Transport
The regulations governing horse transport in the Royal Arsenal in 1825. That, hones were in future to be supplied by the Woolwich Garrison only when it was unobtainable requisite numbers they were to be hired from a contractor 2nd May 1825 Wo/472684/p8. W Rolfe & Co Contract to renewed annually 26 Feb 1826 Wo/47/2687 p400.
he agreement reads for the supply of horses harness and drivers to be continued till the 31 Dec 1826 at the amended price of 20 shillings a day for 4 horses and drivers. Later renewed till 31 Dee 1827 Wo/ 47/2693/p9I
At the start of the Crimean War the use of horses decreased due to steam motive power. Horses were used for short hauls, long distinctness were achieved by train Railway.
The first iron railway ran through the principle store houses down to the shot piles it was approved by the Board 14 May 1824 at a cost of £459 15s 0d included in Woolwich estimate 1825 Wu/47/2702 p828
The track was nothing more than a kind of tramway one, which trucks mounted on metal wheels, could be pushed by hand or drawn by horses. Lt Col Jones submitted further claims for the expense of laying down of track from the wharf to the storehouses was dated 16 June 1824 £1,441 13s 6 'A d Eng papers Wo/55/757 Wo/44/651
Jealousy between departments even though the railway was for a common purpose Departments still owned their own lines. The following extract throws light on this 25 March 1851 The Civil Officers complained that the Royal Carriage Department was about to put a railway line through the Blue sheds without consulting them. The R C D replied that it had the Boards general authority for the alteration of the Blue sheds. The Principle Storekeeper was asked to visit the spot and report, meanwhile the two departments were asked to desist from annoying each other. Finally it was agreed that a wooden tramway between the Blue Sheds, should be laid down for transporting timber from the wharf to the saw mills by convicts instead of horses and the results reported to the board Wo/47/2252 p 3149.
In 1854 a tramway from the saw mills to the carriage square was authorised at a cost of £591 I Ss 5d Wo/55/ 764
On 23 Aug 1854 £1920 for further work and the Railway to be placed under the Royal Engineer Department Wo/ 47/ 2750 p454 It will be appreciated that the railway completed in 1854-1855 was no railway in the modern sense it was nothing more than a net work of iron rails that material could be transported in specially adapted trucks that could travel with less effort than with horse and men.
Work on the new narrow gauge railway proceeded and by 1873 the first section was opened. It extended from the west wharf to the rear of the shell foundry. The permanent way was built up of iron plates with counter-sunk flanged grooves. Cast in the Royal Laboratory. Each plate being 4ft long and weighing about 3 1/2 cwts. These plates were laid in a bed of concrete and keyed together to retain alignment, without the use of sleepers, so that being flush with the ground they formed a ideal shop floor and provided an excellent road crossing surfaces.
Originally there were no mechanical operated points the wagons and trucks being switched by wedging and manual means / the mileage of the track more orthodox methods of construction were introduced. Sleepers, fish plates and mechanical switching appliances. The first steam operated railway in I873, was designed and constructed by the Royal Engineers (Major P 11 Scratchely in 1873 -1877) and it is recorded that the first locomotive The Lord Raglan with live loaded wagons weighing 10 tons took the sharp curves with ease. The Raglan had cylinders of 6 inch bore and 8 inch stroke carried in four coupled wheels of 20-inch diameter with a wheelbase of 3Ft 3inch. With other engines in the same class was in regular use for forty two years about the same time experiments with magazine traffic were made with the Beaumont atmospheric engine but was not adopted. The narrow gauge railway was a great success, by 1900 it covered a large area of the Arsenal and formed a valuable link between shop office stores and magazines it had become the general goods and passenger service. In 1876 a standard gauge track 4ft 8 provided an excellent road crossing surfaces.
In 1876 a standard gauge track 4ft 81/2 inch, had connected the Arsenal with the London Chatham and Dover railway main line sidings at Plumstead. It entered the at the hole in the wall.
