Chatham HistoricDockyard Railway

Standard gauge · 1933 onward

Castles
on the rails.

Nine diesels took over work from the Dockyard steam fleet. Most wore the names of Kentish castles; Rochester Castle is the one still at Chatham.

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ROCHESTER CASTLE · F.C. HIBBERD 3738/1955 Photograph from the CHDR collection
01From steam to diesel

A new era
for the yard.

The first standard-gauge diesel locomotive arrived at Chatham in 1934. Two decades later, six new Hibberd locomotives brought the castle names that became familiar around the Dockyard.

Diesel power replaced the ageing steam fleet for everyday shunting. A Hunslet from Sheerness joined the Chatham roster in 1959, followed by Allington Castle in 1968. When the Royal Dockyard closed in 1984, Rochester Castle was the sole locomotive from the fleet to remain on site.

Explore the Hibberd Planet story
9 regular fleet locomotives6 Hibberd castle engines1 still at Chatham
02Names from the county

Castle names.
Dockyard work.

The six Hibberd locomotives arrived new in 1955. Each was a compact mechanical diesel, named for a castle in Kent and built for the constant work of moving wagons around the yard.

Rochester Castle, the surviving Dockyard diesel, at Chatham
1955 · FLEET SURVIVOR

Rochester Castle

F.C. Hibberd Works No. 3738 was delivered new to Chatham in 1955. After the Dockyard railway’s working years, the locomotive remained at the Historic Dockyard. It is now being prepared to return to service following a restoration involving around 4,000 volunteer hours.

Read about Rochester Castle today
1955 · SIX SISTER ENGINES

The Hibberd six

Rochester, Upnor, Leeds, Dover, Cooling and Deal Castle formed the 1955 group. The register records the other five as scrapped when the Dockyard railway closed in 1984.

Hunslet works photograph of Allington Castle
1968 · THE LAST NEW ARRIVAL

Allington Castle

Built by Hunslet and delivered new to Chatham, Allington worked at the Royal Dockyard until its 1984 closure. It later shunted the commercial docks before moving to the British Nuclear Fuels site at Sellafield.

Armstrong Whitworth Works No. D22, sister locomotive to Walmer Castle
Armstrong Whitworth D22, an identical sister locomotive; Walmer Castle itself is not pictured.
1934 · FIRST STANDARD-GAUGE DIESEL

Walmer Castle

Armstrong Whitworth Works No. D23 was first used as a demonstration locomotive before the Admiralty sent it to Chatham and gave it the name Walmer Castle. It was scrapped in 1966.

Armstrong Whitworth D56 in MOD livery, numbered WD 883; sister locomotive to D57
Pictured: AW D56/1936 in its MOD livery, carrying number WD 883
CIRCA 1949 · A TEMPORARY VISITOR

AW D57

No photograph of D57 has been located. Identical sister locomotive D56 is shown here as an example; it is not the engine that visited Chatham.

Other castle names. Upnor, Leeds, Dover, Cooling and Deal Castle shared the 1955 Hibberd design with Rochester Castle. Chilham Castle, built for Sheerness Dockyard, transferred to Chatham in 1959 and was scrapped in 1969.

03Diesel locomotive records

Search the
diesel register.

Nine locomotives in the regular Chatham fleet, with a separate record for a Ministry of Defence locomotive that visited temporarily. “Not recorded” means no Dockyard number is given in the surviving register.

10 records
Name / descriptionWheel arrangementBuilder & works numberDockyard number(s)At ChathamLater history / recorded fate
Walmer Castle0-4-0DEAW D23 · 1933Not recordedNew to Admiralty · 1934Previously a demonstration engine; scrapped March 1966
Ministry of Defence diesel (unnamed)6wDEAW D57 · 1936Not recordedTemporary transfer, circa 1949Returned to Long Marston; later based in Germany; source reports it at a Dortmund scrapyard in 1974
Chilham Castle4wDMHN 2076 · 1940Not recordedTransferred from Sheerness · 1959Scrapped in 1969
Rochester Castle4wDMFH 3738 · 1955Yard No. 562NewSurvives at the Historic Dockyard
Upnor Castle4wDMFH 3742 · 1955Not recordedNewScrapped in 1984
Leeds Castle4wDMFH 3745 · 1955Not recordedNewScrapped in 1984
Dover Castle4wDMFH 3770 · 1955Not recordedNewScrapped in 1984
Cooling Castle4wDMFH 3771 · 1955Not recordedNewScrapped in 1984
Deal Castle4wDMFH 3772 · 1955Not recordedNewScrapped in 1984
Allington Castle4wDHHN 6975 · 1968Yard No. 12228NewWorked at the Royal Dockyard until 1984; later shunted the commercial docks, then sold to BNFL, Sellafield

Armstrong Whitworth D23 · Walmer Castle

Armstrong Whitworth D22, sister locomotive to Walmer Castle
Armstrong Whitworth D22, a sister locomotive; Walmer Castle itself is not pictured.

