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Layout Idea - Holborn Viaduct & the Snow Hill Lines


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This is an idea I had, about a station that has been closed for more than 25 years on a section of railway in Central London that no longer exists. In the same way that railway modellers seem to have been long fascinated by the 'London Minories' concept of an extension of the Widened Lines from Moorgate to a fictional city terminus between Liverpool Street and Tower Hill, Holborn Viaduct was a very similar station that existed in the real world.

 

I am not in the position to be able to realise this concept, and neither do I have the (extensive) modelling skills that would be required. However if this inspires someone, then my work here is done!

 

Holborn Viaduct was opened in 1874, nominally by the Holborn Viaduct Railway Company but financed by a very varied consortium of railway companies who wanted to profit from a new London terminus with links to the Channel ports, the West London Line (via Wandsworth) and the northern main lines (via Farringdon). It was located on a 292yd spur off the Snow Hill Lines, a tightly curved and steeply graded incline link from the LC&DR station at Ludgate Hill (barely a train length north of Blackfriars) to the Metropolitan Line at Farringdon. There was also a curve avoiding Farringdon that went to Aldersgate (Barbican) and thence to Moorgate. A multitude of companies ran freight and passenger trains through Snow Hill Tunnel (and Snow Hill station - effectively Holborn Viaduct Low Level) but the development of the Tube killed the market and Snow Hill became a freight only line from 1916.

 

Holborn Viaduct terminus itself was a different matter. Whilst Ludgate Hill saw regular and fast trains across south London, the terminus saw heavy Continental traffic, boat trains, parcels and luggage trains, as well as commuter flows. The station had a large hotel above it and fronted onto Holborn Viaduct thoroughfare, a major new road through the capital linking the City with the West End. In the early days trains from Dover to Victoria would convey a 'city' portion that was detached at Herne Hill and worked via Elephant & Castle to terminate at Holborn Viaduct.

 

After WW1 the terminus became more commuter and parcels oriented, and Ludgate Hill closed, being a stone's throw from both Blackfriars and Holborn Viaduct. However transfer freights through the Snow Hill tunnel were very heavy and the link did not close until 1971. Holborn Viaduct itself lasted as a peak hour terminus until January 1990, over a year AFTER the Thameslink line reopened Snow Hill tunnel but before the line was rerouted through the new City Thameslink complex, which lies beneath the site of Viaduct terminus.

 

I attach three photos of this location, all taken from the Disused Stations website, which is worth a look.

 

The reason for posting this? I think Holborn Viaduct, with its few, canopied platforms and the Snow Hill lines would be a fascinating modelling study in a cramped, busy city terminal station, and would combine traditional arrival / departure / shunting operations on the higher level with continual passing goods trains on the lower freight lines in the foreground, using a wide variety of locos of different companies and rolling stock. Smithfield Market goods station was also located on the Snow Hill line and was a major terminal for produce and livestock for the London markets, with inbound traffic coming from all directions. There was no shed at Viaduct so all coaches and parcels vans had to be worked in/out empty in addition to the timetabled service. Train engines would work in and out from servicing locations some miles away. To me, there is no more interesting location.

 

I would choose to set a model in the 1950s period, when some commuter trains were electric but most traffic remained steam hauled. Of great interest would be the wide variety of parcels trains serving Viaduct as this station was a key node in the small consignments network, particularly between the commuter peaks when the traffic flows changed greatly. The wide variety of locos would embrace all of the big four companies, with Southern (all domestic traffic), LNER (from Kings Cross), LMS (from Kentish Town) and GWR (from Paddington Bishops Road) locos appearing, particularly tank engines. The scenery would be a challenge suited to those who build grimy, atmospheric urban environments. It's worth noting that the area around Holborn Viaduct was one of the last WW2 bomb sites to be redeveloped (in the 80s-90s leading to the closure of Viaduct terminus.)

 

Let me know what you think. If I had infinite money, space and skills, this would be high up my to-do list.

post-11668-0-26629400-1498912804.jpg

post-11668-0-87840800-1498913151.jpg

post-11668-0-14970100-1498913162.gif

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I suspect HV could be a pig to operate at times, so just right for interesting model ops, too.

 

The low level had sidings underground. Were they Smithfield Market Sidings? Adjoined the City of London Salt Store. I did have a bit of a look around (officially) before Thameslink went live, but it's all a bit vague now, as am I!

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There were several different sets of sidings:

 

- GNR goods shed reception sidings;

 

- LSWR "fiddle Yard" for their suburban services into Ludgate Hill;

 

- sidings for access into Smithfield.

 

This omits some goods access that was direct from the Met running lines in early years, and LU stabling sidings.

 

Blooming fascinating area, and, as you say, quite a few remnants were visible when Thameslink was being (re)created; much tidied-up, and hence less interesting now.

 

Kevin

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Hi Seb,

 And a trackplan for any takers...

 

http://maps.nls.uk/view/103313321

 

Gaz.

That's a fascinating find - clearly illustrates the second (now removed) railway bridge at Blackfriars.

 

Good to see I'm not the only one to find this area interesting. If someone was to approach this from the perspective of building an exhibition layout of manageable size, how could it potentially be done? And what would be the limits of such a model. Personally I'd be inclined to recreate the section between Holborn Viaduct (road) and the bridge adjacent to Ludgate Circus, perhaps reducing the number of terminal platforms at Viaduct terminus to 4 to limit the depth of the scene.

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There is an incredibly good Minories-esque layout inspired by a slice of it, which I think might be the subject of a thread on here, and someone else is doing another Minories inspired specifically by HV http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78492-minories-holborn-viaduct/.

