Southampton Docks

The South Western Railway first reached Southampton from London in 1840 and that kick-started the expansion of the docks, which had a maritime heritage since the Roman era. The first main dock was established in 1843, which became known as Outer Dock in 1851 when the now filled-in inner dock was created. In 1892, the London & South Western Railway became the owner and operator of the docks, which passed to the Southern Railway in 1923, who continued to develop and build new docks such as the ‘New Docks’ (now known as Western Docks) and the Ocean Docks, which gained an Art Deco terminal building in 1950.

Canute Road is mainly known for the famous and often photographed level crossing with Southern Railway boat trains leaving the Ocean Dock bound for London. It is effectively a ‘U’ shape within the Southampton Docks peninsular and along with the other wharves in the area alongside the River Itchen, using the name Canute Road Quay, it provides the setting without being based on a specific location within Southampton Docks.

Images that immediately come to mind in conjunction with Southampton Docks usually include the ex-LSWR B4 0-4-0 tanks, SR USA tanks and later the Class 07 diesels, and these are now all available in ready-to-run form. In later Southern Railway and early Southern Region days, other locomotives such as the ex-LBSC E1 and E2 0-6-0Ts were often seen.

In addition to the main railway-owned docks, there are also a myriad of private docks and wharves in the area, including the inner and outer docks and those along the River Itchen such as Dibles Wharf, Notham, Britannia and Victoria wharf. All these were rail-served and many had their own locomotives from a variety of the industrial locomotive manufacturers such as Peckett, Sentinel and Andrew Barclay. Various of these types are now available ready-to-run.