking, became Deepdene.) Some of the original down side buildings remain but the fine Brighton two-storey brick building on the up side was demolished in the 1980s. Its site is now occupied by an office block that includes the necessary railway facilities. As well as the usual up and down roads the station features a reversible down loop, the down line itself also being signalled for reversible working, the station being a regular terminating point for outer suburban working. There was once a tightly-curved south to west connection provided by the Brighton between its own and the SECR route east of that company’s bridge crossing the Brighton line. Use was rare. The Chatham line junction had been lifted by 1914 and all the track removed after Grouping though it was relaid for emergency use during the Second World War. Betchworth tunnel is 384 yards long and a ½-mile beyond Dorking, standing at the head of a 1 in 90/80 reverse curve climb. Driven through sand it collapsed on 27 February 1887 and had to be relined throughout to ensure stability. Beyond the tunnel the line resumes a direction just east of south and continues to climb, mainly at 1 in 100, to a summit fifty-five chains beyond Homewood. A long curve to take the line to face SSW
brings us to Homewood station at 39½ miles into the journey. The village is to the east of the station, hemmed in by a long curve of the A24 road. Another Grade-II ex-LBSCR building features here, the signal box on the up platform. The station has been unmanned for some years, entrance being made directly from the road bridge at the up end. A fall and then a short rise takes the line to Ockley, 2¼ miles beyond Holmwood. The village is some 1½ miles to the west, set about one of the remaining ruler-straight stretches of the Roman Stane Street, now forming part of the A29. Maybe in view of Ockley’s distance the station opened as ‘Ockley & Capel’: that larger village is only a half-mile to the east of the station. The relative importance of the two may be illustrated by the Grade II listed station building being on the down side too. Another substantial redbrick single-storey structure it is at the London end with the two-storey stationmaster’s house to its south. Covered stairs lead to the subway between platforms. Wealden clay supported two brick works in close proximity to the station, providing not only the materials for its construction but also accounting for much local originating freight traffic. Milk also provided much income until lost to road transport post-WW2. Oddly, the ‘Capel’ suffix fails to appear in the LBSCR ‘Table of Distances’ published in 1901, nor in the lists of Southern stations or on maps at Nationalisation. On the other hand station announcements at both London Bridge and Waterloo in the 1960s certainly mentioned it. A mile beyond Ockley the line begins its descent into the Low Weald on a succession of winding large-radius curves. The gradient is generally at or about 1 in 100 though more than a mile on the approach to Warnham is at 1 in 90. Warnham station is almost at the bottom of this incline and thirty-seven miles from London Bridge, the route having passed in the interim from Surrey into West Sussex. The village is a mile or so to the west. The station building at the south end of the down platform resembles Ockley. Wickets are provided to permit pedestrians to cross the track when the Station Road level crossing at the down end is closed. A twomile long dip and rise is followed by a curve that brings the line to face just west of south and to Horsham. The junction with the line from Three Bridges is 38¾ miles from London Bridge, the station sixteen chains further on. It opened as the terminus for the branch from Three Bridges on 14 February 1848, that line being doubled in 1859. Horsham’s importance and size grew as other routes sprang from it, to Petworth 59
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We are hopeful of being shortly loaned some official SR track diagrams of the Mid-Sussex line showing gradients and curvature. These will be included in Issue 11.
2-Bil No 2146 near to Arundel on 24 May 1958. Dr T Gough / Transport Treasury
1859, Itchingfield Junction to Shoreham 1861 and Stammerham Junction to Cranleigh and Guildford 1865.
a footbridge that spans the station: ironically it is the much less imposing down side entrance that is in Station Road. A major refit and update completed in 2013 has made the station completely accessible.
The Mid-Sussex electrification in 1938 saw the station completely rebuilt. Platforms were lengthened while the up side bay was extended to make a loop, the whole thus forming four tracks around two island platforms. A headshunt off the country end of the down loop gives access to three electrified berthing sidings.
Electrification saw a new SRS type 13 power box erected on the down side. It never carried the ‘West’ suffix of its predecessor which had been located at the south end of the up platform, extension of the down bay to form the down loop having required its demolition. Horsham box is Grade II listed and survives though it relinquished its responsibilities to the Three Bridges Control Centre in 2006.
