Hoo Junction

Allhallows-on-Sea came on the scene on 14th May 1932 when the Southern Railway opened a 1¾ mile long branch from the original Port Victoria line at what became "Stoke Junction", to terminate on the west side of the creek which separated Grain from the mainland. The company was keen to promote the bleak Hoo marshes as a popular holiday resort and in the optimism that considerable traffic was to come, the single-track spur was doubled in 1934. With the downgrading of Port Victoria - the suffering pier not helped by the opening of Tilbury Docks in 1886 - most passenger services across the Hoo Peninsula terminated at Allhallows-on-Sea. Hoo Junction was officially opened as a marshalling yard by the Southern Railway on 20th February 1928. The yard's importance began to peak in 1956 with the opening of a Staff Halt at the site: the "up" and "down" platforms were located to the east and west of the joining branch line respectively.

On 3rd September 1951 a new single island platform station opened on Grain - the oil refineries had arrived. British Petroleum took over the whole site of the former SER's Port Victoria and more, which gave the branch revived importance, but this time for freight traffic. Oil flows increased steadily along the branch, but passenger traffic was experiencing an opposite trend. With the closure of the Allhallows-on-Sea branch on 4th December 1961, the line across the Hoo Peninsula became freight dedicated, its two commodities being aggregate (sea-dredged gravel) and refined oil, from Cliffe and Grain respectively. The branch was never electrified, but as part of Phase 1 of the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme, the yard at Hoo Junction had a simple overhead catenary system installed in 1959, to accommodate the Class 71 (Type HA) electrics then being introduced. These electrics were equipped with a pantograph to work off the catenary: the system had been developed for a number of South Eastern Division yards and sidings where exposed third rail would have been potentially dangerous for staff. These locomotives began to decline themselves in the late 1960s and with the emergence of the Class 73 Electro-Diesels, the catenary system had become totally redundant by 1975.

The junction yard served mainly to re-marshal those freight loads which passed through it, and not just those off the Hoo Peninsula branch, but also flows to and from the "Chatham" line. The refineries and Cliffe gravel works were joined by a further freight hub in 1978: yet another aggregate operation. This featured at the very end of the terminating line which formerly led onto the pier at Port Victoria - it is worth mentioning that the wooden abutments of the latter still remain. Container flows began along the branch with the opening of Thamesport in 1990, but these operated non-stop past the yard and were not re-marshalled here. Although container movements over the junction have increased over ensuing years, there has been decline, specifically in the oil department. The refineries became obsolete with such oil already being shipped into the country in a refined state - the last such working from the terminal at Grain took place in 1999.

Shots fired in BR robbery

As reported in The Times, Friday 16th December 1983:

Masked men fired shots when they held up a security vehicle at Hoo Junction, Lower Shorne, near Gravesend, Kent, yesterday and stole £150,000 worth of British Rail wages. British Rail staff gave chase in a car but eventually lost the raiders' van, which was later found abandoned at Strood, near Rochester.

28th August 1987

This eastward view of the "up" side at Hoo Junction was taken at a time when it was rumoured the yard here may be closing. From left to right: two "A" Section reception lines; "A" Yard, at that time home to lots of laid-up ferry vans; next we have the carriage and wagon repair roads and mess rooms for all staff; then "B" Section reception road; and finally, "B" Section Yard, with laid-up wagons. © Roger Goodrum

1st June 1989

This bolster of steel tried to go down two roads at once when being loose shunted in the "up" yard. It came to a stand and, with the help of a length of rope, our photographer managed to pull it back on one road when on pilot duty, and nobody was any the wiser. © Roger Goodrum

August 1998

Class 37 No. 37402 "Bont Y Bermo" is seen arriving at Hoo Junction with the 6O74 Bescot to Sittingbourne freight. No. 37402 is still with us: a thorough overhaul of this diesel was completed in November 2012 and it is now in service with freight operator "Direct Rail Services". © Edward Clarkson

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