Stub track at London Necropolis station site

[nlogax]

For years I've been curious to know if there has been any usage of the stub track that disappears behind the feeder station at Waterloo towards where the old Necropolis station used to be. During the 2017 track renewals the south sidings were rationalised and I was surprised to see the stub track renewed as part of the work. The stub itself isn't electrified but it does sit atop a bunch of DC feeds.

In all my years using Waterloo station I've not once seen a loco on that small section. Has anyone seen anything on it, was it kept around for any purpose?

 

[swt_passenger]

It’s not drawn in the public version online sectional appendix, but the current Quail maps vol 5 labels it as an engineers siding. I suppose it’s possible it could be used for deliveries of equipment to the substation site, it’s pretty much hemmed in for road access.

 

[zwk500]

It's quite a good place to stick a Tamper or Test train between shifts, if you needed to.

 

[MarkyT]

It’s not drawn in the public version online sectional appendix, but the current Quail maps vol 5 labels it as an engineers siding. I suppose it’s possible it could be used for deliveries of equipment to the substation site, it’s pretty much hemmed in for road access.

That makes sense. A number of the large traditional Southern substations have short sidings nearby, which I have always assumed are primarily for equipment transport to and from a rail-locked site where road access is difficult or impossible. I guess they could also temporarily stable small track machines such as tampers to get them out of the way yet have them close to the action when needed for a short overnight possession.

 

[nlogax]

It’s not drawn in the public version online sectional appendix, but the current Quail maps vol 5 labels it as an engineers siding. I suppose it’s possible it could be used for deliveries of equipment to the substation site, it’s pretty much hemmed in for road access.

That makes sense. A number of the large traditional Southern substations have short sidings nearby,

Thanks, that is a good shout. I don't know if there's any work scheduled for that feeder station but it does sound like an obvious use for the section.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I never knew the sub station stub to be used as such in my time, and never thought to take any photos of the siding as such. It was accessed via a short headshunt behind South Siding No 2, which is visible on the left of the nearest I took (attached) showing 508006 in South Siding No 2, with 455802 alongside in South Siding No 1 (adjacent to the Down Main Slow line). Both sidings 1 & 2 were of 8 car capacity and connected via a double slip at the Vauxhall end, which allowed empty stock stabled within to run direct Down Slow line without the need to return to the platforms at Waterloo. Quite handy at times. But the nature of the viaduct at the buffer stop area, combined with the 10 car railway plan of 2014 etc, meant that siding No 2 had to be sacrificed, simply to allow one single dead end siding (No 1) to remain, as a 10 car dead end road. One of the more critical compromises as far as I was concerned, but there was no other option without rebuilding the viaduct !

it’s pretty much hemmed in for road access.

The only access (in my time) was a flight of iron stairs from road level up to the viaduct (track level), which was the official walking route for crews and also the route to the training school hut up there, partially visible on left in my attached pic.

 

[3973EXL]

I have loaded a Transformer for the substation to rail. Date wise, all I can say is pre 2015. It may have been at the same time as the works on the low numbered platforms.

Crane was used to lift from road transport on the Station Approach Rd on to the train stabled country end of one of the platforms.
The formation including a Kirow crane was shunted to the sidings and off loaded. I can't remember the details of the actual moves or even if there was a back load.
Something does stick in my mind that the wagon used for this load was a MoD Warwell, but may have been a Fastrol.

 

[greyman42]

What was the Necropolis station?

 

[ExRes]

What was the Necropolis station?

Part of Waterloo Station, it was specifically for the transit of bodies and mourners to Brookwood Cemetery

 

[Taunton]

The Necropolis station, which had ceased to be used for its original purpose, was totally destroyed one night in WW2 by a direct hit from one of the largest bombs to be dropped on London - in fact I seem to recall it was two of the larger bombs in use, chained together, felt to be aimed at the Houses of Parliament across the river. It seemed curious to me that the large substation building, which from its appearance is from before those times, presumably from the introduction of electrification, and which itself must be either on the site of, or right next to, this old station, is still a seemingly intact survivor.