The brick building is on the up side and of the ‘International’/art deco styling in vogue at the time: it was listed in 1996. The platforms are reached by 60
ISSUE 10 Horsham had a substantial goods yard on the up side of the Portsmouth route’s approach. It consisted of six sidings, two of which passed through the large goods shed. Some marshalling was also carried out here in a bank of twelve sidings set into the curving approach to the junction. In 1876 a small loco shed was provided on the up side, three dead end sidings leading directly into a timber building from a turntable. At the end of the 19th century a new shed was built by the Brighton on the down side and opposite the junction. A brick-built roundhouse with ten roads radiating off a 46’ turntable, it had another eight roads added in 1900. Two tracks off the down loop led to the turntable, the coal stage and the water tank built on its tall brick base being located beside them. Several coastal sheds as well as Three Bridges came under Horsham’s control though grouping saw Littlehampton and Bognor sheds gain independence. Despite this the 55’ diameter Orpington turntable, made redundant by suburban electrification in 1926, was installed at Horsham shed in 1927. A continuing decline in steam working following the 1938 electrification from Dorking to Havant much reduced the shed’s usefulness, a trend that quickened with the loss of freight traffic. Closure came in June 1964 and demolition soon afterwards. The Mid-Sussex is now marketed as the ‘Arun Valley Line’. It falls quite steeply as it curls toward the west leaving Horsham before regaining its south-westerly heading and bridging the A24 to come to Christ’s Hospital (40m 36ch). This is situated where the line to Peasmarsh Junction and Guildford turned away north-westward at Stammerham Junction. The line was authorised in 1860 to the Horsham & Guildford Direct Railway and acquired by the Brighton in 1864: it opened on 2 October the next year though that had been delayed by the Board of Trade objecting to Rudgwick station being built on a 1 in 80 gradient. Adjustments had to be made to reduce this to 1 in 130 before BoT approval was received. Christ’s Hospital station is built into the ‘V’ of the junction and had a West Horsham suffix at opening in April 1902. It was built primarily to serve the Christ’s Hospital School following its removal to the vicinity from London. The LBSCR provided a very substantial red brick building in the belief major development would follow though part of the cost had been met by the school. The central section with the booking hall was of two storeys bounded by tall gabled wings either side of the central portion. As a nod towards the architecture of the time checkerboard brickwork surmounted the many arched windows.
North box occupied the angle of the junction while South box was at the down end of the up platform, facing the entrance to the goods yard. This consisted of six sidings, one of which passed through the goods shed, of conventional design and so not competing for looks with the station building. Seven platforms were provided, two of which fronted a down loop particularly for school use. It soon transpired the Brighton had seriously misjudged things here. As the school took only boarders school journeys were mainly limited to the start and end of term, and local development never happened on more than a small scale because the school had purchased much of the surrounding land as green space. If the decline began from an already low point it really started with the Beeching closures, though the down loop was virtually disused by 1950. The Guildford line went on 14 July 1965 and the Adur Valley line to Shoreham line eight months later. The little-used station building was dismantled in late-1972: much of the recovered material went to fill in the gap formed by the lifted down loop, making it easier to get to the main platform. The waiting room on the down platform was adapted to house the booking office and toilets. Climbing at 1 in 100 now and at just short of a mile from Christ’s Hospital the line passes the site of Itchingfield Junction. This was where the line down the Adur Valley to Shoreham diverged from the Mid-Sussex. It had been opened from Shoreham as far as Partridge Green on 1 July 1861, the second stage to join the Mid-Sussex here opening on 16 September. The line closed under the Beeching cuts just short of one hundred years later. From the summit a quarter-mile beyond the junction the line falls for a mile at 1 in 100 before a long curve over another rise and fall turns it to face west and approach Billingshurst (46¼m). This station opened with the original Mid-Sussex line to Petworth, its substantial two-storey brick station building at the country end of the up platform being ‘T’-shaped, the bar facing the up platform which is sheltered by a long canopy. The railway uses little of the building now. The down side platform has only a steel and glass shelter. The large goods shed is east of the main building and was fed by a siding directly off the main line. It is also now in commercial use. The yard otherwise consisted of two sidings worked from a headshunt. A private siding to the works of Messrs Puttock & Wesson diverged from a lay-by on the down side to the east of the down platform. It is now an industrial estate. The signal box was at the west end of the up platform and 61
SOUTHERN TIMES had control of the route from Christ’s Hospital. Timberbuilt and of the Brighton’s earliest ‘eaveless’ design it was believed to be the oldest box still operational in the country until decommissioning in 2016. The Amberley Museum now has care of it.
now being used for all traffic. The Mid-Sussex line is now in the wide, flat Arun valley but as the river meanders from one side to the other there is little level track. The river is bridged twice, once on the eight chains of Timberley viaduct about 1¼ miles before a short 1 in 151 climb brings the line to Amberley station (56m 11ch), which sits more than a mile south of the village. The neat down side singlestorey brick building presents rather a sad sight, most of its windows being boarded up. A girder footbridge close to the station’s entrance leads to the up platform. This had the signal box at its down end, opposite points to a lengthy siding. The goods yard was on the down side, one of its sidings providing transfer facilities for products from the Amberley Lime Works away toward the north east. That is now the site of the longestablished Amberley Museum whose entrance is in the station forecourt.