Over the canal by a swing bridge near the Tay bridge sidings, these constructed in 1879 are now D 42 storehouse sidings. The line then passed to the coal dock at the eastern end of the west wharf, to form a exchange point with the narrow gauge system L C and D Locomotives worked over this system till 1890 when the introduction of the standard gauge. The laying down of the standard gauge track became imperative as the narrow gauge system had become inadequate to deal with the increase in traffic between 1890 and 1918 the standard gauge had acquired 120 miles of track. Most of which combined with the narrow gauge line by sharing one rail in common. From 1873-1900 each department following the tradition of the iron tram way acquired and maintained its own Locomotives and rolling stock and administered its own traffic. This was abandoned organisation of the departments to form a centralised control as an outcome Lt E P C Girouard was appointed traffic manager on the 1st Jan 1891 lie took over 36 narrow gauge engines and 1000 carriages vans and trucks, mostly in poor condition on the cessation of hostilities in South Africa Mr N Gibson a railway engineer was appointed. Capt U Miller was in charge until the war in 1914 . He was succeeded by several officers. After the war a Railway engineer was appointed when it was decided, to place the control in the hands of a civilian traffic manager Mr W Turner was a engineer from the great eastern railway works at Stratford was appointed resulting in the abolition of the post of railway engineer therefore, left the Arsenal where he lived at 7 Dial Square.
In 1921 the increase in traffic during World War, 1. The enlargement of reception and marshalling sidings, extensive tracks constructed adjacent to the S E and C R main line Plumstead (the Polytechnic ground) In addition a Main line connection was laid over the embankment into the eastern end of the Arsenal known as Marsh Sidings which in turn linked up with the internal network giving marshalling space for Government traffic. This 120-mile of standard track divided into sections each of which feeds a circular main line connects all main line and sub sidings wharves and depots and links up with S E and CR main line (Southern Railway) via the hole in the wall at Plumtstead Narrow Gauge 50 to 60 mile existed for feeding magazines but most were taken up and used as scrap in 1923.
The narrow gauge passenger service was based on Main line practice. Regular, timetable between Dial Square and the eastern of the Arsenal. 1st and 2nd class cars with special coaches for the use of Royal visitors and dignitaries.
The guards uniforms consisted of a blue frock coat collared in red, a leather cross belt and a peaked cap while the driver had a blue and white suit. The increase in motorcars became a threat, the train that travelled over its 5 mile course began to run at a loss and was closed down in 1923 In favour of the standard gauge, which was confined to 3rd class accommodation only. This standard system had been started during World War 1 between the third gate and Crossness but in 1947 it was curtailed along the south road the Q F C F in favour of motorbuses
Most of the traffic in the Arsenal is of a highly specialized nature beside the class of stores and material on any goods train, there are explosives in many guises and heavy guns. Traffic in the Filling Factories and in the vicinity of magazines and explosive stores. Were later worked by oil fired steam locomotives and diesel engines first introduced in 1934 (narrow gauge)
The first standard diesel engines in use in 1939 to minimise explosive risk most other engine's operating in the Danger area were fitted with spark arresters based on the American pattern
There were heavy gun sleighs for proof work weighing up to 170 ton and special gun wagons built for both internal and main line work. Up to 1946 there were Grog and Me barges fitted with railway line on their bottoms to take the special gun wagons which were loaded and unloaded by means of the slipway and hauling engine at Tripcock Point. These barges plied between the Arsenal and Shoeburyness in many ways similar to the tank landing craft (1950)
Their use was discontinued in 1948. Heavy gun wagons whet loaded to capacity required very careful handling in relation to the weight and braking power of the locomotives hauling them. For this reason engines of 30 ton weight were used.
uring World War 1 over 2,000 Royal Arsenal Railway (RAR) wagons as well as many others belong to main railway systems were in service up to 1,200 being exchanged daily with the S E and C L. and 7,000 in one week. During the four years of war over a million wagons were interchanged between the Dockyard and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
By 1936 there were 30 standard gauge engines compared to 4 of the narrow gauge type.
hese 4 were more than sufficient to meet the needs of the lines in use
Locomotive Stock
1921 standard gauge 34 steam engines of the 0-4-0 type with external cylinders and saddle tanks they comprised of Five classes .The most numerous 18 in number belonge to the Legion class made by Hawethorn Leslie the larger and most powerful class used for the heavy gun traffic and main line working was the Tiger of which 6 were built by Picketts.
The other engines of less capacity, six were built by Hawthorns, Barclays and Picketts.
Before 1914, 45 narrow gauge engines of 10 different types were in service.
Prior to the First World War the danger area was served by curious locomotives made by Hornsby and sons, Grantham. There were five of these known as the Hornsby-Ackroyd internal combustion engine, and first dated back to 1896.
They were semi-diesel and gear driven despite their low efficiency they remained in service until 1915.
