Swanley Junction
The LC&DR commenced
through running between Victoria and Canterbury on 3rd December 1860, but a
station at Swanley was a later addition. Before the arrival of the LC&DR, the
area was non-descript and rural, like so many places prior to receiving any form
of rail connection – simply flowing fields and farmland. The village of ‘’Swanley’’
(now known as ‘’Swanley Village’’) was, however, in existence, with a small
number of inhabitants, and resided ¼-mile north of the line. It was the advent
of the independent ‘’Sevenoaks Railway’’ in 1859 that prompted proposals for a
station in the area. The company had been formed by an Act of Parliament to
construct an appendix off the LC&DR’s main line (which had, at that time, yet to
be fully completed), to Sevenoaks. The line came into use on 2nd June 1862, and
trains worked through to a station on the market town’s outskirts, at Sevenoaks
Bat & Ball – opposition from local landowners had prevented the company from
establishing a more convenient site. As part of the Sevenoaks line project, the
LC&DR commenced construction of a large station at the junction between the
branch and the main lines, but the building work was still in progress when the
first scheduled services commenced to Bat & Ball. As a consequence, the station
came into use a month later, on 1st July 1862. It was known as ‘’Sevenoaks
Junction’’ from the outset, and resided over a mile west of Swanley Village.
The station was constructed beyond the junction, which saw the provision of four
platform faces: two for the straight-running main line, and a pair for the
curving double-track of the Sevenoaks branch. The advantage of this layout, over
one with the station positioned before the divergence of lines, was that it kept
branch line services out of the paths of non-stop trains. The main building here
was an unassuming one, positioned upon the central triangular platform surface
in-between the diverging routes. Single-storey, it was constituted of the
LC&DR’s favoured crème brick, which was used extensively in the construction of
those stations along the company’s trunk line to Dover. Complete with a slated
pitched-roof, the building tapered at its London end, following the triangular
nature of the platforms. Adjacent to its London elevation was an independent
brick-built block, featuring a sloping corrugated roof, which housed toilet
facilities. Upon the ‘’up’’ main line and ‘’down’’ branch line platforms, there
was no form of platform weather protection – the entire station was devoid of
proper canopies. However, those passengers on the outer-most platform surfaces
were fortunate, for timber waiting shelters were provided, complete with
wrap-a-round sides. These were essentially based on the same design as those
shelters which emerged at Sevenoaks Bat & Ball and Eynsford stations. In
addition to lacking canopies, the station was also without a footbridge, and all
platforms were linked at their London ends by track foot crossings.
Nevertheless, the Station Master had the luxury of a spacious two-storey house,
located upon the hill to the east of the station.
The Junction station’s goods facilities were established around the departing
Sevenoaks line, and were separated from the station by a road bridge. Three
sidings were laid along the ‘’down’’ side: two of these were eastward-facing,
linked with each other at their London ends by a pair of wagon turntables. The
northern-most siding passed through a pitched-roof, brick-built goods shed, and
this track also provided a headshunt for the third, westward-facing siding. On
the ‘’up’’ side of the branch tracks existed a single westward-facing refuge
siding; for branch line trains, a 44-foot 8-inch locomotive turntable was
provided. A water supply for locomotives came in the form of a three-storey-high
water tower, positioned at the ‘’country’’ end of the ‘’down’’ branch line
platform, complete with water columns.
