abandoned Tube stations.

[Leicester Thumper]

thought i would kick the ball rolling with this one.

 

I have always taken a deep interest in looking at disused stations on the London Underground, I find it simply fascinating, anyway, this will find it's way into the main links thread but i found this lovely little site with plenty of pictures which I am enjoying looking through at the moment

 

I will also pass this information onto the London Underground group and see if they are interested.

 

http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/

 

also found this delightful video of a tour of St. Mary's http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10612599

[QWILPEN]

the abandoned stations web site is one of my regular calls on the web, there is also this one 28 days which though I dont nessesarily agree with their methods do sometimes get good photos.

 

 

there is also subterranea Britannica which can have some good reports / photos

 

hope you enjoy.

 

 

steve

 

 

editted because I cannot spell

[Leicester Thumper]

thanks chap, I haven't come across two of those before

 

many thanks

[DIW]

Hi Leicester Thumper, I've added a link to this thread in the London Underground Group. Many thanks!

 

Dave

[Leicester Thumper]

Hi Leicester Thumper, I've added a link to this thread in the London Underground Group. Many thanks!

 

Dave

 

ahh was going to contact you guys about it as well, you beat me too it

 

Bruce

[Baby Deltic]

My friend Mr Connor has written a few boks about abandoned underground stations which are well worth a look.

[Oldddudders]

LT (that's Leicester Thumper, not London Transport!) - have you considered the nearly-stations, e.g. the 1935 Northern Heights stations, which never actually got built? People have written whole books about Brockley Hill, Elstree South and Bushey Heath, not to mention the half-built depot, which served instead to build bombers in the Hitler war, and after the Hun was put back in his box, then became the maintenance and overhaul centre for the entire LT (not Leicester Thumper this time!) bus fleet.

[Leicester Thumper]

I have only just rediscovered the nearly- stations.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the depot I will research into that one, seems interesting.

 

any idea whereabouts the depot was located? (also being a Bus enthusiast I am interested in its post war life as well!)

 

also I can appreciate how confusing my user name is in this context!

[Weekday Cross]

The bus depot was at Aldenham, near Watford - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldenham_Works

[Gwiwer]

Plenty of stuff around to see (legitimately) and lots more if you should be fortunate enough to join one of the occasional tours of the subterranean maze of tunnels beneath London.

 

Stations on the Alexandra Palace line remained partially intact for many years but the Northern Line never got there. The tunnel entrances (but not the tunnels themselves) were built for the Bushey Heath extension and Aldenham (bus) works was also there for all to see - and perhaps spot that last RT which you needed - for many years.

 

Remember as well that a few stations have migrated. Hillingdon was rebuilt closer to Uxbridge as part of the road developments in the area and to replace a "temporary" timber station which had long outlasted its purpose. Hounslow West was moved slightly farther away from Central and buried in the cut-and-cover initial extension to Hatton Cross and on the same line many years before Osterley &Spring Grove closed in 1934 to be replaced by Osterley slightly closer to Hounslow.

 

The original site of Uxbridge lay where the sidings now are at a higher level than the current station, South Harrow was replaced by a new South Harrow a little farther south in 1935 and Park Royal & Twyford Abbey was replaced by Park Royal farther south in 1931.

 

I'm not sure that there are any traces of the former Houslow Town lines but there once was a triangle formed by lines from Osterley and Heston-Hounslow which closed as early as 1909; Heston-Hounslow is now Hounslow Central.

 

The District Line once ran a shuttle from Acton Town to South Acton (which station is still open) though traces of it and the bay platform have vanished since the 1959 closure. In the same area Wood Lane was the original Central Line terminus on a tightly-curved platform which was replaced when the line was extended west by White City while Shepherds Bush Market is on the site of a former Shepherds Bush (Met) station and the original White City station on that line also closed in the 1959 cutbacks.

 

Hammersmith once had a station known as Grove Road on a spur from the Met to the District which allowed through running from Goldhawk Road to Ravenscourt Park, the viaduct for which is still largely intact between the Piccadilly and District tracks west of Hammersmith station.

 

Earls Court is not quite on its original site though the old station was closed in 1878. Tower Hill moved eastwards when the old Mark Lane station (latterly known as Tower Hill) was replaced in 1967 and the old platforms are partially visible from passing trains. Around the curve Aldgate East moved eastwards to permit the operation of 8-car trains and to allow them to stand on both north and south curves if required without fouling the junctions. It was also lowered somewhat at the time back in 1938. Liverpool Street (Met & Circle) was originally a through-connection to the GE route via platform 1 in the main station though it is believed this connection was seldom used and it closed in 1875; it is possible to see its course at the Moorgate end of the Circle Line platform however and it explains why platform 1 ran farther into the concourse than the others and appeared to end at a bricked up tunnel portal - it did!