Built at Armstrong Whitworth’s Scotswood Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1933 as a demonstration locomotive for the Ministry of Defence, Army Department, at Shoeburyness. It later went to the Gas Light & Coke Company’s Beckton By-Products Works as a demonstrator.

The Admiralty bought it in 1934 and sent it to Chatham Dockyard, where it was named Walmer Castle. It was scrapped in March 1966.

Hunslet 2076 · Chilham Castle

Built by the Hunslet Engine Company in 1940 for Sheerness Dockyard. It transferred to Chatham in 1959 and was scrapped in 1969.

Hibberd 3738 · Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle at Chatham Historic Dockyard

F.C. Hibberd built six 4wDM locomotives new for Chatham in 1955. They were given Kentish castle names. Rochester Castle, Yard No. 562, is the only member of the six-engine group to survive at the Historic Dockyard.

It is due to return to service after a restoration involving around 4,000 volunteer hours.

Hibberd 3742 · Upnor Castle

One of the six F.C. Hibberd 4wDM locomotives delivered new to Chatham in 1955. It was named Upnor Castle and scrapped in 1984.

Hibberd 3745 · Leeds Castle

One of the six F.C. Hibberd 4wDM locomotives delivered new to Chatham in 1955. It was named Leeds Castle and scrapped in 1984.

Hibberd 3770 · Dover Castle

One of the six F.C. Hibberd 4wDM locomotives delivered new to Chatham in 1955. It was named Dover Castle and scrapped in 1984.

Hibberd 3771 · Cooling Castle

One of the six F.C. Hibberd 4wDM locomotives delivered new to Chatham in 1955. It was named Cooling Castle and scrapped in 1984.

Hibberd 3772 · Deal Castle

One of the six F.C. Hibberd 4wDM locomotives delivered new to Chatham in 1955. It was named Deal Castle and scrapped in 1984.

Hunslet 6975 · Allington Castle

Hunslet works photograph of Allington Castle

Hunslet Works No. 6975, Yard No. 12228, was delivered new to Chatham Dockyard in 1968 as a 4wDH diesel-hydraulic locomotive. It worked at Chatham until the Dockyard closed in 1984, then remained in storage until commercial docks opened on the former No. 3 Basin.

It returned to shunting duties at the commercial docks. In 1992, falling rail traffic made it surplus to requirements; it was sold and moved to the British Nuclear Fuels site at Sellafield, Cumbria.

AW D57 · MOD locomotive

Armstrong Whitworth D56 in MOD livery, numbered WD 883; sister locomotive to D57
Pictured: AW D56/1936 in its MOD livery, carrying number WD 883.

Armstrong Whitworth built D57 at Scotswood in 1936 for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway, which numbered it 7062. The Ministry of Defence bought it in October 1940 and sent it to the Central Engineer Park at Long Marston, where it entered the military numbering scheme as WD 70215.

D57 came to Chatham temporarily around 1949, then returned to Long Marston. In the 1951 renumbering it became WD 882. Around 1956 it transferred to BOAR at Willich, Germany; it was sold there circa 1959, recorded at Hamm in 1972, and found at a Dortmund scrapyard in 1974.

No photograph of D57 has been located. The photograph above shows its sister locomotive D56.

04Builder key & terms

Engine codes,
explained.

AW
Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. [Engineers] Ltd.
FH
F.C. Hibberd & Co. Ltd.
HN
Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd.
DE
Diesel-electric transmission.
DM
Diesel-mechanical transmission.
DH
Diesel-hydraulic transmission.

The register’s 4w/6w prefix indicates four- or six-wheel layout.

05More registers

Explore the steam engines, see Rochester Castle’s return-to-service story, or browse the full register directory.

Standard-gauge steam AJAX & Rochester Castle All railway registers
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