Thames Haven Railway The by Peter Kay 1999 soft cover stapled
The Thames Haven Railway Essex Branch Line and London Shipping Link 1835-1996 by Peter Kay
Soft Cover, Stapled
Pages 75
Copyright 1999
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Bright The Vision The Promotion of the Thames Haven Dock and Railway
Company (1835-1839)5
CHAPTER TWO
An Unlikely Survivor: The Thames Haven Dock and Railway Company 1839-185013
CHAPTER THREE
An Unlikely Success: The Building of the Thames Haven Branch and Sale of the Line
to the LT&S (1850-1861)19
CHAPTER FOUR
Thames Haven for Margate: Passenger Services 1855-188024
CHAPTER FIVE
Cattle and Sheep (1864-1895)27
CHAPTER SIX
Thames Haven Station and Pier31
CHAPTER SEVEN
Petroleum and Explosives: The Private Sidings 1878-193939
CHAPTER EIGHT
Goods Train Working 1855-194745
CHAPTER NINE
The Workmen's Train Service (1923-1958)49
CHAPTER TEN
The Oil Boom Years (1948-1993)56
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Signalling and Operating 1855-199664
The Thames Haven line is perhaps the least-known public railway in the eastern counties. Probably regarded by many as a mere glorified oil siding of latterday growth, it actually goes back to the very dawn of railway promotion in the region, the company's Act being obtained in the same year (1836) as the Eastern Counties and the London & Blackwall. It was a 'first generation' railway in every way; the brainchild of a man who spent his career in the navy against Napoleon, it was wholly shipping-related in its intended purposes, meant to serve as London's fish and coal supply route and for taking passengers to Kent. The real perceptiveness of the THD&R Co's promoters was in noticing the site's suitability for deepwater wharfage if a rail link from London were provided. The line's eventual success came from a product, oil, that had yet to be discovered at the time of its promotion, and, perversely, from the fact that it was situated so far from any human habitation, the very type of site that the oilmen were looking for. Again, the real 'boom' enjoyed by the branch in the 1950s-1980s period was essentially the result of the rise of road transport which was having such negative impacts on the rest of the British railway system. In 1842 the THD&R Co was mocked for its claims that the line would produce a larger dividend 'than any other railway in the Kingdom'; if it had still been an independent company in the 1960s this seemingly-laughable prophecy could perhaps have been proved correct. In 1999 however the oil industry here is in decline, and it would be a rash gambler who placed any money on what the next century will hold for such a line!
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