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R.o.B Lost lines

Stratford to North Woolwich



SOON TO BE UPDATED!!

 

Introduction: On the 4th of July 1836 the Eastern counties railway gained parliamentary consent to build its railway from Norwich to London. Opposition from landowners and those in support of other railway building schemes were great but the parliamentary committee stated “that the great benefit would be given to trade and agriculture” along the route of the proposed railway. The line was built on brick viaducts for much of its route to Stratford from London crossing marshland and streets. South of the railway, on approach to London, was not a site of development due to the river flood planes of the Thames, but the Eastern Counties railway did have the fore-site to build a line from Stratford to Thames Wharf on the north bank of the river Thames with the idea of attracting some of the shipping from the ports of central London which were heavily congested. This resulted in the railway that runs from Stratford to North Woolwich today, but as with the docks in the 1980’s this line is set to close in 2007.

 

Map of the North Woolwich railway showing port lines

 

History: In 1846 the Eastern counties and Thames wharf railway opened their line from Stratford to Thames wharf to attract freight traffic from the ships arriving from foreign parts. At that time the nearby docks of the West India Company were not rail served as they had opened in 1802 when no facility for this was anticipated.  This new line was to tap in to the trade that was starting to move out of London with larger ships not being able to get further down the Thames. The line would also allow products to be unloaded and moved away from the dock on trains a lot quicker than was possible in the city. Another opportunity soon arose for the railway company when they realised that an extension to the village of North Woolwich, opposite Woolwich proper situated on the south bank of the Thames, would allow them to operate ferries to and from Woolwich, which at that time did not have rail access, bringing passenger traffic to the line. The company bought up a lot of the land by the riverside for their new station site and to aid further expansion should it be possible. This new line branched off the original route to Thames Wharf junction continuing in a southerly direction before swinging east to run parallel to the river. At the time of the railways construction this area was extremely rural and the new wooden station at the end of the line was situated in green fields. When the line opened to traffic in 1847 the company were quick to use this to their advantage making a park for leisure and dances as well as funding pleasure boats that those with the money and time could hire for a day out on the Thames.

 

A class 313 EMU runs towards North Woolwich

 

With the arrival of the railway the area soon developed with industry and housing springing up along its route. The company had already established a freight yard between the river and the railway to facilitate the off loading of goods at this location as well as at Thames Wharf and the line was soon handling a good quantity of imported and local freight as well as passengers. In 1854 a new station was built on the site of the original at North Woolwich though this time the building was situated at the end of the running lines and had a turntable allowing arriving locomotives to be turned before joining the other end of the train for the return journey. A relief road between the 2 main platform lines allowed the engines to get to the west end of the station. Where the original station building stood was another platform face with 2 sidings for local goods and spare coaching stock. The size of the station and its layout is still today a sign of the hopes of the lines builders and they were well rewarded for this hope as the line saw a busy trade. Departing the station which had double track towards Silvertown, and a spur to the freight yard which had been opened at the same time as the station, track was soon laid to the industries that had developed along the river front also utilising the shipping using the river and some of these can still be found today. One of the main users of the rail connection was the newly opened factory that is now Tate and Lyle. The area around Silvertown at the opening of the railway was marshland but when Samuel Winkworth Silver opened his India rubber, Gutta Percha & Telegraph Cable works there in 1852 the area saw an influx of workers with the area having housing built becoming known as Silvertown.

 

A class 313 EMU at Silvertown station

 

With the opening of the Royal Victoria dock in 1855, Silvertown was to become the junction of what became known as the Silvertown tramway and the re-routed Stratford to North Woolwich line. The railway company and the dock company both of which had some of the same directors came to an agreement that a new line to the north of the dock should be built in return for the railway company handing the original line (to become known as the Silvertown tramway) to the dock company. The dock company agreed thus creating two new stations on the new alignment in areas that were rapidly becoming developed for housing and industry due to the construction of the dock as well as giving the dock company its own main line. The new stations on the Eastern Counties line were Tidal basin and Custom House the latter so named due to its proximity to the Custom House at the dock. Custom House was to become the junction for two branches from the North Woolwich line one to Gallions operated by the Port of London Authority the other to Beckton Gas works. (These will be covered in a separate topic). Custom House was also to be the site of yet another deviation to the new line again caused by the installation of a swing bridge to allow ships from the Royal Victoria docks to enter the Royal Albert dock opened in 1880. With congestion rife at this bottleneck with passenger, main line and port freight as well as the to and fro of ships the same arrangement was met with the dock company but this time a tunnel was built to take the North Woolwich line under the lock and to resurface at Silvertown junction. Services through the tunnel allowed passenger trains and freight for the factories along the lines easterly extremity to pass unhindered by the local dock trains and ships, though it was not unknown for heavy trains for North Woolwich to continue along over the swing bridge.