The line makes another sharp turn on leaving Billingshurst to face SSW and follow the A29, Stane Street, for the next four miles. The rises and falls over this section are a clear indication of a line built if not on the cheap, at least built swiftly. But having reached a summit at the 50th milepost the track plunges down for more than a mile at 1 in 100 to the Arun’s flood plain, passing under the A29 at the approach to Pulborough (51m 29ch). On opening of the line southwards to the Coast route beyond Arundel, Pulborough rather than Horsham became the terminus of the original MidSussex, now little more than a truncated branch line from Midhurst.
The Arun now makes a great 180° sweep around a large outcrop requiring piercing by the 83 yards of North Stoke tunnel on a downward gradient of 1 in 151. This brings the railway close to the valley floor again and a level section of 2½ miles during which the line crosses a tributary, and the river four times before coming to Arundel at just under 59¾ miles from London Bridge.
The station building, a splendid two-storey neoGeorgian structure, is near the down end of the down platform with the former goods shed to the north and a single storey building to the south. The goods yard was of three roads. The up platform is an island whose outer face is nowadays railed off against an empty trackbed. It had been used principally for terminating the Midhurst branch trains, being paralleled by a run-round loop and a siding with turntable in the earlier years at its northern end. Passenger services to Midhurst and beyond to Petersfield were withdrawn on 5 February 1955 though goods traffic as far as Midhurst lasted for some years more.
The town is a half-mile away to the west of the station, sitting high above the river and dominated by the Catholic cathedral and the castle. That dates from Norman times if much changed in the interim. The station building is on the up side and very similar to the one at Norwood Junction built eight years earlier. It is of two storeys in dark red brick, a central block with prominent wings. A single storey extension of the same brick is at the south end but a two-storey building at the north end is in a brighter red brick, suggesting a later addition. The station’s covered footbridge sits hard against the face of the main A27 road which bridges the line at the up end. The up platform has a long canopy which continues beyond the building’s south end.
Leaving Pulborough the line bridges the River Arun and crosses a long embankment and a number of contributory streams on Hardham viaduct to come to the site of Hardham Junction. This is a little over fiftytwo miles into the journey and marks the point where the original Mid-Sussex Railway curved north west into the valley of the Sussex Rother. The line reached Petworth on 10 July 1859 and was extended to Midhurst on 15 October 1866.
Littlehampton shuttle services once used a bay line behind the down platform. These were withdrawn many years ago, the bay now being trackless. The release crossover to the run-round loop was removed at electrification in 1938, the track there also having since been lifted. Two canopies shelter the down side, one provided by the Southern partway down the platform, the other a Brighton original tucked up by the footbridge. The Southern built a new signal box at electrification in 1938 sited beyond the end of the down platform; it is now out of use.
The South Western had already been in Midhurst for two years, promotion having been made independently by the Petersfield Railway Company which was acquired by the South Western in 1864. One clause in permitting this forbade any connection being made between the two at Midhurst. Despite this a connection was opened on 11 July 1881 but for goods transfers only, the Brighton station having to be resited to effect this. The South Western station was closed by the Southern in 1925 when common sense prevailed and through working became possible, the former LBSCR
The goods yard was on the up side and accessible 62
ISSUE 10 from the forecourt. It consisted of six roads worked off a long headshunt, three of them from one siding passing through the goods shed. Lengthening of the up platform southward in 1938 required some changes to the layout of the access pointwork. Rather in the manner of the owners of Norbury Park, the Duke of Norfolk – owner of the castle – had a clause inserted in the line’s Parliamentary Bill which stated that for a period of 150 years from opening every passenger train had to call at Arundel station. As the line opened in 1863 the period expired in 2013. Subsequent timetables reflected the fact. Heading roughly SSW now, a brief rise and fall on leaving Arundel is succeeded by 1½ miles of level track before the line curves around to make a junction with the route from Brighton at Arundel North Junction, 60¾ miles from London Bridge by our journey and nineteen miles from Brighton. The Mid-Sussex ends here, Portsmouth Harbour being twenty-six miles to the west. Until 1978 ‘Through’ trains ran the length of the route with Victoria as the main starting/finishing point, though from soon after Nationalisation more of these began to be ‘Saturdays Only’ in High Summer timetables. Littlehampton and Bognor Regis as well as Portsmouth Harbour formed the coastal termini. Movement away from the half north of Horsham began with the development and growing importance of Gatwick Airport, traffic generally being rerouted to run via East Croydon and Three Bridges and gaining the Mid-Sussex at Horsham. (Something similar had happened in 1924 when the new Southern Railway moved everything for Portsmouth via Woking and Guildford, a move repeated
following electrification of the Direct Line in July 1937. Mid-Sussex users’ protestations caused the Southern to rethink things.) Nowadays no Portsmouth train uses the whole of the Mid-Sussex although there is a very comprehensive half-hourly service via East Croydon which carries a Southampton portion detached at Horsham. Connections at Ford provide a stopping service along the coast. So far as London-Horsham services go, trains run from Victoria. A service from London Bridge works non-stop to Norwood Junction and then calls all stations to Epsom where it makes a connection with a half-hourly train from Victoria to Dorking via Mitcham: one of these proceeds onwards each hour to Horsham where it makes a lengthy connection into the Portsmouth/Southampton trains from London. Will ‘Through’ Mid-Sussex trains ever be reintroduced from either of the ex-LBSCR termini? On the face of it such a move appears unlikely but odder things have happened. Note: Because the Mid-Sussex line was not built as a single entity mileages as published had to be re-calculated from the points of change, specifically Sutton, Epsom and Horsham. 1.The branch closed four days later due to the collapse of part of Fareham tunnel and was not reopened until 7 February 1842. 2. Taken with other matters the purchase of the Reading-Redhill line in 1852, at a price some of the most powerful and influential shareholders considered exorbitant, had brought about the resignation of the rather autocratic company Chairman James MacGregor MP in 1854. It is likely this had an influence on the SER’s decision not to get involved.
