Graeme Wall wrote:
On 16/09/2020 12:28, David Jones wrote:
If you're contemplating grand schemes, you might as well include an
extension of the H&C Underground to south of the river.
East Peasy, run H&C trains through to either Wimbledon or Richmond.
For the Richmond route Met trains did use it at intervals in the 19th and
early 20th century using a connection via Hammersmith Grove Road which was
on the LSWR route from Kensington Addison to Richmond, the District Railway
later joined from its Hammersmith Station via Studland Road junction and
continued on its own metals after Turnham Green and using running powers to
Richmond. The LSWR later made it a four track formation in 1911 to cope
with the amount of DR trains but found its own patronage rapidly dwindled
so Grove Road closed in 1916, the former LSWR tracks lay abandoned until
1932 when the Piccadilly was extended westwards from Hammersmith(LER) .
Despite the owning company having left the section between Studland Road
Junction and Gunnersbury remained with the LSWR and was transferred to the
Southern and I remember the Bridge at Turnham Green still had Southern
Railway ownership plates on it up to the 1970’s and possibly later.
I wonder if the Southern ever ran an inspection train or was this a
Southern line never visited by a Southern train?
LT finally got ownership in 1948.
There is still some evidence of the old route, mainly the viaduct at
Hammersmith complete with repairs to WW2 bomb damage even though it was
long disused at the time though you now have to
imagine the curve around and where Grove Road Station was.
Dropped pin
https://goo.gl/maps/Zgu29rveGfCa5sNj7
And the widened section of H+C viaduct where the spur came off is still
there.
Dropped pin
https://goo.gl/maps/bMmg3FeL5o4Hcq5C6
The LSWR route to Addison road and its Shepherds Bush station has been
well obliterated though one bridge parapet at the latter survives but
unrecognised.
https://goo.gl/maps/nN6kq6xmAmKNWuZs9
Grove road Station was to the West of Hammersmith H+C station and linked
by a walkway which is why there is a footbridge at the platform end of
this terminus station today,
it wasn’t built for passengers arriving by mistake to nip over to the
other platforms rather than go via the concourse to catch a train back out,
originally it lead through the wall to the walkway and to the LSWR station
which lay derelict to the 1950’s
GH