South Eastern Railway - Broad Gauge

At the time when the Hughes broad gauge book was being compiled, the South Eastern Railway had barely half as many steam locomotives on its books compared to its neighbour the Eastern Railway. The pictures I have 'inherited' show a very different kind of railway with well turned out locomotives reflecting a very different management culture.

It's a bit of a shame that so many pictures show locomotives specially prepared for visitors because their everyday appearance would clearly have shown a railway where staff took a pride in their work  As such the vast majority of steam locomotives were from a few standard, modern classes.

I find the pictures here somewhat disappointing, as with few exceptions, most steam centres have just a few pictures and the total number of images is 'below average'. Visitors to the area understandably concentrated on the railway's tasty narrow gauge steam lines.

Jan Willem van Dorp's contribution is unique, mostly an in depth look at individual lines in the later days of steam.