Bibliography ‘History of the Southern Railway’, C F Dendy Marshall, rev. R W Kidner, Ian Allan Ltd., 1963. ‘The London, Brighton & South Coast Railway’, C Hamilton Ellis, Ian Allan Ltd., 1960 ‘Southern Electric, 1909-1979’, G T Moody, 5th Ed. Ian Allan Ltd., 1979 ‘British Railway History, 1830-1876’, C Hamilton Ellis, George Allen & Unwin, 1954. ‘Railways of the Southern Region’, Geoffrey Body, Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1989. ‘A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol 2, Southern England’, 4th ed, H P White, David & Charles, 1982. ‘South London Line’, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press, 1995. ‘Sir Herbert Walker’s Southern Railway’, C F Klapper, Ian Allan Ltd., 1973 ‘Lines Around Wimbledon’, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press, 1996. ‘Croydon’s Transport Through the Ages’, Edited by John Gent, CNHSS, 2001. ‘An Historical Survey of Southern Sheds’, Chris Hawkins and George Reeve, Oxford Publishing Company, 1979. ‘Railway Track Diagrams No 5, Southern & TfL’, TRACKmaps, 2008. ‘Table of Distances, London, Brighton & South Coast Railway’, January 1901 (Facsimile), Ian Allan Ltd. ‘Track Atlas of Mainland Britain’, TRACKmaps, 2009. ‘Atlas of the Southern Railway’, Richard Harman and Gerry Nicholls, Ian Allan Ltd., 2016. ‘British Rail – Main Line Gradient Profiles’, Ian Allan Ltd. (undated). ‘The Southern Railway Magazine’, in particular July 1938. ‘The Railway Gazette Electric Railway Traction Supplement’, 24 June 1938 Ordnance Survey 1:50000 ‘Landranger’ maps nos 176, 177, 187 and 197. Various websites have been consulted, specifically the very helpful Google Maps and the relevant railway timetables. Some information on
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Stephen Townroe’s Colour Archive Around the Southern Region
Think of the Southern and a natural reaction would be a railway in an urban environment, electric perhaps; as per the earlier article in this issue on the Mid-Sussex line. Away from the larger centres of population the Southern could also display a rural charm, such as here at Yeovil Town, seen above in July 1958 (complete with Western Region interloper) and below in May of the previous year. The lower view has the shed packed with SR motive power, Moguls, a Light Pacific, M7, S15 and a further unidentified engine behind the Pacific. A footplateman also looks to be going on duty whilst in the stream alongside might the two men even be fishing...?
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Robertsbridge in June 1956. We have no explanation as to SCT’s travels to Kent other than perhaps he had been to Ashford for some reason. Whatever, the journey allowed for this bucolic view of the station and the junction with the light railway diverging to the right. The locomotive is a ‘Schools’ on an up service from Hastings.
ISSUE 10
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SOUTHERN TIMES Redbridge on 31 March 1964. Work is in progress relaying the junction of the Southampton to Bournemouth line and the connection it makes here with the Andover to Redbridge route (via Romsey). Replacement of the viaduct over Redbridge causeway had recently been completed. Engineers have possession of the running lines for both routes with two permanent way cranes present and in the centre view ballasting is taking place. But wait a moment - what would nowadays certainly be a busreplacement service (at best), a ‘Merchant Navy’ is cautiously approaching with a passenger working running through Redbridge depot - points suitably clipped and padlocked of course. The slow speed approach is likely the reason the engine is also blowing off steam, the demand on the boiler considerably reduced for this brief transit. The train will rejoin the main line again the other side of Redbridge station and continue on its journey to Southampton and Waterloo. In the left background the depot shunter, by now a USA tank, lurks within its shed.
