January meeting
Hampton and Kempton Waterworks Railway
The Locomotive 'Hounslow'
At the January lunch meeting President Michael Frazer welcomed the guest speaker Robert Leadbetter who spoke about the project to restore the Hampton and Kempton Waterworks Railway
The railway is based on an earlier industrial complex. which was a narrow gauge steam railway operating between 1916 to 1945. It delivered coal, transported by barge, to the Metropolitan Water Board Wharf at Port Hampton and then to the great pumping engines at Hampton and Kempton Park Waterworks.
There was also a siding at Kempton Park Station so that coal could be delivered by trains on the Shepperton line.
This railway inspired and was a key element in the formation of the Kew Bridge Steam Museum.
Originally there were three branches. The first ran south of the Lower Sunbury Road to the eastern end of the site. Four pumping stations along the Upper Sunbury Road were served by the second branch. Kempton Park was served by a further two mile branch.
This crossed the Lower Sunbury Road, went under the Upper Sunbury Road alongside the Shepperton railway line, then underneath it and over a level crossing at Bunney Lane to Kempton Pumping Station. It is this branch which is the focus of the current restoration.
The track bed still exists and runs in a cutting adjacent to Oldfield Road, it turns west running parallel with the Shepperton Line before sharing an under bridge with the Staines Aqueduct.
The Metropolitan Water Boards Railway Society was set up in 2003. Its aims were to rebuild the railway and to restore as much of the line as possible. It also gives direct support to the Hampton and Kempton Waterworks Railway Project whose purpose is to restore the railway link on the original track bed with the two foot industrial gauge which runs between Hampton Riverside and Kempton and to operate a passenger carrying railway on the Thames Water land.
This is planned to start in the South Field at the Kempton end of the line on the south east bend of the Hanworth Loop.
The project is run by a committee with a management tree which organises the many and varied activities on which a passenger carrying railway depends. Robert told us there is a strong need for gardeners as well as engineers to form the working parties which are made up of members of the Society. The project when completed will enhance the community scene and justifiably receives direct support from both Hounslow and Richmond Councils.
The organisation has bought lengths of track, old locomotive sheds for storage, trucks and loads of shuttering and plywood to make moulds for the railway sleepers which are poured locally in concrete. Members are also out scouring the countryside for suitable machinery, for example an original turntable was found at Kew, a few tipper trucks have been reconditioned, sea containers brought up from the coast and a 6 ton crane found rotting at the back of a Thames Water workshop. Network rail have also contributed to the cause. A new locomotive has been made by the enthusiasts and called appropriately enough “Hounslow” which will be running on the Hanworth Loop section which can be seen from the A316. Track laying with points at strategic interchanges and new electric circuitry are now tasks which are undertaken on a routine basis as well as the building of a brick viaduct to cross the Staines Aqueduct.
Robert illustrated these many activities with slides and film as well as commentating on aspects of the laws which have to observed and the training schedules undertaken by those operating a passenger carrying railway system.
When complete the railway will be able to transport visitors to the Kempton Park Great Engine Museum as well as the Kempton Nature Reserve.
The talk was very well received by members and the Vote of Thanks was given by Ross Silver who warmly thanked Robert for coming along to speak to us.
Ross went on to say he was always interested in elegant solutions to engineering problems and complimented the Society on its contribution to the saving of an important part of our heritage.
Further information about the Society can be found on its website:
www.hamptonkemptonrailway.org.uk.