Short lived railways that were built post war

[Merle Haggard]

Your recollection is spot on.

One of the key objectives in the rebuilding of Euston was massively improving access to the Tube. I suppose that a simple transfer onto the City Branch of the Northern was deemed to be easy enough.

Thanks for that.

 

[Lloyds siding]

A short spur was built in the mid 50s between the Cheshire Lines tracks by Aintree Central to the Napier/English Electric factory at Netherton (Bootle). This was to allow the Deltic prototype access to the network so that it could conduct trial runs on the lightly used Cheshire Lines tracks heading out towards Altcar & Hillhouse.
I spoke to an old gent last year, who, as a local schoolboy and enthusiast, had an unofficial cab ride!

 

[S&CLER]

A short spur was built in the mid 50s between the Cheshire Lines tracks by Aintree Central to the Napier/English Electric factory at Netherton (Bootle). This was to allow the Deltic prototype access to the network so that it could conduct trial runs on the lightly used Cheshire Lines tracks heading out towards Altcar & Hillhouse.
I spoke to an old gent last year, who, as a local schoolboy and enthusiast, had an unofficial cab ride!

So that's why a road on the Aintree CLC site is called Deltic Way! I had wondered. I recall spotting the Deltic prototype at Lime Street in the mid-1950s; I must have been about 8 or 9 at the time. I never saw it on the S&CLER line to Altcar, which was still open for occasional deliveries of fertiliser to a farmers' co-op at Altcar. Are there any known photographs of it on this line?

 

[Cowley]

A short spur was built in the mid 50s between the Cheshire Lines tracks by Aintree Central to the Napier/English Electric factory at Netherton (Bootle). This was to allow the Deltic prototype access to the network so that it could conduct trial runs on the lightly used Cheshire Lines tracks heading out towards Altcar & Hillhouse.
I spoke to an old gent last year, who, as a local schoolboy and enthusiast, had an unofficial cab ride!

I must admit that that little titbit of information has just blown my mind.
Fascinating...

 

[Rob F]

Not so far away was the Calverton Colliery branch from the Nottingham to Mansfield line. That was over seven miles long, in operation from 1952 until the colliery closed in 1998.

And strangely this was built with expensive connections to both the MR and the GNR even though the decline of the GN line may have started by then. I think the GN connection was rarely, if ever, used.

 

[d9009alycidon]

If we are talking about short lived spurs, rather than full lines, then there were a few constructed in the West of Scotland to maintain access, mainly to industrial customers when old routes were closed. When the Caledonian route from Glasgow Gentral Low Level was closed in 1964, there was a spur built at Yoker to retain access to Meadowside Granary and Partick Central Coal Depot, opened 29/09/1965, closed 22/03/1980, and at Clydebank for access to Arnott Young Scrapyard, Dewars and an MOD siding, also opened 29/09/1965 and lasted a little longer to 24/04/1988, indeed some of the infrastructure of this spur was still in situ until recently.
In Hamilton, the North British Line had closed to all traffic on 15th September 1952 due to the unsafe condition of the Clyde Viaduct, two spurs came into use on that day, one to retain access to Allenshaw Foundry, this lasted until 09/01/1967, the other went to C&W Irelands Works and was rebuilt on a new formation on 11/02/1963 as further bits of the old NBR line were closed , this became known as the Birdsfield Branch and lasted until 01/04/1980. In Ayrshire, a spur was put in at Stevenson, opened on 27/01/1947 to retain access to Ardrossan Montgomorie Pier when the line through to Neilston was closed, this was in use until 06/05/1968

 

[A0wen]

Your recollection is spot on.

One of the key objectives in the rebuilding of Euston was massively improving access to the Tube. I suppose that a simple transfer onto the City Branch of the Northern was deemed to be easy enough.

What struck me as odd at the time was forcing all GN inner suburban passengers into Moorgate; not just commuters. It looked very much like operational convenience trumping passengers’. BR at the time did seem to like the idea of segregating suburban services so they didn’t sully the wonderful Inter-City stuff.

Erm - not sure it is.

The Richmond - Broad Street services had, by that time, been diverted and were running to Stratford & North Woolwich - which had been electrified in the early 80s to replace the Camden Road - North Woolwich DMU service. They were being operated by rather run down Southern Region 2EPB sets that had replaced the LMR class 501 units as well.