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Recording the sounds of steam was undertaken by only a few in the 1950s, one of the reasons being the availability of portable equipment and also the costs involved. Much of the time then it was left to the professionals such as here in 1956 where the BBC have gathered at the lineside to record the passage of the ‘Golden Arrow’ at Paddock Wood in 1956. Again as to why SCT came to be on the scene is not reported. (We may also ask what happened to the recording....?)
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SOUTHERN TIMES One thing Stephen Townroe was known for was how he would appear at locations without notice. He would also sometimes ride on an engine or with a particular crew to refresh his own knowledge. One of these occasions was a trip he made between Verwood and Salisbury on the line through Fordingbridge - closed in 1966. This occurred in July 1958, BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0s by now having taken over from the erstwhile T9s on such duties perhaps this was a trip to assess how the engines performed on this line? The top view is from the cab near Verwood and the lower view approaching the tunnel at Downton and where what is either a lineside fire or controlled burning is taking place. A point to note is the well kept formation and cess, notwithstanding this being a secondary route; the whole is weed free.
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Top: Trains crossing at Baynards in 1955. This time SCT is a passenger in a pull-push working, perhaps this as much an outing as motive power supervision for the workings on this line would likely have come from Guildford or Horsham. Bottom: The LMS interloper on the Southern. No 10000 at Branksome in freshly painted condition.
Next time: Out on the line Don’t forget, copies of the SCT colour images are available as downloads. 69
SOUTHERN TIMES
Treasures from the Bluebell Railway Museum Tony Hillman
Special Exhibitions The Museum has recently created two special exhibitions. Railway Women followed by Trainspotting.
Railway Women From April to June 2024, the Museum held a special exhibition relating to Women working on the Railways. The exhibition covered the period from before WW1 until the present day. The Southern Railway census shows that in 1931 less than 3% of employees were female. In 1931 the female staff were typically employed in the inside jobs, barmaids, clerks, maids, cleaners and stewardesses. Outside jobs included female level crossing keepers of which there were 151. The 2022 Network Rail Report shows that 19% of employees are female. 7% of drivers are female. All the display texts can be found at: https:// w w w. b l u e b e l l - r a i l w a y - m u s e u m . c o . u k / railwayWomen.php
Women replaced men in several roles during both world wars. They undertook a variety of roles both operational and clerical. The poster seen was used as a carriage print.
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ISSUE 10 Trainspotting Trainspotting was the next Special Exhibition. It inevitably contained many Ian Allan books and badges but also much other Trainspotting material. A small number of items are shown. Right: Lyons Maid Trainspotting Trade Cards. In 1962 Lyons Maid produced a set of 50 Trainspotting cards. An album was available to hold the cards. This set plus many others made by Lyons Maid were known as ‘Lolly Cards’, being distributed packed in lollies. Bottom Right: Train Spotters at Clapham Junction. Saturday 28 June 1952 and train spotters are on Clapham Junction station watching Merchant Navy class 35008, named Orient Line, pass by. The engine is based at Salisbury and is working the 8.15am service from there to Waterloo. It will be arriving at 10.25am. This engine will have been through Clapham Junction many times, so it is unlikely to be a cop for any of the spotters. If anyone missed it, it will be back on the 1pm service from Waterloo to Exeter. Bottom Left: Once a year, during the 1960s, usually during the school holidays, Eastleigh Works held Open Days. Recently overhauled locomotives were on display. This picture, taken in 1960, shows Bulleid Pacific Battle of Britain class 34085 named 501 Squadron receiving the attention of young schoolchildren. The locomotive had just left the works having been rebuilt from its original air-smoothed design.
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SOUTHERN TIMES Southern Railway Magazine
for this year’s holiday advertising. In addition to the many favourable notices given in the Press, quite a large number of letters have been received expressing delight at the interesting human note of this untouched photograph. The Press assisted the Publicity Department in ascertaining the identity of the boy, who proved to be Master Ronald Witt, the son of Mr. W. Witt, a former employee of the Company, who went to California some four months ago. The locomotive man will be recognised by many as being Fireman W. Woof, of Nine Elms. An enlargement of a photograph of the ‘King Arthur’ locomotive, also a framed photograph of the poster, has been forwarded to Master Witt in California.
The Museum Archive has an ongoing project to comprehensively catalogue the Southern Railway Magazine. The whole magazine is being catalogued, not just the Family History information. The staff magazine produced monthly, apart from the war years, contains a wealth of information about the Railway. A large amount of staff matters are included as well as articles about new locomotives, newly electrified routes, etc. The 1937 editions are currently being catalogued. The information will be made available for searching via the Museum website in due course. Usually, some information would be included about the year’s advertising campaign. In the May 1925 edition, the following article appears.
The poster was re-released in 1936 and is probably the most well-known Southern Railway poster.
