Cannon Street MPD
SE&CR: ''3''
This was once an
interesting shed, and it appears to have come into use with the terminus at
Cannon Street in September 1866. The depot was constructed on the south side of
the Thames, on a large jutting out appendix of the viaduct which carried the
sharply-curving triple-track in from London Bridge. The restrictive nature of
the shed’s site called for a partial roundhouse-type design to be implemented,
which involved feeding five southward-facing tracks (three of which were about
160-feet long, the remaining two extending for about 200-feet) directly off a
turntable. The shed building was built from the same yellow brickwork which
constituted the terminus it served, and both side elevations featured
semi-circular windows, the latter of which were effectively a scaled-down
version of those found along the sides of Cannon Street station. The depot
played an important role for both the SER and SE&CR, for it was used for the
numerous locomotive exchanges that took place as part of the practice of
reversing all Charing Cross services at Cannon Street.
The triangle of lines south of Cannon Street engine shed featured three tracks
on its western and eastern sides, and the side which was ultimately to become
the busiest of them all, the south, had a complement of just a double-track. SER
enlargement works, mostly completed in February 1892, saw the installation of a
fourth track on the eastern side of the triangle, in addition to the
commissioning of a second turntable to the west of the Cannon Street bridge
approach tracks. The latter had been brought into use to augment the engine
shed’s turntable during the somewhat chaotic train reversals, as traffic levels
continued to rise. An additional depot was also commissioned at Ewer Street,
Southwark, by the SE&CR in 1901, to facilitate increased engine movements.
The importance of the shed at Cannon Street diminished after 1916, when wartime
economies resulted in the SE&CR abandoning the practice of reversing all Charing
Cross services into the City terminus – a select few did continue to operate,
however. Nevertheless, the shed remained in operation, as a sub to Bricklayers
Arms, especially since the entire SE&CR network continued to be exclusively
steam-worked. Shed allocation comprised mostly of those tank engines, Classes
‘’H’’ and ‘’R’’, which monopolised commuter services along the North Kent routes and
out to the limit of the suburban operation, at Orpington. This was at a time
when both LSWR and LB&SCR companies were electrifying their suburban lines,
absorbing a capital cost that the SE&CR just could not afford. All was to change
on the advent of the Southern Railway in 1923, however. This company wasted no
time in implementing an electrification programme on Eastern Section commuter
lines, and from as early as 12th July 1925, scheduled electric services were in
operation between Victoria / Holborn Viaduct and Orpington. For the impending
electrification northwards from Orpington, to London Bridge and the ex-SER
termini, major revisions were made to Cannon Street’s layout. The station’s
approaches were completely re-laid to accommodate a rebuilt platform
arrangement, the two SER-designed signal boxes were decommissioned, Stoney
Street Junction (at the northern apex of the triangle) was abolished, and the
five-road engine shed and turntable were closed to steam. The shed’s western
wall was demolished, as was the roof, but the rear and eastern elevations were
retained. The SR erected one of its large steel-framed red brick electric
substations upon the shed site and, interestingly, the original engine shed
walls were incorporated as part of this structure, which included retention of
the earlier-mentioned semi-circular windows. The turntable of 1892 was retained
to the west of the station bridge approach tracks, and steam locomotive
facilities were still on offer at Ewer Street. The Cannon Street station
revisions were deemed formally complete in June 1926, even though electric
services from the terminus had commenced on 28th February of the same year. The
former engine shed turntable site remained vacant until the commissioning of a
new ‘’power box’’ upon the land on 15th December 1957.
16th March 2008
The eastern wall of the engine shed, complete with fully glazed windows, still exists above Stoney Street. The
yellow brick is the same as that which features in the walls of Cannon Street station. The rear wall of the
former engine shed also remains in existence. Above the shed wall can just be seen the top of the 1926 SR
electric substation. David Glasspool
Return to the Kent Rail Homepage or alternatively, check for Updates.
Website & Copyright information - Links - Contact the Webmaster
All content is copyright © David Glasspool