That left Broad Street with a handful of peak hour services from Watford Junction (most of which also served Primrose Hill station) - the Graham Road curve was put in place to allow those services to run onto Liverpool Street and allow the closure of Broad Street.

Primrose Hill station closed in September 1992 and the Watford - Liverpool Street services soon after that.

 

[BrianW]

Still in use for ECS when needed.

Re Green Park- CharingX Jubilee line- that's a pretty expensive ECS. I wonder (rather like Holborn- Aldwych?) what the plan had been. Changing plans often (always) results in abortive work costs; we must hope (believe) that what was executed was an improvement on the previous plan, whatever it was.

 

[delt1c]

Re Green Park- CharingX Jubilee line- that's a pretty expensive ECS. I wonder (rather like Holborn- Aldwych?) what the plan had been. Changing plans often (always) results in abortive work costs; we must hope (believe) that what was executed was an improvement on the previous plan, whatever it was.

Originally planned as Fleet line which was to continue to Ludgate , this was changed to the present Jubilee Line rendering Charing cross spur obsolete

 

[DelW]

If we are talking about short lived spurs, rather than full lines, then there were a few constructed in the West of Scotland to maintain access, mainly to industrial customers when old routes were closed.

There was a similar curve built in rural Norfolk, to connect GE and MGN lines at Themelthorpe, in order to maintain a connection to a precast concrete yard at Lenwade. Initially I researched its dates on old maps: on a 1956 Bartholomew, both lines were intact with no connection, then on a 1969 OS the connecting curve was built and the lines northward and westward had closed.
However, Wikipedia makes it all too easy these days: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themelthorpe

The Themelthorpe Curve was built to join two separate stretches of railway, the section from Themelthorpe to Norwich which built in 1882 by the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway and the line from Themelthorpe to Aylsham, completed in 1883 by the Great Eastern Railway. This section was to be the final section of railway track built in Norfolk by British Rail and was the sharpest curve in the whole of the British rail network.[2] It was opened in 1960 to shorten the route of freight trains carrying concrete products running from a terminal at Lenwade, and was closed by 1985. It is now part of the Marriott's Way footpath.

(I was aware of it from an involvement in buying and factory-inspecting concrete bridge beams at Anglian Building Products at Lenwade in 1985. I thought the rail access was still operational then, but I may be wrong on that. It was certainly spring 1985 that I visited the works.
Irrelevant trivia: the beams were used to bridge the A27 over the roundabout at Langstone, just south of Havant).

 

[lyndhurst25]

Bevercotes Colliery opened in 1965 and closed in 1993, so the branch line built to serve it had a useful life of around 28 years.

 

[BrianW]

Originally planned as Fleet line which was to continue to Ludgate , this was changed to the present Jubilee Line rendering Charing cross spur obsolete

Why Ludgate one wonders, apart from giving significance to the name via Fleet Street (and the River Fleet below), and maybe linking with what I guess was then still Holborn Viaduct? Where was Thameslink in the thinking then, and since? I can see that the journey patterns will have changed a lot with the Jubilee line extension, and almost certainly for the better. Still begs the question- why Ludgate? It must have made sense at the time.

 

[delt1c]

Why Ludgate one wonders, apart from giving significance to the name via Fleet Street (and the River Fleet below), and maybe linking with what I guess was then still Holborn Viaduct? Where was Thameslink in the thinking then, and since? I can see that the journey patterns will have changed a lot with the Jubilee line extension, and almost certainly for the better. Still begs the question- why Ludgate? It must have made sense at the time.

It was to be built in stages , ultimately it was planned to reach New Cross

 

[Lloyds siding]

So that's why a road on the Aintree CLC site is called Deltic Way! I had wondered. I recall spotting the Deltic prototype at Lime Street in the mid-1950s; I must have been about 8 or 9 at the time. I never saw it on the S&CLER line to Altcar, which was still open for occasional deliveries of fertiliser to a farmers' co-op at Altcar. Are there any known photographs of it on this line?

