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Building the Line
The construction of the Horsham & Guildford
Direct railway did not start until early on in 1862, which only
left 2½ years to complete the line to avoid paying the £12,000
penalty imposed by Parliament. The main construction works for
the line were a junction to the main line at Peasmarsh, a bridge
over the river Wey, a road bridge over the line just outside Shalford,
level crossings at Bramley & Cranleigh, a deep cutting between
Cranleigh & Rudgwick, a bridge over the river Arun just past Rudgwick,
another junction with the main line at Stammerham, along with
5 stations, at Bramley, Cranleigh, Little Vachery, Rudgwick &
Slinfold.
Except where it met the main line at
Peasmarsh & Stammerham, the entire line was built as single
track, with just one passing loop at Baynards station.
All bridges where the line crossed over
a road or river were made for only a single track, where as bridges
crossing the line were made with enough space underneath for a
second line to be laid. This was done to make expansion easier
if the line was turned into a double track at a later date.
While the delays in starting construction
were going on, several changes were made to the plans, the deep
cutting between Cranleigh and Rudgwick was to be replaced by a
tunnel through the hill at Baynards. LBSCR used their engineer
to assume overall control of the line's construction, but only
part-time, as he still had to work for LBSCR. He had working drawings
for the line drawn up, and presented them to the HGDR board on
12th March 1862. The plans showed "considerable alteration to
the Parliamentary line in some places" one major alteration was
that there was no junction with the LBSCR line at Stammerham which
would have shortened the lines name to "The Guildford Direct Railway"
and trains would never have got to Horsham! The LBSCR engineer
explained to the board a few weeks later that he "entirely forgot
that he had been informed of the line's route". Some changes like
the tunnel at Baynards, had to be resubmitted to Parliament. The
plans for a station at Little Vachery were also changed and the
station was moved to Baynards. This was largely due to Rev. Thurlow,
who sold a great deal of land to the railway company, giving it
to them at an incredibly reduced rate, almost obliging them to
give him virtually his own private station. He was also given
the right to a daily carriage from Baynards to London (It is not
known when this practice ceased).
Construction was slow and by March 1863
very little progress had been made, and six miles of land between
Cranleigh and Guildford, still had to be purchased. The board
wrote to the contractors who assured them that activity was being
increased and the line would be open on 1st March 1964. The railway
company were obviously worried about missing their opening deadline
and being fined the £12,000, as they did decide to cut a few corners
in construction. One of these was making the bridge over the river
Arun only wide enough for a single track, this not only saved
them much time but also money.
On the night of 27th August 1863, one
of the lines inspectors was killed in Baynards Tunnel. It is noted
in the directors minutes that LBSCR paid his funeral expenses
of £10, and gave a donation of £13. 13s to his widow. Fortunately
he was the only casualty of the lines construction.
Work proceeded well, and at the end of
1863, tenders were sought for the building of the 5 stations,
one was accepted in January 1864 at a total cost of £3,698 for
all five stations. Track laying was obviously also being thought through,
as four train loads of ballast was ordered by HGDR from LBSCR
at a cost of 1 shilling & 4 pence (1/4d) per ton.
By the end of June 1864 the HGDR was
part of LBSCR and they inherited all the delays and the potential
£12,000 fine if the line wasn't open two months later, but both
delays and work were to continue for another 16 months before
the line would eventually be opened.
In May 1965 The Board of Trade were informed
that the line would be open for use on 1st June 1865, this was
later changed to 1st July, due to incomplete works. The Board
inspected the line and caused a few delays of their own. They
did not agree the opening of the line until plans were agreed
with LSWR that Guildford station would need enlarging. They also
insisted that Rudgwick station could not open as the gradient
that it was built on (1 in 80) was too dangerous, and it needed
to be flattened to 1 in 130. This didn't sound too much of an
ordeal, but it meant that the bridge over the river Arun had to
be raised considerably, and it was already part built. The part
built embankments were raised and the brick arch that was under
construction was left as a flying buttress to a new plate girder
bridge.
The line was finally opened to the public
on 2nd October 1865. Free travel was granted for everyone on the
first day, so it is quite surprising that Baynards station had
receipts of between £2 an £3. Most of the trains were full and
the stations were crowded, except for Rudgwick, which did not
open until the following month, due to the gradient alterations
taking place. The Board of Trade were apparently satisfied by
the LBSCR's reasons for opening 14 months after the penalty deadline,
as there is no record that £12,000 deposit was lost by the company.
Click here to continue to: 'Changes Over the Years'
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