Rolling Stock
By 1918 the majority of the standard gauge rolling stock is similar to that on main line. Old main line stock had been purchased this. This second grade was suitable for the lower speeds of the R A R. The special gun trucks can carry loads up to 100 tons, and designed to negotiate the R A R, minimum standard radius of 100 ft. There are a number of self-discharging high capacity 20 ton coal wagons some of wood and others of steel.
These are used in connection with the river side ship coal handling plant, the distributor of coal to the Central Power Station and other boiler houses and the carriage of coal to the coal depots An Ambulance coach (used at Netley Hospital) ran for a number of years abandoned in 1921 in favour of motor ambulance.
The narrow gauge passenger rolling stock was exceptional in having such wide saloon for so narrow a track. The saloon carriages were made in the Arsenal about 1890. The third class bogie cars were built by the Bristol Wagon Company. The saloon cars were 24 ft long, 6 ft wide, and seated 32 passengers the third class cars carried 50 passengers.
The early conversion of the standard gauge, open truck to the covered goods wagon by adding a dog kennel roof proved both successful and efficient. This type of roof was cheaper to construct than the main line pattern. Special shell or low shot trucks were introduced in World War 1 for the conveyance of naval projectiles. Derailments were handled by a breakdown gang.
Odd assortment of rails had to be used according to availability much of the standard gauge line was constructed from material drawn from the projected Suakim-berber railway in the Sudan Many of the sections laid between 1900 & 1918 were of 56Ib sections to light to carry heavy engines then being introduced. In 1915-1916 a number of steam tractors of' the Sentinel & Foden types together with 3 four wheeled trailers were obtained this road fleet had multiplied by 1922. 22 petrol lorries with a capacity from 5cwt to 3tons a number of motor cycle combinations and ambulance & motorcar for the chief superintendent. Two years latter most of the steam engines had gone. The Arsenal distribution of goods to shops, stores, and wharf, was complicated and had problems to supply the necessary material and component parts but without the central control of transport for all departments it would have been impossible to regulate Motor Transport by 1936 the fleet amounted to 60 and by 1938 to 120 up to 400 by World War 2 by 1949 this was reduced to 200 Diesel lorries were introduced in the Arsenal in 1936 During the rearmament period of 1936 to 1939 small cars were provided for certain officials to deal with their problems Austin 7 class purchased The Royal Arsenal Transport Department was responsible of 50 mobile rail and road cranes (steam diesel & petrol) Riverside coaling plant constructed in 1917-1920
he agreement reads for the supply of horses harness and drivers to be continued till the 31 Dec 1826 at the amended price of 20 shillings a day for 4 horses and drivers. Later renewed till 31 Dee 1827 Wo/ 47/2693/p9I
At the start of the Crimean War the use of horses decreased due to steam motive power. Horses were used for short hauls, long distinctness were achieved by train Railway.
The first iron railway ran through the principle store houses down to the shot piles it was approved by the Board 14 May 1824 at a cost of £459 15s 0d included in Woolwich estimate 1825 Wu/47/2702 p828
The track was nothing more than a kind of tramway one, which trucks mounted on metal wheels, could be pushed by hand or drawn by horses. Lt Col Jones submitted further claims for the expense of laying down of track from the wharf to the storehouses was dated 16 June 1824 £1,441 13s 6 'A d Eng papers Wo/55/757 Wo/44/651
Jealousy between departments even though the railway was for a common purpose Departments still owned their own lines. The following extract throws light on this 25 March 1851 The Civil Officers complained that the Royal Carriage Department was about to put a railway line through the Blue sheds without consulting them. The R C D replied that it had the Boards general authority for the alteration of the Blue sheds. The Principle Storekeeper was asked to visit the spot and report, meanwhile the two departments were asked to desist from annoying each other. Finally it was agreed that a wooden tramway between the Blue Sheds, should be laid down for transporting timber from the wharf to the saw mills by convicts instead of horses and the results reported to the board Wo/47/2252 p 3149.
In 1854 a tramway from the saw mills to the carriage square was authorised at a cost of £591 I Ss 5d Wo/55/ 764
On 23 Aug 1854 £1920 for further work and the Railway to be placed under the Royal Engineer Department Wo/ 47/ 2750 p454 It will be appreciated that the railway completed in 1854-1855 was no railway in the modern sense it was nothing more than a net work of iron rails that material could be transported in specially adapted trucks that could travel with less effort than with horse and men.
