History
Prior to opening
In the mid 18th century south Essex was a thinly populated area and Barking, Southend and Leigh-on-sea were little more than villages.
In June 1840 the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) started operation from Blackwall to a station called Minories and after a year this was extended to Fenchurch Street which was located close to the Tower of London. A month later in July 1840, the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) opened their new station at Spitalfields and commenced running services to Brentwood and by 1843 this line had been extended to Colchester. The London and Blackwall Extension Railway (LBER), was opened from Stepney (now Limehouse) linking to the Eastern Counties Railway at Bow was opened in 1849. Unfortunately agreement between the L&BR and the ECR about operation of the services over the LBER could not be reached so the actual junction was not completed. An interchange station called Victoria Park and Bow was opened, but the ECR stopped few services there so most services terminated at Bromley and Bow. Services were withdrawn from Victoria Park and Bow on 6 January 1851. [1]
Bills
The first railway proposed in 1835–6 was the Southend and Hole-Haven Railway which was opposed by another nascent railway company - the Thames Haven Dock & Railway Company. This company presented a bill in 1842 linking Stepney to Southend with a branch from South Ockendon to Tilbury which failed and their attempts to get the bills presented in the 1843 and 1844 parliamentary sessions foundered due to lack of funds. The ECR also considered presenting an act in 1844 but it was not until 1846 that four separate schemes were presented to parliament that the idea gained any real traction. [2]
The four schemes were:
- The London & South Essex Railway
- The London & Southend Railway
- Eastern Counties & Southend Railway
- The North Gravesend railway.
The North Gravesend Railway was so named as it ran to Tilbury where a ferry would connect across the Thames to Gravesend in Kent. This line would have had a junction with another line being built to North Woolwich in London. It was notable in that it did not have any plans for Southend whilst the Eastern Counties & Southend Railway and London & South Essex Railway schemes had branches to both. The London & Southend Railway only had a Southend line proposed with a junction at Shenfield. As it was none of these passed and in 1847, the ECR presented the Eastern Counties Extension bill which had a new junction on the Eastern Counties main line at Forest Gate. The bill was suspended in 1847 due to a log jam of schemes and in 1848 due to irregularities in the subscription list the bill was withdrawn. 1848 saw a slump in such schemes and it was not until 1851 that the L&BR presented a bill linking their railway at Gas Factory Junction and thence via the ECR to a new junction at Forest Gate with a line via Stratford, Barking, Rainham, Purfleet, Grays and Tilbury Fort. [3]
The early 1851 bill was thrown out because of concerns over the lease clauses that Samuel Morton Peto and Thomas Brassey were putting forward. George Parker Bidder however kept the momentum going between the L&BR and the ECR and by October they had agreed a bid round a line from Forest Gate Junction to Southend via Tilbury. The new bill promoted by both railways was presented in November 1851 and was known as the London Tilbury & Southend Extension Railway bill. The line would be double track as far as Tilbury and single track onwards to Southend and included a single line branch to Thames Haven (although this was dropped during the passage of the bill). The line was to be managed by a committee of four ECR and four L&BR directors but there were no actual shareholder directors.
| London, Tilbury and Southend Extension Railway Act 1852 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Citation | 15 & 16 Vict. c. lxxxiv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 June 1852 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
After several months of back and forth negotiations which included the completion of the junction at Bow to allow a through route from Stratford, a third line from Stepney to Fenchurch Street and additional platforms being provided at that station, the bill finally got royal assent on 17 June 1852 as the London, Tilbury and Southend Extension Railway Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. lxxxiv). [4]
Joint committee
The following ECR directors sat on the committee
- Lord Alfred Paget
- David Waddington – then the chairman of the ECR
- Richard Patterson – deputy chairman ECR
- Samuel Anderson
The L&BR directors were
- James Nugent Daniel – chairman L&BR
- William Haigh – deputy chairman L&BR
- Joseph Bishop
- Josiah Wilson
Other notable figures were Bidder (Engineer), William Tite architect and Arthur Wightman (Superintendent and Traffic Manager).
The joint committee (JC) entered into a £400,000 contract with Peto, Brassey and Betts to build and manage the line for a period of 25 (later reduced to 21) years. [5]
Construction and opening
The railway was authorised in 1852 and work started about September 1852 on the Forest Gate to Tilbury section. The countryside was mostly flat and with the exception of a reasonably substantial cutting at Forest Gate there were only three other short cutting on the route. As part of the work dredging was undertaken between Gravesend and Tilbury and new pontoons for the ferries provided.
