The History of Rayleigh

The History of Rayleigh. . The railway first came to Rayleigh on 1st October 1889, when The Great Eastern Railway (GER) Wickford to Southend section of line opened as single track railway with passing loops, as part of the GER "New Essex Lines" that comprised the route from Shenfield to Southend and a branch from Wickford to Maldon. The first train was the 7.13 am from Southend to Liverpool St. The timetable shows up to a maximum of eight trains each way calling at Rayleigh on weekdays, but twice on Sundays., With an increase in traffic on the route, the line between Wickford and Hockley was double tracked in 1900., During 1920 Pullman car "Corsair" with full restaurant service was introduced on two services Monday-Saturday, a supplement of 2 shillings (10p) per journey was charged to travel in this coach., In 1923 GER was incorporated into London North Eastern Railway (LNER), this process created by the Railways Act 1921 became known as The Grouping., Colour-light signalling was introduced in 1938 and Rayleigh signal box was closed., The railways were nationalised in 1948, LNER being incorporated into British Railways., BR abolishes 3rd class railway travel in 1956, although in reality coaches were simply rebranded to 2nd class., Electrification of the Shenfield to Southend Victoria line using DC overhead line electrification was completed in 1956. As featured in the film "Service for Southend°, ceremonial celebrations were held for the last passenger steam hauled train and first electric trains running from Southend Victoria to Liverpool St., With larger numbers of commuters peak time trains of up to 12 coaches start running in 1964, to allow this both platforms were lengthened with an extra set of stairs added to the Southend bound footbridge., The goods yard closed to traffic in 1967., 1997 saw the start of the privatised railway network, "First Great Eastern" operated by the Great Eastern franchise commenced., 2012 saw the start of the Abellio operated Greater East Anglia franchise and this was renewed in 2016 to run until 2026 using the "Greater Anglia" brand., New Class 720 Electric Multiple Units built by Bombardier, are planned to be introduced in 2019/20, featuring air conditioning and Wi-Fi, these trains will be Standard class only, ending 1st class travel on this route., London Road Bridge Widening in 1936 , The original railway bridge over the A129 London Road, known as bridge 776, dating from 1889 was very narrow, this proved to be an obstacle on this busy road, causing delays to traffic and reports of accidents. A scheme to widen the bridge was put into place in the 1930s, a contract was awarded by the LNER to Fletcher and Co (Contractors) Ltd in the sum of £7,346 16s 9d, all of which would be recovered from the Essex County Council. The bridge was manoeuvred into place during the weekend of 12th/13th December 1936, with work being completed in spring 1937., The Station Masters 1889-1966 , The role of the station master at a station such as Rayleigh would to be responsible for the management of the station and its employees, also for its efficient running. They would live with their family in the station house that is still standing today., Since 1889 there have been a total of nine men with the permanent position of Station Master. The post continued until 1966, after which it was replaced with an Area Manager, whose duties covered a group of stations., Thomas Ernest March - 2nd September 1889 to 21st July 1901 , William Smith - 29th July 1901 to 10th September 1916 , William Sidney - 16th October 1916 to 17th March 1917 , Edward Eastgate Blanchfield - 29th July 1917 to 30th September 1933 , Henry Thurbon - 20th November 1933 to 27th April 1951 , Hayward George Miller Bixby - late 1951 to 31st July 1957 , William F Wilson - 1st September 1957 to c1959 , Edward Cecil Aldous - c1959 to late 1963 , Aubrey Bernard Bass - late 1963 to 1st June 1966, The Goods Traffic , An important part of the operation at Rayleigh from the opening in 1889, was the goods traffic that passed through the station. The yard contained a goods shed for transhipment of items, a cattle dock, coal yard and was equipped with a 11/2 ton crane. Traffic would have included building materials, farm produce, coal and goods for the town's retail businesses, the more unusual items recorded over the years were movie films for display at the town's Regal cinema and the dispatch of the Invacar three-wheeler disabled-person cars., Just outside Rayleigh near Hambro Hill bridge a private siding to serve the brickworks was constructed in the early 1900s, an area now commemorated by the Lower and Upper Lambrick road names., In the 1930s a new siding for the Central Electricity Board substation was constructed A downturn in goods traffic led to the closure of the goods yard and brickwork sidings in 1967, with commodities such as coal transferred to the depot at Southend Victoria. The station car park now occupies the site of the goods yard.