Station Name: SHEERNESS DOCKYARD

 

[Source: Nick Catford]


Date opened: 19.7.1860
Location: On the east side of Brielle Way (A249) at its junction of West Street.
Company on opening: Sittingbourne & Sheerness Railway Company
Date closed to passengers: 2.1.1922
Date closed completely: 6.5.1963
Company on closing: London Chatham & Dover Railway
Present state: Demolished
County: Kent
OS Grid Ref: TQ912748
Date of visit: 1962
Notes: In 1856 The Sittingbourne & Sheerness Railway Company was incorporated to build a seven mile branch from Sittingbourne to Queenborough and the dockyard town of Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. It was opened on 19th July 1860 and operated by the London Chatham & Dover Railway and vested in it six years later. The station at Sheerness
was located some half a mile from the town centre but was short-lived as a half mile extension was made to a more convenient site for passengers with the opening of Sheerness-on-Sea Station on 1st June 1883.


The naming of the new station with the 'on-Sea' suffix was to promote the location as a holiday resort, thus encouraging more traffic onto the line. The original station was renamed 'Sheerness Dockyard' and connections were made with the Royal Navy establishment. Trains continued to stop at both Sheerness Dockyard and Sheerness-on-Sea stations
stations until December 1914 as trains were required to run into Sheerness Dockyard and then reverse into Sheerness-on-Sea.

With the outbreak of World War 1 Sheerness Dockyard Station was closed. During this time a connecting spur had been built to give direct access to Sheerness-on-Sea thus eliminating the need for any trains to reverse into the

Dockyard station. As a result, the Dockyard station never re-opened to passengers although its official closing date is listed as 2nd January 1922. The station is still listed in Bradshaw for July 1922 (shown above) b ut without any trains stopping there. The station was subsequently converted to a goods depot, railway connections with the Naval establishment and steel works having been made; it remained in use until 6th May 1963. The station became a private siding on 8th March '65

Source: Regional History of British Railways of Great Britain, Volume 2 - Southern England by
H.P. White - David & Charles 1969 ISBN 7153 4733 0 - Tickets from Michael Stewart




Sheerness Dockyard Station (undated)
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection


1911 OS map showing the need to reverse from Sheerness Dockyard to Sheerness-on-Sea


Sheerness Dockyard Station in 1922 showing a turntable pit at the end of the track.
Photo from John Mann collection


Sheerness Dockyard Station in the 1960's
Photo received from Phil Eakins


 

 

 

[Source: Nick Catford


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