In parallel with the work on the line the ECR were preparing a third line between Stratford and Bow and the disputed junction at Bow was finally being connected to allow the LT&SR and ECR Woodford and Loughton services to access Fenchurch Street. The third line and new junctions were finished in February 1854. A special train ran on 11 April 1854 from Fenchurch Street to Tilbury which was the day of the formal Board of Trade inspection. Full services to the public began on 13 April 1854 with all Tilbury trains splitting at Stratford into a Bishopsgate and Fenchurch Street portion to reflect the joint ownership of the ECR and L&BR. [6]
Work meanwhile was proceeding on the line to Southend via Stanford-le-hope and Pitsea. Predicted construction difficulties, among other reasons, saw a different (cheaper) route selected. Three miles of work had been done east of Tilbury by April 1854 and construction proceeded apace to allow opening to Leigh-on-Sea on 1 July 1855 with new intermediate stations at Benfleet and Pitsea. The line was built as single track with a passing loop at Pitsea but the Board of Trade official took a dislike to the arrangements, so a second track was built and opened in May 1856. Leigh-on-Sea station was built between the high street and the sea and many properties had their long gardens shortened as a result.
| London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Deviation and Amendment Act 1854 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Citation | 17 & 18 Vict. c. cxxxiii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 3 July 1854 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The next section to Southend opened on 1 March 1856 and was built as double track. The station was positioned away from the sea front near the High Street to avoid opposition from residents of the Royal Terrace in Southend. The original London, Tilbury and Southend Extension Railway Act 1852 had the line terminating by the pier, but this was changed by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Deviation and Amendment Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. cxxxiii). [7]
Finally in this early phase, the branch to Thames Haven was constructed, but this was actually built by the Thames Haven Dock and Railway Authority (THR&DA) who had planned one of the early schemes to Romford with the LBR as early as 1836. The engineer was George Berkley (also the L&BR engineer at this date) and the line was built as a separate contract by Peto, Brassey and Betts. The railway was inspected on 27 April and opened to passengers and goods on 7 June 1855. The line was then sold to the LT&SR on 8 September 1855. The THR&DA still existed but were unable to construct the dock they hoped would bring additional rail traffic and eventually the scheme was abandoned in 1861. There were goods facilities at Thames Haven and a Margate boat train ran until 1880. [8]
Locomotives and coaching stock was leased from the ECR. This stock was built by the ECR under John Viret Gooch and the LT&SR paid mileage costs.
The lessees railway (1854-1875)
The arrangements between ECR chairman David Waddington and Peto were being investigated by Horatio Love at the behest of dissatisfied ECR shareholders. One, of several issues, was the rental being paid by the LTSR for the new stock (cost £47,159) built at Stratford Works amounted to £400 per year which was not enough to cover the annual depreciation costs. By February 1856 it looked like Waddington might be forced out by the shareholders but Peto, Brassey, Betts and Bidder bought up large number of shares to ensure his survival. The lessees did agree to pay more money in 1861 on an agreed seven year review of the line. [9]
In October 1855 Peto had approached the LTS Joint Committee for funds to build the Barking Branch linking the LBER at a point north-east of Gas Factory Junction to Barking West Junction. The new line had two purposes:
- To avoid Stratford railway station which with the growth of ECR services was becoming increasingly congested.
- To have an LTSR route free of the ECR should Waddington be deposed and relationships deteriorate between the lessees and the ECR (remember Fenchurch Street was L&BR at this time).
