LONDON BRIGHTON AND SOUTH COAST - 1847


  

The London Brighton and South Coast Railway had been formed only in 1846, through the amalgamation of the London and Croydon Railway with the London and Brighton Railway.

They were already sharing the line from Redhill to London Bridge with the South Eastern Railway (SER), who were using it from London Bridge as far as Redhill for their main line to Dover.

In 1847 the London Brighton and South Coast produced this proposal to build their own direct line into Kent from New Cross.  The route proposed was similar to that of the SER, but had detailed differences.
 

They may well also have been influenced by the proposal dating from only two years before for the Great Kent Atmospheric Railway, which had been withdrawn once it had become apparent that the Atmospheric system was not going to be a reliable method of propulsion, given the technology of the day.

From New Cross the LB&SCR line would branch to the east and head through Beckenham and Farnborough to descend the Downs to the valley below at about the same place where today's main line emerges.  No tunnel is shown on the map but surely one would have been required. 


Just below Polehill the line would divide in two, a northerly route proceeding direct to Maidstone, while a second route headed for Tonbridge.


The two diagrams below show the line crossing Crofton Road and then Tubbenden Lane, both at a slightly more northerly point than that planned for the Great Kent Atmospheric.

   

The maps below show the route through Green Street Green and Pratts Bottom.  Note the diversion of the main Turnpike Road at Pratts Bottom.

   

In October 1849 the SER acquired the new Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (RG&RR) line, which the LB&SCR regarded as a major incursion into its territory.

However also in 1849 the LB&SCR appointed a new and capable chairman, Samuel Laing, who negotiated a formal agreement with the SER over their respective spheres of influence.  As a consequence the LB&SCR proposal for the line through Farnborough was withdrawn.

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