I've seen a photo in the historic sites about Bootle with it on the embankment...I'll try to find it. Meanwhile I googled and found the Napier Chronicles, which gives a chronology of its whereabouts over its working life. It spent a lot of 1955-57 at Netherton works. There is one picture of it whilst at the works. http://www.napier-chronicles.co.uk/dp1.htm . The picture link is http://www.napier-chronicles.co.uk/dp1_18-10-55.htm#pref

 

[BrianW]

It was to be built in stages , ultimately it was planned to reach New Cross

Thank you delt1c for your reply, with the speed of a thoroughbred

 

[delt1c]

Thank you delt1c for your reply, with the speed of a thoroughbred

More like a clydesdale

 

[Revaulx]

Erm - not sure it is.

The Richmond - Broad Street services had, by that time, been diverted and were running to Stratford & North Woolwich - which had been electrified in the early 80s to replace the Camden Road - North Woolwich DMU service. They were being operated by rather run down Southern Region 2EPB sets that had replaced the LMR class 501 units as well.

That left Broad Street with a handful of peak hour services from Watford Junction (most of which also served Primrose Hill station) - the Graham Road curve was put in place to allow those services to run onto Liverpool Street and allow the closure of Broad Street.

Primrose Hill station closed in September 1992 and the Watford - Liverpool Street services soon after that.

Yikes - you are quite correct!

I was aware that the line to Stratford/North Woolwich through Hackney had been reopened several years prior to Broad Street’s demise, but hadn’t realised the Richmonds had all been rerouted that way over 12 months before it closed. As usual, the Disused Stations site is stuffed with great info!

 

[racyrich]

A few curves in Leics come to mind.
The chord at Loughborough from the MML to the GCR.

The curve down from the MML to the GN east of Belgrave Road.

The curve down from the Leics-Burton line to the GCR to access the scrapyard.

 

[Bald Rick]

Why Ludgate one wonders, apart from giving significance to the name via Fleet Street (and the River Fleet below), and maybe linking with what I guess was then still Holborn Viaduct? Where was Thameslink in the thinking then, and since? I can see that the journey patterns will have changed a lot with the Jubilee line extension, and almost certainly for the better. Still begs the question- why Ludgate? It must have made sense at the time.

There’s a series of well researched articles on the subject on the always excellent London Reconnections website:

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2015/diving-into-the-fleet-a-look-at-londons-lost-tube/

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2016/diving-fleet-jubilee-line-derailed-1974-1979/

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2016/fleet-jubilee-line-part-third-conservative-view/

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2017/diving-into-the-fleet-part-5-the-eighties/

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2017/diving-fleet-part-5-canary-wharf-years/


This should keep you busy for the rest of the evening and into tomorrow! Note that the first ‘part 5’ is actuallY part 4.

 

[pdeaves]

The chord at Loughborough from the MML to the GCR.

Whilst relatively recently built, that chord is still in use so isn't 'short lived' as per the thread subject.

 

[Taunton]

That left Broad Street with a handful of peak hour services from Watford Junction (most of which also served Primrose Hill station) - the Graham Road curve was put in place to allow those services to run onto Liverpool Street and allow the closure of Broad Street.

Indeed, the mainstream Richmond service had gone from Broad Street, and just the handful of Watford services remained running there. There's some debate about what constituted closure of Broad Street, because a substitute platform, built of wood, was erected immediately beyond the station platforms, with a substantial wooden temporary entrance and street entrance alongside, same name but all outside the original station bounds which were closed and demolished. This temporary arrangement only lasted about a year whilst the Graham Road curve was under construction, when services transferred to that route into Liverpool Street platform 1. I was working nearby at the time and walked across to Liverpool Street to see the first one come in - just a handful of passengers.

The remaining DC Line 501 units lasted for a short while on the Watford trains after the Richmond line changed over to 2-EPB (the Southern Railway- pattern ones, built on old SR underframes but which were actually a couple of years newer than the BR design ones), but changed over to some spare 313s during the time of the temporary platform. They were necessary for the Liverpool Street diversion, changing from DC to overhead on the Graham Road curve.

 

[341o2]

There was logic explained at the time.

It was noted that few inner suburban passengers at Kings Cross left the station, they almost all went into the Underground, to either West End or City. Sending the trains to Moorgate allowed direct travel to The City, and a far easier cross-platform interchange to the Victoria Line at Highbury for the West End.

