Waterloo narrow gauge railway

[roythebus1]

Many years ago I had cause to visit the Plans Arch under Waterloo Station. This was accessible from the side road next to the Anderson Lift where they lifted the stock to and from the Waterloo & City Line. Through the staff car park, and into the Plans Arch. there resided a very knowledgable chap who knew exactly what drawings they where and would happily provide a copy of the original for a fee. Beyond the plans arch were other arches used to store old office furniture and general "clutter". 

 

I managed to "recycle" a couple of BR era desks for use in my attic and some chairs which I think ended up at Keen House. However, a further search through more arches found what was probably a 15" gauge railway with points, passing loops and branches into other bricked-up arches and under locked gates into the gloom.

 

Nobody seemed to know much about this system, where it went, motive poser if any, it was probably hand-works as a lot of the arches were bonded warehouses which suffered a bit during the war. Reports say the blaze went on for many weeks after the first bombs penetrated. the plans Office man didn't know much about the narrow gauge railway, does anyone else?

[Nearholmer]

That is a new one on me, despite having crawled over every inch of Waterloo in that late 1970s when I was allocated to assist a guy who was attempting to catalogue every single electrical asset in the complex.

 

I’m really annoyed I missed it!

 

Thinking about it, I wonder if it was somehow associated with the Milk Arch, because shifting vast numbers of full and empty churns about would have been easier on little wagons, but I thought Lower Road was the road access point for that, rather than the little yard you are talking about.

 

And yet ....... I've just found a plan of the station that looks to date from prior to the W&C, and prior to the great rebuilding, and that shows "Milk Platform (No.10)" in about the right location, above that yard.

 

I'm fairly sure that the Windsor Side platforms are train shed pre-dated the great rebuilding, so that what it sat on, including the arches leading off that yard were among the least disturbed parts of the station until the Eurostar station was created, and I think that process gutted all those arches, to create the arrival/customs area.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Nearholmer

[sir douglas]

IIRC last year there was one of those youtube explorers went under there with permission and as you say there were tracks leading in to locked or blocked up doorways