R.o.B Heritage
North Woolwich Old station Museum
Introduction: The North Woolwich Railway Museum is London’s only dedicated railway museum. It was opened in 1984 by HRH the Queen Mother who arrived on site by 2 carriages of the royal train hauled by LNER class A3 Flying Scotsman. The station building needed extensive works to return it to prime condition as it had seen much abuse and vandalism since its closure in 1979 with the opening of the new station next door. The station itself is situated at the eastern end of an extension of the North London line though a railway to North Woolwich has existed since 1847 built by the Eastern Counties railway from Stratford. 
1). This sign is situated on the museums platform
History: When the Eastern counties railway first built there line to what became Thames Wharf junction they soon realised the benefit of extending that line towards the river and along to a small hamlet opposite Woolwich which is on the south bank of the River Thames. As today in those days there were no bridges across this part of the Thames the nearest being in central London, today however there are the major road crossings to the east of Woolwich. So the railway decided that with its extension it would operate ferry services from its own staithe to and from Woolwich and also up and down the river. The idea soon paid off and the area around North Woolwich and the railway station started to develop, industry was established with many of the factories rail served as there was a large freight yard to the south of the station that had opened in 1847 with the line. Following the factories were the workers homes that would need to get to Woolwich conveniently on the railway company’s ferry or to Stratford on the train. In 1854 the former station which was of wooden construction and no longer sited in a field was knocked down as a new much grander building had been constructed. The original wooden station was situated to the north of the present museum platforms where a couple of sidings were later laid for local goods and coaching stock.
2). The 1854 station building. Not far away is the 1912 Thames foot tunnel and free ferry
In 1855 the Royal Victoria dock opened bringing even more freight and passenger traffic to the station but this also prompted other companies to set up their ferry services to and from the north bank of the Thames and down the river. In 1889 the Woolwich free ferry commenced from near to the station over to Woolwich having a serious effect on the Eastern counties ferry passengers traffic but they persevered. Throughout the rest of the 19th century the station was a busy interchange for passenger traffic to and from the south of the Thames with all three platforms seeing regular service trains. Trains would regularly depart from here for Stratford and even on to Alexandra palace along the Palace gates branch from Stratford.
Quite early in the stations life a turntable was put in to allow locomotives to run back along the line chimney first as the Great Eastern Railway, which had been formed with the amalgamation of the Eastern Counties and other railways in the area of East Anglia in 1862, did not like their locomotives to run tender or bunker first, though passengers on this line only regularly saw tank engines.
The line relied very heavily on its local environment and industry reflecting its growth and contraction and with the novelty of a foot tunnel under the Thames being opened in 1912 this brought some more passengers who would also sit and picnic in the nearby park that was also owned by the railway company. The park regularly held dances and entertainment for those rich enough to afford the pleasure and were a staple revenue for the trains as people came to enjoy pleasure boats on the Thames.
3). Looking down over the station platforms. The turntable pit is to the front.
During World War 2 the area was very heavily bombed with places like Poplar becoming the most bombed railway station in Britain. On 7th September 1940 North Woolwich did not escape without damage as several incendiary bombs landed there, one even taking the roof off the station building and gutting part of the inside. The platforms faired little better with damage to the track and turntable and the loss of the platform canopies, none of which were replaced. As the 20th century progressed so did technology and the ability to design and build larger ships. This resulted in the docks at Tilbury which had opened in 1886 to grow as large ships were unable to get further down the Thames to the older docks at Blackwall and Milwall. Industry also started to sag resulting in lost revenue to the railway and as road traffic became cheaper many industries and passengers turned to alternative means of transport. Despite the fact that a trolleybus route had started to North Woolwich in 1937 this had more than complimented the railway and vice versa.
4). This diesel shunter was originally used for shunting at Barking power station
In 1970 the freight yard adjacent to the station was closed as an economy saving measure that was to lead to the closure of a lot of the rail links along the line. Then in 1979, BR decided that the old station was too expensive to run so one of the old platforms was rebuilt and a new station building constructed to a much smaller, cheaper style. In 1985 the one remaining platform was electrified to the 3rd rail system with a single track approach from Custom house, the next station on the line.
Today: The old station building soon fell in to disrepair and was largely abandoned to the elements until 1984 when Newham borough council restored and reopened it as a Railway museum which is its role today. It is strange that London’s only railway museum is tucked away in this distant part of the city with very few people knowing of its existence. One of the many surprising things about the museum is that it does not have or at least get much general advertising. If you were to put a search on the net then you would get a very small article on opening times and contact addresses but nothing really to attract the tourist or enthusiast from the city to this museum that really is a treat with a lot of potential.
What is there: The buildings lower floor, which was once the booking office and waiting room, contains display cabinets containing artefacts from the Great Eastern and London North Eastern Railway periods. There are Station signs on the walls and very helpful staff which are ready to show one round or provide any information on the station or the former railway. In the station proper there is a miniature railway operated on weekends running along the former island platform that provided 2 platform faces. The 3rd platform was modified in 1979 for the opening of the new station. Separating the main line from the museum site is a wooden fence that runs along the former track-bed of the centre relief road allowing engines off the turntable that was once sited here but was destroyed during the war. The museum has 2 locomotives both with local industrial interest, though sadly neither are in use.
5). The rear of the 1854 builiding with an 0-4-0st settled in the former turntable pit
The future: Sadly, the future of the museum could be in doubt with the pending closure of the North London line from Stratford to North Woolwich which is anticipated to be in 2007 to make way for the DLR extension to King George V and Woolwich proper. The area the museum stands in is prime brown site with the former freight yard still not having been built on and an empty factory where the station sidings were. It may be possible that this little museum may go the way of the railway line that presently serves it. As I mentioned above there is a lot of potential for this little museum, a few minutes from central London with the new DLR links to the area, especially where heritage railways are concerned as a new running line is just waiting for the right person to come along, rub the top of their head and go, 2007 line closes from Stratford to North Woolwich providing a ready made preserved railway with a lot of heritage and so close to central London it could attract thousands of people a year. Why doesn’t some one do something to improve the area by going ahead with developing a preserved railway originating from this site??
6). The former freight yard.