H. F. Stephens
Encyclopedia
Colonel Holman Fred Stephens (1868 - 23 October 1931) was a British
light railway
civil engineer
and manager
. During his lifetime he was engaged in engineering and building, and later managing, 16 light railways in England
and Wales
.
, Pre-Raphaelite artist
and art critic
and his wife the artist Rebecca Clara (née Dalton). He was apprenticed in the workshops of the Metropolitan Railway
in 1881. From there he went on to become an assistant engineer during the building of the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway, which was opened in 1892. In 1894 he became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
, which allowed him to design and build railways in his own right.
He immediately set about his lifetime's project of building light railways for rural areas. Most of his projects were to be planned and built under the terms of the 1896 Light Railways Act. His first two independently built railways, the Rye and Camber Tramway
and the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway, predated this but he built the first railway under that Act: the Rother Valley Railway (later to become the Kent and East Sussex Railway
).
The railways were planned, and some later run, from an office at 23 Salford Terrace in Tonbridge
, Kent
, which Stephens had rented in 1900 and purchased in 1927. It was characteristic of the Stephens' run railways that they stayed independent of the larger systems that were created following the Grouping under the Railways Act 1921
.
Stephens had no close relatives remaining a bachelor throughout his life. He had few interests outside his railways and his voluntary military service. In 1916, during WWI, Stephens attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Territorial Army with which he had been associated since the 1890s. He continued to support the TA throughout most of the 1920s.
When he died in 1931, the management of his railways was taken over by his former "outdoor assistant", W. H. Austen
, who ran them until they closed or were incorporated into the national system in 1948.
to Sanderstead
.
The list of lines which he was involved in is:
including:
None of these locomotives have been preserved.
came into force on 1 January 1923. Many others were not included in the Grouping, and continued to operate independently. After his death in 1931 the surviving railways continued to be run from the Tonbridge office by Austen until most were closed due to road competition, while the rest were nationalised into British Railways in 1948.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
light railway
Light railway
Light railway refers to a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail". This usually means the railway uses lighter weight track, and is more steeply graded and tightly curved to avoid civil engineering costs...
civil engineer
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
and manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
. During his lifetime he was engaged in engineering and building, and later managing, 16 light railways in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Biography
Stephens was the son of Frederic George StephensFrederic George Stephens
Frederic George Stephens was an art critic, and one of the two 'non-artistic' members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood....
, Pre-Raphaelite artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and his wife the artist Rebecca Clara (née Dalton). He was apprenticed in the workshops of the Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
in 1881. From there he went on to become an assistant engineer during the building of the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway, which was opened in 1892. In 1894 he became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
, which allowed him to design and build railways in his own right.
He immediately set about his lifetime's project of building light railways for rural areas. Most of his projects were to be planned and built under the terms of the 1896 Light Railways Act. His first two independently built railways, the Rye and Camber Tramway
Rye and Camber Tramway
The Rye and Camber Tramway was an English narrow gauge railway in East Sussex. It was of gauge. It operated from 1895 until 1939, connecting Rye to the nearby coast at Camber. It was a short line, only about in length, and had three stations - Rye, Golf Links and Camber Sands...
and the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway, predated this but he built the first railway under that Act: the Rother Valley Railway (later to become the Kent and East Sussex Railway
Kent and East Sussex Railway
The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:...
).
The railways were planned, and some later run, from an office at 23 Salford Terrace in Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, which Stephens had rented in 1900 and purchased in 1927. It was characteristic of the Stephens' run railways that they stayed independent of the larger systems that were created following the Grouping under the Railways Act 1921
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
.
Stephens had no close relatives remaining a bachelor throughout his life. He had few interests outside his railways and his voluntary military service. In 1916, during WWI, Stephens attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Territorial Army with which he had been associated since the 1890s. He continued to support the TA throughout most of the 1920s.
When he died in 1931, the management of his railways was taken over by his former "outdoor assistant", W. H. Austen
W. H. Austen
William Henry Austen was a British railway engineer who took over the running of Colonel Stephens' light railways on the latter's death in 1931 until his own retirement in 1948, by which time the lines had either closed due to competition from motor bus and lorry, or became part of British...
, who ran them until they closed or were incorporated into the national system in 1948.