[Pacific231G]

 

 

The District Line once ran a shuttle from Acton Town to South Acton (which station is still open) though traces of it and the bay platform have vanished since the 1959 closure. In the same area Wood Lane was the original Central Line terminus on a tightly-curved platform which was replaced when the line was extended west by White City while Shepherds Bush Market is on the site of a former Shepherds Bush (Met) station and the original White City station on that line also closed in the 1959 cutbacks.

I think Shepherd's Bush Market is simply a recent renaming of Shepherds Bush (Met) to avoid having two stations with the same name at opposite ends of the green but it's the same station. The original Shepherd's Bush station on the Hammersmith line was between that and the present Goldhawk Road stations and was replaced by those two stations. Its site was swallowed up by the development of BBC Television Centre - which employed enough people to rather make nonsense of closing it in 1959. Though you can still see traces of it behind the multi story car park there wasn't a lot left and Wood Lane is a very welcome addition as is the overground station at Shepherd's Bush especially as I can now get to Brighton without having to go into central London.

[darren01]

HI

Just spent over five hours looking at this site ,well worth it!

[L49]

I think Shepherd's Bush Market is simply a recent renaming of Shepherds Bush (Met) to avoid having two stations with the same name at opposite ends of the green but it's the same station. The original Shepherd's Bush station on the Hammersmith line was between that and the present Goldhawk Road stations and was replaced by those two stations. Its site was swallowed up by the development of BBC Television Centre - which employed enough people to rather make nonsense of closing it in 1959. Though you can still see traces of it behind the multi story car park there wasn't a lot left and Wood Lane is a very welcome addition as is the overground station at Shepherd's Bush especially as I can now get to Brighton without having to go into central London.

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion over the stations in the Shepherds Bush/Wood lane area. Shepherds Bush Market is one and the same station that used to be called Shepherds Bush, this station replaced an earlier one, the entrance to which can still just about be seen as a slightly different arch in the market itsef. I can't remember the date, but safe to say it was way way back in time. The remains which BBC personnel using their car park have the pleasure to see is one of the exits from the former H&C line Wood Lane station, which was built to compete with the CLR terminus of the same name on the other side of the road.

 

The District Line once ran a shuttle from Acton Town to South Acton (which station is still open) though traces of it and the bay platform have vanished since the 1959 closure.

 

The bay platform at Acton Town is still partially visible from the public area. There are some advert hoardings on the eastbound side which hide it from the platform, but IIRC you can look down on it from the footbridge.

 

Until recently there was still a bridge abutment in Bollo Lane which carried the shuttle tracks, but I don't know if it is still there. The bridge itself collapsed during the course of dismantling soon after closure.

 

Another re-siting worth looking out for at the western end of the Pic is Osterley and Spring grove. The original District platforms are still there as is the main street level building up above.

 

But for my favourite of the lot you have to go out on the Met north of Baker St and have a look at the three which closed in 1939/40, the best preserved being Marlborough Road. I got these shots earlier in the year on a day out with Baby Deltic chasing A stock before it all disappears.

 

 

The station building has been a restaurant for as long as I have known it, but with the introduction of S stock, it has now reverted back to railway use, and now serves as a substation.

 

 

This is the view looking the other way at the site of the south end of the platforms. You used to be able to look over the wall and see where the stairs came out behind the building, but this is no longer possible, so this is the best shot you can get from street level without going anywhere you shouldn't! The other two on this stretch are Lords and Swiss Cottage, but they are far less exciting, and are only visible from a passing train, and even then, you have to know what to look out for.

[Oldddudders]

But for my favourite of the lot you have to go out on the Met north of Baker St and have a look at the three which closed in 1939/40, the best preserved being Marlborough Road. I got these shots earlier in the year on a day out with Baby Deltic chasing A stock before it all disappears.

 

The station building has been a restaurant for as long as I have known it, but with the introduction of S stock, it has now reverted back to railway use, and now serves as a substation.

 

 

This is the view looking the other way at the site of the south end of the platforms. You used to be able to look over the wall and see where the stairs came out behind the building, but this is no longer possible, so this is the best shot you can get from street level without going anywhere you shouldn't! The other two on this stretch are Lords and Swiss Cottage, but they are far less exciting, and are only visible from a passing train, and even then, you have to know what to look out for.

ISTR this features in John Betjeman's delicious film Metroland, filmed about 40 years ago. I think the poet emerges from what was then a chain steak-house (do such eateries still exist?). He also managed to be filmed standing on the abandoned platform, with A Stock whizzing past.