 

[swt_passenger]

Part of Waterloo Station, it was specifically for the transit of bodies and mourners to Brookwood Cemetery

It was on an entirely separate site with its own entrance IIRC…

 

[Big Jumby 74]

There's an interesting potted history complete with track plans in the Middleton Press book, 'Waterloo to Woking'. The site of the Necropolis moved (gradually Eastwards) over the years as Waterloo itself was extended/rebuilt in to the form it came to be known by (I guess) most of us on here, ie prior to 2017 track wise! The two South Sidings I mentioned earlier were slightly shorter (until at least mid 1950's) at the Vauxhall end and were dead end roads. The two platform roads from the Necropolis station (one was for mourners, the other for coffins) converged in to one road which ran along the Eastern edge of the viaduct - behind the South Sidings as it were - before joining the Down Slow line. Once the Necropolis was done away with, the latter trackwork, exiting on to the Down slow, became the Vauxhall end/exit of the South Sidings (as mentioned previously), and the third siding became the stub head shunt for the siding serving the sub station. There was also a loco turntable and servicing sidings in this space at one time.
Attached is a pic I took of the Westminster Bridge Road entrance, as it was in 1990. This was where the horse drawn coffins would have been received before being hoisted (by lift I presume) up to platform level. Have never seen any photographic evidence of the operations as were inside this building though!

 

[Ediswan]

The Necropolis station, which had ceased to be used for its original purpose, was totally destroyed one night in WW2 by a direct hit from one of the largest bombs to be dropped on London

According to Google, the (second) Necropolis station was still in use for funerals up until it was bombed in 1941. The office building and one entrance survive as 121 Westminster Bridge Road.

 

[ExRes]

It was on an entirely separate site with its own entrance IIRC…

My mistake, I thought it was part of the Waterloo complex

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Prior to the major rebuild of the station in 1903, the Necropolis was located on the station side of Westminster Bridge Road, as a rough estimate, probably about where the approach tracks in to platforms 1-5 (ish) now are. Imagine being on the roof of 'The Red Lion' and looking towards the station today, the old Necropolis would be just in front of you. Difficult to imagine now, but what is now platforms 1-4 approximately and the approach road just outside of same (taxi queue) was, prior to 1903 all residential streets/houses, which were demolished wholesale to extend what is now the Main suburban part of the station. There was even a loco shed and turntable within what is now the main station, and as a (very) rough estimate, was located mid way along what are now platforms 7-10.
One day I hope to gather the tracks plans from various dates and create an 'overlay' of same, to better understand how the numerous rebuilds (of the station) changed the look of each incarnation from the previous versions.

The (Victorian) images that are available of the station throat, often including the original A box (in one of it's many guises!) show a track layout that appears to have been laid in a bit of a piecemeal basis over the years since 1848, only later was more consideration given to designs that better suited 'parallel' moves etc.

 

[Iskra]

It was a dead end...

 

[DelW]

In all my years using Waterloo station I've not once seen a loco on that small section. Has anyone seen anything on it, was it kept around for any purpose?

Many years ago (late 90s or early 00s) I did a PTS training course at a training centre at Waterloo. We used that stub end track for the "live line" part of the course, so it did have that purpose. I've never seen a vehicle on it though.

 

[Skie]

It was a dead end...

Surely it was a terminal?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Surely it was a terminal?

So like... a place where you would have departed?

 

[Dr_Paul]

This 50" OS map from just after the last war shows the remains of the Necropolis Station and the substation siding; this one abuts it to the west and shows the approach to Waterloo and how the sidings joined it. I remember when a connection was put in at the country end of the two sidings to the down main slow -- perhaps in the 1980s? -- but, as explained above, it's now one 10-car siding with no connection at the country end.

This 25" map shows the layout prior to the last war, and this one shows the old Necropolis Station to the north of Westminster Bridge Road and Waterloo Station prior to the major rebuilding: one can see how much was demolished to widen the viaduct to eight tracks and to expand the station.

