A month later in July 1840, the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) opened their new station at Spitalfields and commenced running services to Brentwood and by 1843 this line had been extended to Colchester.

George Parker Bidder however kept the momentum going between the L&BR and the ECR and by October they had agreed a bid round a line from Forest Gate Junction to Southend via Tilbury.

After several months of back and forth negotiations which included the completion of the junction at Bow to allow a through route from Stratford, a third line from Stepney to Fenchurch Street and additional platforms being provided at that station, the bill finally got royal assent on 17 June 1852 as the London, Tilbury and Southend Extension Railway Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict.

The joint committee (JC) entered into a £400,000 contract with Peto, Brassey and Betts to build and manage the line for a period of 25 (later reduced to 21) years.

Full services to the public began on 13 April 1854 with all Tilbury trains splitting at Stratford into a Bishopsgate and Fenchurch Street portion to reflect the joint ownership of the ECR and L&BR.

Three miles of work had been done east of Tilbury by April 1854 and construction proceeded apace to allow opening to Leigh-on-Sea on 1 July 1855 with new intermediate stations at Benfleet and Pitsea.

The THR&DA still existed but were unable to construct the dock they hoped would bring additional rail traffic and eventually the scheme was abandoned in 1861.

By February 1856 it looked like Waddington might be forced out by the shareholders but Peto, Brassey, Betts and Bidder bought up large number of shares to ensure his survival.

The north curve was never opened and although it periodically was raised in GE/LT&SR meetings, the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict.

Waddington resigned in July 1856 (days after the Barking Branch had its royal assent) and was replaced by Horatio Love as ECR chairman.

Both sides engaged in presenting schemes to parliament to try and win some advantage but all failed and this effectively finished Peto as a major player in the East Anglian rail scene.

The line largely stagnated with no additional investment and the lessees place on the board taken actual shareholders and after 1870, following his death by Brassey's executors who had little interest in operation of the railway.

The War Office had a large military establishment at Pig's Bay Shoeburyness and the LT&SR hoped they would see the benefit of a direct rail link from Southend.

The initial response was not positive but the LT&SR presented a bill in the parliamentary session hoping the War Department would change their minds.

At Pitsea a large retaining wall was built to support the hill side (on which the 13th-century church of St. Michael stood) and two new platforms provided.

The LT&SR station at Romford was a single platform with a run round loop to enable locomotives to get to the other end of the train.

The plan was to extend the underground line eastwards from Whitechapel and would join the LT&SR west of Bromley station at Campbell Road Junction.

Opening on 31 May 1902 a special train, which had originated at Earl's Court and on arrival at Whitechapel the engine was changed for an LT&SR locomotive for working through to Upminster.

Why further doubling was not pursued prior to 1902 is unclear so the LT&SR had to endure a period of poor performance having previously had an excellent reputation.

Barking station had been rebuilt in 1889 with three through lines but still had awkward level crossings on Tanner and East Street which caused delays to road traffic and a number of fatalities had resulted from its use.

A bridge solution was agreed with the local council to allow closure of the level crossing and when construction started, 130 mostly recently built terrace houses had to be demolished.

Part of the scheme was to construct sidings at Little Ilford to the west of Barking for stabling carriages for both the LT&SR and District Line.

Kay suggests the GER were largely aware of the sale but no arrangement was reached so the LT&SR shareholders voted for a deal with the Midland Railway on 26 June 1911.

This design was attributed to George Hopkins and similar examples could be found at Soham, Fordham and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway between Bearstead and Ashford.

Most signalling was undertaken by station staff and operation was on the time interval system which carried inherent risks of collision (more so when it was foggy).

In various guises (sometimes as a short shuttle from Bow) this service continued throughout the life of the LT&SR and in 1880 a dedicated bay platform was provided on the down side of that station.

The District operated a few services to Upminster and by 1911 were running through trains from Southend to Ealing, Putney Bridge and Hammersmith in west London.

Whitelegg introduced the highly successful outside cylinder 4-4-2T type, starting with the LT&SR 1 Class, which became the mainstay of the LTSR passenger services.

When Thomas retired in June 1910 he became Locomotive Superintendent, and in 1912 he designed a large 4-6-4T LT&SR 2100 Class and some coaching stock for the Ealing to Southend services.

After spending some time in the agricultural engineering industry he became CME of the Glasgow & South Western Railway and later the manager of the Beyer, Peacock and Company in Manchester.