It also relieved congestion at Kings Cross, both access to the Undergronnd, which was inadequate then, and the rail side congestion at the station throat, which in the days of loco-hauled services was considerable as well. It likewise allowed outer-suburban passengers for The City to make cross-platform interchange at Finsbury Park. I seem to recall the calculated numbers per hour of each of these flows were in Modern Railways at the time.

To enlarge on Taunton's comment, in pre electrification days, at Belle Island junction between Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels, the track layout was that the up slow served only York Rd and Moorgate, the up fast platforms 1 to 4 of the mainline station and the up relief everything else. I believe the dreaded signal was KC84 which was mentioned as the usual cause of delay between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross. The problem was just about everything crossed something else as well as LE movements.

 

[BrianW]

There’s a series of well researched articles on the subject on the always excellent London Reconnections website:...
This should keep you busy for the rest of the evening and into tomorrow! Note that the first ‘part 5’ is actuallY part 4.

Yes indeed; thank you Bald Rick- these might keep me out of mischief for a while ...

 

[A0wen]

To enlarge on Taunton's comment, in pre electrification days, at Belle Island junction between Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels, the track layout was that the up slow served only York Rd and Moorgate, the up fast platforms 1 to 4 of the mainline station and the up relief everything else. I believe the dreaded signal was KC84 which was mentioned as the usual cause of delay between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross. The problem was just about everything crossed something else as well as LE movements.

Quite - it's why the flyover was constructed as part of the electrification works - as it meant traffic on the up slow would be able to pass over to the west side of the station and into the 'suburban' platforms without blocking the fast lines. Same reason for the flyover constructed at Welwyn Garden City - so the Moorgate services could arrive and depart on the west side (I forget whether it's P1 or P4 nowadays - I know they swapped them round at some point) and pass over to the east side so they were on the Up-Slow without interfering with the fasts.

I can't be certain - though I'm sure somebody else will be - but I have a feeling the link onto the Dunstable branch from the Midland at Luton was only put in around the time the Welwyn - Luton line was closed so as to allow freight to continue to use the Dunstable line. That finally got removed I think when the busway was being built - and certainly never saw significant use.

 

[Taunton]

A0wen, post: 4501861 the priority list won't have changed, simply that things may be progressed sooner as part of getting the economy moving.

I'm afraid that when it comes to things more globally, to "get the economy moving", the rail industry has pretty much lost it. In terms of what the country receives for the money, the "bang for the buck"; with the stratospheric costs nowadays associated with even modest changes on the network, or even just plain like-for-like renewals which deliver no additional functionality, its pretty much just not worthwhile nowadays.

We may recall the Paisley Canal electrification some years ago, done at an amazingly low cost with all sorts of clever shortcuts to minimise the cost. But that didn't appeal to the hundreds of civil engineering positions that were not involved, it didn't appeal to the construction side who make 10% profit on the works - if the cost is now a quarter of what it traditionally would be, so are the profits. You may notice that such an approach was never followed again for any of the Scottish electrification schemes. We don't want any more of that, thank you, my big team.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I'm afraid that when it comes to things more globally, to "get the economy moving", the rail industry has pretty much lost it. In terms of what the country receives for the money, the "bang for the buck"; with the stratospheric costs nowadays associated with even modest changes on the network, or even just plain like-for-like renewals which deliver no additional functionality, its pretty much just not worthwhile nowadays.

We may recall the Paisley Canal electrification some years ago, done at an amazingly low cost with all sorts of clever shortcuts to minimise the cost. But that didn't appeal to the hundreds of civil engineering positions that were not involved, it didn't appeal to the construction side who make 10% profit on the works - if the cost is now a quarter of what it traditionally would be, so are the profits. You may notice that such an approach was never followed again for any of the Scottish electrification schemes. We don't want any more of that, thank you, my big team.

Somewhere I have a book detailing station re-openings listing costs. I recollect from it that ones carried out in the 70s rarely grazed 5 figures. The new Northampton station was £40 000 000 (or £60 000 000 - who can say?) and only the building and a footbridge was involved, no new platforms or track.

