The features are arranged north to south and the branch order is High Barnet Branch, Edgware Branch, Charing Cross Branch, Bank Branch and finally Morden Branch. CSLR stands for the City and South London Railway. TRACK MAPS TO HELP STUDY THESE FEATURES WILL HOPEFULLY BE ONLINE IN THE FUTURE - IN THE MEANTIME ANYONE WHO REQUIRES A TRACK PLAN OF ANY DISUSED FEATURE SHOULD E-MAIL ME.
HIGH BARNET
Shunt Neck
Access into High Barnet sidings is via a shunt neck accessed from each platform and situated just before the bridge over the Great North Road. In connection with modifications for new trains, a new headshunt (33 road) was constructed parallel to the old one (32 road). The new road was built in a space originally cleared for a second neck in 1940 but the extra traffic levels to merit this did not arise and the space was left clear and unused. The old road was de-commisioned on 10/2/97 when the new one was introduced. The old one (nearest the main lines) still survives and is joined to the existing facilities, but the points are locked for the new route. The shunt signal and route indicator were removed after closure and the tracks are now rusty through disuse (although the line is not overgrown). The future of the old line is in doubt, although it may be re-used in the future.
Goods Yard
A goods yard was situated at High Barnet where the car park now stands and was in use from early GNR days up till 1/10/62. LT took over the Barnet branch in 1940 but BR freight continued to use its yards, travelling via Highgate and Crouch End to Finsbury Park. There are almost no remnants of the yard except for a small brick office and some old lamp posts within the section now used by a storage company, beyond the car park.
Signal Cabin
At the far end of Platform 1 is sited an old GNR vintage signalbox (date unknown but presumably 1872 when the branch opened) that was made redundant when the new LT power signalbox was opened in 1940. The box has recently been externally restored but is presently used as a base for the contract cleaners.
TOTTERIDGE
Goods Yard
The old ground-frame controlled goods yard at Totteridge was situated alongside the southbound line and, like all the goods yards on this branch, closed on 1/10/62. The connections to each main line were eventually taken out and the site levelled for use as a car park and turning circle for buses. Almost nothing remains to indicate its presence save for a few old sleepers that are stacked in one corner of the site. Only the southern section of the site is a car park and the northernmost section lies barren and unused. A new substation has been erected at the north end of the SB platform on part of the site in order to provide the increased current necessary for 1995 stock trains.
Crossover
At the south end of Totteridge station is sited a trailing crossover for emergency use but rarley has been used at all, the last notable time being in the late 1980's. It is a manually operated ground frame and although the signalling in the area is controlled (code NT) ie has the ability to hold trains either side while the crossover is in use, it now works automatically (all the controlled signals show an illuminated 'A' to indicate this). As one of the levers to operate it is missing (although the rodding is there), the crossover has been unofficially de-comissioned and it is unlikely it will ever be used again. When the Northern Line track and signalling upgrade takes place, it is most likely this crossover will be removed. At present, it is very rusty and the points are locked out of use.
WOODSIDE PARK
Signalboxes
Woodside Park is an unusual station, in that it has two ex-GNR signalboxes situated close to eachother on the Northbound Line. The first is situated on the end of the platform and is the original from the 1872 opening of the line. The second is slightly further to the north and replaced the original in 1906. This box was also declared redundant when LT took over the line. Both boxes have been splendidly restored and repainted and are presently used for storage. It is interesting to note that access to the 1906 box is via the end of the northbound platform and over a wooden stile where cable runs cut across the pathway.
Goods Yard
This was similar to the one at Totteridge (although bigger) and was also controlled by mechanical ground frames. It went with the rest on 1/10/62 and naturally became a car park. Nothing of note now remains to indicate its site.
MILL HILL EAST
Second Line and Platform
In accordance with the plans to expand the Northern Line in the late 1930's, it was planned to double the existing single track LNER branch to Edgware and electrify it for LT use. Work started for this on and off from 1938 and the branch from Finchley Central (then Church End) to Edgware LNER closed completely from 11/9/39. A second track was laid parallel to the original all the way from Finchley Central to a point near the intermediate station between Mill Hill East and Edgware, Mill Hill (The Hale). This second track was even supplied with conductor rails and two bridges between Finchley Central and Mill Hill East were rebuilt to provide space for the second track. Fortunately, the Dollis Brook viaduct was wide enough for a second track. There was to be a new NB platform on the new track at Mill Hill East, the original becoming the SB. However, the Second World War put these plans on hold and although not officially abandoned until 1954, it was soon realised nothing would come of the plans. The second track was lifted around 1941 although the space was left for its path just in case. A goods siding was subsequently laid on the path of the second track opposite Mill Hill East platform but disappeared when the yard closed, and the site is now empty. The line was opened as far as Mill Hill East in 1941 although conductor rail was laid further. As said, the whole line past Mill Hill East was lifted in September 1964. (For more on this story, see entries under MILL HILL THE HALE further down this page.
In 1969, the track on the bridge over Frith Lane was re-aligned to pass through the space for the second track (on the 'new' bridge) as the original part of the bridge was unstable. The original bridge was then demolished. You can make out the short course of the original track on the south side of the bridge by the line of sleepers still in position, although the bridge itself is removed and a brick wall blocks the gap in the old formation. A similar situation exists for the bridge over Crescent Road. Aside from this, nothing remains of the second line except for a widening in the formation where it once ran.
Goods Yard
Although BR freight on the Barnet branch ceased on 1/10/62, it continued to serve Mill Hill east and Edgware (LNER) until 28/2/64 and 1/6/64 respectively. The Mill Hill goods yard was situated on the south side of the line to Edgware, just before the Sanders Lane overbridge and was made up of a series of sidings. As the area past the north end of the platform is now very overgrown, it is doubtful whether much survives in the undergrowth, bearing in mind the line to Edgware was lifted in September 1964 from a point just past the end of the platform.
