"Nigel " wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 May 2004 10:45:02 GMT, "Martin Underwood"
wrote:

"Nigel " wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 May 2004 00:56:49 +0100, "Marratxi"
wrote:

Wembley Stadium Statium Station has disappeared completely, though
some of the trackbed of its loop line might still be evident. Does
anyone have an old map showing the exact line of rail, they could let
me have a scan of? or is there anything on a website?

The best I can offer is a scan (131 KB) of an OS map from 1963:

http://www.martinunderwood.f9.co.uk/Wembley%20loop.jpg

Compare with the modern-day OS map:


http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...03&scale=25000


Martin,

That's Wonderful ! & Quick. Thanks very much indeed.

I've jsut remembered that there's also a chapter on it in "Lost Lines:
London", Nigel Welbourn, Ian Allan, 1998, ISBN 0-7110-2623-8 - the chapter
is called "A Loop to a Lost Empire".



Here's a scan (181 KB) of the photos of Wembley Stadium station:

http://www.martinunderwood.f9.co.uk/...m%20photos.jpg


The captions a

Right: Crowds depart from a train at Wembley Stadium station on 24 April
1948. On this occasion Manchester United and Blackpool were playing the FA
Cup Final at Wembley. British Railways

Below right: A view of Wembley Stadium station from the west end on 24 April
1948, showing the distinctive concrete design. The station was known as
Wembley Exhibition until 1928. The single platform on the loop line was
traversed in a clockwise direction. British Railways


And here's an OCR of the text in the chapter:

12: A Loop to a Lost Empire

History has seen the rise and fall of many empires. The British Empire, at
one time or another, held sway over a quarter of the world's land mass and
London was its centre. The Empire was at its fullest extent in 1919, and
Wembley Stadium was one of many buildings erected in the 1920s in connection
with the British Empire Exhibition which ran from 1924-5. In 1924 the LNER
opened Wembley Exhibition station specifically for the Empire Exhibition.

The huge Palace of Engineering at the exhibition, was linked to a new loop
line by a series of sidings. The exhibits included a number of the latest
railway developments ranging from Sentinel railcars to the Gresley Pacific
locomotive Flying Scotsman. This latter locomotive was billed by the LNER as
the most powerful passenger engine in Great Britain. This statement was
challenged by the GWR, which on their adjoining stand exhibited the smaller,
but higher boiler-pressured Caerphilly Castle.

Wembley Exhibition station was built in concrete to a 1920s modern 'art
deco' style to reflect the design of other buildings erected for the
exhibition. It had a single platform capable of holding eight coaches and
was located on a 1-mile loop that diverged from the Northolt line just west
of Neasden. The loop together with the line to Marylebone was equipped with
stateof-the-art three-aspect electric colour-light signalling, the first use
of such signalling on a main line. The loop also enabled services to run out
and back to Marylebone without the need for reversal.

The station was extensively used for the exhibition and again, after a
change in name to Wembley Stadium, in 1948 when the Olympic Games used
Wembley Stadium. It was also used for other events at Wembley, such as
football Cup Finals. These events could generate 100,000 spectators and most
would use public transport. To meet this level of demand at peak times
trains would leave Marylebone every 8min for the 12min trip to the Stadium
station. This would require the services of eight trains and nine
locomotives. The line would not be used when events were not in progress,
apart from turning locomotives.

The line served a useful purpose in carrying passengers to special events,
but the service did not appear in timetables by virtue of the fact that
regular daily services were not provided. As such this is probably why it
did not appear in the Beeching Report for closure. Nevertheless, the loop
had a brief history of just over 50 years. The last train ran to the station
in May 1968, although official closure was not until September of the
following year.

Today, one of the concrete bridges on the route is still visible, but in the
30 years or so since closure there has been much rebuilding over the line
and the route is hardly discernible. Just as the station has gone, so has
the British Empire. India became independent in 1947 and from 1956, one by
one, the states of Africa achieved their freedom. In 1997 Hong Kong passed
from British rule.