Stewarts Lane

Stewarts Lane TMD
	Southern-liveried 73202 sits in Stewarts Lane TMD with a 6-car Southeastern (Govia) Class 465/466 formation passing above on its way into London Victoria
Location
Location	Battersea, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°28′21″N0°08′38″W / 51.4725°N 0.1439°W Coordinates: 51°28′21″N0°08′38″W / 51.4725°N 0.1439°W
OS grid	TQ289765
Characteristics
Owner	DB Cargo UK, Govia Thameslink Railway
Depot code	SL (1973-)
Type	Electric, EMU
History
Opened	1862
Original	London Chatham and Dover Railway
Pre-grouping	Southern Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
BR region	Southern Region
Former depot code	BAT (SR)[ citation needed ]; 73A (1948-1962); 75D (1962-1973);

Last updated March 19, 2023

Stewarts Lane is a large railway-servicing facility in Battersea in London, England, founded by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1862, to serve London Victoria railway station. It is sited in the midst of a maze of railway lines between 'Factory Junction' and 'Stewarts Lane Junction', adjacent to the site of the former Longhedge Railway Works and the Stewarts Lane Chord formerly used by Eurostar trains from the Kent freight lines to Waterloo International station. Prior to 1962 it was one of the largest motive power depots in the UK. Following the end of steam traction in the early 1960s it was converted into a traction maintenance depot which is currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.

Motive power depot

In 1860, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway purchased 75 acres (300,000 m²) of land in Battersea, formerly part of the Long Hedge farm, to establish their locomotive works and the motive power depot, to provide motive power for services from the new London Victoria railway station (then under construction). The depot was originally known as ‘Longhedge’. In February 1862, a semi-roundhouse running shed was opened with space for 26 locomotives.^[2] The site was expanded in 1875/6 with 40 tracks around the central turntable, although only half were under cover.^[3]

The original depot was demolished in 1880/1 and replaced by a larger 16-road through shed on the same site, which was officially known as Stewarts Lane – but usually referred to as ‘The Lane’ or ‘Longhedge’ by the men.^[3] A coaling stage, turntable and wheel drop were provided. The depot was re-organised and a large mechanical coaling plant was added to enable the depot to deal with an increased locomotive allocation after 1932, following the closure of the nearby London Brighton and South Coast Railway Battersea shed which is often confused with Stewarts Lane, but was a separate Roundhouse type shed on the other side of the LBSCR mainline from Stewarts Lane. Stewarts Lane was provided with an asbestos roof in 1934^[4] It suffered from bomb damage during the Second World War, some of which was never repaired. Otherwise it remained largely unchanged until closure to steam in 1963. Thereafter the tracks remained in use for stabling diesel locomotives, although much of the original building was destroyed by fire in 1967.

Traction maintenance depot

A new asbestos carriage shed was built adjacent to the running shed in the late 1950s and equipped with third rail electrification to enable it to service both electric multiple units (EMUs) and electric locomotives. During the 1960s the former goods shed on the site was also converted to service diesel and electric locomotives, and both remain in use for the Stewarts Lane Traction Maintenance Depot. The depot currently operates as two separate facilities by both DB Cargo UK and Govia Thameslink Railway.

Shed codes

Under Southern Railway the depot had the code ‘BAT’. This was changed to the depot code ‘73A’ by British Railways, then '75D', and is now ‘SL’.^[1]

Locomotive allocation

Stewarts Lane was the largest depot of the former LCDR, providing express passenger locomotives from Victoria and Holborn Viaduct stations to Dover, Ramsgate and Ashford, and suburban trains to Bromley, Crystal Palace and Greenwich Park. After the formation of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899 the depot became the largest on the new system, with an allocation of well over 100 locomotives. The allocation declined in the early years of the Southern Railway after 1923, as more suburban lines were electrified, but then increased dramatically to more than 170 locomotives in 1934 after it took over from the former Battersea shed.^[3] 159 locomotives were allocated there in 1939 including large numbers of King Arthur and Lord Nelson classes.^[5]

During the early 1950s, there were still 126 locomotives allocated and 700 men employed at Stewarts Lane,^[6] and the allocation included Pacific locomotives of the Merchant Navy, West Country and Battle of Britain classes and, for a short period, two Britannia class locomotives. The number of locomotives began to decline rapidly after 1959 following the electrification of the Chatham Main Line.

Present

Today part of the depot is operated by DB Cargo UK, as a special trains operating unit. The 14-road main shed provides a home to the Class 387 electric units of the Gatwick Express, and the Pullman carriages of the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE Southern Division), and is operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. It also acts as a servicing and staging points for steam locomotives operating both the VSOE, and some other special trains starting from the London area. Currently stabled steam locomotives include SR Merchant Navy Class 35028 Clan Line.

In 2019, the depot hosted an introduction to Episode 8 of the TV Show The Apprentice series 15 with participants hosting a service on the Belmond Pullman train.^[7]

Related Research Articles

Herne Hill railway station is in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London, England, on the boundary between London fare zones 2 and 3. Train services are provided by Thameslink to London Blackfriars, Farringdon, St Pancras International and St Albans on the Thameslink route and by Southeastern to London Victoria and Orpington on the Chatham Main Line. It is 3 miles 76 chains (6.4 km) down the line from Victoria.