| London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Amendment Act 1856 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to enable the Eastern Counties and London and Blackball Railway Companies to raise a further Sum of Money for the Purposes of the London, Tilbury, and Southend Extension Railway; to amend the Acts relating to such Undertaking; and for other Purposes. |
| Citation | 19 & 20 Vict. c. xv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 5 June 1856 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act 1875 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for conferring further powers upon the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company. |
| Citation | 38 & 39 Vict. c. lvii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 14 June 1875 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The price of the ECR supporting the bill was extensive with the LTSR still having to pay for the use of the route through Stratford. ECR Fenchurch Street services to North Woolwich and Loughton would have running rights over the line and provide a pair of new curves at Abbey Mills (east of Bromley) to access the North Woolwich line. The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Amendment Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. xv) received royal assent in July 1856. The Joint Committee had already appointed Peto, Brassey, Betts to undertake the work which started the same month. Progress was swift and by 31 March 1858 the new line and Abbey Mills south curve was opened. The north curve was never opened and although it periodically was raised in GE/LT&SR meetings, the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. lvii) formally abandoned this proposed line. [10]
The connection on the LBER to the LTSR was too far from the Gas Factory Junction signal box, under the rules at that time, for the LTSR junction to be controlled from the Gas Factory Junction signal box. Therefore, an extra box was built in 1858 by the new junction, and the new junction was named Bromley Junction. In 1866 the GER took control of the LBR and LBER, and in 1869 resignalled those lines. This resulted in a new signal box for Gas Factory Junction but closer to the LTSR, and both the old signal box and that at Bromley Junction being closed. To solve the problem of Bromley Junction being too far from the new Gas Factory Junction box, the LTSR points were moved down to the new box, and the LTSR rails gauntletted amongst the LBER rails until they reached the track bed junction. By this method, the new box was able to control both the NLR junction and the LTSR junction. The name Bromley Junction was re-used at the junction on the LTSR at Bromley-by-Bow where the line from the NLR joined, also in 1869. In 1886, the GER built a goods depot at Bow Road which had to connect to the LBER, between the NLR and LTSR junctions. This caused the GER to have to resolve the gauntletted track here. As a result, they built yet another new box which was again a little nearer to the LTSR, and at last they were able to move the LTSR points back to their original position and rid themselves of the gauntletting. [11]
During 1854 through to 1856 the line from Tilbury was extended in stages to Southend finally opening on 1 March 1856.
Waddington resigned in July 1856 (days after the Barking Branch had its royal assent) and was replaced by Horatio Love as ECR chairman. Both sides engaged in presenting schemes to parliament to try and win some advantage but all failed and this effectively finished Peto as a major player in the East Anglian rail scene. [12]
| London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act 1862 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to incorporate the Proprietors of Shares in the Undertaking called the London, Tilbury, and Southend Extension Railway, and to vest such Undertaking in the Company so incorporated; and for other Purposes. |
| Citation | 25 & 26 Vict. c. viii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 16 May 1862 |
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. viii) saw the status of the company change from a jointly-owned undertaking to a separate company. [13] 1862 was the same year the Great Eastern Railway was formed by amalgamation. The railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862. [14] A further change saw the L&BR taken over on a 999 year old lease by the GER and whilst the LB&R directors remained the balance of power on the LTSR board was now firmly in the GER's favour. [15]
In 1864 Operations Manager Arthur Wightman died and was succeeded by Joseph Louth.
By 1866 Peto and Betts were both bankrupt and Brassey died in 1870. The line largely stagnated with no additional investment and the lessees place on the board taken actual shareholders and after 1870, following his death by Brassey's executors who had little interest in operation of the railway. [16] With the lease finishing in 1875 the decision to let the things run on was taken. This did not stop the GER asking for improvements (in 1868) to the permanent way after concerns had been raised and it was their locomotives operating the timetable. Improvements were made in the next few years.
Getting control (1875-1881)
With a GER majority on the board, the independent directors had little opportunity to influence or run the railway. Attempt to negotiate a way forward in 1872 were rejected by the GER and an 1874 bill presented on behalf of the shareholders to gain independent control was rejected by Parliament. After the positions became vacant, the shareholders elected Charles Bischoff as chairman, and Henry Doughty Brown as deputy chairman at a meeting on 15 September 1874. [17] [18] During 1873–1874 another shareholder named Eley had approached various other railways such as the NLR, LNWR and Great Northern Railway none of whom were interested in the LT&SR. On 4 November 1874 the GER Chairman Lightly Simpson was replaced by Henry Charles Parkes who was on the LT&SR board, a significant LT&SR shareholder and sympathetic to getting the problem resolved.
The LT&SR employed outside assistance to understand the state of the railway and a report was delivered on 31 March 1875. The GER could have taken over the LT&SR at this time and it is not known why this did not happen. By the end of May 1875 an operating agreement had been reached between the two railways and the arrangements were applied from July 1875 (although for legal reasons everything was not sorted out for another year). Importantly the LT&SR were granted running powers into Fenchurch Street. In terms of rolling stock the LT&SR were now the customer rather than the lessees and any GER staff operating over the LT&SR were to be treated as LT&SR for rules purposes. [19]
The board had employed Arthur Stride ahead of the takeover as General Manager and resident engineer, Louth his predecessor had his employment terminated about the same time. The company secretary was John Fisher-Kennell (ex L&BR who died on 2 February 1881 and was succeeded by H. Cecil Newton who held the post until 1912.
