North London Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The North London Railway (known as the East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway until 1853) was a railway that opened in 1850 and connected the north of London to the East and West India Docks. Its headquarters and locomotive works were situated at Bow.
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[edit] History
The NLR initially ran trains from Camden to Poplar, and from there via the London and Blackwall Railway onto Fenchurch Street station. This arrangement lasted until 1865, when an extension from Dalston Junction to Broad Street was opened; Broad Street became the main terminus, and the Poplar line became a branch.
In the meantime, the line had been extended westwards to Primrose Hill in 1851 to join the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). In 1858 the line was extended along the North and South West Junction Railway (a joint enterprise by the LNWR, Midland Railway, and the NLR) from Willesden Junction and a connecting London and South Western Railway branch to Richmond. An additional bypass line from Camden to Willesden Junction via Gospel Oak and West Hampstead opened in 1860. Meanwhile, at the eastern end, a spur line connecting the NLR to Stratford from Victoria Park opened in 1854 but was not used by passenger services.
The NLR was taken over by the LNWR in December 1908, though the NLR remained a separate operation with its own Board of Governors. The Broad Street to Richmond and Kew services were electrified in 1916, responsibility for which was with the LNWR, which also half-owned Broad Street station.
The line from Dalston Junction to Poplar was heavily damaged during the blitz as was the Bow workshop. Passenger service from Broad Street to Poplar via Victoria Park and Bow was not reinstated at the end of the war (its official closure was 14 May 1944). The section from Broad Street to Dalston Junction was closed on 30 June 1986.
[edit] Present-day
In 1979 the line between Richmond and Dalston via Gospel Oak, plus the spur line to Stratford, was joined with the former Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway to form what is known today as the North London Line. The line between Willesden Junction and Camden via Primrose Hill is now served by Watford DC Line trains out of Euston, although Primrose Hill station itself has been closed.
The Docklands Light Railway follows the path of the long-disused North London Railway from Bow Church to Poplar and the northern section of the East Cross Route (A12) built in the late 1960s used the route between Old Ford and Victoria Park stations, which were demolished during the road's construction.
The East London Line Extension (currently under construction) will take over the abandoned stretch between Dalston and Shoreditch.
[edit] Stock
Among the first locomotives bought by the railway from outside contractors were five 0-4-2 saddle tanks. After that, all were constructed at Bow, none having a cab. The works also had a sizeable wagon repair shop. When the railway was merged into the LMS it was the smallest of fifteen workshops. It not only repaired NLR locomotives but, from 1927 those from the former LTSR.
In the 1930s the works developed and manufactured the Hudd automatic control system for the LTSR, which later on led to a British Railways team from the national headquarters setting up in Bow to develop BR's standard Automatic Warning System.
In 1956 the workshop was repaired diesel-electric locomotives for the motive power depot at Devons Road (the first to become all-diesel). After a while it was receiving locos in the morning and turning them round by the evening, which initially confused the statistical returns since locos were entering and leaving the works on the same day. The works closed down in 1960.
[edit] Stations
Richmond to Willesden Junction (joined NLR 1856):
- Richmond (opened 1846)
- Kew Gardens (opened 1877)
- Gunnersbury (opened 1877)
- South Acton (opened 1880)
- Acton Central (opened 1853)
- Willesden Junction (opened 1866)
Willesden Junction to Camden via Primrose Hill (opened 1851-2):
- Kilburn High Road
- South Hampstead (called Loudon Road until 1922)
- Primrose Hill (called Chalk Farm until 25 September 1950)
Willesden Junction to Camden via West Hampstead & Gospel Oak (opened 1860):
- Kensal Rise
- Brondesbury Park
- Brondesbury
- West Hampstead
- Finchley Road & Frognal
- Hampstead Heath
- Gospel Oak
- Kentish Town West
Camden Road to Dalston (opened 1850):
- Camden Road (called Camden Town until 25 September 1950)
- Maiden Lane (closed 1917)
- Caledonian Road & Barnsbury (formerly Barnsbury)
- Highbury & Islington
- Canonbury
- Mildmay Park (closed 1934)
- Dalston Junction (closed 1986)
Branch to Broad Street (opened 1865, closed 1986):
Branch to Poplar (opend 1850, closed to passengers 1944):
- Hackney Central (formerly Hackney, since reopened)
- Homerton (since reopened)
- Victoria Park
- Old Ford
- Bow
- Fenchurch Street (no longer served after opening of Broad Street link in 1865)
- South Bromley
- Poplar (East India Dock Road)
At Poplar, the line connected to Millwall Junction, allowing goods trains to run to Blackwall and the East India Docks), or along the Millwall Extension Railway, which served the West India Docks.
