Beginnings
During the Napoleonic Wars, there had been concern about the safety of shipping traffic approaching London from the west (via the English Channel), and a number of canal schemes were put forward. At the same time, much of the packet traffic—urgent messages and small packages from and to foreign locations—used Falmouth as its port of entry and exit, and it was conveyed to and from London by road: a slow and inconvenient journey.Hugh Howes, ''The Struggle for the Cornwall Railway—Fated Decisions'', Twelveheads Press, Truro, 2012, An early proposal for a railway came from Robert Johnson and Abel Rous Dottin, member of parliament for Southampton. A prospectus was published''Prospectus. Southampton, London and Branch Rail-Way Company'' published in the Hampshire Advertiser, 23 October 1830, reproduced in Williams on 23 October 1830 gave support to the proposals. A private meeting of interested parties was held on 26 February 1831, and a committee of investigation was appointed, and £400 voted for initial expenses, and the services ofThe Bristol branch defeated
The route took a northerly curve through Basingstoke; this was to be the launching point for the branch to Bath and Bristol via Newbury and Devizes, for which authority was still to be sought. Considerable support had been generated for this line, even from the South of Ireland, and Parliamentary authority was sought in the 1835 session. However, the Great Western Railway (GWR) had also formed a proposal in the same session for its line between London and Bristol, and the two schemes were in direct opposition. Each side fiercely criticised the plans of the other side, and numerous expert witnesses were called. The Committee stage lasted 46 days, but at the end Parliament found for the Great Western scheme, the Royal Assent being granted on 31 August 1835, and the London and Southampton Railway's branch to Bristol was no more.Williams, chapter 3 Considerable fierce enmity was generated between the two companies during the parliamentary battle, and MacDermot, writing from the GWR point of view, says that "This was the beginning of a long and bitter hostility to their (the L&SR's) great neighbour."E T MacDermot, ''History of the Great Western Railway'', vol I part I, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927Construction
Construction started on 6 October 1834, with Francis Giles as engineer. His method was to employ a number of small contractors working concurrently, the railway company supplying the materials. Fay states that the contractors completed the easier parts of the work first and then demanded higher prices for the more difficult parts. Giles was subject to heavy criticism for the slow progress resulting from this cause, and for his serious underestimation of the cost of construction in general. He was effectively managing the host of small contractors—by now considered to be an unsatisfactory method of pursuing the works—but at the same time he was also acting as engineer for the Southampton Docks Bill and surveying a line from Bishopstoke to Portsmouth. Dissatisfaction with the rate of progress led to an inspection by a committee of the Lancashire shareholders. During the course of discussions, it became evident that not only were costs overrunning the original estimates, but that revised estimates, both of cost and of potential income, submitted by Giles were unreliable. The directors wished to raise an additional £500,000 but it was plain that the Lancashire shareholders would not agree to this while Giles remained in place. Giles was invited to resign, which he did effective on 13 January 1837. The directors needed urgently to dispel doubt about the income of the company, and three men acquainted with the estimation of traffic were asked to submit forecasts. One of these was William James Chaplin, who had an extensive road coach business. His forecast was particularly favoured, so the directors appointed him on 26 April 1837. Chaplin's steady business acumen proved a great asset to the company, and he was appointed temporary deputy chairman for two weeks in 1840 after the resignation of Easthope until Garnett took over.Williams, page 216Opening
On 12 May 1838, a party of directors and others made an experimental trip from Nine Elms to Woking Common. That portion of the line was opened to passengers "without any special demonstration" on 21 May 1838, with five passenger trains running each way daily, and four on Sundays. Fares were 5s 0d first class and 3s 6d second class for the 23 miles. The 23 miles from Woking Common to nine Elms were covered in 57 minutes.''The Mechanics Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal and Gazette'', 9 June 1838, page 146 Woking only had one platform at first.Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, ''Woking to Southampton'', Middleton Press, Midhurst, 1988, Epsom races were held in the second week of operation, and the Company advertised the intention of running eight trains to Kingston on Derby Day. That morninga crowd of about 5,000 persons was found at the station gates. Several trains were despatched but still the throng increased, till at length the doors were carried off their hinges, and amid the shrieks of the female portion of their number, the mob broke over the booking counter, leaped through the windows, invaded the platform and rushed pell mell into a train chartered by a private party. Finding resistance useless, the officials sent for the Metropolitan Police, and at twelve o'clock a notice was posted on the booking office window announcing that no more trains would run that day.By the end of the first twelve weeks, receipts had totalled £11,059 12s 3d for the carriage of 93,795 passengers; no goods had been carried at this stage. Working expenses were about 59% of receipts, considerably more than had been forecast. On 24 September 1838, the line was opened as far as Shapley Heath (now Winchfield) "which had the effect of bringing the majority of the coaches running to the south west and west of England to that station". Then on 10 June 1839, the line was formally opened from Shapley Heath to Basingstoke and from Winchester to Northam Road, just short of the Southampton