Work on the new narrow gauge railway proceeded and by 1873 the first section was opened. It extended from the west wharf to the rear of the shell foundry. The permanent way was built up of iron plates with counter-sunk flanged grooves. Cast in the Royal Laboratory. Each plate being 4ft long and weighing about 3 1/2 cwts. These plates were laid in a bed of concrete and keyed together to retain alignment, without the use of sleepers, so that being flush with the ground they formed a ideal shop floor and provided an excellent road crossing surfaces.
Originally there were no mechanical operated points the wagons and trucks being switched by wedging and manual means / the mileage of the track more orthodox methods of construction were introduced. Sleepers, fish plates and mechanical switching appliances. The first steam operated railway in I873, was designed and constructed by the Royal Engineers (Major P 11 Scratchely in 1873 -1877) and it is recorded that the first locomotive The Lord Raglan with live loaded wagons weighing 10 tons took the sharp curves with ease. The Raglan had cylinders of 6 inch bore and 8 inch stroke carried in four coupled wheels of 20-inch diameter with a wheelbase of 3Ft 3inch. With other engines in the same class was in regular use for forty two years about the same time experiments with magazine traffic were made with the Beaumont atmospheric engine but was not adopted. The narrow gauge railway was a great success, by 1900 it covered a large area of the Arsenal and formed a valuable link between shop office stores and magazines it had become the general goods and passenger service. In 1876 a standard gauge track 4ft 8 provided an excellent road crossing surfaces.
In 1876 a standard gauge track 4ft 81/2 inch, had connected the Arsenal with the London Chatham and Dover railway main line sidings at Plumstead. It entered the at the hole in the wall.
Over the canal by a swing bridge near the Tay bridge sidings, these constructed in 1879 are now D 42 storehouse sidings. The line then passed to the coal dock at the eastern end of the west wharf, to form a exchange point with the narrow gauge system L C and D Locomotives worked over this system till 1890 when the introduction of the standard gauge. The laying down of the standard gauge track became imperative as the narrow gauge system had become inadequate to deal with the increase in traffic between 1890 and 1918 the standard gauge had acquired 120 miles of track. Most of which combined with the narrow gauge line by sharing one rail in common. From 1873-1900 each department following the tradition of the iron tram way acquired and maintained its own Locomotives and rolling stock and administered its own traffic. This was abandoned organisation of the departments to form a centralised control as an outcome Lt E P C Girouard was appointed traffic manager on the 1st Jan 1891 lie took over 36 narrow gauge engines and 1000 carriages vans and trucks, mostly in poor condition on the cessation of hostilities in South Africa Mr N Gibson a railway engineer was appointed. Capt U Miller was in charge until the war in 1914 . He was succeeded by several officers. After the war a Railway engineer was appointed when it was decided, to place the control in the hands of a civilian traffic manager Mr W Turner was a engineer from the great eastern railway works at Stratford was appointed resulting in the abolition of the post of railway engineer therefore, left the Arsenal where he lived at 7 Dial Square.
In 1921 the increase in traffic during World War, 1. The enlargement of reception and marshalling sidings, extensive tracks constructed adjacent to the S E and C R main line Plumstead (the Polytechnic ground) In addition a Main line connection was laid over the embankment into the eastern end of the Arsenal known as Marsh Sidings which in turn linked up with the internal network giving marshalling space for Government traffic. This 120-mile of standard track divided into sections each of which feeds a circular main line connects all main line and sub sidings wharves and depots and links up with S E and CR main line (Southern Railway) via the hole in the wall at Plumtstead Narrow Gauge 50 to 60 mile existed for feeding magazines but most were taken up and used as scrap in 1923.
The narrow gauge passenger service was based on Main line practice. Regular, timetable between Dial Square and the eastern of the Arsenal. 1st and 2nd class cars with special coaches for the use of Royal visitors and dignitaries.
