North London Railway

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The North London Railway (NLR) was a railway company that opened various lines connecting the north of London to the East and West India Docks, the core route later becoming the basis of the North London Line. The company was known as the East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway until 1853.

Contents

[edit] History

The NLR's headquarters and locomotive works were initially situated at Bow. At first it ran trains from Camden Town[1] to Poplar, and from there via the London and Blackwall Railway to Blackwall and the East India Docks; a connection at Bow allowed trains to also run to Fenchurch Street. 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 Hampstead Road[2] 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 LNWR, which half-owned Broad Street station, was responsible for fourth-rail electrification of the Broad Street services to Richmond and to Kew Bridge in 1916. The Kew Bridge service was cut as a wartime economy measure in 1940 and never resumed.

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 primarily used for Empty Coaching Stock movements between the North London Line and Wembley Depot, freight trains and during periods of engineering work, diverted passenger services to and from the Watford DC Line. 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, London. 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 London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR).

In the 1930s the works developed and manufactured the Hudd automatic control system for the LTSR, which later on led to a British Rail (BR) team from the national headquarters setting up in Bow to develop BR's standard Automatic Warning System.

In 1956 the workshop 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):

Willesden Junction to Camden via Primrose Hill (opened 1851-2):

Willesden Junction to Camden via West Hampstead & Gospel Oak (opened 1860):

Camden Road to Dalston (opened 1850):

Branch to Broad Street (opened 1865, closed 1986):

Branch to Poplar (opened 1850, closed to passengers 1944):

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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Camden Town station was renamed Camden Road on 25 September 1950
  2. ^ Hampstead Road station was renamed Chalk Farm on 1 December 1862 and renamed Primrose Hill on 25 September 1950