Chatham and District Light Railways Company

Chatham and District Light Railways Company
Chatham and District Light Railways Company
Operation
Locale	Chatham
Open	17 June 1902
Close	30 September 1930
Status	Closed
Infrastructure
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Propulsion system(s)	Electric
Depot(s)	Luton High Street
Statistics
Route length	14.98 miles (24.11 km)

Last updated January 30, 2024

Chatham & District Light Railways Company

Legend

					Frindsbury
Strood Hill
Strood

Rochester Bridge					River Medway

Rochester
Borstal

					Dockyard


Chatham station
Chatham
Chatham cemetery



Luton (depot)
Hen & Chickens PH
					Canterbury Street

					Gillingham

					Grange Road
					Strand
Rainham

The Chatham and District Light Railways Company was the originator and first operator of the electric tramway system that served Chatham and Gillingham, and was later extended into Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The system was in operation from 17 June 1902 to 30 September 1930,^[1] when it was superseded by the motorbuses of the Chatham and District Traction Company.

Principal routes

At its inauguration the tramway had the following routes:^[2]

Luton to the Dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.
Chatham Cemetery to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
Chatham Town Hall to Gillingham Pier Road via Chatham Hill, Gillingham and James Street.
Chatham Railway station to the dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.

The network expanded for several years, and by 1908 there were eight operational routes:^[2]

Luton to the Dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.
Frindsbury to Gillingham Green via Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
Strood Hill to Gillingham Green via Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
Borstal to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via the Delce, Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
Chatham Town Hall to Gillingham Shalders Arms via Chatham Hill and Canterbury Street.
Chatham Cemetery to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
Chatham Town Hall to Rainham High Street via Chatham Hill, Jezreels and Rainham Mark.
Chatham Railway Station to Brompton via Chatham Town Hall.

(Note that "the Delce" referred to the area at the junction of Priestfields and Maidstone Road where Upper Delce Farm and Delce Grange were located. It did not refer to Delce Road which is locally known as the Delce.)

Depot

Grid reference TQ 77284 66645

The system's depot, which included a shed with a capacity of fifty tramcars, a boiler house and generating house, and an office building, was located to the south of Luton High Street opposite Christchurch.^[2]

After the closure of the tramway system the depot, with its original sheds and workshops, was used for buses until November 1995. In 1998–99 the depot was demolished, and the site redeveloped for housing. Its role in the C&DLRCo is commemorated by the name of its access road, "Tramways".^[3]

Tramcars

Tramcars had a light green and ivory livery, and there were changes to the detailing of the paint scheme over the life of the tram system.

In earlier years "Chatham & District Light Railways Co" was written in large ornate letters along the full length of the ivory side panel.

The tram model shows the scheme as it was in later years. The ornate lettering had gone.

When the system closed all the tramcars were driven to a section of track opposite the Star Hotel in Gillingham to await their fate. The Chatham Observer newspaper recorded at the time that although most of the fleet was scrapped, some went on to live a few more years as static facilities in various Kent locations:

30 - Broken up for scrap
1 - Snodhurst Farm, Walderslade Road, Chatham. Converted into a summer house for Miss Auger, the farmer's daughter. Given a rock garden surround. A stove was installed on the driver's platform.
4 - Minster, Sheppey. Converted into two bungalows, but the scheme was stopped by objections from the council surveyor.
4 - Farm near Margate. "Comfortable dwelling for farm worker".
6 - Lidsing. Mr Pye installed these on his property as storage sheds. (The book "Lost Tramways of Kent" has a photograph of the inner saloon of car 52 at Abbey Court Farm, Lidsing in 1953.^[4])
1 - Chatham. Supper stall named The Little Nippy.
2 - Roadside between Sittingbourne and Faversham. Converted into roadside coffee stalls.
2 - Star Farm, Gillingham. The farmer, Mr Harris, did not subsequently use them.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham, Kent</span> Town in Kent, England

Chatham is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochester, Kent</span> Town in Kent, England

Rochester is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about 30 miles (50 km) from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillingham. Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate the city status for Rochester.

Medway is a unitary authority and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to form Medway Towns. It is a unitary authority area run by Medway Council, independent of Kent County Council but remains part of the ceremonial county of Kent.

Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority area of Medway in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. It is also the largest town in the borough of Medway.

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The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. The company existed until 31 December 1922 when its assets were merged with those of other companies to form the Southern Railway as a result of the grouping determined by the Railways Act 1921. The railway was always in a difficult financial situation and went bankrupt in 1867, but was able to continue to operate. Many of the difficulties were caused by the severe competition and duplication of services with the South Eastern Railway (SER). However, in 1898 the LCDR agreed with the SER to share the operation of the two railways, work them as a single system and pool receipts: but it was not a full amalgamation. The SER and LCDR remained separate companies with separate shareholders until both becoming constituents of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923.

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The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London Victoria and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway.

Chatham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Chatham, Kent. It is 34 miles 25 chains (55.2 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Rochester and Gillingham.

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References

↑ "The Light Rail Transit Association site". LRTA. 1 July 1933. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
1 2 3 Harley, Robert J. (1994). Maidstone and Chatham Tramways. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-40-5.
↑ Trams to Tramways. One Hundred Years of The Luton Tram Depot (Luton Local History Leaflet) by Jim Logan.
↑ Oppitz, Leslie (2006). Lost Tramways of Kent. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-996-5.

External links

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[1] "The Light Rail Transit Association site". LRTA. 1 July 1933. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

[M&CT-2] 1 2 3 Harley, Robert J. (1994). Maidstone and Chatham Tramways. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-40-5.

[100Luton-3] Trams to Tramways. One Hundred Years of The Luton Tram Depot (Luton Local History Leaflet) by Jim Logan.

[LTK-4] Oppitz, Leslie (2006). Lost Tramways of Kent. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-996-5.

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