Kent Rail

London Victoria

Final Pre-Grouping Years

World War I came to a close in November 1918, and a degree of normality started to return to Victoria. Dover was relinquished by the military and the SE&CR finished construction work on the then new Marine station. Boat traffic between the Channel port and Victoria resumed on 18th January 1919, on the recommencement of the Dover to Ostend ferry service. On the 3rd of the following month, continental trains also recommenced between Victoria and Folkestone, with the restarting of the boat service to Bolougne.

1920 was a big year for the SE&CR station. It began with the completion of a protracted re-signalling scheme which aimed to provide electrically-operated points on all platform lines, right up to Grosvenor Road, in addition to a series of three-position upper-quadrant semaphore signals, also worked electronically. The contract for re-signalling the layout had been successfully let to the ‘’British Power Railway Signal Company’’ prior to 1914, but the subsequent war years led to inevitable delay. All equipment originated from the United States, and was the first of its kind in Britain, being supplied by the 1904-founded ‘’General Railway Signal Company of Rochester‘’, New York. This saw the commissioning of a new signal box, comprising 200 pneumatic pullout slides, on the eastern side of the station, beyond the end of platform 1. As a result, the peculiar ‘’Hole-in-the-Wall’’ of 1866 could be taken out of use. This unusual installation was literally a recess in the eastern perimeter wall of the station approaches, just south of Ecclestone Bridge, which comprised a hotchpotch arrangement of levers added over time. The new signal cabin became Victoria ‘’A’’, and it was complemented with the 42-lever Victoria ‘’B’’ box alongside Grosvenor Road carriage sidings.

The new signalling came into use on 4th January 1920, and the SE&CR’s Victoria was now more capable of handling several hundred train movements every day. This prompted the transfer of all continental services of this company to the terminus, on 8th of the same month. As a result, Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations would never again see regular boat traffic, although it is true to say that the latter had lacked such services since the outbreak of war in 1914. Later, in 1922, the SE&CR lengthened the platforms.

Southern Railway Takeover

The SE&CR, LB&SCR, and VS&PR were all absorbed into the Southern Railway (SR) in 1923, in accordance with the ‘’Railways Act’’ of 1921, and the two Victoria stations came under single ownership. The GWR retained its leasing rights to the ‘’Chatham’’ side of the terminus for a further ten years, despite the fact that it had run no regular services from there since 1915. In 1924, the SR set about uniting the hitherto separate stations into a whole, by cutting an archway in the wall between concourses. This work was associated with further platform alterations, which led to truncation of Eastern Section platform lines at their northern ends by about 30-feet, to provide an enlarged circulating area. A concrete-manufactured road incline was erected between Eccclestone Bridge and the cab road between platforms 1 and 2, to maintain a constant flow of one-way taxi traffic through the station. This eliminated the bottleneck at the ex-SE&CR archway, caused by bi-directional running. A relic from LC&DR days was the three-track arrangement separating platforms 6 and 8 on the station’s eastern side (there was no platform 7). This was abolished by the SR, which resulted in wider platform surfaces separated by just two tracks. As part of the same works, exposed platform surfaces of the Eastern Section station were equipped with the SR’s trademark Swan Neck lampposts. The station was united proper with the renumbering of all platforms – ‘’Chatham’’ and ‘’Brighton’’ – from 1 to 17, east to west, on 21st September 1925.

As mentioned earlier, the ‘’Brighton’’ side of Victoria had been host to electric services since the conversion of the South London Line to overhead wire operation in 1909, trains running on alternating current of 6,600 Volts supplied from the Deptford Power House of the London Electric Supply Corporation. Crystal Palace had been reached from Victoria by electric trains in May 1911, and this had involved electrifying as far south as Norwood Junction and Selhurst, where workshops and berthing sidings for electric stock were located. In 1913, the LB&SCR set about further electrifying its suburban network, which involved taking the wires beyond Balham to Coulsdon & Smitham Downs (later ‘’Coulsdon North’’), and to Sutton via Selhurst. These efforts were, however, stifled by World War I, which brought a halt to the programme, but the scheme was revived after the conflict. The task in had was to finish off the semi-complete infrastructure works to bring the wires to Coulsdon & Smitham Downs, in addition to making an extension of the electrification scheme to Brighton and Eastbourne. Work spilled over into Southern Railway ownership, and although this company had decided to pursue the LSWR’s 600V D.C. third rail system for any further electrification schemes, the decision was made to complete the Coulsdon & Smitham Downs and Sutton projects with overhead wires, given the already advanced stage of the infrastructure works. Electric services over these routes commenced on 1st April 1925; in the meantime, no works had begun on southward electrification to the Sussex coast and, consequently, overhead wires did not go beyond Coulsdon North.

