The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company that operated in south-eastern England between 1859 and 1923 before grouping with three other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and eastern/northern Kent, and formed a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. From the start the railway was in an impecunious position.

East Kent Railway

The LCDR began life as the East Kent Railway (EKR). Its first line was that from Strood near Rochester to Faversham, opened in two parts:

• • 29 March 1858 Strood to Chatham with a station at Rochester
  • 25 January 1858 Chatham - Faversham with stations at Gillingham (originally called New Brompton), Rainham, Sittingbourne, Teynham , and Faversham.
• 22 November 1858 The Mid-Kent Railway constructed a line from Bromley Junction (near Norbury) to Bickley. This line connected with the West End of London & Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) which later provided the necessary access to London.

At this stage the EKR changed its name to the LCDR (1859), even though, as yet, Dover had not been reached..

London, Chatham and Dover Railway

• 1860 openings:
  • 9 July 1860: Faversham to Canterbury (now the East station) and Whitstable (old station)
  • 19 July 1860: Sittingbourne & Sheerness Railway, which became part of LCDR from 1866), including Queenborough. Sheerness railway station dates from 1883: the original terminus became the freight depot. There are branch lines to Queenborough Pier and Sheerness Dockyard.
  • 3 December 1860: opening of line between Bickley and Rochester, connecting the two parts of the network; opening of St Mary Cray, Farningham Road, and Rochester Bridge stations (the latter being closed in 1917)
• 1861 openings:
  • Meopham and Sole Street stations
  • 22 July 1861: extension from Canterbury East to Dover, with Bekesbourne, Adisham, Shepherd's Well and Dover Priory stations opening with the line.
  • 31 July 1861: Whitstable to Herne Bay
  • 1 November 1861: Route to Victoria station opened: LCDR first access to London
• 1862 openings:
  • 2 June 1862: the Sevenoaks Railway opened from Sevenoaks Junction (now Swanley Junction ) to Sevenoaks. Worked by LCDR, with stations at Eynsford, Shoreham , Otford, and Sevenoaks Bat & Ball
  • 1 July 1862: Swanley station (then named Sevenoaks Junction)
  • 6 October 1862: stations along the WELCPR line towards Victoria opened: including Penge East, Herne Hill, and Clapham . Dulwich and Sydenham Hill stations (since closed) were also opened.
• 1863 openings:
  • Wandsworth Road station
  • 5 October 1863: Herne Bay to Ramsgate. Birchington-on-Sea, Margate, and Broadstairs stations all opening with the line

Second London line

• 1 June 1864: On this date the first section of railway to serve the City of London, when the line from Herne Hill to Blackfriars Bridge station (south of the river), was opened
• 1 June 1865: Ludgate Hill station opened (closed 3 March 1929) across the river. In 1886, St Pauls station was opened by the South Eastern Railway: it was reached on a parallel bridge across the river.

Later openings

• 1872 openings:
  • Longfield
  • Loughborough Road (the first station at what is now Loughborough Junction station)
• 1 June 1874: Otford to Maidstone East line, with Kemsing, Borough Green , West Malling, Barming and Maidstone East stations opening with the line
• 15 June 1881: Dover Priory to Deal, Dover & Deal Joint Railway (LCDR/South Eastern Railway)
• 1 July 1884: Maidstone East to Ashford with intermediate stations opening at Bearsted, Hollingbourne, Harrietsham , Lenham , and Charing
• 1 October 1884 Kent House, west of Beckenham Junction

Formation of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway

On 1 January 1899 the undertaking of he LCDR was, by arrangement, joined with that of the South Eastern Railway for united working under a Management Committee composed of the directors of the two Companies. The arrangement was confirmed by Act of Parliament on 5 August 1899 by the South Easatern and London, Chatham and Dover Railay Act, 1899.

The rolling stock and steamboats of the two Companies were thereafter worked as one concern. Competing stations in the same town were closed - as happened at Ashford, where the LCDR had a terminus. Between 1902-1904, connections were built to allow LCDR trains to allow through running on ex-SER lines: branch lines and unprofitable stations belonging to both companies were rationalised. [See ].

Line details

Principal engineering works

• Blackfriars Bridge: 933 ft (279m) long
• Battersea Bridge: 740 ft (222m)
• Viaduct carrying extension to Blackfriars: 742 brick arches, 94 girder bridges

Steepest gradient

• Rochester Bridge - Sole Street: five miles at 1:100

Tunnels

• Shepherd's Well Tunnel: 2376 yds (2138m)
• Sydenham Hill Tunnel: 2200 yds (1980m)

Locomotive Works

• Battersea: the SER works at Ashford took over locomotive building for the joint concern

Rolling stock

The colours of locomotives and carriages were in dark maroon. Locomotive numbers were renumbered from 460 upwards when the joint concern came into being.

1923 Grouping

In 1923 the LCDR and the SER, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) were joined to form the Southern Railway.

References used

• The South Eastern & Chatham Railway (O.S.Nock, Ian Allen Ltd,1961) - particularly for the EKR history
• Railway Year Book 1912 (Railway Publishing Company)
• Railways of the Southern Region (Geoffrey Body, PSL Field Guide, 1989)