On takeover in 1875 the LT&SR was an old fashioned railway albeit in reasonable condition. An accident at Barking resulted in the company having to pay considerable compensation. The reason for the crash was down to time interval working so an early decision was taken to extend signalling interlocking which was delivered in the early 1880s. The track was all re-laid between 1877 and 1880 and new facilities such as additional sidings and platform extensions were added to the budget. A works/engine shed facility was provided at Plaistow and orders for new locomotives and rolling stock placed.
An independent company (1881-1912)
Tilbury Docks
Construction started on 8 July 1882 but was not straightforward with the first contractor getting into difficulties in 1884 and being replaced by Lucas and Aird. When finished the docks were over £1 million over budget. [20]
The changes to the rail network were:
- A set of exchange sidings with the LT&SR located at Tilbury Dock North Junction with a new signal box
- A new station called Tilbury Dock which opened on 15 June 1885
- A secondary connection at Tilbury West Junction to a new station (for boat trains) called Tidal Basin (later called Tilbury Marine)
- An improved service of 24 trains per day was provided to the new station from 1886 but was cut back in 1889 after the dock failed to live up to expectations.
The docks opened on 17 April 1886 but were not a success in generating the additional rail traffic the LT&SR expected until early in the twentieth century. [21]
The docks had its own fleet of locomotives for shunting purposes housed in an independent engine shed and in 1909 Tilbury, along with the upstream docks, became part of the newly established Port of London Authority (PLA). [22]
Southend to Shoeburyness
Peto had first suggested extension to Shoeburyness in 1855 but it was not until the 1870s that the LT&SR resurrected the idea. The War Office had a large military establishment at Pig's Bay Shoeburyness and the LT&SR hoped they would see the benefit of a direct rail link from Southend. The initial response was not positive but the LT&SR presented a bill in the parliamentary session hoping the War Department would change their minds. This was not to be and the bill was withdrawn. By 1881 the War Department had changed its mind and the LT&SR presented a bill (see below) to parliament in 1882. This became law on 24 July 1882. [23]
The contract to build the line was let to Kirk and Parry in October 1882 and work commenced in January 1883. Southend station became a through station and there were no intermediate stations. Operations started on 1 February 1884 and the new Shoeburyness station which also had goods facilities. The first up train each morning was formed of some carriages and a locomotive that worked from Southend (where the engine shed was located) but it was not until 1889 that an engine shed was actually provided at Shoeburyness and the Southend shed closed. An intermediate station at Thorpe Bay was opened in 1912 with a further station at Southend East opening in LMS days. [24]
Barking to Pitsea
Another new line included in the LT&SR 1882 bill was for a new cut off line from Barking to Pitsea. As the LT&SR started to move away from GER influence there was perceived need to claim the area between the Great Eastern Main line and the line to Tilbury. Additionally it was recognised that with the opening of Tilbury Docks more goods trains may render the two track section inadequate. A direct line would see most Southend trains diverted from the Tilbury line and improved journey times. [25] [26]
A sod cutting ceremony was held at Upminster Windmill on 11 October 1883. Two intermediate stations were provided on the new double track railway at Dagenham and Hornchurch. There were four new signal boxes and the line between Barking and Upminster opened to traffic on 1 May 1885. The next section to East Horndon was opened exactly a year later on 1 May 1886. beyond East Horndon the line was on an upward gradient to the summit at Laindon (where a new station was built.
At Pitsea a large retaining wall was built to support the hill side (on which the 13th-century church of St. Michael stood) and two new platforms provided. The original 1855 station site on the original line to Tilbury was moved slightly north.
Full opening to Pitsea on 1 June 1888 although a storm on 1 August caused closure of the new line until 1 October. [27]
The GER opens a Southend branch
The following year the GER opened a branch line from Shenfield, through to Wickford in 1888 and onto Southend on 1 October 1889. [28]
Built as single track initially, it was doubled in 1901. The initial timetable of six trains per day which involved a change at Shenfield for Liverpool Street passengers. By 1890 the GER was competing more vigorously and making inroads into the LT&SR holiday traffic. On one bank holiday they ran excursion trains from Fenchurch Street to Southend (GE) and as all the ticket clerks at that station were employed by the GER, passengers were directed to the GER trains rather than the LT&S services. The LT&SR employed ticket clerks at Fenchurch Street soon after. This and improvements to the weekday services made an impact on the LT&SR finances but population increases along the LT&SR route saw that change later on. [29]
Branches from Upminster
In the 1890s two branches were opened centred on Upminster. One ran from Romford whilst the other ran to Grays giving a through route from Upminster to Tilbury.
