THE INDEPENDENT YEARS
The Independent Years
1898 - 1905
The first locomotive to run along the line was that of Pearson's, the contractors who took over completion of the project from Billups of Tredegarville,Cardiff in January 1897. It was an 0-6-0ST loco built by The Hunslet Engine Company in 1893, numbered 594 and named Ernest.

The locomotive would of course be primarily used for construction work but its secondary job would have been its use on tours of inspection both for the line Engineer and the Company Directors.
By April 1898 Ernest had gone from the area and was later used during the construction of the Wooton Bassett to Patchway Line. 

The winter of 1897-98 found the LVR facing not only the problem of acheiving the completion of general construction work on time, but also the problem of acquiring locomotives and rolling stock. The company successfully negotiated the hire of a loco from the GWR.

It was this arrangement with the Great Western that saw the arrival of ( No.1384 ) a 2-4-0 ST built by Sharp, Stewart & Co. in 1876. This locomotive would work the services for the first few months of operations, giving the newly formed LVR company a breathing space until their own power units could be purchased
The GWR however, were not in favour of supplying rolling stock and the decision not too, left the LVR with a major problem. The Chairman of the company, Colonel Archer Houblon came to the rescue by purchasing four four-wheeled carriages himself and hiring them to the LVR. They were acquired at a cost of £1300 and each coach carried a plate proclaiming Col. Archer Houblon as the owner. After an agreed number of payments had been realised, they would ultimately become the property of the LVR.

Each carriage had both first and second class compartments and a total seating capacity of 32 persons. Second class seating was of wooden construction and demanded a fare rate of roughly 1d a mile. The coaches had a central gangway with platforms at both ends. These platforms were fitted with wrought iron safety railings and allowed the guard to walk the length of the train while it was in motion. The coaches were 26 feet 6 inches in length and were fitted with a vacuum brake. Pictured above right is former East Garston resident, the late Francis Worrell Kibblewhite Pounds on-board one of the four LVR Carraiges
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Goods rolling stock amounted to six second-hand GWR wagons acquired at a cost of £91: 10s: 0d ( £91.50 ).
A further twelve pre-used wagons were obtained from the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. for £189,

These were all funded by Col Archer Houblon and subject to the same type of agreement as the four carriages.


The Senior Officers for the LVR at this time were:-

General Manager
Mr.W.H.H M Gipps
Engineer
Mr. J.S. MacIntyre
Company Secretary
Mr. H. Holmes

All three individuals were instrumental in aiding the completion of the railway and would play an important part in its future operations. In addition
to the General managership of the LVR., Mr. Gipps was also the traffic manager for the nearby Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway.


On March the 31st 1898 the Board of Trade inspection of The Lambourn Valley railway took place. The inspecting officer Col Yorke, declared that subject to a speed limit of 25 miles an hour and axle loadings not exceeding 8 tons, opening of the railway was approved. The private opening was set for Saturday April the 2nd 1898 and the full public opening for the following Monday, April the 4th.

And so it was at 10.30 am on April the 2nd, the inaugural train consisting of engine 1384 and four LVR carriages stood in the new bay platform at Newbury station. The loco itself was bedecked in evergreens and festooned with flags. A picture of the Queen was mounted on the front just above the buffers.

The invited dignitaries were duly welcomed by Colonel Archer Houblon before being ushered to their onboard places. A few minutes after 11a.m the guard called "Take your seats please" and at 11.10 a.m the first official passenger carrying train departed for Lambourn terminus. South Berkshire M.P. Mr. G Mount was aboard, his duty was to open the line officially on arrival at the terminus, both he and Mr Gipps made the journey on the footplate along with the driver and fireman. Thirty-Seven minutes after leaving Newbury,the train arrived in Lambourn welcomed by a celebratory peel of bells from the Parish Church and music from a local Brass Band.    Two further trips were made that day each carrying around 80 fare-paying passengers.
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On Monday the 4th of April, full public services commenced running five daily trains coupled with an additional trip on Saturday evenings.Over 900 passengers were carried during the first week of scheduled operations. With regard to freight and livestock traffic, the horse racing industry was first to reap the benefits of the new line and within days of opening, horses were being carried in quantity using boxes hired from the Great Western Railway.  Although the line was now operational there were still several items that required completion, these being :-
A loading stage at Great Shefford, the platform at Stockcross and a small carriage shed, coal stage and siding at Lambourn itself. Early June saw the finalisation of this work, construction was brought to an end and the contractors duly paid off.