 

The trouble with trying to represent a lot is that it would get blooming huge, even in 4mm scale, more a club layout than a typical solo job, I think. That having been said, CJF proposed a series of modules inspired by it, although I'm not sure if anyone ever followed through on that idea.

 

K

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That's a fascinating find - clearly illustrates the second (now removed) railway bridge at Blackfriars.

 

Good to see I'm not the only one to find this area interesting. If someone was to approach this from the perspective of building an exhibition layout of manageable size, how could it potentially be done? And what would be the limits of such a model. Personally I'd be inclined to recreate the section between Holborn Viaduct (road) and the bridge adjacent to Ludgate Circus, perhaps reducing the number of terminal platforms at Viaduct terminus to 4 to limit the depth of the scene.

 

I don't think that depth of scene is the main problem here, but length. But, assuming that one is not going to model the bridges over the Thames, there are some suitable tall buildings to act as a scenic break.

 

As others have mentioned, the trackwork was complex and definitely not something that can be replicated with r-t-l pointwork.

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You are right about the track - it looked very complex. Even worse was the northern end of Ludgate Hill, adjacent to Holborn Viaduct. Here are drawings taken from 'The Engineer', showing before and after shots of the Edwardian rebuilding.

 

post-28584-0-36951600-1499074082_thumb.jpg

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I have looked at this as a project myself and have some plans drawn somewhere.

 

My idea was to model it 50s/60s but with Ludgate Hill not having been closed. I simplified the track layout a lot as it may well have been in BR days with only limited links between the Holborn/Blackfriars line and the Ludgate Hill/Snow Hill line.

 

Edit: I should add that my late father had a great fascination for this part of the London rail network. So I spent quite a lot of time round there in my childhood.

Edited by Joseph_Pestell
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With Ludgate Hill still open for passengers, I would be looking at some services terminating from South Western lines for city commuters and perhaps even some passenger services (in reality ceased from 1916) from northern suburbs.

 

If the latter, I would convert two of the tracks over the Thames into turnback sidings.

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Didn't the trains from the northern suburbs run on to Victoria to terminate?

 

Anyway, that track formation above Pilgrim Street in the pre-rebuild condition is utterly mind boggling; I'd travel a good distance to see a model of it!

 

Kevin

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Didn't the trains from the northern suburbs run on to Victoria to terminate?

 

Anyway, that track formation above Pilgrim Street in the pre-rebuild condition is utterly mind boggling; I'd travel a good distance to see a model of it!

 

Kevin

 

There was certainly a Hendon to Victoria service pre-1916. I just find it operationally more interesting on a layout to have at least some trains terminating than all just running through.

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LCDR City trains were split in the suburbs, so only half of each train went to Holborn Viaduct and half to Victoria at one time I believe. So, until 8-car EMUs started running to Holborn Viaduct in Southern days, Holborn Viaduct only needed short platforms.

 

Pre-WW1 the Ludgate-Snow Hill line was very busy with commuter trains to Farringdon and beyond, or to Moorgate. Lots of coal trains too.

Edited by £1.38
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Anyway, that track formation above Pilgrim Street in the pre-rebuild condition is utterly mind boggling; I'd travel a good distance to see a model of it!

 

Kevin

 

I suspect the track formation included more than a few of these...

 

post-28584-0-51529900-1499097824.jpg

 

I would love to make a model as my ultimate trackwork challenge, but challenge it would be!

 

Some of the curves are quite sharp too, so not for long-wheelbase locomotives. In fact, the stock building programme for a pre-WW1 layout would probably be an even bigger challenge than the track TBH.

 

It would make a fascinating layout though. There would be bankers on trains south from Farringdon, of course. A post-WW2 layout would have one great advantage, quite apart frm any track rationalisation - the Luftwaffe had cleared the whole area east of the line to make a convenient vantage point for spectators. Prior to that, trains would have been difficult to see except when crossing the various bridges

 

post-28584-0-97539600-1499098671.jpg

Edited by £1.38
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An east-facing model would have quite the backscene!

William Logsdail's view of Ludgate Hill is my favourite - looking east to St Pauls.

 

post-28584-0-97215500-1499103174.jpg

 

Overall though, a spectator view of a model looking west fits the site better, I think.

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Don't forget that when Thameslink first opened, HV stayed open, with no plans otherwise, really. It was property developers Rosehaugh Stanhope who came up with a plan to redevelop the whole site, and build a new station underground. By taking the railway downhill early, that bridge could be removed, much to the delight of the City Fathers. Their mantra on planning applications has long been that interrupting views of St Paul's is a no-no. This idea actually enhanced that view, and Godfrey Bradman's and David Dickinson's proposals were taken very seriously. 

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Indeed the north end of the bridge at the north end of Blackfriars was dropped 1 metre to begin the 1 in 31 ??? gradient - ISTR it became the steepest main-line gradient in the country.

 

One disappointing casualty of the re-development was the loss of the "Ludgate cellars" hostelry under the viaduct

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Indeed the north end of the bridge at the north end of Blackfriars was dropped 1 metre to begin the 1 in 31 ??? gradient - ISTR it became the steepest main-line gradient in the country.

 

One disappointing casualty of the re-development was the loss of the "Ludgate cellars" hostelry under the viaduct

 

Yes, I recall talk from my former assistant about the soffit being dropped etc. I think I'd moved on to new and exciting NSE South Central by then. 

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In addition to the 1916 map linked above here are links for the early 1950s:

 

http://maps.nls.uk/view/102904585

 

http://maps.nls.uk/view/102904567

Those maps illustrate very well the point made above about the Luftwaffe clearing a lot of the area immediately to the east. At least part of that site was still derelict (used as a car park) in the early 1970s.

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