[Pacific231G]

Soon after I started working in London I was at Bush House on the Aldwych so sometimes used the station there when it's opening times coincided with my shifts- which wasn't that often. I was really just being too lazy to walk down Kingsway from Holborn but it was a rather eerie place even then with only one platform in use. There were also enough odd side tunnels and locked passageways to make any conspiracy theorist faint with excitement.

I did once after a night shift decide to go the wrong way on the Central Line and reached Ongar. That bit of line was really odd as it was very much country branch line with combine harvesters in the fields on either side of the single track and having not at that time ever been back to the Isle of Wight since the end of steam it seemed really odd to be seeing such scenes from the windows of a Central Line tube train.

I think the UndergrounD expected that area to be developed like another Metroland but the green belt legislation thwarted that.

 

 

David

Edited November 12, 2011 by Pacific231G

[Gwiwer]

It is a moot point to consider what might have been the fortunes of the Central Line had Harlow been considered a worthwhile destination by the LNER instead of Ongar. At the time Ongar was the larger place! There was also talk of the line extending to Chelmsford but that never came about. Harlow however became a New Town and might still today benefit from a line running north from Epping via Potter Street though it would not compete on journey time with the "main line". Traffic potential east of Ongar is minimal even to this day; taken by a direct route there is almost nowhere for 10 miles until the outskirts of Chelmsford are reached at Writtle while by a less direct route only Stondon Massey and Blackmore (both fairly small places) offer any sort of business potential in the midst of what is still mostly farm land.

 

The three "Met" stations between Baker Street and Finchley Road are quite easy to spot in daylight from passing trains.

 

And if public transport use continues to boom in central London who knows what future the Aldwych branch might have? Double track tunnels exist and the station itself has two platforms with the one which was not used by the shuttle often being a film set. Euston - Kings Cross - Waterloo as the core of a north-south cross route, anyone?

[jamie92208]

There ought to be a health warning on the link at the top of this site. I started looking at it and very nearly decvided to spend my whole Saturday morning looking at it all. However I desperately need to build some crate ends to transport some baseboards from Lancaster Green Ayre.

 

I will return to this in due course.

 

Jamie

[jonhall]

My virtual Aldwych tour

 

http://www.metropolitanrailway.co.uk/aldframe.htm

 

I also had a Down Street tour as well, but I don't seen to have swapped it onto my domain...

 

Aldwych is open to the public for a few days soon, more details to follow if I can find them...

 

Jon

[L49]

My virtual Aldwych tour

 

http://www.metropoli...uk/aldframe.htm

 

I also had a Down Street tour as well, but I don't seen to have swapped it onto my domain...

 

Aldwych is open to the public for a few days soon, more details to follow if I can find them...

 

Jon

 

Would this be the virtual Down Street tour which so incensed the press office at TfL that no-one is allowed down there any more?

[jonhall]

 

Would this be the virtual Down Street tour which so incensed the press office at TfL that no-one is allowed down there any more?

 

Well they never asked me anything about it... so I've no idea.

 

J

[number6]

Did anyone say it had to be LT? What about Mail Rail?

http://www.silentuk.com/?p=2792

What do they say in these circs?: I in no way condone the actions of these guys but what an amazing set of images... there is though a great deal of respect on this linked page for the engineering, scale and general awesomeness of this railway.

 

I would gladly give a [small] internal organ to see it myself.

 

6

[Gwiwer]

Mail Rail a/k/a the Post Office Railway was certainly a fascinating operation and rather larger than many people expected. At its height you could witness trains stopped at both ends of platforms while others overtook on the through roads and if you were very astute you might notice the same car returning moments later on the other side having come around a loop. Signalling was semi-automatic with manned cabins at most (all?) stations to control local movements.

 

I had the good fortune to witness the operation on several occasions, at Liverpool Street, Mount Pleasant and Paddington, including some time in the workshops during an open day where some unique rolling stock (including the official "passenger car") was observed and the incline to the running tunnels inspected. Operations I witnessed were all very slick yet in a relaxed if business-like environment.

 

i cannot condone the actions of SilentUK but they do bring us some remarkable images. Whether it is "right" to hit their site and view them I leave to the conscience of the individual.

[number6]

Very envious of you then Rick! Those images have appeared elsewhere on the web including Flickr. A search of the web reveals that a couple of the trains have been preserved at the Post Office Museum in Debden along with a few other artifacts. My feeling is that a thorough photographic essay should be made of the system before it degrades any further. Is there a good book on the subject? Although it is officially not abandoned there is zero likelihood of it being resurrected, although I did discover recent plans to use it to transfer between hospitals - no not patients - but blood!

[roythebus]

There's a good site called District Dave which has a historical section dealing with closed stations.

 

Link: http://districtdave.proboards.com/index.cgi

Edited January 24, 2012 by roythebus

[SteamLover]

I don't suppose anyone has managed to model anything 'underground' related.  I'd love to see if this is the case !