The guards uniforms consisted of a blue frock coat collared in red, a leather cross belt and a peaked cap while the driver had a blue and white suit. The increase in motorcars became a threat, the train that travelled over its 5 mile course began to run at a loss and was closed down in 1923 In favour of the standard gauge, which was confined to 3rd class accommodation only. This standard system had been started during World War 1 between the third gate and Crossness but in 1947 it was curtailed along the south road the Q F C F in favour of motorbuses
Most of the traffic in the Arsenal is of a highly specialized nature beside the class of stores and material on any goods train, there are explosives in many guises and heavy guns. Traffic in the Filling Factories and in the vicinity of magazines and explosive stores. Were later worked by oil fired steam locomotives and diesel engines first introduced in 1934 (narrow gauge)
The first standard diesel engines in use in 1939 to minimise explosive risk most other engine's operating in the Danger area were fitted with spark arresters based on the American pattern
There were heavy gun sleighs for proof work weighing up to 170 ton and special gun wagons built for both internal and main line work. Up to 1946 there were Grog and Me barges fitted with railway line on their bottoms to take the special gun wagons which were loaded and unloaded by means of the slipway and hauling engine at Tripcock Point. These barges plied between the Arsenal and Shoeburyness in many ways similar to the tank landing craft (1950)
Their use was discontinued in 1948. Heavy gun wagons whet loaded to capacity required very careful handling in relation to the weight and braking power of the locomotives hauling them. For this reason engines of 30 ton weight were used.
uring World War 1 over 2,000 Royal Arsenal Railway (RAR) wagons as well as many others belong to main railway systems were in service up to 1,200 being exchanged daily with the S E and C L. and 7,000 in one week. During the four years of war over a million wagons were interchanged between the Dockyard and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
By 1936 there were 30 standard gauge engines compared to 4 of the narrow gauge type.
hese 4 were more than sufficient to meet the needs of the lines in use
Locomotive Stock
1921 standard gauge 34 steam engines of the 0-4-0 type with external cylinders and saddle tanks they comprised of Five classes .The most numerous 18 in number belonge to the Legion class made by Hawethorn Leslie the larger and most powerful class used for the heavy gun traffic and main line working was the Tiger of which 6 were built by Picketts.
The other engines of less capacity, six were built by Hawthorns, Barclays and Picketts.
Before 1914, 45 narrow gauge engines of 10 different types were in service.
Prior to the First World War the danger area was served by curious locomotives made by Hornsby and sons, Grantham. There were five of these known as the Hornsby-Ackroyd internal combustion engine, and first dated back to 1896.
They were semi-diesel and gear driven despite their low efficiency they remained in service until 1915.
Rolling Stock
By 1918 the majority of the standard gauge rolling stock is similar to that on main line. Old main line stock had been purchased this. This second grade was suitable for the lower speeds of the R A R. The special gun trucks can carry loads up to 100 tons, and designed to negotiate the R A R, minimum standard radius of 100 ft. There are a number of self-discharging high capacity 20 ton coal wagons some of wood and others of steel.
These are used in connection with the river side ship coal handling plant, the distributor of coal to the Central Power Station and other boiler houses and the carriage of coal to the coal depots An Ambulance coach (used at Netley Hospital) ran for a number of years abandoned in 1921 in favour of motor ambulance.
The narrow gauge passenger rolling stock was exceptional in having such wide saloon for so narrow a track. The saloon carriages were made in the Arsenal about 1890. The third class bogie cars were built by the Bristol Wagon Company. The saloon cars were 24 ft long, 6 ft wide, and seated 32 passengers the third class cars carried 50 passengers.
The early conversion of the standard gauge, open truck to the covered goods wagon by adding a dog kennel roof proved both successful and efficient. This type of roof was cheaper to construct than the main line pattern. Special shell or low shot trucks were introduced in World War 1 for the conveyance of naval projectiles. Derailments were handled by a breakdown gang.
Odd assortment of rails had to be used according to availability much of the standard gauge line was constructed from material drawn from the projected Suakim-berber railway in the Sudan Many of the sections laid between 1900 & 1918 were of 56Ib sections to light to carry heavy engines then being introduced. In 1915-1916 a number of steam tractors of' the Sentinel & Foden types together with 3 four wheeled trailers were obtained this road fleet had multiplied by 1922. 22 petrol lorries with a capacity from 5cwt to 3tons a number of motor cycle combinations and ambulance & motorcar for the chief superintendent. Two years latter most of the steam engines had gone. The Arsenal distribution of goods to shops, stores, and wharf, was complicated and had problems to supply the necessary material and component parts but without the central control of transport for all departments it would have been impossible to regulate Motor Transport by 1936 the fleet amounted to 60 and by 1938 to 120 up to 400 by World War 2 by 1949 this was reduced to 200 Diesel lorries were introduced in the Arsenal in 1936 During the rearmament period of 1936 to 1939 small cars were provided for certain officials to deal with their problems Austin 7 class purchased The Royal Arsenal Transport Department was responsible of 50 mobile rail and road cranes (steam diesel & petrol) Riverside coaling plant constructed in 1917-1920