West London Railway

West London Railway: this article describes the historical development of the Bristol Birmingham and Thames Junction Railway, the West London Railway and the West London Extension Railway, short connecting railways in West London. For the a description of the present-day line see West London Line.

The West London Railway was conceived to link up the London and Birmingham Railway and the Great Western Railway with the Chelsea Basin of the Kensington Canal, enabling access to and from London docks for the carriage of goods. It opened in 1844 but was not commercially successful.

In 1863 the canal was closed and the railway line extended southwards on its alignment, crossing the River Thames on a new bridge, and connecting with railways south of the Thames, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway. This new line was called the "West London Extension Railway". Local and long distance passenger traffic was carried, as well as goods traffic exchanging between the connected railways. The passenger traffic declined after 1945, but the line remained open and local passenger services have revived in recent years.

Origins

A short canal called the "Kensington Canal" was opened on 12 August 1828 running from the River Thames a little west of Battersea Bridge to a basin near Kensington Road and Uxbridge Road. The Times newspaper reported that "the canal runs from the Thames, near the Battersea-bridge, directly north two miles and a quarter, terminating close to the great Western road..

It had been intended that the canal would be extended further to connect with the Grand Junction Canal but the cost of the section actually built was much more than estimated. The canal was tidal, like the Thames, and the traffic, and income from it, was substantially less than hoped for. The idea of extension was dropped. The London and Birmingham Railway and the Great Western Railway were being projected in the early 1830s. Their London terminals would be on the north-west margin of London, and at that time they considered it to be essential to form a connection to the London docks east of London Bridge. In February 1836 the canal proprietors accepted an offer for their canal from a new railway company that was being formed: the railway was to be called the "Birmingham, Bristol and Thames Junction Railway".

The railway company obtained an Act of Parliament on 21 June 1836 authorising it to build a railway from Holsden Green (later called Harlesden), under the Paddington Canal at Wormholt Scrubbs (later Wormwood Scrubbs), under the Uxbridge Road (then called the Oxford Road) and under the Hammersmith Turnpike.

The actual construction of the line was much delayed, and the Great Western Railway (GWR) was being built, and crossed its path. A flat crossing was arranged, and the GWR secured priority at the crossing for its trains: by agreement of 4 February 1837, GWR trains would have precedence and signals and barriers across the BB&TJR line would be provided, under the control of a GWR man. In 1839 the railway completed purchase of the canal for £36,000, £10,000 of which was in cash and £26,000 in their own shares at face value.

In the same year, the promoters of the atmospheric system, Samuel Clegg and Jacob Samuda, approached the company for permission to use its uncompleted line for trials. The atmospheric system involved stationary engines exhausting air from a pipe laid between the rails; a carriage on the train carried a piston entered into the pipe and the air pressure provided tractive force.

Main article: Atmospheric railway

About a half mile south from the GWR crossing were allocated to them, and they started demonstrations on 11 June 1840, having laid their own track. Trials and public demonstrations continued intermittently into 1842, and at length the railway company wanted possession of the land to lay its own railway. This seems to have involved conflict, and the company only got possession in 1843, having paid a sum in compensation. There is no suggestion that there was any firm intention to use the system on the line itself. By Act of Parliament of 23 July 1840, the company changed its name to the more modest title of the "West London Railway". Construction had been long delayed due to shortage of money, and was only resumed in March 1843.

Opening at last

The West London Railway in 1850

The line finally opened on Whit Monday 27 May 1844, and for two days a 30-minute interval passenger service operated between Wormwood Scrubs and Kensington. Subsequently a normal service was instituted; the passenger stations were at Kensington, Shepherds Bush, an exchange platform at the point of crossing the GWR main line, and another at the point of junction with the London and Birmingham line.

The timetable for 10 June 1844 shows seven Down (northbound) trains, 4 to the L&B interchange and 3 to the GWR interchange; no train called at both. Only four Up trains are shown, two from each interchange point (referred to as G.W. Junction and L. & B. Junction respectively). Connections were arranged by the other railways.

Timekeeping by the southbound trains from the L&BR line was very poor, due to the crossing of the GWR; the signalman there had no telegraphic communication, and was instructed not to allow a West London train to cross if a GWR train was expected, or overdue. The line was single track, and mixed gauge south from the GWR line. There was no through running line there: access for wagons was through a siding and a wagon turntable.

The passenger operation in particular was not well used, and in some weeks 50 passengers a week travelled. In fact the line was losing £50 a week, and notice was given to the connecting railways that the operation would be terminated; this took effect after 30 November 1844. After closure the Company had considerable debts as well as outstanding wages due to the staff, and the Directors personally advanced money for this; the outstanding in January 1845 was said to be £60,000.