On New Years Day 1871, the station became ‘’Swanley Junction’’. It appears that
around the time of service extension along the original Sevenoaks line to
Ashford in 1884 (the spur to Maidstone having been commissioned ten years
earlier), Saxby & Farmer was contracted to re-signal the layout, involving the
erection of two signal boxes. The first cabin was built at the London end of the
‘’down’’ platform, to a design identical to that which can be seen on the
Westgate-on-Sea
pages. This signal box controlled the junction; the second was erected alongside
the incoming Sevenoaks line, beyond the road bridge, to control the goods yard
layout. Further – and significant – changes were enacted under SE&CR auspices,
as the company strived to improve station facilities. In about 1905, a two-span
lattice footbridge was erected across the London ends of the platforms, crossing
all four tracks and superseding the track foot crossings. Towards the end of the
19th Century, the Board of Trade began implementing more stringent safety
criteria, which included the replacement of track foot crossings at a number of
locations, particularly those upon busy sections of line. The footbridge was
unusual, for the lattice pattern which was suspended above the branch tracks was
of the design still found today at
Kearsney, whilst that above the main line
tracks was more akin to the footbridge in use at
Sole Street. The track foot
crossings remained in existence here for use by staff. Shortly before World
War I, the main station building became host to a copious canopy, surrounding
all sides except the eastern elevation. This protected both ‘’up’’ main line and
‘’down’’ branch line platform faces; the building’s road approach elevation was
fitted with an independent porch canopy. A roof was also installed upon both
spans of the footbridge at this time, including the staircases.
Goods facilities were also enhanced by the SE&CR: an additional eastward-facing
siding was laid north of the goods shed, on the ‘’down’’ side of the Sevenoaks
line. Coal staithes were brought into use behind the goods shed, and a further
refuge siding was commissioned. The latter was sandwiched in-between the end
of the ‘’down’’ branch platform and the road bridge.
Changes under the Southern Railway began with the installation of swan neck
lampposts upon the platform surfaces, complete with target name signs. As part
of the company’s endeavour to electrify the ex-SE&CR suburban network, third
rail was extended along the ‘’Chatham’’ main line from Bickley to Swanley, and
subsequently taken down the Bat & Ball branch, to join up with the
electrification of the Tonbridge Cut-Off Line at Tubs Hill. Scheduled electric
operation to Sevenoaks, via both routes, commenced on 6th January 1935. The SR later planned an
extension of this scheme, for implementation in 1939, taking third rail beyond
Swanley, to the end of what was considered the suburban operating area, at
Gillingham. A new electric timetable for the route was based on splitting fast
services from London at Swanley Junction, respective halves of the original
formation dividing for Gillingham and the Sevenoaks route. Indeed, the reverse
would also occur, these separate portions once again joining at Swanley for the
run back to London. Issues of practicality were, however, raised, since the
existing station was positioned beyond the junction. Therefore, a two-coupled
unit formation would have to divide seemingly in limbo, before reaching the
platforms, blocking the main running lines in the process. As a result,
excavation work began in 1938 to widen the railway cutting to the west of the
existing station, before the junction, to accommodate a completely new layout
comprising two island platforms serving four tracks. The new layout came
complete with its own SR-designed ‘’glasshouse’’ signal box, which took over
from the existing Junction station’s Saxby & Farmer cabin on 31st May 1939; the
goods yard’s signal box had previously closed on 19th of the same month. The new
station, named plain ‘’Swanley’’, came into use on the commencement of electric
services to both Gillingham and Maidstone, on 2nd July 1939, replacing the
existing Junction station (which had also been known just as ''Swanley'' from
16th April 1939 onwards). Subsequent demolitions at the Junction station site left the
main station building, water tower (complete with tank), and ‘’up’’ main line
platform face intact, and these remained in existence for another quarter of a
decade.
SE&CR: Circa 1905
An eastward view from the recently-completed footbridge (without roof) shows the Sevenoaks branch curving
off to the right, with the dead-straight main line on the left. Beyond the three-arched road bridge to the right,
in the background, can be seen covered wagons, stabled in the goods yard. This overview of the station clearly
shows the pitched-roof tapered station building, complete with separate flat-roofed toilet block in front. To the
right of the chimneystacks can be seen the three-storey-high water tower, whilst to their immediate left can be
deciphered the Station Master's house, upon the hill. Courtesy of Tom Burnham
12th July 2008
A westward view shows that an approach road to the former Swanley Junction station site still exists, for use
by Permanent Way staff. Not a brick remains of the platforms, and their sites have now returned to nature.
David Glasspool
12th July 2008
The goods yard once attributed to the original Swanley Junction station is still in existence, on the ''down''
side of the departing Bat & Ball route. Two sidings remain, and these have been absorbed into a training
compound for ''Westinghouse Rail Systems''. David Glasspool
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