Layout Idea - Holborn Viaduct & the Snow Hill Lines

[£1.38]

Surprising how complex the trackwork at the north end of Ludgate Hill station still was immediately after ww2, even after the station had closed.

[£1.38]

'Britain From Above' has several good aerial shots of the area shortly after the war, showing the destruction very well. I think it was incendiaries rather than explosives that caused the damage, with buildings being demolished afterwards to make the area safe. Here are a few other photos of the aftermath.

 

 

Comparing the first and second pictures you can see that the building on the right has been partially demolished - presumably to avoid debris collapsing onto the railway. Demolition beyond the bridge has progressed quite a lot.

[whart57]

I always thought that St Pauls might be a good option set in the LCDR/SECR years. As it had an overall roof it wouldn't be necessary to model the actual station beyond the first foot or so and then you could concentrate on the interesting trackwork on the bridge that is now Blackfriars station. That might keep the project within bounds.

 

Wim

[Southernman46]

'Britain From Above' has several good aerial shots of the area shortly after the war, showing the destruction very well. I think it was incendiaries rather than explosives that caused the damage, with buildings being demolished afterwards to make the area safe.

It possible to check on-line using the National Archive now ...............

http://bombsight.org/bombs/29241/

 

Extensive use was made of these maps during the Ludgate Project to check if any of the piling or subsequent work was at risk of disturbing any bombs that weren't located at the time of recording - i.e. bang, bang, space, bang from a He111 stick of 4 for example.

 

The area between Blackfriars and Cannon St up to Paternoster Square was certainly razed to the ground during the fire raid of late May 1941.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Southernman46