Southern Railway (Great Britain)
From Freepedia
The Southern Railway in the United Kingdom was geographically the smallest of the four railway systems created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act 1921. Confined to the south of England, it owned no track north of London. In the area south and south-east of London the Southern Railway was a virtual monopoly, while some of its lines to the south-west were in competition with the Great Western Railway.
Unlike the three other railway systems established by the Grouping (the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway and the Great Western), the Southern Railway was predominantly a passenger railway. Despite its small size it carried more than a quarter of the UK's total passenger traffic: this is because the area covered by the railway included many of the dense commuter lines around London, as well as serving some of the most densely populated part of the country.
During the Second World War, the Southern found itself at the front line. A desperate shortage of freight capacity was remedied by Chief Engineer Oliver Bulleid who designed a remarkable 0-6-0 locomotive, the SR Class Q1, which was the most powerful such engine ever to operate in Britain. Forty of these machines transformed the Southern's ability to haul heavy freight and, in retrospect, the sheer volume of military freight and Allied soldiers moved by this primarily commuter railway was a breathtaking feat.
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Constituent companies
The major constituents of the Southern Railway were:
- The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) route mileage 1020.5 miles (1642 km); and six railways leased or worked by LSWR
- The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) 457.25 miles (736 km); two railways leased or worked by LBSCR; and also the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway
- The combined systems of the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, under the South Eastern & Chatham Railways' Managing Committee (SECR) 637.75 miles (1026 km). These concerns had amalgamated on 1 January 1922.
- In addition there were the three Isle of Wight railways [a total of 55.75 miles (90 km)]; and railways leased or worked by the constituent companies.
Together, the Southern had 2,186 route miles (3518 km).
For the complete list, see List of constituent companies of the Southern Railway
Other assets
- Locomotives: 2390; coaching vehicles: 10,800; freight vehicles: 37,500; electric vehicles 460; rail motor cars: 14
- 38 large turbine or other steamers; and a number of other vessels
- 3.5 miles of canals
- docks, harbours etc at Southampton, Newhaven, Plymouth, Folkestone, Dover, Littlehampton, Whitstable, Strood, Rye, Queenborough, Port Victoria
- ten large hotels
- a large number of London terminus stations, including Waterloo (the largest London station), Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge.
Electrification
The Southern Railway was probably the most innovative of the Big Four companies, and the main evidence of that is its commitment to electrification. Certainly, the intensively used commuter system in a relatively small geographical area made it a natural candidate for electrification - indeed two of its predecessor companies (the LSWR and the LBSCR) had already introduced it for some of their lines in the London area before the grouping. However, the two schemes were incompatible, with the Brighton adopting a 6600 V AC overhead system (very similar to that used by the Midland Railway for their Lancaster to Morecambe trial section). After the Grouping a comparison of the two systems was made and the LSWR's 660V DC third rail standard was adopted for the whole system.
Most of the area immediately south of London was converted, together with the lines to Brighton, Eastbourne and Portsmouth. Only the London suburban part of the former SECR routes were electrified by the Southern Railway. Originally, only electric multiple unit trains were used, but later electric locomotives and electro-diesel hybrids were developed.
Other notes
- Chief Mechanical Engineers of the Southern Railway, responsible for locomotives and rolling stock, were R. E. L. Maunsell from 1922 to 1937, and then O. V. S. Bulleid until nationalisation. Bulleid in particular was an engineering genius, designing the SR Merchant Navy Class, SR West Country Class ("Bulleid Light Pacifics"), the Q1 and the experimental Leader, as well as a host of innovative electrical units and locomotives.
- The first general manager of the Southern Railway was Sir Hebert Walker.
- The Southern Railway adopted a livery dominated by a striking Malachite green colour, often matched with sunshine yellow lining. Stations were painted in green and cream. The post-nationalisation Southern Region of British Railways retained green as its main livery colour, but in a rather more sombre shade.
- The name Southern has been revived as a rebranding of South Central, which operates a significant portion of the former Southern Railway routes to South London, Surrey and Sussex from Victoria and London Bridge.
- The name "Southern Railway" can still be seen above the eastern entrance to Victoria Station.
- The Southern operated a number of famous "named train" services, including the Brighton Belle, the Bournemouth Belle, the Golden Arrow (London-Paris which, for the French part of its route, became the Fleche d'Or), and the Night Ferry (London to Paris and Brussels). Part of its route stretched into Devon and Cornwall (known as the "withered arm"), and this route was dominated by lucrative summer holiday traffic including named trains such as the Cornish Riviera Express.
- Main routes of the Southern Railway include the Brighton main line, Portsmouth Direct Line, South Western Main Line, West of England Main Line, Chatham Main Line, Hastings Line, West Coastway Line, Kent Coast Line and the North Downs Line.
See Also
| The "big four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies: |
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Great Western | London Midland & Scottish | London & North Eastern | Southern |