The line from Grays with one intermediate station at Ockendon opened in 1892 with the Romford–Upminster line opening on 7 June 1893. Both lines were single track although Ockendon had a passing loop.
A station called Emerson Park was opened to serve a nearby estate at Great Nelmes in 1908.
Ockendon had a small goods yard and a yard was opened at Romford as well.
The LT&SR station at Romford was a single platform with a run round loop to enable locomotives to get to the other end of the train. There was also a connection to the Great Eastern main line used by goods traffic. [30]
A bay platform was provided for the Upminster service at Grays in 1890.
Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway
The Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway was a railway line in north London, formed by the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. clviii), and built as joint venture between the Midland Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. It officially opened on 1 July 1894 with passenger services to East Ham and Southend commencing eight days later. [31]
Some goods exchange sidings were provided at Woodgrange Park which is where Midland locomotives would have been exchanged for LT&SR locomotives and wagons would have been shunted between the various companies trains.
The GER services continued to use the goods yard at Barking for the same purpose but this had limited siding space. [32]
In terms of passenger trains a daily Southend to St Pancras train (out in the morning back in the evening) was the most notable through working.
Whitechapel and Bow Railway
A similar scheme to this was presented by the Metropolitan Railway in 1883 and supported by the LT&SR but failed because the District Railway refused to allow through running by LT&SR trains over their line between St. Mary's Junction and Aldgate East. Thirteen years later the scheme was revived by the Metropolitan District Railway and was a joint development between them and the LT&SR . The plan was to extend the underground line eastwards from Whitechapel and would join the LT&SR west of Bromley station at Campbell Road Junction. The LT&SR backed this scheme as congestion at Fenchurch Street was becoming a problem and their longer distance traffic was growing. It was hoped the new line would divert some of the "inner" London traffic away releasing much needed capacity.
The Whitechapel and Bow Railway Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. cclvii) was largely untroubled in its passage through Parliament and became law on 6 August 1897. The bill noted the line could be worked by steam or electric power.
Work commenced in May 1899 with Cuthbert A. Brereton appointed as the chief engineer. The new line was two miles long most of which was underground and built using the cut-and-cover method. The line passed under the Regent's Canal and then climbed steeply to join the LT&SR line at Campbell Road Junction (which was on a viaduct at this location).
Opening on 31 May 1902 a special train, which had originated at Earl's Court and on arrival at Whitechapel the engine was changed for an LT&SR locomotive for working through to Upminster. After some trial running of empty trains on 1 June, the full service commenced running on the following day. The January 1903 timetable had 58 trains each way using the new line. A few services terminated short at Plaistow, with the majority terminating at East Ham, whilst three worked through to Upminster (peak hours only). Both railways purchased additional carriages although all services were worked by District locomotives. Some sidings and locomotive coaling and watering facilities were supplied at East Ham in connection with the new service. These sidings later became known as little Ilford.
The peak hour Upminster services proved popular and more followed. This did not help the original goal of the scheme to relieve congestion at Fenchurch Street and it should be noted at this stage in its development, that the LTS line was a two track railway and difficulties in pathing trains later led to additional tracks being considered. Why further doubling was not pursued prior to 1902 is unclear so the LT&SR had to endure a period of poor performance having previously had an excellent reputation.
Quadrupling to East Ham
Powers for widening the Plaistow to East Ham section had been sought by the LT&SR in 1898 and West Ham station was built with four platforms in the same year. The new lines opened at various times as listed below:
| Date | From | To | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 April 1903 | Plaistow | Upton Park | Additional Down line opened (temporary arrangement) |
| 12 October 1903 | Plaistow | Upton Park | Four lines in service arranged up/up/down/down |
| 15 May 1904 | Plaistow | West Ham | Four lines in service now arranged up/down/up/down (temporary arrangement) |
| 26 February 1905 | Campbell Road Junction | Bromley West End | Four tracks – temporary bay platform set up so District Line services that had been terminating at Bow could work through. |
| 9 July 1905 | Upper Abbey Mills Junction | Plaistow West End | Four tracks – this section included two new single line bridges across the GER at West Ham. |
| 1 August 1905 | Bromley West End | Upper Abbey Mills Junction | Additional tracks – four platforms at Bromley and new bridge across Bow Creek/River Lea Opened |
Accompanying the civil engineering work described above a complete re-signalling of the area also took place with seven new boxes replacing all older boxes except the recently built West Ham box along with three new ground frame boxes. Nine sets of crossovers were added between the Local and newly built Through lines. [33]
Electrification and developments at Barking
In order to extend the four tracks from East Ham to Barking, considerable work was undertaken at the west end of the station and the station itself was rebuilt with eight platform faces, two of which would be used for the District Line electric services to terminate in.
