Penge East
This station remains
as a fine example of LC&DR architecture at its best, and has stood the test of
time particularly well. Although quintessential railway features of the
Victorian age have long since disappeared, such as mechanical signalling and a
goods yard, Penge East nevertheless retains a bygone charm. The station came
into use on 1st July 1863, when the LC&DR commenced through running between
Beckenham and Victoria via Herne Hill. On the same day, the LB&SCR opened its
own Penge station, which lied seven route miles distant of London Bridge and, as
the crow flies, a mere 550-yards away from the LC&DR site. A station at Penge
had opened with the original London & Croydon Railway on 5th June 1839, but had
closed two years later. LC&DR and LB&SCR stations became ‘’Penge Lane’’ and
‘’Penge Bridges’’ respectively. Penge, a leafy suburb of London yet to be sucked
into the urban sprawl, now had the good fortune of two alternate routes to the
capital.
The LC&DR station was spacious, but the architecture was familiar. On the ‘’up’’
side could be found the main building, a mirror-image, if not marginally larger
version, of that at Sevenoaks Bat & Ball. Yellow brick construction was used
throughout, although arched window frames with red brick and stone lining were
incorporated. This design was a running theme within the company’s subsequent
station builds, and similar architectural features could be found in abundance
on the Otford to Ashford line, via Maidstone. Windows were of the sash-style
type, and the main building sported a splendid downward-sloping forecourt
canopy, 55-feet in length, which matched the profile of the roof. The decidedly
large building included living quarters for the Station Master (as was common at
the time), and the latter even had the luxury of his own garden, immediately
south of the structure.
Two platforms were in use here from the outset, situated either side of a
double-track, and both were hosts to substantial canopies. The latter were each
just over 150-feet in length, comprised intricate timber valances (elements of
which can still be seen today), and were supported upon six iron stanchions. The
permanent way was laid with rails weighing 70 lbs to the yard, fished at the
joints, and rested on cast-iron chairs weighing 22 lbs each. The chairs were
secured to the sleepers by oak trenails with spikes driven through them, 9/16ths
inch in diameter by 5-inches long. The sleepers, half-round, and measuring in
section 10-inches by 5-inches, were placed on average 2-feet 4-inches apart. In
the station’s earliest years, a level crossing existed just beyond the southern
ends of the platforms. This required a crossing keeper, who was provided with
his own house on the ‘’up’’ side, 40-yards south of the main station building.
This was built from the same yellow brick which constituted the platform
structures, featured a slated pitched roof, and also had the luxury of its own
private garden. Passengers had the choice of passing between the platforms by
the crossing or a footbridge, the latter of which, too, was at the southern ends
of the platforms.
A spacious goods yard existed at the northern end of the site, on the ‘’up’’
side. This was host to five sidings that had a trailing connection with the
‘’up’’ main line. Two of these tracks terminated within a substantial brick
goods shed; the enclosed map shows these features, in addition to a pair of
wagon turntables and a sixth siding, perpendicular to the rest. The goods shed
was fabricated from the same yellow brickwork as that found in the main station
building, and sported a splendid canopy running the length of its western
elevation. Across the running lines, on the ‘’down’’ side, could be found a
further pair of sidings, these of which were southward-facing; again, the
enclosed map indicates the position of these. It is likely that these sidings
were controlled by manual levers situated immediately adjacent to the sets of
points. Although the station was host to a signal box from the outset, this was
located at the southern end of the station, on the ‘’down’’ side, and it is
likely that it was there solely to control the level crossing.
By the mid-1880s, the urban sprawl had swallowed up Penge, and significant
housing development had taken place around the station. During this decade, the
station underwent numerous alterations. To the south of the platforms, the
Station Master’s garden and the level crossing were abolished, the platforms
extended, and a new fully enclosed footbridge erected to replace the existing
one. The signal box alongside the crossing was closed, the ‘’down’’ platform
extended over its site, and a brick-built gentlemen’s toilet erected there. A
new, larger signal cabin opened at the northern end of the ‘’down’’ platform.
