Precursors

The first railway at Chattenden was a standard gauge line laid by the Royal Engineers in the early 1870s. This was used to bring building materials from a wharf at Upnor to be used in the construction of the Chattenden Munitions Depot.^[2] According to a report in the issue of "Iron" dated Saturday 29 May 1875: "A detachment of non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Engineers, commanded by Lieutenant Barker, on Saturday left the School of Military Engineering at Chatham for Upnor, where they will be quartered for some time, as they are to be employed to lay down lines of rails to connect forts on the Thames and Medway with the new powder magazines to be constructed at Chattenden Roughs, a few miles from the old magazines at Upnor Castle. It is expected that more than forty miles of these railways will be constructed."^[3] This railway fell out of use when the building work was completed.^[2]

An 18 in (457 mm) railway is thought to have been laid to help with the construction of the standard gauge line. An 0-4-0ST locomotive, called Burgoyne, built by Manning Wardle in 1873 (works no. 448), would have been used in construction, although it may also have been used on the Chatham Eastern Defences 18 inch gauge railway and worked on Borstal Prison construction work. Burgoyne was identical as built to Busy Bee (Manning Wardle 424 of 1872 for the Admiralty at Chatham Dockyard) and was a member of the classic Manning Wardle '6 by 8' 0-4-0ST specification.

Opening

In 1885, members of the Royal School of Military Engineering laid an experimental 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railway on the trackbed of the standard gauge line, initially retaining the standard gauge as a third rail in at least some places. The steep gradients involved allowed the engineers to test the effectiveness of narrow-gauge railways over hilly terrain (according to an article in 'The Locomotive' magazine in 1903, some standard gauge was still extant at this stage). The last standard gauge locomotives were transferred to the Royal Arsenal at some stage between 1898 and 1906.The 1885 gauge adaptation was at the behest of Royal Engineers officers such as Major John Hogg, who were mindful of the shortcomings of the 18 inch gauge lines laid during the abortive Suakin Campaign of the Spring that year. At the time 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railways were being used extensively in the North-West Frontier Province of India.^[4] Sadly, although no steam locomotives of the Royal Engineers era on the C. & U.R. currently survive, probably the main legacy of the railway in this era was the use of 36 2 ft. 6 in. gauge Bagnall 2-4-2ST's supplied to the Indian States Military Railways in 1901-5 as a Strategic Reserve. Examples saw use in Mesopotamia during World War One and two survive in India today. The locomotives, although of a different wheel arrangement, showed a marked family resemblance to Bagnall 1514 of 1897 (see below).

World Wars

The Chattenden and Upnor Railway line was taken over by the Admiralty on 1 April 1906.^[2] Two new locomotives, Fisher and Chevalier were purchased just after the start of the First World War to deal with the rise in munitions traffic. In 1918, five Greenwood and Batley battery-electric locomotives were purchased, to work the lines into the munitions stores where steam locomotives were a fire risk.^[1]

In 1931 the railway had 91 powder wagons, 16 box wagons to carry ammunition, 17 assorted wagons for ballast, an officers‘ carriage, 7 workmen‘s carriages, 3 brake vans, and a breakdown van.

Two final steam locomotives, Burnett Hall and Norbury were purchased in 1933 and 1934.^[1] These were the main locomotives in use at the start of the Second World War. In 1943, the first of a series of diesel locomotives were purchased.^[1]

Closure

By 1896, the last 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) of the Hoo branch had been lifted,^[5] with the remainder removed by 1909.^[6]

By 1941, the section of the branch from Upnor to the Tank Field signal box was mostly out of use, and the remaining section to Pontoon Hard (Upper Upnor) was closed.^[4] The rest of the line closed on 31 December 1961.^[2] The track was lifted in December 1965.^[1]

Passenger services

The line was never opened to the public, but passenger services were run for munitions workers. In 1891 there were nine passenger trains running each day.^[1]

During the Second World War, passenger trains were revived using bogie carriages built by Charles Roberts & Co. Ltd. in 1942. These continued until 19 May 1961.^[2]

Built for the Army

Built for the Army

Built for the Admiralty

Battery-electric

A large number of battery-electric locomotives were used, mainly to move munitions around the Lodge Hill depot. Six supplied in 1928 were also suitable for use on the main line. They had central cabs with large square-cornered windows and tramway skirts covering the wheels. These were replaced by six Greenwood and Batley 8-ton locomotives built between 1938 and 1945.^[1]

The rest of the battery-electric fleet were motorised wagons without cabs that were restricted to use in the depot. Twenty-four were supplied by Greenwood and Batley in batches between 1918 and 1948. Seven came from Wingrove & Rogers and two were built in the workshops at Lodge Hill.^[1]