Barking station had been rebuilt in 1889 with three through lines but still had awkward level crossings on Tanner and East Street which caused delays to road traffic and a number of fatalities had resulted from its use. A bridge solution was agreed with the local council to allow closure of the level crossing and when construction started, 130 mostly recently built terrace houses had to be demolished. After demolition construction started in January 1906.
Part of the scheme was to construct sidings at Little Ilford to the west of Barking for stabling carriages for both the LT&SR and District Line. A nine track yard for goods was also added here in 1909 to replace the congested facility at Woodgrange Park (see goods section below).
Between East Ham and Barking there were six running lines as far as the bridges over the River Roding and then an additional goods loop as far as the station. North to south the lines were:
- Branch Lines - primarily for goods trains and passenger trains from TF&G
- Local Lines - primarily for District Lines serving platforms 4 and 5 (dead end bay platforms)
- Through Lines - primarily for main line trains.
The junction at the east end allowed access from the Tilbury line to Forest Gate via platforms 2 and 3.
Whilst this was going on, the electrification of the Local Lines used by the District was taking place between Campbell Road Junction (west of Bromley) and Barking. This was undertaken by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. On 20 August 1905 electric trains started operation to East Ham and used the Little Ilford facility to the east where six electrified sidings were opened. Steam services over the District Line now ceased. The LT&SR bought 37 motor and trailer cars for operation by the District Line and these were part of the District Fleet and carried LT&SR ownership plates. A further 8 LT&SR owned motor and trailer cars were purchased in 1911 (as part of a bigger District Line order).
Full electric services to Barking commenced on 1 April 1908 and platforms 2 and 3 were electrified in 1911. [34]
Sale
Over the years there had been a number of opportunities where the LT&SR could have been acquired by the Great Eastern Railway. In fact Arthur Stride stated in 1912 "that to my knowledge we have told the GER for the last 36 years that we are on sale". Some negotiations had been undertaken in this time but had generally failed on the question of the financial return on preference shares. The LT&SR generally returned 6% compared to the GER 4.5% so shareholders were unlikely to vote for a financially worse deal.
In 1901 the Midland Railway and North London Railway (representing the London & North Western Railway) approached the LT&SR who decided to pursue the Midland offer. Kay suggests the GER were largely aware of the sale but no arrangement was reached so the LT&SR shareholders voted for a deal with the Midland Railway on 26 June 1911. [35]
The sale had to be ratified by a parliamentary bill which the Midland presented in the 1912 legislative session.
The period was one of great unrest and there were a number of strikes during 1910-1912 which almost led to the abandonment of the bill by the Midland.
A couple of local incidents during the London Dockers strike in 1912 included:
- A train of strike breakers was stopped by a mob of strikers at Purfleet and the strike breakers "roughly dealt with"
- City of Birmingham Police officers guarding arrested strikers had to force their way onto a train through a large mob at Grays
- The Dublin Fusiliers was deployed to protect railway assets and protect strike breakers in the Tilbury area. [36]
| Midland Railway (London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Purchase) Act 1912 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Citation | 2 & 3 Geo. 5. c. c |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 7 August 1912 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Midland Railway persevered and the bill was passed as the Midland Railway (London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Purchase) Act 1912 (2 & 3 Geo. 5. c. c) on 7 August 1912 although legally the sale was backdated to 1 January. The Midland took over the LT&S on the same day.
When the Midland took over some of the senior staff left as they were offered lower status posts. Stride, who had been central in the last 37 years to the operation of the railway had no obvious successor and took retirement aged 69.
After the sale
The Midland Railway continued operation until World War I broke out when management transferred to the National Railway Executive. The war finished in 1918 and the Midland continued operation until 1 January 1923. Operation was then taken over by the London Midland & Scottish Railway who continued in operation until 1939 when the National Railway Executive once again took over management of the line during World War II. In 1945 the line was returned to the LMS but from 1 January 1948 the line was nationalised and the part from Fenchurch Street to Gas Factory Junction became part of the Eastern Region whilst the rest of the network was part of the London Midland region. This geographical anomaly did not last long and the whole line transferred to the Eastern Region on 20 February 1949.
In 2021 the network is largely intact the only closures being Tilbury Riverside station and the lines that led to it.