MILL HILL THE HALE
Station
This was the intermediate station on the LNER branch to Edgware between Mill Hill East and Edgware and was opened on 22/8/1867 along with the line from Finsbury Park to Edgware. Like Mill Hill East, it consisted of a wooden platform to the north side of the single track line and was sited between the Midland Main Line and Bunns Lane. It was closed with the branch on 11/9/39 to facilitate works to turn it into part of the Northern Line but it never re-opened. The second track to Edgware was installed in 1939 and, just like Mill Hill East, The Hale would have a new (northbound) platform on this track. A new concrete extension to the old platform was constructed at its north end underneath the Bunns Lane overbridge and part of the new platform was also constructed under the bridge. Little else happened and the works were abandoned in 1954. The branch between Mill Hill East and Edgware was lifted in September 1964 after BR freight had ceased (on 1/6/64) and soon after, part of the M1 motorway (a slip road to be precise) was constructed on the formation near The Hale. Earth and debris from the excavations was dumped on the station site and completely covered the small section of would-be northbound platform. Most of the original single platform was also hidden in this way but the north end concrete extension (under the bridge) remained visible until recently. Now the whole station area is filled in and the arches of the Bunns Lane overbridge bricked up, reducing what little remains there were. On the old formation nearby though, LT lineside cable posts still exist as a sign of the works and some still have their metal cable brackets albeit very rusty. Porcelain conductor rail pots still lie in the undergrowth from when the tracks were supplied with conductor rails.
Page Street Substation
Between Mill Hill East and Mill Hill The Hale, a substation was built for the LT electrification at Page Street in 1939. It was fully equipped for use and was built in a style similar to those at Barnet and Woodside Park. As the plans never reached fruition, the equipment was removed and the substation lay unused next to the formation until 1976 when it was demolished by Laings who built their headquarters at this point on the line. Apart from concrete lineside cable posts deep in the undergrowth either side of Laings, nothing else survives.
FINCHLEY CENTRAL
Goods Yard
The goods yard here was closed on 1/10/62 and the site was turned into a large car park. As extra space was available, a building for the signals and permenant way department was built near the south end of the SB platform around 1985. Land to the south of the car park that was once part of the yard now lies unused next to the main lines and is bordered by 1930's concrete retaining walls.
EAST FINCHLEY
Goods Yard
The goods yard at East Finchley closed on 1/10/62 and became the usual car park. This site is located on the east side of the station at the Barnet end - nothing remains of the yard.
Signalbox
A GNR signalbox survives at East Finchley adjacent to the northbound line near to the cabin that replaced it in 1939, although it is presently in a semi-derelict state.
HIGHGATE DEPOT/HIGHGATE WOOD SIDINGS
History
The centre tracks at East Finchley were once the original LNER line from Finsbury Park to High Barnet (and Edgware). Plans for their integration into Northern Line services however never reached full potential, only the East Finchley - High Barnet/Mill Hill sections being incorporated. Since the Finsbury Park branch closed to freight in 1964 and completely from September 1970, the lines have only been used for entry and exit into Highgate Depot.
Highgate Depot is situated to the east of the (erstwhile) main lines to Finsbury Park and was adapted from the original LNER depot in 1939 for the Northern Line. Prior to this, access into the shed was only available from the southern end but the new works gave access from the northern end as well. To the west of the formation lay Wellington LNER freight sidings (more of which later).
The divergence of the lines to East Finchley and Alexandra Palace was known as Park Junction, just north of the tunnels leading (southwards) to Highgate LNER (High Level) station (also see entry for 'HIGHGATE HIGH LEVEL' further down this page) and Finsbury Park. A new power signalbox was provided here by LT in 1939 to replace the mechanical GNR box controlling Park Junction, to cover movements in and around the depot and to eventually control the Alexandra Palace branch once handed over to LT. Highgate Wood Sidings were built in 1939 in the 'V' between Highgate Depot and the Alexandra Palace branch (but parallel with the branch) and consisted of 6 electrified sidings for tube stock with hand-worked points controlled by a shunter.
Passenger services between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace were discontinued from 3/7/54 (LNER services from Finsbury Park to East Finchley and beyond ceased when the Northern Line took over in 1940). Freight ran via East Finchley until 1962 and to Alexandra Palace until 1956 - the branch tracks were lifted in 1957. Between 1966 and 1970, the Finsbury Park - Highgate Depot section was used for the transfer of 1938 stock to and from the Northern City Line via Drayton Park. This ceased from 29/9/70 due to weak bridges on the route and tracks were lifted from Finsbury Park up to the Highgate North tunnels between 1971-72. Now all that remained was the depot and its sidings.
The Depot and Sidings
As already mentioned, the centre tracks at East Finchley have, since BR ceased freight operations to Barnet on 1/10/62, been solely used for trains entering and leaving Highgate Depot. The centre platforms 2 and 3 have never been used for their intended purpose, only for detraining depot-bound trains. Heading south, the double track line continues past (and over) the Northern Line tunnel mouths to a point just before the depot where the erstwhile northbound track converges into the southbound track and the depot access road then diverges to the left of the southbound line. The southbound line then continues (as far as the Highgate North tunnel mouths of the old line to Finsbury Park) and is now used as a test track and for access to new depot roads. However it wasn't always this way...
The Finsbury Park route was closed from 29/9/70 and the tracks lifted from Highgate North tunnels to Finsbury Park. From then until the depot (temporarily) closed in 1984, the southbound and northbound main lines from East Finchley continued almost all the way to Highgate North tunnels, where the northbound road merged into the southbound road which became a reversing shunt neck into Highgate Wood Sidings, ending a little way into the southbound tunnel mouth - the northbound tunnel mouth standing trackless alongside (a non-electrified portion of NB running line existed for this tunnel but was removed in the late 1970's). This tunnel mouth is notable in that it had been damaged by a Second World War bomb and was subsequently rebuilt in concrete. The tunnel mouths at the south end were blocked off to prevent tresspassers reaching the live depot tracks to the north.
Trains entering Highgate Wood Sidings headed south along the SB main line, reversed in the shunt neck and shunted back out into the sidings. Trains leaving the sidings entered the shunt neck, reversed and headed north to East Finchley, diverging onto the remaining section of the NB main line. The southern access tracks into the depot itself converged into a connection with the SB line/shunt neck near to the junction of Highgate Wood sidings. They were removed at the end of 1982, with just north end access remaining. A shunters cabin was provided for the sidings shunter, situated south of the depot building at the entrance to the sidings.