The next hurdle for the officers of the LVR to overcome would be the purchase of their own motive power. The continued locomotive hire charges of the GWR were a drain on resources and could not be allowed to continue on an open ended basis. By May 1898, following advise from Mr. MacIntyre, Colonel Archer Houblon signed an agreement with Chapman and Furneaux of Gateshead to build two locomotives for the LVR, The price agreed was £1,330 each. Both locomotives arrived in October and were named Aelfred and Ealhswith, names that were synonymous with Lambourn's historical past. Aelfred started work hauling passenger services for the first time on the 18th of October 1898
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It was ordered that a plate be fixed in the cab of each engine
stating that:-
..
This engine is the property of Colonel Archer Houblon of Welford Park Newbury

Aelfred and Ealhswith, were identical 0-6-0 side tank locos. Both engines were painted in Dark Blue livery, with black lining, edged in white. The name plates were mounted on the side tanks. The drivers spoke favourably of the engines although they did in fact suffer a few gremlins in the early days of use. Aelfred for instance was reported to"run warm" and was also for some time, the victim of leaking tubes. The engineer from Chapman and Furneaux spent time on site repairing the faults, and within a few weeks the locos were working fine. At this point, the final payment of £660 was made to the manufacturers.
The first full year of operation produced an overall profit just short of a thousand pounds, this however did not take into consideration the payment due to Col. Archer Houblon under the terms of their agreement. In December 1902, despite the company's precarious financial position, The Directors decided to purchase a third locomotive. This would be built by the Hunslet Engine company from Leeds and would be of similar design to Aelfred and Ealhswith.

The LVR were offered deferred payments by the manufacturer and Eadweade arrived in the Spring of 1903.
Perfect timing in fact, as Ealhswith was now in great need of overhaul, this was undertaken by the GWR at a cost of £276. The LVR brake van also needed major repairs, this work would be carried out by the local Newbury firm of Plenty's.
On the 14th of July 1903, General Manager Mr. Gipps died after a brief illness and he was subsequently replaced by Sidney Woodley. Mr. Woodley's appointment was set to commence on the 5th of September 1903. It was around this time that the first enquiry was received from the GWR reference a take-over of the line. The offer price was £45,000 and was reported at the time to have been greeted with some surprise by the board of Directors. The board were still optimistic about the future of the LVR, as a result, the offer was politely declined. Towards the end of 1903 the service was being operated by one engine in steam.

Services continued but the financial situation did not improve and once again in January 1904, the GWR approached the board with a slightly increased take-over offer of £50,000 for the line and all its fixtures and fittings. Again on the advice of it's Managing Director, J.B Squire, the LVR rejected the deal. The business relationship between The two rail companies remained very amicable with the GWR suggesting that the smaller company run it's services using steam powered railmotors as opposed to the current set-up. They, the GWR, offered to hire two railmotors to the LVR for the total sum of £420 per year. The idea seemed an attractive one and the LVR decided in favour of the proposed plan.

On the 3rd of May 1904 the Board of trade again inspected the line, necessary because the axle loading of the railmotors came out at 12 tons and the line had previously been sanctioned for 8 tons. All was O.K and the railmotors commenced working the line on the 15th of May. Locomotives still hauled the goods' services for a further 4 weeks. Additional economies were made by removing the lad porters from the intermediate stations and allocating ticket collection duties to the guard.

On the 15th of June LVR Locomotives and rolling stock were withdrawn from service and removed to Swindon to await auction, this event took place in November 1904, and finally, Chairman Col. Archer Houblon could recoup his original capital outlay. The LVR had a new Engineer, Mr. J.N Taylor, succeeding Mr. MacIntyre who had resigned some weeks earlier.
Mr Taylor oversaw the operation of the new railcars and all worked as planned over the first months. There was still talk of a GWR take-over and on the 7th of November an official announcement from GWR confirmed that talks were indeed taking place. This time however, there would be no increase in the previous offer price of £50,000.

In early 1905 it was discovered that the unusually high chalk content in the water supply at Lambourn was having an adverse effect on the power output of the small boilered rail motors. Their performance had deteriorated to such a degree that they were struggling to haul tail traffic, so much so, that it became necessary to return to loco hauled services for the last few months of independence. The loco and carriages were again hired from the GWR. The LVR had come full circle and was in a situation that did undoubtedly cause some degree of embarrassment to it's board of Directors.

Modified railmotors returned to the line in May 1905 and worked alongside locomotive power units where necessary. Back in January 1905 approval had been given by both boards regarding the amalgamation of the two companies and a date set for the official take-over.The LVR line became a GWR line on the first of July 1905 and most of the staff continued their employment with GWR. A final meeting was held by both boards on the 19th of July 1905 at Paddington.

From that day "The Independent Lambourn Valley Railway Company" was no more. The Great Western Railway Company now had the task of bringing the line up to its own high exacting standards, reported at the time to be at an estimated, £75,000.