Longhedge Railway Works was a locomotive and carriage works built by the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...

in the borough of

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

, South

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to serve their new London terminus at

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The facility existed between 1862 until the mid-1950s.

History

Construction

In 1860 the directors of the

decided to purchase of land, formerly part of the Long Hedge farm in Battersea, to establish their new locomotive works and motive power depot. The site was on the south side of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

main line at

Stewarts Lane 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 ...

. By February 1862 an erecting shop for twelve locomotives, and a running shed for 26 locomotives had been completed, and by the end of the year a carriage works was also completed on the site. Further extensions were made in 1875/6 and 1880/1.

Activities

The new works was initially used by the locomotive superintendent

William Martley William Martley (4 January 1824 – 6 February 1874) was the locomotive superintendent of the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in England from 1860 until his death. Biography William was born in Ballyfallon, in County Meath, Ireland, in 1 ...

for the repair and rebuilding of the existing locomotive stock, with new locomotives obtained from outside contractors. However, in 1869 he began the construction of three new ''

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

'' class 2-4-0 locomotives there. However, it was not until the appointment of William Kirtley as locomotive superintendent in 1876 that the works were again used for new construction with further examples of Martley's ''

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliff ...

'' class 2-4-0 locomotives, Kirtley's own T class 0-6-0T and his M1, M2 and M3 class

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

express passenger locomotives. Following Kirtley's retirement in 1898 on the formation of the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...

, Ashford became the major locomotive works for the new company, but the new Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Superintendent H. S. Wainwright used Longhedge works for the construction of some examples of his SECR C class

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

freight locomotives in 1902–04. Thereafter the works was used for heavy repairs until 1911, when much of the equipment and machinery was transferred to Ashford, leaving only the capacity to undertake light repairs associated with the adjoining

motive power depot.

The site today

After the creation of the Southern Railway in 1923, the nearby Battersea depot of the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

was closed and Stewarts Lane grew to become the largest steam motive power depot of the system. Most of the buildings of Longhedge works were demolished in 1957 to make way for a new depot for servicing electric trains. The site is now occupied by the Stewarts Lane Traction Maintenance Depot.

References

* Bradley, D.L., (1979) ''The locomotive history of the London Chatham and Dover Railway,'' Railway Correspondence & Travel Society {{coord , 51, 28, 21, N, 0, 8, 37, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Railway workshops in Great Britain London, Chatham and Dover Railway History of rail transport in London Transport in the London Borough of Wandsworth Buildings and structures in Battersea 1862 establishments in England