By now, Park Junction signalbox was the only manually-worked cabin left on the Northern Line after the rest had been converted to programme-machine control from Coburg Street, it being kept primarily to supervise entry and exit to the depot. Due to a decline in patronage, Highgate Wood Sidings were declared surplus and closed in December 1982. The area was abandoned and soon became semi-derelict, with sections of track being lifted here and there over the next few years, and the junction with the shunt neck was fenced off from the rest of the depot.
Meanwhile, the depot, Park Junction box and the running lines remained in use, with trains still using the shunt neck to leave the depot and regain the northbound running line to East Finchley. The southbound and northbound main lines were still controlled by the standard LT 2-aspect colour light semi-automatic signals with fog repeaters installed in 1939 for the proposed extensions and the depot roads and shunt neck by LT disc-type shunt signals, all worked from Park Junction box. However, the whole depot complex closed on 25/3/84 after further service reductions, along with Park Junction signalbox. The signals were eventually removed and the tracks began to rust and slowly become derelict. The shunters cabin for Highgate Wood Sidings was demolished around 1987.
By the late 1980's, traffic levels began to rise enough to consider bringing part of the depot back into use. The occassional battery loco would visit the depot to test if this was feasable. It was considered worthwhile and a revised depot was opened on 23/1/89. The original depot building was re-used (the building had been re-roofed in 1970). The centre tracks from East Finchley both fanned into the depot access road, with the main lines past this point remaining disused. The depot roads again only had north end access and two new engineers sidings were built parallel to the east of the building. For a picture of the engineers sidings and north end of the depot building, take this link to Clive Feather's site. The 8 covered roads were bought back into use, plus the old 9 road running along the west side of the building in the open air parallel to the (by now derelict) main lines. Position light shunt signals (without trainstops) controlled exit from the depot and these and the disc shunt signals controlling the depot approaches were remote-controlled, from either Coburg St or the crew managers office at East Finchley where an illuminated diagram was also provided. The shunt signal at the south end of East Finchley platform 3 has a large 'theatre-type' route indicator above it, capable of showing 1-10 to tell the Train Operator what depot road he will stable on. This signal and the depot shunts require operation of an adjacent 'Train Ready' plunger to signify they are ready for the shunt to be cleared.
The main lines and everything else south of the depot building was fenced off and began to return to nature. The site of Highgate Wood Sidings became heavily overgrown, and Park Junction signalbox was vandalised and found itself surrounded by a jungle of trees and foliage, effectively hiding it from view within Highgate Woods. It became a grim haunt of vagrants and undesirables and was demolished in 1995. The disused portion of the main lines, fenced off from the depot area in use remained all the way up to Highgate North Tunnel but were overgrown and half-lifted, adding to the neglected feel of the area. Even well into the 1990's, it was possible to walk on the path of the main lines south of the depot and rails, sleepers, cable posts and porcelain insulators could be found amongst the undergrowth. Although this area was fairly clear, the surrounding eastern limits of the site had well and truly returned to nature, reducing the once open site to an enclosed woodland area, shrunk from its previous dimensions. The course of the Alexandra Palace branch where it diverged at Park Junction was lost to tree growth and became a part of the woods.
This is how the area remained until 1996, when the overgrown areas south of the depot were cleared and work was done to expand the site for the 1995 stock trains. Southern access was once again laid, the roads fanning up to a new shunt neck near the tunnels in a similar position to the previous one. The southbound main line was restored as a test track down to the shunt neck, with a small portion of track on the space of the northbound line. Concrete retaining walls were built round the eastern perimiter of the site, the fenced off area beyond being banked up in height. A section of the site of Highgate Wood Sidings outside the depot limits remains overgrown, although there were plans at one time to use this area to build a new Northern Line control centre. The depot's south end tracks are joined to the existing depot roads 1-9 but are separated by moveable standing red lamps and for the time being are used to store withdrawn 1959 stock. The area to the west side of the depot (backing on to the Great North Road) was once the site of Wellington LNER freight sidings (closed on 1/10/62) but is now just a bare space of ballasted land that was once overgrown but cleared for the depot enlargement.
HIGHGATE HIGH-LEVEL
This station on the BR operated Alexandra Palace - Finsbury Park line is included as it was rebuilt by LT in preparation for the line's integration into the Northern Line. It was opened on 22/8/1867 along with the route from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Mill Hill. The station was situated in a cutting well below the Archway Road, between two sets of tunnels (Highgate North and South Tunnels). Originally, two side platforms were provided, with a centre loop track between the running lines. After about 20 years, the two side platforms were abandoned and replaced by a central island platform built on the site of the centre loop. GNR style platform buildings, covered by a wide canopy were provided. The two booking halls (a larger one on the west or northbound side) on the side platforms were kept, being joined by a covered footbridge.
This is how the station remained until 1940, by which time plans for integration of the line to LT were under way. The majority of GNR platform building was demolished and a fine concrete LT-style building (typical of the period) was built at the north end of the platform. A small section of GNR building in front of this structure was retained. The main booking office on the northbound side platform and the footbridge were demolished and cable runs were installed along the disused side platforms. LT roundel station signs were fitted to both old and new platform buildings. On the site of the booking hall on the northbound side platform, a building housing an escalator shaft up to the Archway Road was built but no escalators were fitted at this time. Stairs from the new platform building led down to the booking hall of the newly built deep-level Northern Line station. The new station officially opened on 19/1/41. Then, all work on the high-level station was stopped (and eventually abandoned). The line from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace closed on 3/7/54 but remained in use for freight to Alexandra Palace until 1956, freight to Edgware LNER until 1964 and stock transfers to the Northern City Line until 1970 (this started in 1966) - tracks were lifted in 1972. An up escalator was fitted into the shaft up to the Archway Road, and opened on 26/8/57.
After closure, the remaining section of GNR building on the island platform was demolished, but the LT building remained, complete with posters clinging to the walls well into the next decade. The station roundels were eventually removed to expose lighter brickwork underneath leaving behind the familiar LT shape. The platforms (island and side) began to become very overgrown causing water seepage into the Northern Line booking office below and from around 1980-81, the foliage was removed and kept at bay, and has been ever since for this purpose. Later, more action resulted in re-surfacing work to the platform and part of the trackbed. The stairs down to the booking office were blocked off after closure.