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.

Sevenoaks railway station is a railway station on the South Eastern Main Line in England, serving the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is 22 miles 9 chains (35.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross and is situated between Dunton Green and Hildenborough stations. Trains calling at the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink.

Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England, and is at least 10 minutes' walk from the town centre. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line, 79 miles 21 chains (127.6 km) down the line from London Victoria, the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to Ramsgate line. The station is managed by Southeastern, which operates all trains serving it.

Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, 55 miles 52 chains (89.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street, the southern terminus.

The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and replenishing water, lubricating oil and grease and, for steam engines, disposal of the ash. There are often workshops for day to day repairs and maintenance, although locomotive building and major overhauls are usually carried out in the locomotive works.

The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area.

St Blazey engine shed is located in Par, Cornwall, United Kingdom, although it is named after the adjacent village of St Blazey. It was built in 1874 as the headquarters of the Cornwall Minerals Railway but for many years was a depot of the Great Western Railway. The current depot operator is DB Cargo and the depot TOPS code is BZ.

Laira T&RSMD is a railway traction and rolling stock maintenance depot situated in Plymouth, Devon, England. The depot is operated by Great Western Railway and is mainly concerned with the overhaul and daily servicing of their fleet of High Speed Trains and also the DMUs used on local services. The depot code "LA" is used to identify rolling stock based there.

Neville Hill is a railway train maintenance depot in Osmondthorpe, Leeds, England on the Leeds to Selby Line. The depot is situated 2 miles 14 chains (3.5 km) to the east of Leeds railway station on the north side of the line.

The area around Hornsey railway station in Hornsey has been the site of several railway maintenance facilities from the mid 19th century onwards.

Heaton TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it is located next to the East Coast Main Line, around 2 miles (3 km) east of Newcastle Central station. Heaton was a sub-shed of Gateshead between 1963 and 1967.

Thornaby TMD was a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Thornaby, England, latterly operated by DB Schenker. The depot was situated to the east of Thornaby, on the northern side of the line to Middlesbrough.

Hither Green (London) Traction Maintenance Depot or Hither Green (London) TMD is a railway depot used for the maintenance and servicing of freight trains adjacent to the Hither Green marshalling yard. The depot is a hub for moving freight around southeast England. Hither Green TMD is owned and operated by DBS. The official depot code is HG. In steam days the shed code was 73C.

The Widened Lines is a double-track railway line forming part of the Thameslink route between St Pancras and Farringdon within Central London.

Longhedge Railway Works was a locomotive and carriage works built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in the borough of Battersea, South London to serve their new London terminus at Victoria. The facility existed between 1862 until the mid-1950s.

Reading Southern railway station was opened as the western terminus of the South Eastern Railway's route from Redhill, a junction station at the time of opening known as Reigate Junction in south-east Surrey, having direct links thence to Dover port, Brighton and London Bridge. The station was referred to for exactly one century by an identical name to its neighbour, 'Reading', until 1949. Seven years after its opening the station expanded its uses by becoming the terminus of a new company's Waterloo to Reading line from London Waterloo station. This mid-length line added to the town's connections with more intermediate stops, beyond nearby Wokingham and mid-south parts of Surrey which had been directly served by the station and added a competing service, approximately one third longer in distance to a London terminus than the adjacent Great Western Railway.

William Martley was the locomotive superintendent of the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in England from 1860 until his death.

The LCDR M1 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), very similar to the earlier M class but with steel frames, larger tenders and other detailed differences. The class was designed by William Kirtley and introduced in 1880.

The LCDR C class or Europa Class was a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). The class was designed by William Martley and introduced in 1873, intended for the heaviest express services between London and Dover.

References

1 2 3 "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Bradley 1979 , p. 12
1 2 3 Hawkins & Reeve 1979 , p. 83
↑ Griffiths & Smith 1999 , p. 87
↑ Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 1982 , p. 2
↑ Hardy, Richard (1999). "A Shedmaster's Life at Stewarts Lane".
↑ "BBC One - the Apprentice, Series 15, Steam Train".

Sources

Bradley, D.L. (1979). The locomotive history of the London Chatham and Dover Railway. Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. ISBN 0-901115-47-9.
Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). The directory of British engine sheds. Vol. 1. Oxford: OPC. ISBN 0-86093-020-3.
Hawkins, Chris; Reeve, George (1979). An historical survey of Southern shed. Oxford: OPC. ISBN 0-86093-542-6.
Baker, S.K. (2001). Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland. ISBN 0-86093-553-1.
Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (1982). Southern Railway Locomotive Allocations 1939.

External links

An overhead view of the depot.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[TRC-1] 1 2 3 "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[2] Bradley 1979 , p. 12

[HR-83-3] 1 2 3 Hawkins & Reeve 1979 , p. 83

[4] Griffiths & Smith 1999 , p. 87

[5] Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 1982 , p. 2

[6] Hardy, Richard (1999). "A Shedmaster's Life at Stewarts Lane".

[7] "BBC One - the Apprentice, Series 15, Steam Train".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]