AN ATTRACTIVE POSTER
Family History
The very fine photographic poster just issued by the Publicity Department has attracted considerable attention. The ‘snap’ was taken at the end of last summer, when, its suitability for advertising purposes being recognised, it was reserved for reproduction
From the Family History part of the Magazine, we can find that in 1930 Fireman Woof moved from Nine Elms to Basingstoke, promoted to Driver. He moved back to Nine Elms towards the end of 1933.
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ISSUE 10
Some Southern engines in the 1920s and 1930s
W
e recently acquired an album of small prints covering the early years of the pre-nationalisation companies. As might be expected from that period, most are static locomotive views also taken at or
around sheds or works. We are pleased to present a small sample, primarily former LSWR or IOW in origin. It is the intention to feature more in a future issue.
Above: No prizes for identifying Adams ‘Radial’ No 58, seen at Clapham Junction on 29 April 1922. This engine had originally been built as No 68 in June 1885 but was renumbered as seen in March 1889. It would survive until August 1925 without having acquired Southern Railway livery. According to Bradley, this engine (in the books as No 058) regularly worked the Wimbledon Tooting Junction shuttle service. Right: No E0458 Ironside was one of a pair of 0-4-0ST engines originally in the ownership of the Southampton Dock Co. and taken over by the LSWR in 1892. Both No 0458 and sister engine No 0457 Clausentum (the latter the Roman name for Southampton) had been built by the Messrs Hawthorn Leslie and despite their diminutive size survived for many years, No 0457 (later SR No 734) until September 1945, and Ironside as BR No 30458 until June 1958. Its last duties being as shed pilot at Guildford. Note the difference in buffer heights.
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Top: As was not uncommon for the time, staff pose in front of an engine; the man with the oil can probably the driver, but is his companion in fireman’s garb? Whatever, No 520 is at Strawberry Hill on 7 April 1923. This was the final member of the five strong H16 class built for shunting and freight transfer work in February 1922 and withdrawn in November 1962. Bottom: Drummond 4-6-0 No 333 at Exmouth Junction on 19 July 1924. Built in October 1905 the design never lived up to the expectations of their designer and after various modifications Drummond’s successor Robert Urie attempted what was almost one last try with a superheater, extended smokebox, new firebox, improved lubrication and a short chimney in June 1920. Again the results were marginal and in the event, No 333 and its four sisters were completely rebuilt as H15 class engines in 1924/25.
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Top: Awaiting the end for Drummond 4-2-2-0 No 720E at Eastleigh on 23 April 1927. Built as a simple expansion engine, this unusual machine was in effect a double single and was noted as suffering from slipping of either of the two driven axles on occasions. Far from successful, it nevertheless managed to manage a life of almost 30 years but its use gradually declined and at one point it was relegated to empty stock and carriage heating. Withdrawal was expected in March 1922 excepting that a shortage of motive power meant it was returned to traffic again, working sporadically until officially withdrawn in April 1927 and physically scrapped in May although the boiler was salvaged and used at Clapham Junction for carriage heating for some years after. Centre: No 1407 inside Ashford paint shop on 22 July 1933. The unknown photographer has noted this was the first engine to have smoke deflectors fitted - perhaps he means the first ‘Mogul’. Bottom: No 1850 which was experimentally fitted with Marshall valve gear in October 1933. Initial results at slow speed were encouraging with reduced coal and water consumption. The next step was for tests at higher speeds although footplate crews had already reported knocking above 50 mph. Unfortunately on a higher speed service from Basingstoke to Waterloo the gear disintegrated near Woking and No 1850 was immediately withdrawn from traffic. It reverted to conventional form just six months after initial conversion in April 1934. The engine is seen here in experimental form outside Eastleigh works complete with indicator shelter.
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A brief foray depicting Island locomotives returned to the mainland and recorded at Eastleigh. Top left: Nos W1 and W16 were ex-Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport, and Isle of Wight Railway engines respectively. Withdrawn in June 1932 and June 1933, they were photographed four years later on 2 July 1936 and were destined for scrap. Top right: Terrier No W12 had come to the Southern via the LBSCR and the Isle of Wight Central Railway. It had been withdrawn from IOW use in May 1936 but would be reinstated into capital stock, lasting into BR days. Photographed on 19 September 1936. Middle left: Nos W9, W14 and W10 were photographed on 13 September 1936. They had been withdrawn form the IOW in April 1927, November 1927 and May 1936 respectively. All were destined to have a further lease of life in SR and BR days.
No excuses for a view of W12, appropriately named Ventnor Ventnor,, seen here at Ventnor West (renamed from ‘Town’ in 1923), whilst in the process of running round its train on 19 May 1932. The engine would appear to be fitted for pull-push working hence running round would not normally be required. We may therefore only speculate on the reason for this move; defective equipment, the need for shunting - whatever.