These days, the main structure of the station remains, the platform building standing as an empty shell, concrete cable posts surviving on the side platforms and black bordered tiled poster sites (of the 1930's/1940's LT period) surviving on the escalator shaft building. The GNR building on the southbound side platform survives as a private dwelling. The tunnel mouths of the North Tunnel were blocked off when the track was lifted to prevent access to Highgate Depot at the other end.
ARCHWAY
Crossover
When the original section of the Northern Line from Charing Cross to Golders Green and Archway (then Highgate) was opened in 1907, the terminus at Archway was provided with a scissors crossover just south of the station and the running lines beyond the north end of the platforms continued as separate dead-end sidings. When the line was extended to Highgate and East Finchley in 1939, the 'northbound' siding was extended as the northbound road while the 'southbound' siding was retained as a dead-end siding, extended at the north end with the new southbound line from Highgate joining it just before the southbound platform and a new connection from the northbound line to the siding, thus turning the old 'southbound' siding into a central reversing siding. The crossover south of the station was subsequently converted to a single trailing crossover but was de-commisioned on 15/10/67 when Archway was converted to programme-machine control from Coburg Street (the signalbox closed on 25/6/61 when Archway became remote-controlled - it was situated at the south end of the southbound platform and is now a relay room). The enlarged crossover tunnel remains although cable runs extend down its centre between the two tracks for most of its length. Also of note is a surviving limit of shunt board for 7-car trains (a square white enamel plate with a black 7) on the right-hand tunnel wall of the southbound road south of the crossover that trains pulled up to in order to reverse northwards.
SOUTH KENTISH TOWN
This station was opened with the rest of the 'Hampstead Tube' on 22/6/07 but from the start was never over-burdened with crowds. The Leslie Green-designed surface building followed the trend, being clad in dark red tiling while the platforms were provided with the patterned tile finishes common to other 'Yerkes' tube platforms of the period - the colour scheme being red-brown and cream. It is commonly believed that the station's proposed name, Castle Road, although never used is fired into the platform tiling, although this was obviously covered up when the station opened. The station was closed during a labour strke at the Underground Group's Lots Road power station in Chelsea on 5/6/24 but was never reopened on the grounds that it was lacking in patronage. The platforms were used during the Second World War as an air-raid shelter in line with many other disused stations. The platforms have since been removed and the platform tiling has been painted over, although the stairway and cross-passages still display their tiling. The cross-passage containing the stairway has been provided with a new steel staircase from track level on both sides in recent years (as there is no platform) in connection with upgrade works for a new emergency exit. This cross passage and the stairway is thus marked with lights and new signage as Health and Safety regulations demand and can clearly be seen from a passing train on the right-hand side. The instantly-recogniseable surface building survives on the Kentish Town Road near Castle Road, in use as a Cash Converters store.
EDGWARE
Unused Platforms
For the Northern Line Extension project, the LNER line from Finchley Central was to join the Edgware LT branch and continue to Bushey Heath. Edgware bus garage was demolished and resited in 1938 so the cutting could be widened for new platforms. An island platform was built on the west side of the station (behind platform 1) and platform 1 (opened on 20/11/32) was rebuilt as an island, although only one face (the current one) was ever used. As the plans came to nothing, the new island was left abandoned and hidden by advertisement hoardings, although the hoardings at the south end of the station have since been removed giving a good view of the remains, especially from the south end of platform 1. No tracks were provided but the space for them is now very overgrown. When platform 1 was again rebuilt in 1965, a new brick footbridge replaced the old timber one and the staircase for this was partly built over the unused island platform so it could be set back from platform 1. Past the north end of the platforms, provision was made for the line to carry on under Station Road towards Bushey Heath (see 'Line to Bushey Heath' further down this page).
Sidings and Shunt Neck
Edgware Depot, as originally built comprised of 4 covered and 4 open air roads parallel to the station platforms. These were accessed by a shunt neck connected to the southbound line, in a similar manner to the arrangement today at High Barnet. A second shunt neck was later installed but became disused and overgrown and was removed in September 1985. In connection with improvement work, Edgware depot was expanded in 1996-7 by adding more sidings parallel to the shunting neck - previously, a concrete-walled flyover intended for the branch from Finchley Central to join the Edgware branch was built here for the 1935-40 new works programme, but lay abandoned and unused under enroaching foliage until February 1996, when the flyover was demolished, the site levelled and 7 new sidings (3 for engineers trains) laid on the site.
Originally, 5 sidings were provided to the west of the station but four of these were removed in May 1940, leaving just one, 16 siding (which is still in use today) connected to the road serving platform 1. Two new sidings (17 and 18) were opened in 1940 and were originally to have formed an alternative pair of running lines to Golders Green with the existing lines converted to sidings - ultimately the reverse happened, with the new route being used as sidings. The route of these tracks roughly paralleled the main lines, passing under the unused concrete flyover on the land now occupied by new sidings. This pair of little-used sidings was decommisioned in 1964 (during re-signalling) after a long period of disuse and were removed a year later. The route of the sidings along with the concrete flyover passing above was abandoned and slowly became heavily overgrown, remaining that way until the whole area was levelled in 1996 to make space for the new sidings. The old LNER bridge over the existing Edgware branch remains and is sited on the approaches to the station - the rough course of the LNER line to Finchley can be made out by the curve in the concrete retaining wall at the south end of the new sidings.
Line to Bushey Heath
The extensions north of Edgware were partly built but never used - mention has already been made about the unused platforms to the west of Edgware station. To take the existing tracks under Station Road, tunnels were partially bored at the ends of platforms 2 and 3 and these short sections of (dead-end) tunnel may still be seen today where the buffer stops now lie. Part of the station roof at this end had to be removed for this work. On the other side of Station Road, a cutting was built for the lines to emerge from the tunnels and a bridge abutment carrying a service road over this remains. Further down the line, a viaduct was built and almost completed at the site of Brockley Hill station but was demolished between 1954 and 1959, just leaving the bases. The twin tunnel bores into Brockley Hill were partially built with all the brickwork surrounding the tunnel mouths complete and a very short section of tunnel bored (lined with tunnel segments) but they became flooded and were eventually filled in around 1968. The only other finished feature was the massive Aldenham Works, the planned depot. It was completed during the war to cater for aircraft assembly but post-war was converted as the famous bus overhaul works. It closed in 1986 and lay unused and derelict until the site was re-developed in 1997 as a business park.