A dormant period

The line was now closed down, but by agreement of 11 March 1845 the London and Birmingham Railway started to run occasional goods trains on the line.

An Act of 1845 authorised the GWR and the L&BR to take a joint lease of the line. The line was used only to carry coal, passenger service was not re-introduced. Whatever their purpose in this may have been, they did nothing to improve the line until in 1849 the WLR sought an arbitration judgment against them, which they got.

Nonetheless it was not until 1854 that an Act was obtained under which the company's operation was vested in the London and North Western Railway (LNWR, as successor to the London and Birmingham Railway from 1846) and the GWR.

First signs of progress

There was a collision at the crossing with the GWR in November 1855, and the guard of an LNWR train was killed. This may have been the motivation for the owners to consider improving the line. The GWR seems to have taken the lead, obtaining Parliamentary authority to double the line and extend it south over the River Thames to join with the London and Southampton Railway (later the London and South Western Railway: the L&SWR), and (by Act of 1859) eliminate the flat crossing at the north end.

The latter was swiftly put into effect, with a section of new line crossing over their main line by a bridge, and a spur line making a connection. In the northwards direction, the spur diverged to the right at a new junction, called North Pole Junction; it then swung left, crossing under the new high level line and jointing the GWR main line in the direction of Reading. The through line (to and from Willesden) had previously passed under the Paddington Canal, with a 1 in 36 gradient to get down to the low level; it now crossed over it by a bridge; the new alignment was displaced a little to the west from the original. This was timely for in 1862 an International Exhibition opened in Kensington, and the LNWR started a train service on 2 June to the Kensington terminus – there were seven trains each way from and to Harrow. Simultaneously they started running trains from Kensington to and from a station called Camden (Chalk Farm), where there were connections for Fenchurch Street over the North London Railway.

Crossing the Thames

The West London and West London Extension Railways in 1863

The development of the suburbs meant that the time was now right to extend the line southwards to join with railways on the south side of the River Thames. The LNWR and GWR subscribed £100,000 each, and the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) subscribed £50,000 each, and the West London Extension Railway (WLER) was born by Act of Parliament in 1859, owned jointly in proportion by those subscribing companies. It opened on 2 March 1863.

The line was run on the alignment of the defunct Kensington Canal, crossing the Thames by a bridge called New Battersea Bridge. In these days long before street tramcars and tube railways – the world's first Underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway opened earlier in 1863 – the provision of infrequent through trains seemed to be desirable. At the southern end of the new line, it divided to give through running in several directions:

• turning east and facing towards Waterloo on the L&SWR line;
• turning west and running to separate platforms at Clapham Junction station adjacent to the Richmond line platforms on the L&SWR line; there was no through running connection;
• diving under the L&SWR and LB&SCR main lines and turning west to platforms at Clapham Junction station adjacent to the LB&SCR platforms, joining their line at the west end of the station, facing Brighton;
• diving under those main lines and turning east to Longhedge Junction, there joining with the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway operated by the LB&SCR, giving access to Victoria, and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) facing Bromley.

The Clapham Junction station was opened on the same day as the WLER and had plenty of accommodation for each of the railways using the station. The LC&DR took the opportunity to build a line running from the WLER platforms partly paralleling the WLER line to Longhedge Junction and onward, apparently intending to give connections to Ludgate Hill. Broad gauge rails were laid from the GWR junction via Longhedge Junction to Victoria (LC&DR station).

The WLER had stations at Chelsea and Battersea, and the terminal station at Kensington was extended and rebuilt some distance to the north; it is said to have had the first scissors crossovers in a station installed at that time. There was a goods station at Lillie Bridge and a short branch to Chelsea Basin. (Chelsea Basin was the remaining stub of the canal at the confluence with the Thames.) Mixed gauge was laid from North Pole Junction to the WLER platforms on both the L&SWR and the LB&SCR sides of Clapham Junction, although it is unlikely that the LS&WR side ever carried a broad gauge vehicle.

The infrastructure at the south end may have been lavish, but the initial train service was a little more modest:

• on the LNWR three trains a day from Harrow to Kensington; and trains from Camden LNWR station to Kensington, reversing at West London Junction; (there was no station at Willesden at this period;)
• LB&SCR Kensington to New Croydon via Crystal Palace; in several cases these were through working of the LNWR trains;
• L&SWR trains Kensington to Clapham Junction; the eastwards spur towards Waterloo was not yet open;

From 1 April 1863 GWR trains from Southall to Victoria operated over the line; broad gauge trains were then seen at Victoria.

Further development

The northern section of the line, from Willesden Junction to Kensington Olympia and on to Earls Court, was electrified by the LNWR in 1915, but passenger use of the line dwindled under competition from road transport and the London Passenger Transport Board lines, and passenger services were discontinued after bomb damage in 1940.