The railways
The railways in which Stephens became involved, and which became operational, were:| Name | Year Opened | Year Closed | Passenger services start | Passenger services end | Gauge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashover Light Railway | 1924 | 1950 | 1924 | 1926 | Built primarily to carry stone | |
| Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway | 1859 | 1996 | 1913 | Originally coal-carrying, adapted for passenger traffic by Stephens; absorbed by Great Western Railway Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838... 1923 |
||
| Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway | 1892 | 1961 | Worked, and finally absorbed by the South Eastern Railway South Eastern Railway (UK) The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent... in 1900. Stephen's first assignment following his training. Also known as the Hawkhurst Branch Line Hawkhurst Branch Line The Hawkhurst Branch Line was a short railway line in Kent that connected Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Horsmonden with the town of Paddock Wood and the South Eastern and Medway Valley lines, a distance of .... |
|||
| Edge Hill Light Railway Edge Hill Light Railway The Edge Hill Light Railway, one of Colonel Stephens' railways, was in Warwickshire, England. It was designed to carry iron ore from Edge Hill Quarries to Burton Dassett where a junction was made with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway. It was never officially opened, but began... |
1919 | 1925 | none | none | Ironstone-carrying; included a 1 in 6 cable-worked incline; never formally opened | |
| East Kent Light Railway East Kent Light Railway The East Kent Light Railway was part of the Colonel Stephens group of cheaply built rural light railways in England. Holman Fred Stephens was engineer from its inception, subsequently becoming director and manager... |
1911 | 1980s | 1916 | 1948 | built to serve the Kent Coalfield Kent coalfield The Kent Coalfield was a coalfield located in the eastern part of the English county of Kent.Coal was discovered in the area in 1890 while borings for an early Channel Tunnel project were taking place and the resultant Shakespeare colliery lasted until 1915... ; branch to Richborough Richborough Richborough is a settlement north of Sandwich on the east coast of the county of Kent, England. Richborough lies close to the Isle of Thanet.... ; part now a heritage railway Heritage railway thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and... |
|
| Ffestiniog Railway Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.... |
1832 | Open | Managed by Stephens c1923-1931, now a heritage railway | |||
| Isle of Wight Central Railway Isle of Wight Central Railway The Isle of Wight Central Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. At its peak the company owned 21½ miles of railway line, and it also operated trains on some additional lines it did not own. Trains were first run on what became its lines in 1862, although the company... |
Stephens was Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent for a brief period in 1911. | |||||
| Kent and East Sussex Railway Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:... and Rother Valley Railway Rother Valley Railway The Rother Valley Railway is the original name of what became the Kent and East Sussex Railway. Nowadays, the Rother Valley Railway refers to the ‘Missing Link’ between Robertsbridge, a station on the Tonbridge to Hastings mainline, and Bodiam on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, a heritage... |
1900 | 1961 | 1900 | 1954 | Now a heritage railway | |
| North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway | 1925 | 1982 | Originally a china-clay carrier; Stephens engineered its reconstruction and extension; operated by Southern Railway at outset, although remaining an independent company until nationalisation | |||
| Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway in England was built by an independent company but operated by the London and South Western Railway as part of its main line to give it independent access to Plymouth. It ran from to Devonport Junction, just west of Plymouth North Road... |
1890 | 1966 (part) | Built by an independent company but operated by the London and South Western Railway London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in... as part of its main line The branch from Bere Alston Bere Alston Bere Alston is a small village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers.-History and geography:... to Callington was engineered by Stephens and opened in 1908 operating as an independent company from the main line which was fully worked by the London & South Western Railway section to Gunnislake Gunnislake Gunnislake is a large village in east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated in the Tamar Valley approximately ten miles north of Plymouth... is still operating |
|||
| Rye and Camber Tramway Rye and Camber Tramway The Rye and Camber Tramway was an English narrow gauge railway in East Sussex. It was of gauge. It operated from 1895 until 1939, connecting Rye to the nearby coast at Camber. It was a short line, only about in length, and had three stations - Rye, Golf Links and Camber Sands... |
1895 | 1939 | Used intermittently by military during World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... and never reopened |
|||
| Sheppey Light Railway Sheppey Light Railway The Sheppey Light Railway was a railway on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England which ran from Leysdown to Queenborough, where it connected with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Sheerness Line. It was engineered by Holman Fred Stephens and opened in 1901 and closed on December 4, 1950... |
1896 | 1950 | Engineered by Stephens but operated from the outset by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between... ownership and control taken over by South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1905 |