COLINDALE
Adjoining the southbound track and platform is a space cleared during construction for an extra third track that has never been laid - indeed, why it was ever proposed has never been satisfactorily explained.
BRENT CROSS
Passing Loops
When the line to Edgware was built, space was left on both sides of the line at Brent station for passing loops so some rush-hour trains could non-stop and overtake. These loops and a small 11-lever signalbox at the north end of the island platform were introduced from 13/6/27 - however the loops and signalbox were de-commisioned on 22/8/36 and subsequently removed. All that remains to indicate their site is a widening of the formation either side of the platform. Brent was renamed Brent Cross in connection with the newly-built shopping centre on 20/7/76.
GOLDERS GREEN
Platform 1
To increase the capacity at Golders Green, platform re-organisation was implimented at the time of the Hendon and Edgware extensions in 1923-24. The original arrival platform became northbound platform 1, the island departure platform became platforms 2 (NB) and 3 (reversible) and the other arrival platform became platform 4 (reversible) with a new north face (southbound platform 5) being provided. Over the years, it was found that having platforms 1, 2 and 3 capable of northbound working, the side platform 1 was pointless, so this is now used as a staff platform, although it looks just like the others. It is used as a picking-up point for crew changes and staff accomodation has been built at its northern end. Access is via a staircase from the subway and in common with the other staircases to platforms is clad in 'Yerkes' tiling of green, cream and brown (the only surface station to have this patterned tiling). An exit at the north end of platform 1 is now only used for staff access, although its old illuminated 'Way Out' sign above can just be made out. Part of the canopy and its suppourting wall at the southern end of platform 1 was removed in early 1999.
Finchley Road Entrance
An entrance from Finchley Road was provided from 18/12/11 to act as an interchange to tram routes and takes the form of a roofed-over timber footway linking a street building under the bridge over Finchley Road to a secondary ticket hall. This hall is clad in light blue tiling for the lower half and white for the upper half. This entrance has been closed since around 1996 but is still intact, although the wooden 'passimeter' (one of the last) in the secondary ticket hall guarding entry to the subway leading to the platforms was removed in early 1999, leaving the ticket hall completely empty and bare. It is now separated from the public area by a barrier and is used for staff access to the entrance into the depot, situated where the footpath meets the ticket hall. The street building still proclaims to be part of the station but is closed off by Bostwick gates.
Golders Green Third Tunnel Mouth
Although not within the scope of this project, mention should be made of this feature which many people think of as a mysterious disused route! The trackwork south of Golders Green was radically altered with the 1923-24 extensions and subsequently, the shunting neck to gain access to the depot needed to be extended to cater for longer trains. As there wasn't sufficent space, a short section of tunnel alongside the two running tunnels had to be bored to allow this extra length. Many theories have been offered for the existence of this tunnel, with many thinking it extends to some mystery location - in fact it is about 1-car long and ends in a brick wall dead-end.
BULL AND BUSH (NORTH END)
When the Hampstead tube was originally constructed, there was to be an intermediate station between Golders Green and Hampstead. Work started on the construction of this station with platforms, cross-passages and lower stairways being constructed but in 1906, it was decided to cease work here before any lift shafts or stairways to the surface had been completed so the station remained inaccessable except at track level. The official name of the station was North End but it has always been known to staff as Bull and Bush . It was to have had a surface building on Hampstead Way but the land was slod off about 1927. By now, the platforms had been removed and in their place, small stage platforms a few feet in length were built in both directions to allow track access. Access to the surface was finally built in the mid-1950's in the form of a spiral staircase to a concrete exit, primarily for access to an earlier built floodgate control room. The site, near to the tunnel mouths at Golders Green is marked by an enlargement in the running tunnels for the platforms and brickwork to separate the site from the lines.
EUSTON - CHARING CROSS BRANCH
At Euston, access to the (then) separate Hampstead and CSLR stations was originally from separate surface buildings and later a joint sub-surface ticket hall under the main-line station. The Hampstead Tube building was a standard Leslie Green affair on the corner of Melton Street and Euston Street, clad in dark red tiles and marked by distinctive arched windows while the CSLR building was located in Eversholt Street. These two separate buildings and their lift access were closed on 1/10/14 when the joint ticket hall replaced them both. The CSLR building was demolished in 1934 but the Leslie Green building still stands and is in use as a Northern Line substation.
EMBANKMENT - TERMINAL LOOP
The original terminus of the Hampstead Tube was Charing Cross but it was thought that a station slightly further south would provide better interchange with Charing Cross (now Embankment) on the Bakerloo and District lines. The extension consisted of a single-line loop starting from the end of the 'southbound' tunnel at Strand and re-joining the end of the 'northbound' tunnel after curving in a clockwise loop. A single platform was sited on this terminal loop and was opened as Charing Cross on 6/4/14. When the line was extended further south to Kennington, and thence to Morden, this arrangement was modified. The new southbound line commenced near the start of the loop and a new southbound platform was provided on this straight new alignment, which cut through the old loop south of the new platform. The new northbound tunnel joined the erstwhile loop just before the single loop platform, which became the northbound platform. This explains why the southbound platform is straight and the northbound is severely curved - it is part of the original loop. The junctions with the old loop and the point where the new southbound line cuts through the loop were sealed off with concrete and the disused loop tunnel partly filled in, thus there is no access at all to the abandoned parts of the loop and its existance cannot be detected.
EUSTON - BANK BRANCH
History
The City and South London Railway opened an extension of their line from Angel to Euston on 12/5/07. The layout of the platform at Euston was identical to that at Angel (and similar to Clapham N/Com), being a single island platform with tracks either side contained within a large diameter station tunnel. The large tunnel continued beyond the south end of the platform to house a scissors crossover and the twin tubes continued at the north end as siding tunnels, converging near their dead-ends into a small overall tunnel housing an engine crossover so engines could uncouple, reverse and run round their train. A dead-end siding south of Euston was also provided, connected to the northbound line just south of the scissors crossover.