terminus. Road coaches plied over the gap between Basingstoke and Winchester, and the throughout journey occupied five hours. At this stage the Archdeacon and Prebendary of Winchester wrote to the Company complaining about the operation of trains on Sundays, contrary to Scripture. The Chairman, John Easthope sent a forthright and carefully reasoned reply, bringing the issue swiftly to a close. The final sections, the difficult (in engineering construction terms) section from Basingstoke to Winchester, and the short extension to the Southampton terminus, were opened on 11 May 1840. A train conveyed the Directors from Nine Elms and arrived in Southampton three hours later, being received there by a salute of 21 guns. Its construction had cost more than the original estimates; in January 1832, the declared estimates amounted to £1,033,414, but the financial reconstruction arising from the November 1836 revision used £1,507,753; the outturn was somewhat above this figure at £1,551,914:Company Report and Accounts dated 25 February 1843, quoted in Williams, page 42 :
Expansion and name change
In 1839, the year prior to opening, a proposed branch line to serve Portsmouth had failed in Parliament. Portsmouth interests asked the L&SR to promote a branch line to serve their city, and this was agreed to. As Portsmouth considered Southampton a rival port, the name of the London & Southampton Railway was objectionable, however, and to overcome this difficulty the L&SR determined to change its name to the ''London and South Western Railway''. The Bill for the branch line passed in Parliament and the name change was ratified under Section 2 of the same Act, taking effect on 4 June 1839.''An Act to amend the Acts relating to the London and Southampton Railway Company, hereafter to be called the "London and South-western Railway Company" and to make a branch railway to the port of Portsmouth'', 2 & 3 Victoria, cap xxvii, given the Royal Assent on 4 June 1839.The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 & 3 Victoria, 1839, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1839Williams, Volume 1, page 122 The branch was to run from Bishopstoke (later Eastleigh) to Gosport, giving a ferry connection to Portsmouth.Technical and operational matters at opening
Nine Elms Station
The fine building frontage designed by Tite included offices; Wishaw described the station: The locomotives used coke rather than coal; coke was considered to emit less smoke, and the company made its own coke at Nine Elms. Whishaw describes the plant in some detail.Francis Whishaw, ''The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland practically described and illustrated'', 1840 reprinted 1969, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Although the Thames-side location was convenient for wharfage, the location was never intended as a permanent London passenger terminal; an extension was contemplated in 1836 (and was decided upon in 1844). For the time being,Passengers
The practice of dealing with passengers was inherited from road coach and cart operation. Intending passengers were issued with a paper ticket filled in by hand. Carriages were not lit, and second class carriages were "sideless". Third class passengers were carried from the opening of the whole line, in open trucks attached to goods trains. First class coaches had three compartments each; they were very low and narrow, "travellers' knees were pressed uncomfortably hard against those of their opposite neighbour". Second class was equally cramped, and the seat was a bare board; the second class carriages were open to the weather on either side. Luggage was carried on the roof of first class carriages, and in boots underneath the seats, opening from the outside, in the case of second. "A frame work with seats, fitted on the bed of a carriage truck, constituted the vehicle in which third class passengers travelled in those days ; the frame work was removed upon the truck being required for its ordinary purpose."Goods
When goods traffic commenced, the wagons were attached to the last passenger train of the day, but when the line was opened to Basingstoke a dedicated goods train was run. The guard travelled in a vehicle called a Noah's Ark, in which sundries and parcels were carried. The drawgear had no springing, and starting a heavy train was usually achieved by setting back on to a scotch, so as to slacken all the couplings, and then to start forward.Operating
Up trains arriving at Nine Elms stopped before entering the station and the locomotive was detached; the train was then roped into the station. At this early date, a primitive form of time interval system was used: a train might not proceed until the preceding train was "well out of sight". The first accident was on 13 June 1840 when an engine ran into a train at Farnborough.Locomotives
Locke, as engineer to the Company, was responsible for the locomotives. His experience on thePermanent way
The gauge of the track was . The first rails ordered were of a flat-bottom wrought iron design, deep, and "of parallel form" as opposed to the fish-bellied pattern that had been popular previously. They were long. Kyanised half-round timberFactual summary
Opening of the line
* Nine Elms to Woking: 21 May 1838 * Woking to Shapley Heath: 24 September 1838 * Shapley Heath to Basingstoke: 10 June 1839 * Basingstoke to Winchester: 11 May 1840. * Winchester to Northam Road: 10 June 1839 * Northam Road to Southampton: 11 May 1840Stations
The stations on the line at the time of opening were: * Nine Elms; the London terminus close to the south bank of the River Thames, on Nine Elms Lane a short distance west of the junction with Wandsworth Road; later closed on 11 July 1848 when the extension to Waterloo was opened * Wandsworth; later renamed Clapham Common, on the northern margin of Wandsworth Common, about half a mile west of the presentTunnels
Tunnels on the line were at: * Litchfield, long * Popham no 1, * Popham no 2, * Wallers Ash,Notes
References
H P White, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain—Volume 2—Southern England'', Phoenix House Ltd, London, 1961, pages 110 - 116. {{Authority control History of rail transport in Great Britain