IMAGE GALLERY – SOUTH EASTERN & CHATHAM RAILWAY SOCIETY

Presented here are a selection of images in albums. Some are from Society’s collection and some are from individual members collections.

The South Eastern & Chatham Railway
in Colour Postcards

Hastings Express Train near West St. Leonards

SECR E Class 516 passing Elmstead Wood with a Boat Train

Boat Train Nearing Sandling Junction

Sandling Junction Station

SECR E Class No. 516

SECR G Class Express Passenger Engine

Hastings Station

SECR H Class No. 541 Locomotive

Folkestone Warren & Dover Cliffs

Steam Rail Car

SECR D Class No. 736 with the Dover Boat Express Train

SECR E Class No. 165 with the Folkestone Express

SECR D Class No. 145 Hastings Car Train

Cannon Street Station

SECR D Class No. 470 at Shakespeare Cliff

Bexhill Station Departure Platform

Special Boat Express nearing Orpington

Charing Cross Station

SECR E Class No. 497

Bexhill Station

This album contains Colour Postcards of stations, locomotive and rolling stock found across the SECR. Most would have originated as black & white photographs and been hand-coloured by an artist to match the original view.

The South Eastern Railway

SER Cudworth Class E No. 113 at Dover

SER Early O Class with goods train at Grove Park

SER F Class with train passing Grove Park B Signal Box

SER F Class at Dover Harbour

SER F Class leaving the south portal of Polhill Tunnel

SER F Class No. 133

SER F Class No. 240 at Grove Park

SER F Class No. 240

SER F Class No. 240 at Bromley. The railwaymen include Station staff, Head Guard, Driver, Under Guard and Fireman

SER F Class No. 206 at Grove Park

SER ‘Ironclad’ 2-4-0 at Grove Park Station with a train of mixed carriages

SER Q Class with a train of close-coupled bogie carriages

SER Q Class No. 239

SER Q Class No. 399

This album showcases the work of F. A. Roberts, an accomplished amateur photographer who lived in a large house called Rosenberg in Beckenham, Kent, and may have worked for the government. In 1998 the Society acquired the Roberts Collection as over a dozen boxes of plate glass negatives. Several of these photographs have since been published in Railway Archive by Lightmoor Press and in the SECR Centenary Album.

The London, Chatham & Dover Railway

LCDR A Class No. 106 0-4-4T built by Neilson & Co and delivered in 1875

LCDR Adrian Class – Constantine. Built by J Fowler & Co. and delivered in October 1866

LCDR M Class No. 158 built by Neilson & Co and entered service in June 1877

Canterbury Station on formation of SECR in 1899 the suffix of East was added

Chatham Station from a view point above Fort Pitt tunnel

Crystal Palace looking north to the mouth of Paxton Tunnel

Darenth Valley Viaduct designed by Joseph Cubbitt and opened for traffic in 1860

Dover Priory with a northward view through the arches of Folkestone Road bridge

Faversham Station as rebuilt in 1899 to give four platform faces

Holborn Viaduct was the City terminus of the LCDR opened in 1874

LCDR Medway Bridge

Maidstone East Station looking east towards Week Street tunnel

Ramsgate Harbour opened in 1863 and closed in 1924

Sevenoaks Bat & Ball with a view showing the 1869 station building

Sheerness Dockyard Station

St. Pauls opened in 1886. Renamed Blackfriars by SR in 1937

Victoria Station the West End terminus of the LCDR opened in 1862

Many of the images in this album first appeared in G. A. Sekon’s History of the LCDR, published in fourteen parts in Railway & Travel Monthly starting in 1919. Sekon used photographs that were contemporary to the time of publication to illustrate his work. By a series of fortunate coincidences, the original plate-glass negatives were rescued and are now held by the Society.

The Southern Railway Years

SR C Class No. 1242 at Ramsgate on 29th April 1932

SR C Class No. 1721 at Maidstone with Victoria to Maidstone East train on 29th June 1935

SR D Class No. 1740 at Tonbridge on 21st May 1939

SR D1 Class No. A735 at Victoria Station

SR E1 Class No. 1179 at Herne Hill with the down train to Ramsgate

SR E1 Class No. 1497 at Beckenham Junction

E1 Class No. A19 passing Brixton with 3.10 pm to Ramsgate in the Summer of 1929

SR F1 Class No. 1028 at Redhill on 18th June 1932

SR H Class No. 1500 and crew

SR L Class engines at Charing Cross in the Summer of 1929

SR L Class No. 1762 with the down Hastings Excursion passing Petts Wood

SR L Class No. 1780 at Dover on 29th April 1934

SR L1 Class No. 1758 & F1 Class Locomotive outside Dover Marine Station

SR L1 Class No. 1753 with the Victoria to Dover train passing Beckenham Junction

SR L1 Class No. 1754 at Dover of 3rd May 1936

SR L1 Class No. 1786 at Ramsgate in July 1939

SR O1 Class passing Petts Wood with the Sevenoaks Excursion train in 1934

SR R Class No. A336 at Ashford

This album presents a selection of photographs taken by renowned amateur photographer S. A. W. Harvey between 1929 and 1939.

SECR In Preservation

P Class No. 27 at Blubell Railway. Courtesy of Tony Riley

C Class No. 592 at Horsted Keynes in May 2015

SECR No. 3360, originally LCDR brake 2nd and rebuilt as a wheelchair-accessible semi-saloon

H Class No. 263 with a train of vintage stock in October 2015

SECR Birdcage 2nd/3rd Brake No.1061, Bluebell Railway in September 1964. Courtesy of Tony Riley

LCDR No.48 – SECR No.2781 6-wheel Brake 2nd – later 3rd. On the Bluebell Railway in August 1972

SECR Birdcage No.1061 on the Bluebell Railway in August 1972. Courtesy of Tony Riley

LCDR Horsebox on the Bluebell railway in 2008. Sadly in 2010 the timber body of the box was completely destroyed by fire

SECR 12 Ton 7-plank Open Goods Wagon No. 16194 in May 2008

SECR 12 Ton Covered Goods Van No. 15750 in May 2008

C Class No. 592 Sheffield Park 25 April 2015

H Class at Robertsbridge in July 1965. Courtesy of the Peter Tangye collection

C Class No. 592 with Birdcage carriage stock in December 2015

H Class 263 with a vintage carriage stock train in October 2015

H Class No. 263 at Horsted Keynes in August 2015

P Class No.178 & H Class No. 263 at East Grinstead on 14th June 2013

P Class 178 at Sheffield Park in April 2015

P Class 323 in Bluebell Railway livery

P Class No. 753 at Tenterden Town Station

Side Tank of P Class No. 27 in War Time ROD livery

South Eastern & Chatham Railway enthusiasts are fortunate that many SECR locomotives and items of rolling stock survive in preservation. The Bluebell Railway in Sussex is home to a large number of them, and most of the photographs in this album were taken there. Additional stock is stored on site for future restoration.