Euston soldiered on with this arrangement for another 15 years, although less use was made of the engine crossover. In 1922, work started on connecting the CSLR to the Hampstead Tube by constructing a series of non-conflicting junctions at Camden Town (around those already there to split the Highgate and Hampstead branches) and a connection from there to Euston CSLR, effectively forming the core of the Northern as we know it. Put simply, the twin sidings north of Euston were enlarged and extended to Camden as the runnung tunnels, thus eliminating the by-now disused engine crossover (the engines had gone by now to be replaced by multiple-unit 'Standard' stock). Apart from Euston becoming a through station, not a lot changed until the late 1960's and a spot of rebuilding.
The emergence of the Victoria Line caused big changes at Euston during 1967 - to provide cross-platform interchange in both directions, it was decided to re-route the northbound track into a new tunnel and platform, widen the old island platform, and have the Victoria Line running in-between, thus providing the desired cross-platform interchange for the same direction of travel. The new northbound line diverged to the left of the old at a point between King's Cross and Euston, just after the single line 1927 connection from the Piccadily Line joins from the left. After the new platform, the line then re-joined the old northbound tunnel to Camden. The island platform was extended over the old northbound road to become an extra-wide southbound platform and the central exit stairway between the tunnel mouths at the north end of the 'island' was closed, new exits and cross-passages to the southbound Victoria Line being built into the 'northbound' tunnel wall.
Today
The old northbound line, from Euston northwards lies derelict and abandoned, having been made redundant by the diversion of the line in 1967. It is joined by the new northbound tunnel further north, from where the old tunnel is used to Camden. The junction of the old an new tunnels is now used to house equipment and tools for track workers and is visible on the right-hand side of a northbound train leaving Euston. The site of the small engine crossover, although partly obscured by the tunnel enlargement of 1922, can still be briefly seen from the southbound line, on the right just before Euston, although it is of course best seen from the front of a train, from where part of the old northbound tunnel previously mentioned can just be seen.
On the wide southbound platform, at the north end can be seen the old exit/entry stairway next to the tunnel mouth, although this is covered with a heavy metal grille and is hard to see into unless viewed at an angle - the staircase is dimly-lit and very grimy but some features including the tiling can be picked out. The erstwhile northbound tunnel mouth at this end is blocked up, although access is available through a security-protected door. At the southern end of the platform, the point where the northbound line from King's Cross would have emerged is blocked by an equipment and relay room.
Beyond this is situated the large crossover tunnel and further beyond that is the other section of old northbound running tunnel parallel to the southbound - this section is still in use as a long link between the 'new' northbound line and the southbound line, known as the Euston Loop. The link diverges to the right of the southbound line within the crossover tunnel and proceeds via the old northbound tunnel to the point where the new northbound line diverges from this tunnel. Previously, the crossover tunnel had housed a trailing crossover but this was removed during the 1967 reconstruction. A reminder of this is a surviving (rather dirty) 7-car limit of shunt marker (a square white enamel plate with a black 7) on the right-hand tunnel wall of the southbound road south of the crossover tunnel from where you could shunt back over the crossover onto the old northbound platform. The crossover site and Euston Loop can be seen to the right of a southbound train immediately on leaving Euston.
The siding south of the station joined onto what was the northbound line just south of the crossover but was made redundant in 1967 when the northbound was re-routed and the line it joined became the Euston Loop. The 7-car siding was used up until this time to reverse terminating Euston trains laying-over but northbound reversers were simply extended to Archway or Golders Green. The siding and crossover had, since 16/11/58 been worked under programme-machine control from Coburg Street - the signalbox at the south end of the island had been closed from this date. The siding tunnel now lies abandoned and trackless, and can only be seen from empty trains using the Euston Loop.
KING'S CROSS
Weston Street Signal Cabin
When the City and South London Railway extended their line to Euston (City) on 12/5/07 from Angel (with the intermediate station at King's Cross), a signal box was provided on the long stretch between King's Cross and Angel, with associated street level access from Weston Street. It was formed in-between the two running tunnels in a cross-passage and the tracks were formed into a 'hump' so that should a train need to be halted there, it had help with braking and acceleration. This cabin was unique in being the only underground example on a deep-level 'tube' line that was not at or near a station. Also provided here (again, due to it being a long stretch with no intermediate station) was an emergency exit from tunnel to street level. The cabin worked the CSLR signalling system, all signals being controlled by cabins at each station - this was until the full introduction of track-circuited automatic colour-light signalling (roughly in the form used today) where the signals controlled themselves by the position of trains, except at junctions where signals were controlled manually. This system had been in use on the Yerkes tube lines since they opened in 1907 and on the Central since around 1913, thus the CSLR had the distinction of being the last tube line to be so provided. The demise of the cabin was sealed with the introduction of the automatic colour-light signalling on the CSLR from 1919 onwards, the box closing on 20/8/21. Today, its site is only detectable by the rise and sharp fall of the line between Angel and King's Cross (this is best detected on the northbound line). The site of the cabin was partly eliminated by the tunnel enlargement scheme of 1922-24. Weston Street is now Weston Rise.
ANGEL
Platforms
Angel station was opened by the CSLR on 17/11/01 on an extension from Moorgate. The station was constructed as an island platform within an enlarged 30ft tunnel, much like Clapham and Euston. As at most terminal stations, a scissors crossover was provided at the south end of the platform, within the station tunnel. When the platform was extended in 1924, it was extended into the space where the crossover was situated. While this type of platform was acceptable at the time, and indeed for 80 years, by the mid-1980's, the growth of traffic in the area dictated this arrangement was unsafe. Work began in 1989 on re-vamping the station and a rebuilding arrangement, similar to Euston was used. The northbound line was diverted into a new 500m long tunnel with a new northbound platform, re-joining the old line north of the station. The 'new' running tunnel south of the new platform used part of the old siding tunnel (see below). The old trackbed of the northbound line in the old station was filled in to create a very wide southbound platform connected by a new lower landing and cross-passages to the new northbound platform. The new station and northbound platform was opened on 10/8/92, with the southbound platform opening on 17/9/92. To see a photo of the wide southbound platform, take this link to Richard Griffin's site (and scroll down page) or this link to Clive Feather's site. The old northbound running tunnels lie abandoned and littered with railway debris such as track tools, rails, insulators and a general accumulation of rubbish, and can be seen diverging and converging to the right while passing through Angel northbound. To see a picture of the junction of old northbound tunnel and siding tunnel, take this link to Clive Feather's site. The old tunnel is blocked off from the widened island platform, but security doors lead to it at both ends.
