Dartford

The coming of the railway to Dartford can be traced back to 1833 when a concern known as the ''London & Greenwich Railway'' was established for the building of a 3½ mile line upon viaducts between London Bridge and Greenwich. The initial concept was to have extended this route all the way to the Kent Coast at Dover, whilst passing through important towns on the Thames estuary such as Dartford and Gravesend, thence onto the Medway town of Rochester. The then new 3½ mile section was fully completed in 1836 and opened on the 14th December of that year by the Lord Mayor, but the extension plans to Dover did not come to fruition after this. Interestingly, in the very same year of the London & Greenwich's formation, the renowned steam engine pioneer Richard Trevithick died on 22nd April in Dartford. He was subsequently buried in the graveyard on East Hill, the land of which is above Holy Trinity Church and the main town centre. In 1843 the South Eastern Railway had completed the construction of its then new line from Reigate Junction (now called Redhill) to Dover and the company was eager to expand into other areas of Kent, particularly the northern regions. The SER intended to build a route which would serve important towns on Kent's northern side, Dartford and Gravesend in particular, and therefore submitted a Bill to Parliament to acquire the necessary permission for construction of a 22½ mile line from London Bridge to Strood via Lewisham, Dartford and Gravesend. The new line would leave the existing London & Greenwich Railway route just east of London Bridge Station, head south east towards Lewisham and once at Blackheath, begin a sharp turn northwards towards Woolwich. The SER was given authorisation for the building of what became the North Kent Line in 1846. The line from North Kent Junction (just east of London Bridge) to Strood opened on 30th July 1849, a station at Dartford being commissioned on the same date; the town now had its first railway link to the capital. 

It is perhaps now appropriate to describe Dartford station itself; it was indeed of some architectural note. The main structure was an imposing, but impressive two-storey building which acted as the Station Master's house (virtually identical to that still at Appledore, but in yellow rather than red brick). Conversely, the ticket office / waiting room immediately adjacent to the house was a far more economical affair, being a single-storey clapboard building. Timber buildings became common on the SER, but they were fairly rare on this company’s network in the 1840s, few other stations having them so early on (East Farleigh to name but one). Dartford’s clapboard example was of some considerable size and indeed, was protected by an ornate and large canopy stretching the whole of its length. This boasted a valance virtually the same as that still in existence at Plumstead; this design was also perpetuated on the ‘’down’’ side. Two platform faces for passenger use were in evidence from the outset and for many years these were linked by a track foot crossing, in common with most early stations. The town centre was located within a valley, which necessitated the whole station complex to be elevated – this scenario would later prove troublesome when attempting to enlarge the layout.

Goods provision here was quite substantial on opening. On the ‘’up’’ side was positioned a large goods shed, akin in size to the example at Gravesend (SER), trailing off in a westward direction, forty-five degrees to the running lines. This itself was a through affair, served by a single-track, the latter of which was accompanied by an additional trio of sidings. Stabling facilities did not go amiss at what later became an important junction, and feeding off the goods yard entry track was a 54-foot 10-inch locomotive turntable, complete with adjacent water tower. Alongside the turntable was also another quintessential feature of the very early years: a wagon turntable. This served three short terminating spurs and had an indirect connection with the ‘’up’’ line, and a direct link with the locomotive turntable.

Congestion on the North Kent Line was causing noticeable delays and operating restrictions on train services, thus the SER proposed the building of an alternative route to London to tackle this problem. The new line would diverge from the existing North Kent route at Lewisham and pass through Hither Green and Sidcup, before rejoining at Dartford. Authorisation for its construction was granted, completion of the line coming on 1st September 1866. The ‘’Dartford Loop Line’’, as it was dubbed, followed a shorter course to the capital than its earlier counterpart, but capacity troubles were still afoot. These were now transferred to Dartford station, where just two platform faces were still available for traffic in both directions. Expansion in either direction would not be without extensive engineering work given the station’s elevated position, and subsequently, this situation remained for another three decades. More traffic was generated as a result of the Bexleyheath Line opening in May 1895, which finally instigated enlargement at Dartford. Completed in 1897, this undertaking had procured some significant changes: most prominent was the provision of three useable passenger platform faces. A fourth platform face served an eastward-facing bay line on the ‘’up’’ side, but this was used exclusively for goods traffic, notably the adjacent cattle pens. The incorporation of this bay line had seen the complete abolition of the wagon turntable and the relocation of the turntable to the east of the station, on the ‘’down’’ side. It seems likely that the original 1849 canopy of the ‘’down’’ side was retained when this platform was converted into an island five decades later. Goods facilities were improved upon; the existing shed was demolished and replaced by a longer structure, again of pitched roof design, and an additional pair of sidings were laid to form a dedicated coal depot. The public house - ‘’The Railway Tavern’’ – which appears to date from the station’s earliest days, remained unchanged through expansion work, but more single-storey brick-built structures appeared on the entrance road approach.

The pictorial starts from the more aesthetically pleasing western end of this depressing station.

A much unnoticed gem which remains at this station is the original South Eastern Railway

brickwork of the island platform, seen prominently emerging from the right of the picture, a

Network SouthEast liveried Class 465 parked alongside. To complement the brickwork, there is

a section of the traditional canopy remaining - more of later. Triple tracks curve their way round

from the platforms and over the viaduct, towards London. The viaduct is subject to a 20 MPH

speed limit. David Glasspool

It is both interesting and surprising that a section of traditional canopy was retained at this once

impressive station, at the western end of what are now platforms 3 and 4. The traditional SER

valance was replaced with the plainer equivalent seen here, presumably during station demolition

in 1972. The reason the brickwork of this half of the island platform survived the station demolition

is the fact that this area of the station could not be widened northwards. Thus, the only option was

to widen the layout southwards, hence the destruction of the Victorian station buildings. The

surviving canopy is seen on a very wet 12th August 2004, the featureless offices noticeable

underneath it. David Glasspool

EMU sidings are situated to the east of the platforms, on both sides of the running lines: Class

465 No. 465201 is making its way to those sidings in this 7th September 2004 view. After this

curve has been negotiated, and the trains enter the straight section of track just beyond the unit,

the speed limit changes from 20 MPH to 40 MPH for freight and to 50 MPH for passenger trains.

Unfortunately, these sidings appear to be subject to frequent vandalism as both infrastructure

and trains are seen coated in graffiti when passing the area on a train itself. David Glasspool

Next: the History Continues >>

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