 

The former crossing gates of the Silvertown tramway

 

At Thames Wharf Junction the new line joined the original route from Stratford with the original route heading to Thames Wharf and the river. The reason for the new line was due to congestion at a swing bridge that had been built to take the railway over the new Royal Victoria dock river mouth. This bridge not only saw trains for North Woolwich but also the local dock freight trains that regularly used the bridge to get to the Eastern Counties main line at Stratford. 
At Thames Wharf junction there was also a typical reminder of why road traffic to and from the docks in later years was very restricted and this was because of the sheer amount of level crossings over different railway lines. With the amount of traffic using the docks site, traffic congestion was rife and companies much preferred to send their goods by rail rather than risk delay to the road vehicles. In 1858 a curve was built from what is now Canning town station to the joint lines of the London, Tilbury and Southend and the Metropolitan District railways though this connection was closed in 1960. The LT&SR and District railway had a station on their main lines to Liverpool Street, built here in 1901 but there was no interchange with the North Woolwich line until 1979 with a connecting stairway to the main line station above after a total reconstruction. Today this forms part of an extensive interchange between C2C, London underground District and Jubilee lines, Docklands Light Rail and the original North London line services.

 

Looking eastwards to the tunnel at Victoria dock

 

The original station was opened in 1847 in a different site as ‘Barking road’ and has seen much change over the years and slightly different locations in close proximity to its present site which it settled at in 1888 becoming known as ‘Canning town’. Up to 1942 there was a shuttle service from here to Victoria park on the North London Line that used a now long gone bay platform at the northern end of the original station, while the freight lines ran past the station to the west of the platforms allowing freight trains to pass unhindered by stopping passenger services. Another interesting point about Canning town was the signal box that once governed movements in the area. Due to the complexity and frequency of trains signalling was heavily condensed with signal boxes being closely spaced along the different routes. The Box at Canning town was built on steel gantries that actually straddled the freight lines at the north (Stratford) end of the station and was known as Canning Town North Junction until the Southern box was closed after the war. At Stratford, another station that has seen a lot of remodelling over the years, the North Woolwich line originally joined the ECR main line at Eastern junction. However in the mid 1930s with the extension of the Central London railway, today’s London underground Central Line, the junction was moved further east before being removed in the 1960’s. The North Woolwich also had a connection underneath Stratford station with the North London line towards Victoria park and the original connection to the North Woolwich railway from the Northern and Eastern Railway. This junction was known as Fork junction and in its angle was situated Stratford Locomotive works.

 

Looking eastwards at Custom house with a train for North Woolwich

 

Stratford Low level station was the station that served the North Woolwich line from 1854 though the connection to the ECR main line was situated to the southern end of the station. Stratford High level was the station for the main line services to and from Liverpool street. Today Stratford High level sees trains for the Central line of London underground, the Jubilee line and the DLR as well as local and long distance passenger services to the east of the country and Norfolk. It is also a good place to see freight trains passing through. Nearby is the new Stratford international station on the Channel tunnel rail link which is to see an extension of the DLR to this station.

 

Services: This line has seen many services to a wide variety of areas though most of the passenger services have been to areas of London rather than further afield. However freight services over the line have gone to a wide variety of areas with the Great Northern, Midland and London North western railways having goods depots near the line for traffic from the docks. With this variety of traffic both passenger and freight the line has also seen four types of motive power with horse, steam, diesel and electric locomotion with the line only being electrified in the 1980s when Broad Street station next door to Liverpool street station was closed. This resulted in the North London line traffic being diverted from Dalston Junction to Stratford and on to North Woolwich trains departing North Woolwich for Richmond in the west of London. Previously to this and prior to the closure of the Palace Gates line trains would regularly depart North Woolwich for Alexander palace in the north of London. 

 

The new Canning town station, DLR, London underground & North London line

 

Closure: This historic line is sadly set to close sometime in 2007 to make way for the further extension of the Docklands Light railway that will bring far more frequent and efficient public transport to this sadly deprived area of east London. Though the DLR will bring much needed business and new housing to the area with its 20-30 minute journey to London city centre and its connections to Lewisham and Stratford it still means the closure of another of the Railways of Britain that have caused the development of the country we know today. I recently posted a message on the Railways of Britain member site about trying to set up a group to restore part of the line from North Woolwich to Silvertown as a preserved railway but as with the response I have received from the London transport Museum and as yet non from Newham Borough council I believe that the opportunity to save a little piece of history will soon vanish meaning the probable loss of London’s only railway museum and loss of the opportunity of developing London’s own preserved railway. In the mean time if you are ever in the area have a trip along the line and try to remember the history behind it as the train passes along this neglected area of east London where ships from all over the world once delivered their goods for distribution by rail around the country.