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Watching trains near Shawford Junction Part 1 Les Price
T
here cannot be many ST readers who do not know where Shawford Junction is (or was!). For those who are not in the know it was situated about two miles south of Winchester on the LSWR Waterloo to Southampton main line. Its principal function had been to connect the former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway to the LSWR in order to give the former access to Southampton. The signal box here opened on 1 October 1891. By 1965 the DNS had been closed to passenger traffic north of Winchester Chesil after the last scheduled train ran on 5 March 1960 and until 9 August 1964 the line remained open for through goods. By 1965 however it was now only open as far as Winchester Chesil for goods and which, it has to be said, was diminishing. It would close for all traffic from 4 April 1966. Before this and due to Saturday congestion at Winchester City station, Chesil continued to be used for short passenger workings between Southampton and Winchester on Saturdays only, between 18 June and 10 September 1960 and again from 17 June to 9 September 1961. This was due entirely to the additional Saturday services on the main line. A final unscheduled fling for the DNS occurred on 9 May 1964 when the northbound ‘Pines Express’ hauled by No 34105 Swanage Swanage,, already re-routed from its former S&D route, was diverted over the DNS owing to the Basingstoke to Reading line being unavailable in
consequence of a derailment. By this time the platforms at Chesil were in a state of dereliction and makeshift boards had to be provided to allow passengers to gain access to the train having already been conveyed. Passengers were already conveyed between the City and Chesil stations at Winchester by bus. This evidence of having an alternative route available was one of the many instances demonstrating the advantages of retaining such a facility, a short-sighted approach at the time now having deprived the railway of such alternatives both here and elsewhere. Shawford Junction signal box, physically extended in 1933 when the nearby Shawford station signal box was closed and the lines quadrupled from Shawford station to Allbrook north of Eastleigh, remained open until 6 November 1966, replaced then by MAS signalling controlled from a new panel box at Eastleigh. Before this, in the summer of 1965 the box was still operational and the traditional summer steam services were operating on the main line. During that summer my brother, Derek, and his wife Ann were living in a flat in Winchester, he was a teacher in Eastleigh and she a nurse at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. I was living and working in London and in order to escape the concrete jungle and see some green fields I would visit them as often as I could. For the weekend of 7-8 August high summer days were forecast with temperatures rising to the high seventies. Running into Winchester earlier that morning I had noticed what appeared to be a permanent way train standing in the ‘Down’ refuge siding. Shortly after, on the opposite platform, the 6.22am ex-Bournemouth ‘Up’ stopping train to Waterloo was running in. It was headed by a somewhat woebegone Merchant Navy, No 35007 Aberdeen Commonwealth. Commonwealth. Steam was prodigiously leaking from her cylinder glands which clearly would have created additional work for the footplate crew. Unless stated, images by the Author
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SOUTHERN TIMES I was not rostered for work that weekend so was up early on the Saturday and travelled ‘Down’, on the 6.25am from Waterloo to Alton changing there to the Mid Hants service, arriving at Winchester at 8.38am.
to do with Shawford Junction you may ask? Well on the Saturday Ann was on early duty at the RHCH, Derek had a beautiful car to drive and I was keen to record the dying days of steam on the Southern. Even if Derek was something of a non-committed railway enthusiast he didn’t take much persuasion and we went off to see what a summer Saturday south of Winchester had in store.
My brother thought big. Once he had passed his driving test he bought a car, not just any car but a second hand MG Magnette, it was a beauty. So what has all this got
Aberdeen Commonwealth was a Weymouth (70G) engine and subsequently must have received some TLC as she survived until the end of Southern steam, withdrawn from service in July 1967. Under the shadow of Winchester City Signal Box I photographed her wheezing away, passing the engineers’ train patiently waiting for a path in the down siding. In so far as that train in the down refuge, close examination shows it to have been a p/way working perhaps in connection with the forthcoming electrification. ‘U’ No 31800 had been re-allocated from Norwood Junction (75C) to Guildford (70C) at the beginning of 1964 and was still based there at the time this photograph was taken. The intriguing question therefore is “What is the explanation for the SR route code disc No 2 indicating Waterloo or Nine Elms and Southampton Terminus, direct (not boat trains), itself superimposed with the term ‘SPL4’, to the left-hand side of the boiler?” Presumably she was simply waiting for a path down to
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ISSUE 10 After a hearty breakfast Derek and I headed south out of Winchester on what was then the old A34 through St. Cross. About two miles down the road we came to a farm track on the left which spanned the main line beneath the shelter of Compton Down, roughly in the vicinity of where the Winchester ‘South Park and Ride’ is now situated.
Just north of this bridge was a signal post carrying the Shawford Junction down outer home and the distant signal for the Shawford station starting signals. It was here we set up camp for the next couple of hours. By now most of the usual northbound weekday traffic had already passed through together with the early risers travelling home to the north whilst by noon the summer Saturday only traffic was beginning to get into full flow.
