Chattenden and Upnor Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Chattenden and Upnor Railway (later known as the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway) was a narrow gauge railway serving the military barracks and depot at Upnor

Upnor

Lower Upnor and Upper Upnor are two small villages in Medway, Kent, England. They are in the parish of Frindsbury Extra on the western bank of the River Medway...

and associated munitions and training depots. It was built in 1873 as a gauge railway, converted to gauge around 1885 and continued in use until 1961.

History

The Chattenden and Upnor Railway was originally laid in 1873 to gauge, as a training exercise for the Royal School of Military Engineering

Royal School of Military Engineering

The Royal School of Military Engineering is the main training establishment for the British Army's Royal Engineers. After they have successfully completed their Phase 1 - Basic Soldier Training, members of the Corps of Royal Engineers attend 3 RSME, at Minley for Phase 2a - Combat Engineering...

which was then based at Chattenden

Chattenden

Chattenden is a small village in Hoo Parish, in Medway in Kent, UK. It lies to the north of the A228 and the village of Wainscott, at the top of Four Elms Hill.Chattenden means 'Forest Settlement' from the elements ceto and ham dun...

. The line ran from Pontoon Hard by the River Medway

River Medway

The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

and climbed steeply towards Chattenden. A spur lead from Church Crossing to the Upnor Depot of the Royal Engineers and until 1895 a branch ran from Chattenden to Hoo

Hoo

Hoo is used in placenames in the east of England to indicate coastal peninsulas and promontories. It appears in:* Fort Hoo, a fort on an island in the River Medway, Kent* Hoo St Werburgh and Cliffe-at-Hoo on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent* Hoo, Suffolk...

.

In 1885 the railway was relaid and converted to gauge by the 8th. Railway Company of the Royal Engineers who managed the line. In 1891 the Admiralty took over Upnor Depot to use as a gun and ammunition store. Another armaments depot was constructed at Lodge Hill, north of Chattenden which was also served by the railway. In 1905 the entire Chattenden enclosure was taken over by the Navy, and in 1906 the railway was also taken over by the Navy and renamed the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway. The Navy extended the line to connect with the standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

branch from Sharnal Street

Sharnal Street railway station

Sharnal Street station was a railway station between High Halstow Halt and Beluncle Halt on the Hundred of Hoo Railway. It was opened on 1 April 1882 and closed to passengers on 4 December 1961 and freight on 20 August 1962. It originally only had one platform, a second platform was built in 1935...

on the South Eastern & Chatham Railway's Hundred of Hoo

Hundred of Hoo Railway

The Hundred of Hoo Railway is a railway line in Kent, England, following the North Kent Line from Gravesend before diverging at Hoo Junction near Shorne Marshes and continuing in an easterly direction across the Hoo Peninsula, passing near the villages of Cooling, High Halstow, Cliffe and Stoke...

branch.

The railway saw intensive use during the Second World War, but use declined after the end of hostilities and the railway closed in 1961.

Locomotives

Name/Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
Sulphur	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	0-4-2T	1885	405	Sold for scrap by 1931
Carbon	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	0-4-2T	1886	404	Scrapped by 1931
Cheshire	W.G. Bagnall W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...	0-4-2T	1890	1260	ex-War Department War Department (UK) The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office... , Crewe Crewe Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683... . Sold for scrap 1931 or 1932
Lancashire	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	0-4-4T	1891	462	Sold for scrap by 1932
Cumberland	Lowca Engine Company Tulk and Ley Tulk and Ley was a 19th century iron mining company in west Cumbria which also ran an engineering works at Lowca near Whitehaven.-Overview:Established on the Lowca site in 1800 as "Heslops, Milward, Johnston & Co."- the engineering and ironfounding expertise coming from the brothers Adam, Thomas &...	0-4-2T	1893	220	Scrapped by 1904
Eardley Wilmot	W.G. Bagnall W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...	0-6-0T	1897	1513	ex-War Department War Department (UK) The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office... , South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... , 1901. Scrapped by 1904
Bagnall	W.G. Bagnall W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...	0-6-0ST	1897	1514	ex-War Department War Department (UK) The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office... , South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... , 1901. Scrapped 1931 or 1932
Kitchener	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	0-6-2T	1902	711	ex-War Department War Department (UK) The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office... , Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... . To Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional... for scrap 1948; scrapped 1954.
Yorkshire	John Fowler John Fowler John Fowler was a Jeffersonian Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Kentucky in the United States Congress....	0-4-4T	before 1897	5350	Scrapped 1931.
Pioneer	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	2-6-2PT	1904	757	To War Department War Department (UK) The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office... , Woolmer Instructional Military Railway, 1905
Ascension	Avonside Engine Company Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.-Origins:...	0-4-2T	1904	1480	To Admiralty Admiralty The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy... , Hoo Ness, by 1928.
Fisher	Dick Kerr and Company Dick, Kerr & Co. Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, England.-Early history:Having previously been known as W.B.Dick and Company the company had built all kinds of tramway equipment and rolling stock. From 1883 the company joined with John Kerr...	0-6-2T	1915	13996	Scrapped 1954
Chevalier	Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,...	0-6-2T	1915	1677	Sold to the Bowaters Paper Railway Bowaters Paper Railway The Bowaters Paper Railway was a gauge narrow gauge industrial railway. It had the distinction of being the last steam-operated industrial narrow gauge railway in Britain when it closed in 1969.-History:... in 1950, subsequently sold to the Great Whipsnade Railway Great Whipsnade Railway The Great Whipsnade Railway, also known as The Jumbo Express, is a gauge narrow gauge heritage railway that operates within Whipsnade Zoo.-Overview:...
Burnett Hall	Avonside Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.-Origins:...	0-4-2T	1933	2070	Scrapped 1956
Norbury	Peckett Peckett and Sons Peckett and Sons was a locomotive manufacturer at the Atlas Works in St. George, Bristol, England.-Fox, Walker and Company:The company began trading in 1864 at the Atlas Engine Works, St. George, Bristol, as Fox, Walker and Company, building four and six-coupled saddle tank engines for industrial use...	0-4-2T	1934	1868	Scrapped 1955
	Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...	6wDM	1946	3301
	Drewry Drewry -People:* Arthur Drewry* George Leslie Drewry* James Sidney Drewry, British engineer-Places:* Drewry’s Bluff* Drewry Point Provincial Park* Drewry, North Carolina in Vance County, North Carolina-Companies:* Drewry's Beer* Drewry Car Co....	6wDM	1949	2263	Sold to the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool via Castle Caereinion to the village of Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is .... in 1968 and named Chattenden
	Hibberd Planet F. C. Hibberd & Co Ltd F. C. Hibberd & Co Ltd was a British locomotive-building company founded in 1927 to build industrial petrol and diesel locomotives. In 1932 the company acquired the goodwill of James and Frederick Howard Ltd...	4wDM	1954	3687	Sold to the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool via Castle Caereinion to the village of Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is .... in 1961, named Upnor Castle, sold to the Ffestiniog Railway Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.... and regauged to
89	Greenwood & Batley Greenwood & Batley Greenwood & Batley were a large engineering manufacturer with a wide range of products, including armaments, electrical engineering, and printing and milling machinery. They also produced a range of battery-electric railway locomotives under the brand name Greenbat...	BE			Used for shunting ammunition wagons

History

Locomotives

See also