 

[Bald Rick]

We may recall the Paisley Canal electrification some years ago, done at an amazingly low cost with all sorts of clever shortcuts to minimise the cost. But that didn't appeal to the hundreds of civil engineering positions that were not involved, it didn't appeal to the construction side who make 10% profit on the works - if the cost is now a quarter of what it traditionally would be, so are the profits. You may notice that such an approach was never followed again for any of the Scottish electrification schemes. We don't want any more of that, thank you, my big team.

A rather cyclical view.

Paisley Canal just (and I mean just) snuck through various hoops on standards etc which have now been closed. It was made clear at the time it was a one off. However, the cost per single track km wasn’t that much cheaper than the Airdrie line electrification when adjusted for inflation.

Subsequently there has been much studying of electrification costs, and cost drivers, which will improve costs noticeably for forthcoming projects. And whilst all contractors are obviously in the business to make a profit (and always have been), they would rather make a small profit than no profit at all.

 

[Calthrop]

There was a similar curve built in rural Norfolk, to connect GE and MGN lines at Themelthorpe, in order to maintain a connection to a precast concrete yard at Lenwade. Initially I researched its dates on old maps: on a 1956 Bartholomew, both lines were intact with no connection, then on a 1969 OS the connecting curve was built and the lines northward and westward had closed.
However, Wikipedia makes it all too easy these days: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themelthorpe

(From the as-linked Wiki item: "[the curve] was opened in 1960 to shorten the route of freight trains carrying concrete products running from a terminal at Lenwade...")

As per my understanding, the creation of the Themelthorpe curve was prompted by the closure in February 1959, of much of the former Midland & Great Northern Joint system: including total abandonment from that date, of a significant proportion of that system -- including, of its west-to-east main line throughout from East Rudham via Melton Constable junction, to Yarmouth (Beach). After that abandonment, Lenwade's concrete products could reach the outside world only northward along the M & GN Norwich -- Melton Constable branch to Melton C., then via the Cromer area, and along the ex-Great Eastern line thence to Norwich: a somewhat crazily circuitous way round. With the ex-GE Wroxham -- County School branch intersecting the M & GN line at (station-less) Themelthorpe, and as at 1959 / 60 with track still down (though if I recall correctly, with freight action at each end, but the stretch through Themelthorpe disused): making of the curve rendered the mentioned circuitous journey, a fair bit less circuitous; and allowed abandonment of the M & GN section between Themelthorpe and Melton C.

 

[Snow1964]

I think a spur was built between the branch from Staines and the ex GW line to Colnbrook when the M25 was being built. Possibly was used for aggregates during motorway construction

There was a wartime spur north of Winchester linking the mainline to the Didcot & Newbury Line, effectively bypassed the mainly single track route via Winchester Chesil. It diverged almost opposite where the mid Hants line to Arlesford and Alton joined

 

[Calthrop]

Discussion of the Themelthorpe curve brings to mind the closely-akin situation at Murrow, Cambridgeshire, also involving the Midland & Great Northern Joint system; here, its Peterborough (North) -- Sutton Bridge section. Per the status "pre-upheavals", at the village of Murrow that M & GN line crossed on the level (with no connection to exchange traffic) the March -- Spalding section of the south -- north Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint route; each line having its separate Murrow station. The Feb. 1959 "holocaust" of the M & GN occasioned, among much else, withdrawal of passenger services on the Peterborough -- Sutton Bridge line, and complete closure of its Wisbech (North) -- Sutton Bridge part. The segment of the line between Peterborough (North) and Wisbech (North) was initially retained for freight. With the furthest-west source of traffic thereon being the brickworks at Dogsthorpe, between Peterborough and Eye Green: a new linking curve (opened, like the one at Themelthorpe, in 1960) was created at Murrow, in order that freight to / from the ex-M & GN line could travel via the ex-GN & GE joint line; allowing abandonment of the stretch -- since Feb. '59 the only way for trains to access the line -- between Dogsthorpe and the junction with the East Coast Main Line just north of Peterborough (North), thus avoiding any hindering of main-line traffic, and eliminating the bridge which had hitherto carried over the ECML, the Sutton Bridge line, which branched to the left off the ECML and then swung round sharply eastward. The new Murrow curve ran "south-east to west". It functioned for only a few years: in the mid-1960s, freight workings on the M & GN line concerned, ceased: first on the section into Wisbech, then on the Dogsthorpe ditto.