The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),[1] known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR) was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway (SER) and London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR), that operated services between London and Southeast England. Between 1899 and 1923 the SE&CR had an effective monopoly of the railway service in Kent, and several of the main Channel ports for ferries to France and Belgium.
The companies had competed extensively over the same area, with some of the bitterest conflicts ever seen between British railway companies. Competing routes to the same destination were built; thus many towns in Kent were served by both companies, and left with a legacy of two stations and services to multiple London termini.
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By the end of the 19th century the SER and LC&DR had fought over a small and not particularly lucrative territory for 40 years. Both were notorious for the poor quality of their services and decrepitude of their stock, and the struggles had driven both companies to the verge of bankruptcy. It became inevitable that they must combine or succumb.
The SE&CR was formed on 1 January 1899, when the SER and LC&DR formed a "managing committee" comprising the directors of both companies. This effectively merged the two companies, although officially they remained separate, with the receipts split 59% to SER and 41% LC&DR, until the Grouping; this was to avoid the financial costs and risks of a formal merger.
The SE&CR instituted numerous connections between the two largely separate networks. New services were introduced to reap the benefits of joint working. The most significant step was the construction of a junction where the SER and LC&DR's respective mainlines crossed near Bickley and St Mary Cray, east of Bromley (circa 1902-04). LC&DR's terminating line via Maidstone to Ashford was connected to the SER hub at Ashford. The SER branch from Strood to Chatham alongside the LC&DR's main line to Chatham was closed prior to World War One. Later the overlapping network on the Isle of Thanet (Margate-Broadstairs-Ramsgate) was extensively rationalised by the Southern Railway. Service cuts under BR saw Gravesend lose its second station.
After the formation of the SE&CR, three minor lines were built before the SE&CR became one of the constituent parts of the Southern Railway in 1923. They were:
The LC&DR's works at Longhedge, Battersea was closed in 1911 and production was concentrated at Ashford. Harry Wainwright was replaced by Richard Maunsell as Locomotive Superintendent in 1913.
Prior to grouping, with the development and implementation by competitors (notably L&SWR, LB&SCR, various "Tube" companies) and electric trams) of electric traction in the early twentieth century, SECR planned to start electrifying its lines. The proposed method of electrification was 1500V DC using two additional rails - i.e. four rails (like London Underground and L&NWR), this very high voltage (for rail track level systems) was only used in elsewhere on the L&YR's 1200V DC side contact third rail line from Manchester Victoria to Bury. Grouping in 1923 led to Southern Railway's adopting L&SWR's standard of 660V DC third rail over SECR's network.
The SE&CR operated a number of ships on cross channel services.
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Victor | 1880[2] | 814[2] | Scrapped 1899.[2] |
| Boulogne | 1878[2] | 407[2] | Sold in 1903 to British Central Africa Co Ltd.[2] |
| Duchess of York | 1895[2] | 996[2] | Scrapped in 1904[2] |
| Folkestone | 1878[2] | 398[2] | Scrapped in 1903.[2] |
| Louise Dagmar | 1880[2] | 818[2] | Scrapped in 1899.[2] |
| Mary Beatrice | 1882[2] | 803[2] | Scrapped in 1900[2] |
| Princess of Wales | 1898[2] | 1,009[2] | Sold in 1910 to Argentina, renamed Río Uruguay.[2] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breeze | 1863[3] | 385[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Calais | 1896[3] | 979[3] | Sold in 1911 to Hattemer, Boulogne, renamed Au Revoir.[3] |
| Calais-Douvres | 1889[3] | 1,212[3] | Sold in 1900 to Liverpool & Douglas Steamers.[3] |
| Dover | 1896[3] | 979[3] | Scrapped in 1911.[3] |
| Empress | 1887[3] | 1,213[3] | Scrapped in 1906[3] |
| Foam | 1862[3] | 495[3] | Scrapped in 1901.[3] |
| France | 1864[3] | 365[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Invicta | 1882[3] | 1,282[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Lord Warden | 1896[3] | 979[3] | Scrapped in 1911.[3] |
| Petrel | 1862[3] | 503[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Prince | 1864[3] | 338[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Samphire | 1861[3] | 336[3] | Scrapped in 1899.[3] |
| Victoria | 1886[3] | 1,042[3] | Scrapped in 1904[3] |
| Wave | 1863[3] | 385[3] | Scrapped in 1899[3] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biarritz | 1914[4] | 2,495[4] | Scrapped in 1949 at Dover.[5] |
| Canterbury | 1900[6] | 561[6] | Sold in 1926 to W E Guinness, renamed Arpha. Sold in 1938 to Sark Motorships Ltd. Requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939 as HMS Arpha. Sold in 1946 to Shell Caribbean Petroleum Ltd, renamed Coriano. Sold in 1951 to J M Perez Hernandez. Scrapped sometime after 1955.[6] |
| Empress | 1907[4] | 1,689[4] | Requisitioned by Royal Navy in 1914, sold to France in 1923. Scrapped at Dunkirk in 1933.[7] |
| Engadine | 1911[4] | 1,676[4] | Requisitioned by Royal Navy in 1914, returned in 1920. Sold in 1933 to Philippines and renamed Corregidor. Struck a mine and sank on 17 December 1941.[8] |
| Invicta | 1905[4] | 1,680[4] | Sold in 1923 to France. Scrapped in 1932.[9] |
| Mabel Grace | 1899[2] | 1,289[2] | Scrapped in 1909.[2] |
| Maid of Orleans | 1918[4] | 2,384[4] | Torpedoed on 28 June 1944 and sunk.[10] |
| Onward | 1905[4] | 1,671[4] | Caught fire in 1918 at Folkestone and sank. Salvaged in 1920, sold to Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and rebuilt as Mona's Isle, the fourth IoMSPCo ship to carry that name. Scrapped in November 1948 at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.[11] |
| Riviera | 1911[4] | 1,674[4] | Requisitioned by Royal Navy in 1914, returned in 1920. Sold in 1932 to Burns & Laird Lines Ltd, renamed Laird's Isle. Scrapped in October 1957 at Troon, Ayrshire.[12] |
| The Queen | 1903[4] | 1,676[4] | Captured on 26 October 1916 by German destroyer S-60 and sunk.[13] |
| Victoria | 1907[14] | 1,689[4] | Sold in 1928 to Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Scrapped in January 1957 at Barrow in Furness.[14] |
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (displacement) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gannet | 1878 | 1,130 | Used as an accommodation ship at Port Victoria from 1900-03. |
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