Siding
When Angel was opened, a long dead-end siding was provided for train stabling, converging from the left onto the northbound line just south of the station. This was retained over the years but eventually it was closed on 23/1/59 (along with the signalbox at the south end of the platform) to simplify through running. The siding lay derelict and unused until the rebuilding scheme. Part of the siding was used as the northbound diversion tunnel, which branched off the existing northbound line, cut through into the end of the siding and continued along it until it branched off left to the new northbound platform. The new tunnel is of a larger diameter than the siding tunnel and this hides the join of the new tunnel to the remaining section of siding where it joins the old northbound line - this disused junction of tunnels still survives between the two running lines.
CITY ROAD
City Road station was opened on the Moorgate - Angel extension (between Angel and Old St) on 17/11/01 but traffic levels never reached expected numbers. With the advent of the tunnel enlargement scheme and the connection to the Hampstead Line, the line north of Moorgate closed from 9/8/22 - when this section re-opened in 1924 however, City Road remained shut. Over time, the platforms were removed to allow clearance for higher speeds but the next big change came with the Second World War. Authority was given for the platform areas to be converted to twin-level shelters, shielded from the main line by a brick wall. Access was via the old building at street level. When peace came, the shelter alterations were dismantled and the station once again remained in isolation. The street level building has now been demolished but the original CSLR tiling remains visible from passing trains, albeit very dirty. Note how short the platform is, this being the average length before the 1922-24 lengthenings to the remaining stations.
OLD STREET
Siding
A reversing siding, capable of holding a complete CSLR train was provided when the station was opened on 17/11/01, situated just south of Old Street station, between the running tunnels and connected to both. This however became disused from 9/8/22 when the line north of Moorgate was closed to allow the 1922-24 works to commence, including the tunnel enlargement. When the line re-opened in 1924, the siding was not re-instated and was isolated from the main running lines by the enlargement works. This old tunnel became useful when the tunnels south of Old Street needed reconstruction in 1996 due to deterioration - access passageways for parts of the work utilised sections of the siding tunnel, although when the work was completed the tunnel once again became isolated behind new enlarged tunnel linings.
MOORGATE
Crossover and Loco Siding
King William Street (original terminus of the CSLR) was abandoned for a more direct spur, on an extension from Borough Junction to Moorgate Street on 25/2/1900, with intermediate stations at London Bridge and Bank. As Moorgate at this time was a terminus, it was provided with a scissors crossover in a double tunnel south of the station, with a signal cabin above and across the tracks, suppourted on a series of girders. When the Angel extension opened in 1901, this unusual cabin was re-located to a platform - the original cabin was destroyed by a fire in the crossover tunnel on 16/7/08. There was also a very short stub emergency siding for locomotives but information on its position or history is vague and possibly incorrect to your author at present. (Certainly, when I was a Northern Line driver, I never saw evidence of this short spur, either near the crossover or to the north of the platforms - one theory is that its site was claimed by tunnel enlargement or the 1924 crossover at the north end of Moorgate - any information or thoughts would be greatly appreciated).
The line was closed north of Moorgate from 9/8/22 for reconstruction, thus the scissors crossover remained in use for terminating trains. However, the line south of Moorgate closed from 28/11/23 after an accident near the Elephant. When the whole line re-opened on 20/4/24, a new trailing crossover in its own connecting tunnel had been constructed north of the station, making redundant the scissors crossover. The old tunnel that housed this remains and can be seen to the right immediately on leaving Moorgate southbound.
LONDON BRIDGE
History
As already mentioned, the original CSLR King William Street terminus was by-passed in favour of a more direct route through the City, to Moorgate, opened on 25/2/1900. The first new station on this alignment was London Bridge (Bank effectively replaced King William Street to some degree). Due to the layout of the original line north of Elephant, right-hand running resulted, the lines correcting themselves north of Bank. Thus at London Bridge, the direction of flow was reversed.
The platforms were housed in individual tunnels adjacent (but very close) to eachother, divided by small cross-passages and with the staircases at the southern end of the platforms (not too dissimilar to Euston Charing Cross branch). A long trailing crossover siding was provided immediately south of the station, joining the northbound line from the left just within the station tunnel. This arrangement lasted over 90 years (aside from refurbishment, tunnel enlargement and other minor works in the 1920's) until it was proposed to rebuild London Bridge in connection with the Jubilee Line extension serving the station. The principle adopted would be similar to Angel and Euston, but as we will see, just slightly different.
Facing London Bridge looking south, the northbound was on the left and the southbound on the right (right-hand running). The southbound line was diverted into a new tunnel (built to the JLE receipe), a new southbound platform being provided directly adjacent to the old southbound station tunnel. The new tunnel then continued south, the old tunnel joining from the left about halfway towards Borough. The old southbound station tunnel now lay between the two platforms and was converted into a lower landing/circulating area at its southern end. The trackbed was filled in to platform level and tiled, the northern half of the old tunnel was blocked off and cross-passages were built through the erstwhile track-side wall to join the new southbound platform. The old exit at the south end was retained and the tunnel mouth next to it blocked off. The work was carried out during the Moorgate-Kennington southbound only closure of mid-1996, the northbound platform being screened up from the works.
When the southbound line (and platform) were re-opened on 21/10/96, the sight greeting commuters within the new lower landing was puzzling to say the least. The said works had indeed been carried out but the remaining section of the old 'platform', ie the whole lower landing, still had its green and white platform tiling, signal repeater, clock, posters, maps and nameboards on the 'platform' wall as it had been before! These were later removed and the wall clad in similar panelling to the rest of the landing.