In August 1926, the SR Board announced the complete abolition of the LB&SCR’s overhead wire system, for it was incompatible with the existing third rail arrangement of the LSWR, the latter of which was also in the process of being used to electrify Eastern Section lines. As a result, the South London Line became D.C. operation on 17th June 1928, as did the loop route between Victoria and London Bridge via Streatham Hill and Crystal Palace. Victoria to Crystal Palace services remained in AC format until 3rd March 1929. The last AC departure from Victoria was the 00:10 to Coulsdon North, on Sunday 22nd September 1929 – DC services had already commenced along the route by this time.

On 27th February 1930, the Chairman of the SR announced the electrification of the main line to Brighton and Worthing, taking the 660 Volts D.C. third rail 36-route miles beyond Coulsdon North (track miles: 162½). The scheme would partly be funded by money saved as a result of the 1929 abolition of passenger duty on First and Second Class fares. Further shortfalls in funding could later be made up with an increase in passenger receipts, as a result of an improved electric service. Lines between Purley and Brighton would be re-signalled using three-aspect colour lights, Haywards Heath station completely rebuilt, and new signal boxes brought into use at the latter and Brighton. In addition, a new 130-lever frame was to be installed in the existing cabin at Three Bridges, and the entire scheme was estimated to cost £2,700,000. The new signalling system was brought into use piecemeal:
 

 
Electric trains commenced between London and Brighton on trial runs on 2nd November 1932 – electric services had been running as far as Three Bridges since 17th July of that year. On 30th December 1932, the Brighton electrification project was formally deemed complete with ceremony, and on 1st January of the following year, normal public services using electric stock commenced. This provided Victoria with four electric services to Brighton every hour, three stopping and one fast. With reference to ‘’fast’’ services, every train ran with a Pullman car, and three of these daily departures from Victoria were wholly Pullman in their constitution – naturally, these services were those of the ‘’Southern Belle’’. These trains used platform Nos. 12 and 13. Much more detail concerning this prestigious service can be found within the pages of the VSOE British Pullman: Fleet Review section, save regurgitating it here, but it is worth mentioning that it was know as the ‘’Brighton Belle’’ from 29th June 1934.

The Brighton project was quickly followed up by the completion of yet another electrification scheme, that of the lines to Eastbourne and Hastings (Central Section), at an estimated cost of £1,750,000. Early works had begun alongside the Brighton scheme, commencing with the complete rebuilding of Hastings station in 1931. The Seaford branch was to receive third rail, and proposals included the novelties of electrifying the Copyhold Junction to Horsted Keynes spur and beyond the station at Hastings, to Ore. The former was to accommodate the stock of the proposed Seaford to Haywards Heath electric service. This would have used up precious platform capacity at Haywards Heath, thus the solution was to extend the service to Horsted Keynes, which could spare an entire island surface. At Hastings, room was not available to build a carriage shed to service electric stock, thus it was decided to construct this at Ore, where a large expanse of land existed beside the goods yard. Scheduled electric services commenced to Eastbourne and Hastings from London on 7th July 1935. They had been preceded by the ceremony formally deeming works complete, on 4th of the same month, and trial running of electric units had been ongoing since May.

The third and final electrification scheme to mention is that encompassing the lines to Portsmouth, via Horsham, including the Bognor Regis branch. An estimated £2,750,000 was to be spent on electrifying approximately 165-track-miles and, in places, commissioning three-aspect colour lights. The public electric timetable over these lines came into use on 3rd July 1938. Crucially, the three schemes combined – Brighton, Hastings, and Portsmouth – eliminated the vast majority of steam traction from the Central Section platforms at Victoria.

Eastern Section Matters

Unlike Western and Central Sections of the SR’s network, the Eastern territory was wholly without any form of electrification. The SE&CR Joint Managing Committee had, by 1920, produced a plan detailing which lines it proposed to electrify, and the scheme would be implemented when capital was available. SER and LC&DR companies had for decades run their networks on a shoestring, the latter more so than the former, and by the advent of the SR, nothing had been done on the electrification front. In 1924, the SR commenced work on laying third rail along the following routes:

 


11,000 volts of alternating current was sourced from the ‘’London Electric Supply Corporation’’ and distributed to local substations from a huge switch room at Lewisham. The latter was a colossal three-storey-high red brick affair, constructed around a steel frame, and could be found at the foot of the railway embankment to the west of Lewisham station. Scheduled electric services on all above routes commenced on 12th July 1925, these trains using platforms 3, 4, and 6 of the Eastern Section. Colour light signalling later came into use between Holborn Viaduct and Elephant & Castle on 21st March 1926, but semaphore signals were retained on the approaches to Victoria. As earlier mentioned, the latter were a then recent installation, having been brought into use by the SE&CR on 4th January 1920.

