Hellingly Hospital Railway
The Hellingly Hospital Railway was a light railway owned and operated by East Sussex County Council, used for transporting coal and passengers to Hellingly Hospital, a psychiatric hospital near Hailsham, from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's Cuckoo Line at Hellingly railway station.
The railway was constructed in 1899 and opened to passengers on 20 July 1903, following its electrification in 1902. After the railway grouping of 1923, passenger numbers declined so significantly that the hospital authorities no longer considered passenger usage of the line to be economical, and that service was withdrawn in 1931. The railway closed to freight in 1959, following the hospital's decision to convert its coal boilers to oil, which rendered the railway unnecessary.
The route took a mostly direct path from a junction immediately south of Hellingly Station, past Farm and Park House
Construction and opening
In 1897, East Sussex County Council purchased 400 acres (160 ha) of land at Park Farm, about three miles (5 km) north of
A small wooden platform was built at Hellingly railway station, opposite the main line platform. This had no connection to the station buildings and was used only for the transfer of passengers between main-line and hospital trains, and kept chained off when not in use.[4] Coal yards and sidings were also built at Hellingly station. The hospital opened to patients, and the railway to passengers, on 20 July 1903.[5]
Route
The railway left the Cuckoo Line at Hellingly Station. Although the railway joined the Cuckoo Line at both the northern and southern ends of the platform, virtually no through trains ran. Due to the arrangement of the lines at the junction with the Cuckoo Line, passenger trains to and from the hospital reversed south of Hellingly station.[6]
After leaving the main line immediately south of Hellingly, the railway passed over gated level crossings at Park Road and New Road. Farm Siding, a single siding on the west of the line beyond the crossings, was a collection point for the farm's agricultural produce in the early years of the railway, but later fell out of use.[6] The line climbed most of the way from here to the hospital at 1 in 50.[7] About halfway between Hellingly and the hospital the line entered the hospital grounds, passing to the west of Park House Siding, which served the hospital's Park House annexe.
As it approached the hospital, the line split; the southern fork led to a siding to the north-west of the hospital, while the other turned sharply east and south through almost 180° before splitting again. One fork ran into a large workshop and the other led to a short platform, which was initially used for passengers. Following the suspension of passenger services it was converted into a coal dock.[8]
The line had no signals or automatic points to control the switching between lines at junctions with the main line and with the sidings. On the approach to a level crossing the fireman ran ahead with a red flag, to stop the traffic; he also manually operated the points.[9]
Motive power
Joseph Howe & Company used an
In 1902, the decision was taken to
The hospital was also connected to the local 11 kV electricity distribution system.
Engineers Robert W. Blackwell & Co provided a small
Operations
At the
There were only two minor accidents: a car that collided with the locomotive whilst driving through the hospital grounds, and a wagon whose brakes failed whilst stabled at Farm Siding, which rolled down the line to Hellingly station.[18]
On 22 November 1939, plans were put in place for the restoration of passenger services to allow ambulance trains to reach the hospital, and authorisation was given for their operation. However, the line was never used to transport patients, as although Park House was used as a hospital by the
Closure
In the late 1950s, the hospital, under the control of the Hailsham Hospitals Management Committee since the 1948 establishment of the National Health Service, decided to convert its boilers from coal to oil. The railway was therefore no longer needed to transport coal; the last load was delivered on 10 March 1959, and the empty coal wagon returned to Hellingly on 25 March 1959.[19][20]
Under the terms of the agreement between the hospital authorities, the LBSCR, and its successors, the hospital authorities were obliged to keep the railway in good repair to allow its use by main-line wagons. With a greatly reduced need for goods traffic to the hospital following the conversion of the boilers, it was decided that the railway was not worth the expense of continued maintenance and necessary upgrading, and the line was officially closed on 25 March 1959 following the departure of the last coal wagon.[20]
The line was used for occasional excursions by
Present day
The Cuckoo Line closed shortly after the Hospital Railway. Hellingly station closed to passengers on 14 June 1965, and the line closed for goods traffic on 26 April 1968. The station building complete with platform is now a private residence, and the Cuckoo Line trackbed was converted to the Cuckoo Trail long-distance footpath in 1990.[21] Much of the route of the Hospital Railway is also now a footpath.[22]
Traces of the railway can still be seen, including a cast iron pole that supported the overhead wire, the remains of the engine shed (burnt down in 2004), and a short section of track.[23][24] Hellingly Hospital is now closed[25] Approval for redevelopment as a housing complex was obtained in 2009.[1][26]
See also
- Wharfedale Line.
- Park Prewett Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Hampshire that had a spur line from Basingstoke.
- Whittingham Hospital Railway, a branch line that served the Whittingham psychiatric hospital in Lancashire.
- Horton Light Railway, a freight only railway serving the cluster of psychiatric hospitals near Epsom, Surrey.
References
- ^ Reflecting changing attitudes to, and terminology within, the field of psychiatric medicine, the hospital went through multiple renamings in its lifetime. Known as the County Lunatic Asylum prior to opening, it was opened in 1903 as the East Sussex County Asylum. On 28 June 1919 it was renamed the East Sussex Mental Hospital. Following the nationalisation of the health service in 1948, the formal name gradually declined in usage, and by the time of the closure of the main hospital building in 1990 it was always referred to as Hellingly Hospital. The name "Hellingly Hospital" was used informally (and in semi-official material such as staff publications) throughout the existence of the hospital, and the railway line was known as the "Hellingly Hospital Railway" from the outset.
Notes
- ^ a b Ryan, Siobhan (7 February 2007). "Former asylum to be converted to flats". The Argus. Retrieved on 20 June 2008.
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 4
- ^ Elliott 1988, p. 47
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 1986, § 72
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 6
- ^ a b c d e f g Stones, H.R. (December 1957). "The Hellingly Hospital Railway" (PDF). Railway Magazine. 103 (680): 869–872. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2009. Retrieved on 29 May 2008.
- ^ Railway Magazine December 1950 pp. 869-873 H. R. Stones The Hellingly Hospital Railway
- ^ a b Harding 1989, p. 16
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 23
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 5
- ^ "The County's New Mental Sanatorium". Eastbourne Chronicle. Sussex. 30 May 1903. p. 8.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 1986, § 74
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 1986, § 73
- ^ Elliott 1988, p. 53
- ^ a b Harding 1989, p. 10
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 21
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 1986, § 76
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 24
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 11
- ^ a b c d Harding 1989, p. 25
- ^ "The Cuckoo Trail" (PDF). East Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ "Hellingly Walk" (PDF). East Sussex County Council. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Harding 1989, p. 28
- ^ Catford, Nick (1995). "Disused Stations Site Record: Hellingly Hospital Railway". Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ "Wealden Local Plan: Hellingly Hospital" (PDF). Wealden District Council. December 1998. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
- ^ "Planning Application Display - WD/2008/0220/MRM". Wealden Council. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-906867-63-0.
- Harding, Peter A. (1989). The Hellingly Hospital Railway. Woking: Peter A. Harding. ISBN 0-9509414-5-X.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1986). Branch Lines to Tunbridge Wells from Oxted, Lewes and Polegate. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-32-0.
External links
- Model of the Hellingly Hospital Railway, built by Phil Parker
- Photographs of the remains of the Hellingly Hospital Railway
- Hellingly Hospital today at Abandoned Britain
- Hellingly Hospital at County Asylums: gives a brief overview of the hospital's history and current status, as well as links to other sites relating to the hospital
50°53′16″N 0°15′37″E / 50.88778°N 0.26028°E