The first train we saw was at midday when the 10.34am (SO) Bournemouth West to Bradford Exchange rushed by. It was headed by a somewhat dishevelled rebuilt West Country Pacific No 34031, minus its Torrington nameplate. At this time she was still officially allocated to Exmouth Junction (72A) but during the summer timetable may have been temporarily redeployed. She was hauling a rake of ex-LMS coaches except the first vehicle behind the tender which appears to be an ex-LNER Gresley brake second.
To be continued on page 27 of Issue 11... 79
SOUTHERN TIMES
From the Footplate
From Jeremy Clarke. ‘Hi Kevin, Your correspondent Graham Buxton-Smither tells of a train being held for him at Arundel and asks if the Duke of Norfolk had any special rights concerning services? The short answer is yes. When the Parliamentary Bill was in process for extension of the Mid-Sussex line from Hardham Junction to the coast the Duke had a clause inserted which stated that for a period of 150 years from opening every train passing must call at Arundel.
the excuse - well too many other goodies to fit in. Indeed, as we were about to conclude, an email arrived from John Newton on the subject of our recent ‘Mr ‘Mr Bulleid’s Tavern Cars’ book. ‘From the Footplate’ is the ideal place to record John’s comments as under.
‘As the line opened in 1863 the clause was made invalid in 2013 as evidenced by the change in timetabling. In similar fashion the owners of Norbury Park were provided with the right to stop any train at Boxhill & Westhumble, a right denied continuation under the 1962 Transport Act.’ (Note - this is similarly referenced in Jeremy’s article on the ‘Mid-Sussex’ on page 63 of this issue.- Ed.)
‘I have just finished reading ‘Mr. Bulleid’s Tavern Cars’ which I enjoyed very much. As a schoolboy in the fifties I used Exeter Central every day and was fascinated by the Tavern Cars and the movements which the Waterloo expresses underwent in both directions. ‘I particularly liked the photos on p 89 of Z class 30956 attaching dining cars to an up express together with the description of the movements on p 88. However the photos do not show this movement. The scissors crossover was just beyond the end of the platform awning and out of sight to the right in the pictures. In this case the Z class has reversed from the middle road back over the points at the top of the bank from St. David’s and then moved forward to place the set on the back of the train. This was unusual and meant the train engine would have to pull forward to clear the crossing to release the station pilot and make room for the rear portion of the train to arrive as described in 4 & 5 of the caption. But there is no locomotive at the front of the coaches waiting in the up platform so I think the explanation of this unusual move must be in the late arrival of the train engine from Exmouth junction. This would normally have been waiting on the up platform road, ahead of the scissor crossing with a previous portion from the west. Then, as I remember, the pilot would have propelled the cars forward over the scissors onto the rear of the waiting front portion in the platform road, the pilot then escaping back whence it came. Finally the moves described in 4 & 5 would have taken place with the arrival of the rear portion.
From Roger Merry-Price. ‘Dear Kevin, Regarding the photograph of No 42198 leaving Waterloo as published in the latest Southern Times (No 9, and taken from the Southern Region Magazine for May 1948). For some time I have wondered if the caption is accurate. 42198 was scheduled to run a 10.58 am special to Basingstoke on both the 19 and 20 April 1948. The following three days (21 to 23 April) it was rostered to run between Waterloo and Clapham Junction on ECS duties. The following week (26 to 30 April), it was booked to work the 10.54 am passenger train from Waterloo to Salisbury as far as Basingstoke and return. ‘However, if it was indeed photographed working that train leaving Waterloo, would that have given BR enough time for it to appear in the May issue? Was an earlier shot used instead, possibly on either 21, 22 or 23 April when it was running ECS trains out of Waterloo? That might explain why No 42198 in the photograph is displaying discs at positions 4 and 6 (empty trains and light engines working between Waterloo and Clapham Junction) rather than at positions 1 and 5 (Waterloo to Salisbury). Also would brand new Bulleid stock have been used at that time on a stopping service to Basingstoke and Salisbury?’ Ed - a good point, with further evidence to backup Roger’s comments in a second email from him. ‘Now I have put my glasses on I see the leading Bulleid coach behind No 42198 is Set No 297. That was one of the eleven Bulleid 6-car sets that included two catering vehicles and intended solely for use on the Bournemouth line. Not likely to be used on a Basingstoke/Salisbury stopper!’
‘In the case shown it would seem likely that station staff may have decided to carry out the unusual movement in order to delay the express as little as possible. With no train engine waiting to back on to the standing coaches I suspect the pilot may have propelled the whole rake forward clear of the crossing to await the train engine’s arrival whilst also waiting for the rear portion to arrive too. We shall never know! I’m sorry if this seems convoluted, but so were the workings, and it does explain the photos.
As readers will have gathered, this issue’s ‘From the Footplate’ is a little squeezed compared with normal,
‘Thank you very much for a reminder of days long gone but which I still remember with nostalgia.’
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