|||
| Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway (S&MR) | 1866 | 1960 | 1933 | Reconstructed from the long-closed Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway in 1911. Regular passenger services ceased 1933. Taken over for military use during WWII and remained under military control until closure. |
||
| Snailbeach District Railways Snailbeach District Railways Snailbeach District Railways was a British narrow gauge railway in Shropshire. It was built to carry lead ore from mines in the Stiperstones to Pontesbury where the ore was transshipped to the Great Western Railway's Minsterley branch line. Coal from the Pontesford coal mines travelled in the... |
1877 | 1962 | 2 foot | Lead- and later stone-carrying railway | ||
| Welsh Highland Railway Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway... |
1923 | 1936 | Incorporating the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway (opened 1877). Rebuilt 1997 - 2011 as a heritage line. |
|||
| West Sussex Railway West Sussex Railway The West Sussex Railway opened in 1897 as the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway, so named to save having to build the railway to regulations that normally covered railways, later changing its name to the WSR. It closed on 19th January 1935 in the face of intensive road bus competition... |
1897 | 1935 | The "Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway" | |||
| Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway was conceived and built initially as a tramway to link the three small North Somerset coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead in the 1880s.-Overview:... |
1897 | 1940 | Extension opened 1907 |
Other projects
Apart from his successful projects, Stephens was also involved in many others, which did not come to fruition – eighteen reached the early, Light Railway Order, stage. Many were extensions to existing railways; one was the 1920s scheme for the 'Southern Heights Light Railway', which would have produced a single-track electrified railway from OrpingtonOrpington
Orpington is a suburban town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms the southeastern edge of London's urban sprawl and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
to Sanderstead
Sanderstead
Sanderstead is a village in London Borough of Croydon, located on high ground at the edge of the built-up area of Greater London. From 1915 to 1965 it formed a parish in the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District of Surrey. Having been a farming community in previous centuries, Sanderstead is now...
.
The list of lines which he was involved in is:
- Central Essex Railway
- East Kent Railway Extensions
- East Sussex Railway
- Gower Railway
- Hadlow Railway
- Headcorn and Faversham Junction Railway
- Headcorn and Maidstone Junction Railway
- Hedingham and Long Melford Railway
- Kelvedon, Coggeshall and Halstead Railway
- Lands End, St Just and Great Western Junction Railway
- Long Melford and Hadleigh Railway
- Maidstone and Faversham Junction Railway
- Maidstone and Sittingbourne Railway
- Newport and Four Ashes Railway
- Orpington, Cudham and Tatsfield Railway
- Shropshire Railways (Shrewsbury and Market Drayton Extension)
- Southern Heights Light Railway
- Surrey and Sussex Railway
- Worcester and Broome Railway
Locomotives
The majority of the locomotives used on Stephens' railways were second-hand but a few new locomotives were bought from Hawthorn Leslie and CompanyHawthorn Leslie and Company
R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:...
including:
| Railway | Loco name | Build date | Wheels | Disposal | BR number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KESR Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:... |
Tenterden Tenterden Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother.... |
1900 | 2-4-0 2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels.... T |
Scrapped 1941 | |
| KESR Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:... |
Rolvenden Rolvenden Rolvenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of Tenterden.The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also in the parish.-History:... |
1900 | 2-4-0 2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels.... T |
Scrapped 1941 | |
| KESR Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:... |
Hecate Hecate Hecate or Hekate is a chthonic Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and crossroads.She is attested in poetry as early as Hesiod's Theogony... |
1904 | 0-8-0 0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels... T |
to SR Southern Railway (Great Britain) The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent... and BR |
30949 |
| PDSWJR Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway in England was built by an independent company but operated by the London and South Western Railway as part of its main line to give it independent access to Plymouth. It ran from to Devonport Junction, just west of Plymouth North Road... |
A. S. Harris | 1907 | 0-6-0 0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels... T |
to SR and BR | 30756 |
| PDSWJR | Earl of Mount Edgcumbe | 1907 | 0-6-2 0-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle... T |
to SR and BR | 30757 |
| PDSWJR | Lord St. Levan | 1907 | 0-6-2T | to SR and BR | 30758 |
| SMR | Pyramus | 1911 | 0-6-2T | sold c.1916 | - |
| SMR | Thisbe | 1911 | 0-6-2T | sold c.1916 | - |
None of these locomotives have been preserved.
The 1923 Grouping
Some of the railways (as can be seen in the list above) were already part of major companies by the time the Railways Act 1921Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
came into force on 1 January 1923. Many others were not included in the Grouping, and continued to operate independently. After his death in 1931 the surviving railways continued to be run from the Tonbridge office by Austen until most were closed due to road competition, while the rest were nationalised into British Railways in 1948.