Bricklayers' Arms

Bricklayers' Arms is a busy road intersection on the London Inner Ring Road in south London, England.

It is located at gbmapping|TQ329790 and the junction of:
*Tower Bridge Road
*Old Kent Road
*New Kent Road
*Great Dover Street

Old Kent Road and New Kent Road are connected by a flyover.

Former railway station and steam locomotive depot

From 1844 to 1852 it was the location of a railway station operated by the South Eastern and London and Croydon railways. It closed for passenger traffic in 1852, with the exception of its use on March 3, 1863, for a special train carrying Queen Alexandra.

The station was never commercially viable as a passenger terminus due to its location on the Old Kent Road and distance from the centre of London. However once it had closed the large site proved excellent for the development of a steam locomotive depot and goods sidings. The Bricklayers Arms' complex operated for over a century, supplying locomotives and crews for goods and suburban passenger services, as well as the more prestigious express trains from London to the South Coast.

The other important role was to provide refuelling facilities for visiting trains which had worked into London. Once uncoupled from their coaches, locos from trains into Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge terminii usually ran tender-first down to Bricklayers Arms' shed to be turned round on the large turntable, as well as be rewatered and recoaled. Once this was completed they again ran tender-first back to the terminus to rejoin their train for the return journey out of London. Access to and from Bricklayers Arms' complex on the South Eastern side was via a branch line down a long slope which dropped below the viaducts to either side of it.

When British Rail converted from steam to diesel traction in the 1960s the shed became surplus to requirements and closed down, but the goods sidings continued in occasional use up until 1981, when the whole complex was sold to developers.

The area occupied by the goods sidings is now covered in houses, whilst the site of the old shed has become an industrial estate, crossed by Mandela Way.

Publications

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External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/bricklayersarms/ trainweb.org] — Maps & pictures of Bricklayers' Arms locomotive depot today
* [http://www.kentrail.co.uk/bricklayers_arms.htm kentrail.co.uk] — Concise history of Bricklayers' Arms depot