As can be seen from the later maps, this area received quite a pounding in the war, with lots of empty spaces and references to 'ruin'. I worked at the Central Office of Information for some years, next to the railway where Newnham Terrace is on the first map, and people were quite surprised when I told them about the Necropolis Station and its services. After telling one woman, she said that she had the creeps passing by the old Necropolis building because of all the dead people who passed through there.

I commuted up to Waterloo on and off from the early 1970s to about 15 years back and I can't definitely recall seeing anything in the siding.

 

[Dave W]

As can be seen from the later maps, this area received quite a pounding in the war, with lots of empty spaces and references to 'ruin'.

Something rather chilling about a house or two in the middle of a terrace missing and marked as such.

I note only 1 of 5 on the corner of Brook Drive survived - my memory of this is the sole house has also gone and the park expanded.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Something rather chilling about a house or two in the middle of a terrace missing and marked as such.

I note only 1 of 5 on the corner of Brook Drive survived - my memory of this is the sole house has also gone and the park expanded.

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, compare this prewar photograph of the area with this one from 1950. Not all the cleared spaces were bomb-damage, some were slum clearance and there was the Festival of Britain site, but a lot were. The damage to the Necropolis Station can be seen clearly, and -- to return to the original subject -- the siding in question in also clearly visible.

 

[Snow1964]

What was the Necropolis station?

It was a separate station where funeral trains were taken to Brookwood

It was one of two funeral stations in London, the other was near gasworks tunnel, near Kings Cross that took mourners to Southgate cemetery

 

[Bigfoot]

Every now and again there is an on track machine sat on it. Usually before or after a low platform number possession/engineering work weekend.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I commuted up to Waterloo on and off from the early 1970s to about 15 years back and I can't definitely recall seeing anything in the siding

Likewise. Thanks for attaching the nls maps, so much easier for those unfamiliar with the area to understand.

For further Necropolis reading, I can recommend a small book by J.E.Conner, 'London's Disused Stations - vol 5, L&SWR', ISBN 0 947699 38 4 (2005). Separate articles about both the original and later (1902) Necropolis stations, including a track map of the latter, the site of the later sub station and associated siding.

 

[MarkyT]

It was a separate station where funeral trains were taken to Brookwood

It was one of two funeral stations in London, the other was near gasworks tunnel, near Kings Cross that took mourners to Southgate cemetery

The GNR special train service and station was fairly short lived. The track and platform area was removed and the space used for widening the King's Cross approach from its original two tracks, while the elaborate brick building above at street level survived as an undertakers premises for some years, then was abandoned and became derelict until demolition in the 1950s or 60s. Here's one of my dad's photos in the 50s showing the old building at the north portal of gasworks tunnel.

 

[nlogax]

Thanks all, some great insight on this thread. I really wasn't aware how much things had shifted around since the original Necropolis station.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I note only 1 of 5 on the corner of Brook Drive survived - my memory of this is the sole house has also gone and the park expanded.

Completely OT from original post, but as a follow on to Dave W: I've not been down that way (Imperial WM) lately, but looking a googly street view, most of the Brook Drive houses on that side had a very low wall fronting the properties with the pavement, and there are gaps in that wall matching with the paths leading to the front doors of existing properties further along today. Looking at the Park area (all bombed out bar one at the time), it looks as if the wall is still there, complete with a gap (now a path in to the park) that matches with the entrance with that which would have been the sole remaining house (105)? Not very clear on Googly, but a possible last remnant of those few houses?

 

[Deepgreen]

I've only ever heard of it being used as a transformer delivery/removal facility. I think it stops adjacent to a large roller-shutter door for the purpose. I imagine it was renewed as that function would still be required.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Yes, compare this prewar photograph of the area with this one from 1950. Not all the cleared spaces were bomb-damage, some were slum clearance and there was the Festival of Britain site, but a lot were. The damage to the Necropolis Station can be seen clearly, and -- to return to the original subject -- the siding in question in also clearly visible.

Just down the line, where the SWML crosses Lambeth Road, was the bomb site used for filming the 1950s Ealing Comedy "Passport to Pimlico"
Much more recently, and presumably quite coincidentally, Pimlico Plumbers moved their centre of operations there from the original location across the river.