This was a product of the LC&DR’s favoured signalling contractor, Saxby &
Farmer. It was brick-built throughout, featured a slated hipped roof, and
sliding windows – cabins of the same design also came into use at Gillingham and
Faversham. At this time, the platform canopies received wrap-a-round timber
sides, in effect becoming giant waiting shelters. To the north, minor changes in
the ‘’up’’ side goods yard saw the goods shed lose one of its two tracks. In
spite of this, both wagon turntables were retained. By 1912, these turntables
had disappeared.
Under the Southern Railway, the ex-LC&DR station became ‘’Penge East’’ on 9th
July 1923; the ex-LB&SCR site became ‘’Penge West.’’ Electrification of the
lines from Victoria and Holborn Viaduct, to Orpington via Bickley Junction, took
place during 1925. In conjunction with these works, new platform run-in boards
with prefabricated concrete surrounds (sourced from Exmouth Junction works) were
installed, and the SR’s trademark swan-neck gas lamps came into use. The station
remained in this form for the rest of its SR existence, and changes were not
afoot until after the formation of British Railways. By 1955, the forecourt
canopy had disappeared, but the rest of the site remained completely intact. As
part of the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme, the section of line between Herne
Hill and Beckenham Junction was re-signalled with colour lights. These were
brought into use on 12th April 1959, and thereafter Penge East signal box
switched out of use. The latter was retained to work the goods sidings and could
be brought into use in an emergency, should there be a track circuit failure in
Penge Tunnel. The goods yard was formally closed to traffic on 7th November 1966
and the goods shed flattened; the signal box followed on 25th February 1968. By
1976, four sidings remained in situ at the northern end of the site: three on
the ‘’up’’ side (the remnants of the goods yard), and one on the ‘’down’’ side.
By 1983, just one of these tracks remained, that which ran immediately behind
the ‘’up’’ platform. This was retained for the engineering department.
Penge Tunnel
Penge Tunnel was the second longest on the LC&DR, at 2141-yards; it was bettered
only by Lydden Tunnel, Shepherds Well, at 2369-yards in length. That at Penge
had been excavated through London clay and took the railway under the grounds of
Crystal Palace. The waste clay extracted from the boring operation was used to
manufacture bricks for the tunnel’s lining, a brick-making plant
being established at one of the tunnel's portals. Steam and smoke could escape
through seven ventilation shafts. Two disc signals were installed within the
tunnel: the Sydenham Hill ‘’up’’ distant and the Penge ‘’down’’ distant,
situated 500 yards from western and eastern portals respectively. The tunnel’s
darkness and the smoke from locomotives made these signals very difficult to
see, thus in 1875 one W. R. Sykes installed the world’s first electric signals
at Penge Tunnel. These were in fact the equivalent of today’s Banner Repeater
signals, and could be found at the portals either end of the tunnel, hinged on a
central pivot. Thus, whatever the distant signals within the tunnel were showing
would be repeated by the electric signals at each portal.
Penge: 1894
Ordnance Survey of Penge in 1894. The signal box in the top left portion of this map, marked ''S.B.'' is incorrectly positioned;
it should be located a little further south, at the northern end of the ''down'' platform. In the goods yard can be seen the two
wagon turntables mentioned in the main text, and the perpendicular siding. By this time, just one track entered the goods shed.
19th December 2008
Just passing through: Class 465 No. 465928 has just burst out of Penge Tunnel and is continuing non-stop from
London Victoria to Canterbury East. The signal box was formerly positioned at the end of the platform here,
immediately to the right of the unit. David Glasspool
19th December 2008
The main building has been splendidly restored, complete with a newly slated roof. The structure is a mirror
image of that which still exists at Sevenoaks Bat & Ball. Similar architectural features can still be seen in
abundance along the Swanley to Ashford line, via Maidstone East. David Glasspool
19th December 2008
A southerly view shows that the canopies have retained their original lengths, but that the valances have been
cut back. The wrap-a-round nature of the canopies can be appreciated in this photograph, making them appear
like giant waiting shelters. David Glasspool
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