Map of Southern Railway electrification projects : in : Southern Railway electrification extension : London and Portsmouth : Electric Railway Traction Supplement, The Railway Gazette : 25 June 1937
The Electric Railway Traction Supplement of the Railway Gazette for 25 June 1937 was one of a series of the Supplements that looked at the progress of the various Southen Railway electrification schemes using Southern poster artwork for the covers. This issue looks at the newly completed London to Portsmouth electrification project of the Southern Railway. This scheme followed on from the Railway's Brighton and Worthing main line scheme of 1932/33, the Eastbourne and Hastings lines in 1935 and was followed by the Reading and North Kent schemes in the years up to 1939.
The Southern's third rail electrification scheme was a huge and bold programme of works that saw the core of the current 3rd rail system still in use on Britain's railways in southern England converted. The official decision to electrify this section of lines to Portsmouth was taken in November 1935 - it took only 20 months to deliver the 95 route/242 track miles using a Government Treasury loan of £3m.
Needless to say the Southern heavily marketed the new services using modern and contemporary graphics. This map shows the work undertaken up to and including this Portsmouth scheme. From suburabn origins, including the re-electrification of the ex-London Brighton & South Coast Railway 'Overhead" schemes, the Southern's third rail gradually broke out to include many lines in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. However with the outbreak of war in 1939 many of the proposals were put into abeyance and it was to be British Railways who after 1948 slowly started to extend the third rail programme, particularly into Kent as intended and indeed beyond with the Kent Coast Electrification. Interestingly there is one section shown here as 'electrified' that was subsequently abandoned; the short branch north of Heyward's Heath to Horsted Keynes.
Map of Southern Railway electrification projects : in : Southern Railway electrification extension : London and Portsmouth : Electric Railway Traction Supplement, The Railway Gazette : 25 June 1937
The Electric Railway Traction Supplement of the Railway Gazette for 25 June 1937 was one of a series of the Supplements that looked at the progress of the various Southen Railway electrification schemes using Southern poster artwork for the covers. This issue looks at the newly completed London to Portsmouth electrification project of the Southern Railway. This scheme followed on from the Railway's Brighton and Worthing main line scheme of 1932/33, the Eastbourne and Hastings lines in 1935 and was followed by the Reading and North Kent schemes in the years up to 1939.
The Southern's third rail electrification scheme was a huge and bold programme of works that saw the core of the current 3rd rail system still in use on Britain's railways in southern England converted. The official decision to electrify this section of lines to Portsmouth was taken in November 1935 - it took only 20 months to deliver the 95 route/242 track miles using a Government Treasury loan of £3m.
Needless to say the Southern heavily marketed the new services using modern and contemporary graphics. This map shows the work undertaken up to and including this Portsmouth scheme. From suburabn origins, including the re-electrification of the ex-London Brighton & South Coast Railway 'Overhead" schemes, the Southern's third rail gradually broke out to include many lines in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. However with the outbreak of war in 1939 many of the proposals were put into abeyance and it was to be British Railways who after 1948 slowly started to extend the third rail programme, particularly into Kent as intended and indeed beyond with the Kent Coast Electrification. Interestingly there is one section shown here as 'electrified' that was subsequently abandoned; the short branch north of Heyward's Heath to Horsted Keynes.