On 17th November 1924, the SR commenced a range of new daily Pullman services from Victoria, serving the coastal resorts of Thanet and the Port of Dover. The train for the latter was nicknamed the ‘’White Pullman’’, because of the Umber and Crème livery of the carriages; at this time, other Eastern Section Pullmans remained in the Crimson Lake livery of the SE&CR. On the opposite side of the Channel, the French inaugurated the ‘’Flèche d’Or’’ all-Pullman train, between Calais and Paris. The first services ran on 11th September 1926 and comprised two trains, each ten-vehicles in length. These were formed of British Pullman vehicles built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon and Metropolitan Carriage Wagon & Finance Companies. Officially, the SR’s Pullman service to Dover was called the ‘’Continental Express’’, but in spite of this, passengers referred to it as the ‘’Golden Arrow’’, the English translation of the French train. As a result, the service was officially re-launched as the ‘’Golden Arrow’’ on 15th May 1929, and the train normally departed from Victoria’s platform 8 at 11:00 AM. In the previous year, platform information systems at the terminus had been modernised by the installation of three manual indicator boards: two on the Eastern Section concourse and one on the Central Section concourse. With reference to those on the Eastern side of the station, one indicator board displayed departure times for Kent Coast and suburban trains, whilst the second board was dedicated wholly to Continental boat services. Canopies of riveted steel construction had also been erected over the platforms, beyond the extent of the trainshed, in 1930.

In the meantime, further suburban electrification had been pushed through with great haste. All three North Kent routes to Dartford had seen their first electric services between 10th and 16th May 1926 during the General Strike; the full suburban electric timetable commenced on 6th June of that year. Since 28th February 1926, electric services had been running to Orpington from the ex-SER termini of Charing Cross and Cannon Street. Of particular relevance to Victoria were the Sevenoaks and Maidstone electrification schemes. The former was authorised in 1934, and involved extending third rail on the ex-SER route beyond Orpington, to Sevenoaks Tubs Hill. In addition, electric trains were also to reach Sevenoaks by means of the ‘’Chatham’’ line; the scheme included the laying of third rail beyond Bickley Junction, and onto St Mary Cray, Swanley Junction, and the Bat & Ball branch. The Bickley Junction to St Mary Cray section was opened to public electric traffic first, on 1st May 1934; these services were extended to Sevenoaks Tubs Hill on 6th January of the following year, via both Orpington and Bat & Ball routes. Finally, we come to the Maidstone scheme, which involved the electrification of 117-track-miles of line. On the ‘’Chatham’’ line, third rail was extended beyond Swanley Junction to Gillingham, the latter of which became the outer limit of suburban electrification on this route. Of Maidstone itself, the town had the good fortune of being served by two routes: that of the Medway Valley Line, between Strood and Paddock Wood, and also the latterly-conceived appendix off the Bat & Ball route, serving what is now the ‘’East’’ station. Third rail was extended from Gravesend Central to Maidstone West, and from Otford Junction to Maidstone East, and public electric services commenced on 2nd July 1939. Throughout most of the day, Victoria had an hourly service to Gillingham and Maidstone. Essentially, this started as just a single train at the terminus, which subsequently split into Gillingham and Maidstone portions at a new Swanley station.

Brief mention should also be made of the ‘’Night Ferry’’, which, at the time, became Britain’s only proper ‘’through’’ train to the continent, running between London and Paris. It differed from other boat trains, such as the ‘’Golden Arrow’’, by the fact that the carriages crossed the Channel with the passengers, on purpose-built vessels. The train comprised sleeping carriages owned by the ‘’Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits’’ (International Sleeping Car Company), which had been tailor-made to fit the British loading gauge. Thus, passengers would board the train at Victoria and not disembark until reaching Paris Gare du Nord. Standard non-sleeping carriages were also part of this train, and these did not cross the water. The service began on 14th October 1936 and the first train left Victoria at 10 PM, with an estimated journey time of eleven hours via Dover and Dunkerque.

 

January 2003

 

A 4 CEP is stabled alongside platform 5, which since 1985 has seen its southern end covered by a car park

upon struts. On the far right, we see the shopping centre which covers the northern half of the Central Section

platforms and, on the left, the offices which are built over the latter's southern ends. © David Glasspool

 

January 2003

 

These are the lesser-seen SE&CR offices situated along ''Wilton Road'' which, like the main façade, are faced

in Portland Stone. On the extreme left, in the background, can be seen the Eastern Section station's crème

brick offices, which date from 1862. © David Glasspool

 

15th June 2004

 

The trainshed spans have featured blue tarpaulin over their glazed areas for many years, but this is set to change

with the commencement of a restoration programme, in December 2008. This view shows 4 Vep No. 3452 stabled

in platform 6 after arriving with a stopping service from Faversham. © David Glasspool

 

15th June 2004

 

The Victoria approaches are seen from the western extremity of the Central Section tracks. On the far left is

the former ''Imperial Airways'' terminal which, as seen here, was partially extended over the tracks. In the

centre is the earlier mentioned office block, completed in 1991, whilst in the distance can just be seen one of

the trainshed arches of the Eastern Section station. © David Glasspool

 

22nd October 2004

 

A second view of the approaches, this time from up high, better shows the connection between Central and

Eastern Section metals. Elizabeth Bridge is in view, which is still host to staircases providing access to the

Central Section platforms for engineers. © David Glasspool

 

 

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