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The
campaign to secure the future of the St Albans to Watford branch
line
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The
first railway to pass through Watford was the London & Birmingham
Railway, which opened from London Euston to Boxmoor on 20th July
1837. The original Watford station was sited just north of the present
day St Albans road overbrdge, and the original station building
still exists. In 1846 the London & Birmingham became a part
of the vast London & North Western Railway (LNWR). From very
early on, a branch line railway had been proposed to link Dunstable,
Luton and St Albans with the new main line at Watford. However,
for various political and economic reasons, the line was only ever
to reach St Albans. |
Had the plan to extend the line to Dunstable and Luton ever been fulfilled, the line may have had a considerably different character from today's tranquil, single-track railway, for it would have been a double-track secondary mainline. The LNWR received parliamentary powers to construct the 6 mile and 32 chains long branch line on 11th February 1853. Work started in the early months of 1856 and the line was opened to public traffic on Wednesday 5th May 1858. By this time, the LNWR had constructed a totally new and much bigger station at Watford, on the site where it now stands (pictured above). |
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Intermediate
stations were initially planned for "Aldenham Road, Smug Oak
and Park Street", but there were only two to begin with. These
were at Bricket Wood (pictured above) which is still on its original
site, and at Park Street. However, neither station served a large
population centre, and in the summer of 1858 (a matter of months
after opening), Park Street closed. Indeed, it appears Bricket Wood
temporarily befell a similar fate, around 1859. However, by 1861
both stations had reopened. Bricket Wood stayed in the same place
but Park Street eventually ended up being re-sited, arriving in
its current position above the Watling Street road crossing by the
1890s. |
The
original site of Park Street station is a contentious issue. However,
it is thought that it may have lain very close to the Hyde Lane
level crossing, which is now where How Wood station is to be found
(opened 1988). A crossing keeper's cottage stood at Hyde Lane until
the 1960s (pictured above), could this have been part of the original
station building? In the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras,
Bricket Wood (right) became an unlikely tourist destination because
of two funfares situated nearby. Hundreds of people passed through
the station, particularly in the summer months, many of them on
day trips to escape the crowds of London. |
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An additional
platform and 'passing loop' were installed by the LNWR at Bricket
Wood in 1913, to cope with the large increase in excursion traffic.
This allowed two trains to operate on the branch, and the new platform
could accomodate up to 9 carriages. However, the funfares went into
gradual decline in the 1920s, and the line never saw such a high
level of traffic again. The passing loop and second platform were
eventually demolished in 1966, a situation which is hoped will be
reversed in the not-to-distant future to allow a much higher frequency
service. However, today's station today is much closer in atmosphere
to what it must have been pre-1913! |
In about 1910, a small station was opened in an area of Watford known as 'Callowland'. This was built to serve the various manufacturing companies and workers that were springing up around there, and the station was soon renamed 'Watford North' (pictured above). However, it was not until the 1930s, when massive housing development took place on fields around the station, that the station really came into its own. There was a proliferation of sidings for freight round the north Watford area, extending almost as far as the present day Garston station (some remains can still be seen). This was always the most urban part of the line. Freight played a significant role on the branch until well into the 1960s. |
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The
Abbey line was the first railway that the ancient city of St Albans
received. The people of the city were very supportive of the scheme,
and the new terminus was a hub of activity. Known originally simply
as 'St Albans', the name was only changed to 'St Albans Abbey' in
1924, to distinguish it from the former Midland Railway station
now known as 'St Albans City' which was opened in 1868. In 1866,
the Great Northen Railway also built a branch line, from Hatfield,
that terminated at the station. Extensive sidings to the west of
the station served the local freight needs, not least providing
space for the daily coal train that arrived to feed the adjacent
municipal gasworks. |
The
station buildings, although modest, provided a booking hall, waiting
rooms and toilets for passengers, a far cry from today's ugly waiting
shelter, completely devoid of all facilities (such is progress)!
A 'run-round' loop was provided, which allowed locomotives to run
round their carriages at the end of the journey, so that the loco
was always at the head of the train. However, in later years, an
autotrain or 'push-pull' arrangement was used, whereby the driver
could drive the train from a specially-converted carriage at the
opposite end of the train from the loco. This dispensed with the
need to 'run round' and was the precursor to modern operating methods. |
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Being a branch line, trains were usually made up of 3 to 4 coaches, and hauled by a tank engine. These engines were invariably housed or 'shedded' at the Watford Junction engine shed (shed code 1C - pictured left). Coal trains, being much heavier than passenger trains, were usually worked by tender engines, normally 0-6-0s. Diesel trains gradually started to take over in the 1950s, but the technology was largely untried, so the Abbey Line played host to a variety of experimental designs until the branch was fully 'dieselised' for passenger trans in 1955. Despite the substantial savings made by using diesel trains, in 1963 the 'Beeching Plan' proposed closure of the Abbey Line, along with hundreds of other similar branch lines the length and breadth of the UK. |
Luckily, strong local protest kept the line alive, and indeed the threat of closure as a heavy-rail operation has been lurking almost constantly every since! The line was to suffer heavily from rationalisation - almost everything save the track, formation and station platforms was demolished in the 1960s. Today, we are left with the most basic of 'basic railways'. However, since 1965, new stations have been opened at Garston and How Wood, and in 1987-88 the branch was electrified, so it hasn't been all bad news. It is hoped that the fortunes of the branch will now take a significant turn for the better, as road congestion worsens between Watford and St Albans, and the Community Rail Partnership comes into effect. This branch line still has huge potential, and ABFLY will continue to be a driving force in helping to unlock it! |
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I am strongly indebted to S.C. Jenkins (author) and the Oakwood Press (publisher) for information and photographs taken from the book, "The Watford to St Albans Branch", the only comprehensive history of the branch ever written. Details below. The
Watford to St Albans branch
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Abfly accepts no liability for any errors and omissions. Contact webmaster (David Horton)
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