Today
Since the rebuilding, as already mentioned, the new landing was eventually refurbished for its new purpose. The only reminders of the fact that it was once the busy and overcrowded southbound platform are the floor level join between the filled-in trackbed and the original platform edge, and the blocked-up tunnel mouth. To see a picture of the old southbound platform, take this link to Richard Griffin's site (and scroll down the page). The rest of the platform lies behind a dividing wall protected by a security door and the cross-passages to it from the northbound platform are blocked off. The old southbound line leaves the new to the left just before London Bridge and joins from the left after. These long 'junctions' can clearly be defined from a passing southbound train.
The northbound platform was extended at the southern end, partly over the course of the crossover in 1997-98 - this was easily achieved as the junction of the crossover to the northbound line was within the station tunnel anyway. Anyone who remembers entry to the northbound platform at the far south end will recall emerging opposite this junction with a safety railing directly in front and an old red warning notice on the far trackside wall. The crossover could be clearly viewed by standing at the very south end of this platform. The crossover (cabin code P) was made redundant, along with the old section of southbound line during the 1996 closure and today lies abandoned. A limit of shunt sign survives on the side of the tunnel just where the old tunnel re-commences south of the station - terminating trains would have pulled up to this then reversed north over the crossover when the original facilities were in use.
BOROUGH JUNCTION
THIS SECTION WILL BE COMPLETED VERY SOON - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
KING WILLIAM STREET
THIS SECTION WILL BE COMPLETED VERY SOON - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
ELEPHANT & CASTLE
Siding and Platform re-arrangement
THIS SECTION WILL BE COMPLETED VERY SOON - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
KENNINGTON
Platform re-arrangement
THIS SECTION WILL BE COMPLETED VERY SOON - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
OVAL
Crossovers
By 1923, the works programme to re-build the old CSLR line and link it up to the Hampstead Tube was in full swing. The works also involved tunnel enlargement of the old CSLR tunnels from 10'2"-10'6" to the standard 11'8.25". Much of this work was hampered by various problems, many on the southern section. One such was a leakage of water and gravel into the tunnels near Stockwell in April 1923. The line soon re-opened but it was decided to impliment compressed-air working here to prevent any re-occurance. To provide as best a service as possible, it was decided to install two temporary crossovers and use these to introduce single line working so one tunnel at a time could be worked on while the other remained in use. The first crossover tunnel was built during July-August 1923 roughly under the road junctions of Dorset Road and South Island Place onto the Clapham Road, and the second further south in September under Portland Place. Single line working began on 22/10/23 using the crossovers but the plan backfired on 27/11/23 when a northbound train north of Elephant & Castle hit poling boards in the tunnel roof that were out of alignment thus bringing down gravel on the rear cars through the gap created - the train was moved just in time for the whole tunnel to fill up for a short distance. Soon after, a fractured gas pipe caused an explosion that blew out a chunk of the road above. Shuttle services were subsequently provided either side of the accident but the inadequacy of this arrangement forced the line to close completely from 29/11/23 (Moorgate-Euston closed from 9/8/22) and a replacement bus service introduced. The tunnels were enlarged in peace and the crossover tunnels then became redundant. When the line re-opened in 1924, the crossover tunnels had been left in place but the fact that they had been built to the old CSLR diameter for those trains meant they were small and out of place alongside the newly enlarged running tunnels. These crossover tunnels can clearly be seen to the right-hand side of trains between Oval and Stockwell (one after the other) but only if one views them from the front of a train can the smaller diameter and exact layout be best seen. The 'Portland Place' crossover tunnel (nearest Stockwell) is used at present to store track tools for maintenance - this tunnel is sometimes lit by a couple of bare bulbs for this purpose.
CLAPHAM COMMON
Crossover
The CSLR was extended south from Stockwell to Clapham Common on 4/6/1900 with an intermediate station at Clapham Road (now Clapham North). The terminal arrangements at Clapham Common were very similar to those used at Angel and Euston when they served as termini - an island platform was housed in a large overall 30ft diameter tunnel. The large tunnel continued past the north end of the platform to house a scissors crossover while twin tubes continued south as two separate dead-end sidings. Then, when the line was extended further south to Morden (opened on 13/9/26), these sidings were extended to form the running lines - the scissors crossover was converted to a trailing crossover. The existing signal cabin at the north end of the island platform was provided with an 'automatic working' facility, allowing the signals in the area to work automatically (ie by themselves) when the rarely-used crossover and cabin were switched out. The area had been converted to standard colour light automatic signalling with track circuits from the original CSLR system by the Underground Group in 1919-20 and so as much of this equipment as possible was kept.
The arrangements here stayed the same until the majority of Northern Line cabins were converted to either programme-machine control or remote-control from the Leicester Square control centre (moved to Coburg St 1969-76). Clapham Common was converted to remote control from 23/7/61 and the cabin was closed - an interlocking machine to operate the points of the crossover was provided within the former cabin. However, as this crossover was little used anyway, it was a pointless task in keeping it going - indeed, one theory may be the abolition of Stockwell crossover in 1961 (re-instated 1976). The Clapham crossover was eventually de-commisioned and removed (date?) and the associated signals removed (the semi-auto signals in this area worked automatically most of the time so minimal changes were needed save for a few re-numberings). Today, the site of the crossover can clearly be seen at the north end of the island platform and from passing trains. Evidence of the former arrangements exist in staircases to the one-time cabin and roof hung shaded lamps within the crossover tunnel of the type formerly lit over all junctions (most on the network still exist but are disused and replaced by tunnel wall lights, usually orange).
MORDEN
Signal Cabin
The line to Morden was opened on 13/9/26. The open air terminus was provided with a signal cabin at the north end of platform 4/5 to control the series of junctions at the entry to the platforms and some pointwork and shunt signals on the depot approach roads south of the station. This cabin was elevated high above the platform and accessed by a staircase. With the development and implimentation of programme-machine control on the Northern supervised from Leicester Square control room, the cabin at Morden was closed on 12/8/62 and the area passed over to this method of control. An interlocking machine room to operate the points was built to the west side of the cutting overlooking the station below. The former cabin was stripped of its equipment and has since been used for various purposes, at present as a toilet and washroom for drivers.
Copyright 1999-2000 Raggajohn
Hits Since 1/2/00
