Victorian Stations: Railway Stations in England and Wales, 1836-1923

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In March 2010, a youth was stabbed to death in Victoria Underground station, in front of numerous witnesses. Eight people were convicted of the killing in 2013. Three defendants were found guilty of murder and five were convicted of manslaughter. [96]

The busiest British station. The first London and South Western Railway’s London terminus was at Nine Elms and opened on 21st May 1838. It was a modest neo-classical structure designed by Sir William Tite (1798-1873). It was his first station. He had no inhibitions about style and Gilbert Scott admired some of his bold vernacular stations in the North. Steam riverboats took passengers from Nine Elms to London Bridge and other points on the North bank of the Thames. This arrangement caused fairly considerable inconvenience to passengers. Waterloo Station was opened in 1848 — with two train sheds of 100 feet (30.48 meter) spans. The LSWR’s traffic passenger traffic increased exponentially as Waterloo served Portsmouth — and latterly Devonport (1876) — the great naval bases as well as Aldershot, the principal army base. There was also the huge increase in commuter traffic from Kingston, Surbiton and Richmond. By 1892, Waterloo was handling 50000 passengers a day. The LSWR had, incidentally, extended its services to Exeter in 1860 and, by 1899, Padstow in Cornwall. Great Northern and Great Western trains also went south of the river along the LCDR lines, and the Great Western had a freight depot (which did not close till 1962 and whose curved entrance ramp is still clearly visible) under Smithfield Market. Both companies, as well as the Midland, ran trains into Moorgate. The Great Western Railway in fact ran a great variety of trains into Farringdon and Moorgate - from Hammersmith, Kensington (now Kensington Olympia), Richmond, even Windsor. The station became noted for the difficulties passengers experienced in finding their correct departure platforms. There is a story — no doubt apocryphal — of a Devon farmer who declared to his wife “no wonder the French were defeated at Waterloo”. At the turn of the century the LSWR Board decided that Waterloo needed to be rebuilt and J W Jacomb-Hood, LSWR’s Chief Engineer, was sent to the United States to study contemporary station design. He was to be responsible for the structure and planning of the present station — although certain bays from the earlier station were retained. After the death of Jacomb-Hood in 1914, A W Szlumper took over. James Robb Scott, “Chief Architectural Assistant of the LSWR” was to be responsible for the architecture of the station. Nikolaus Pevsner in his Buildings of England. London, first published in 1952, had little time for Waterloo. Its steelwork was “sadly timid” and Robb Scott’s fa�ade was “spoiled by a hopeless position”. Indeed, the location of Waterloo has always been to its disadvantage — and, furthermore, it is the only great London station south of the river. Scott’s architecture is, for the most part innocuously late Edwardian. However, his triumphal arch is a splendid example of the style that has been described as “Imperial Baroque”. Services are operated by Southeastern and Southern, owned by the Department for Transport and Govia [75] respectively. All services at Victoria use electric multiple unit trains. [51] Lines on the floor of the concourse leading to various facilities. A 360° sphere view of the station concourse

9. Great Malvern, Worcestershire

Hardly a “great station”, but nevertheless admirably representative of a class of sober nineteenth century British stations. It is somewhat reminiscent of Pugin’s economical clergy houses, or his own house, The Grange, at Ramsgate (1843-4). Scott had some admiration for Tite’s work while never once mentioning his name. In Gothic architecture, secular and domestic (1857) Scott declared:

Known simply as 'Shields', North Shields Railway Station was first opened by Newcastle & North Shields Railway Company as a terminus in June 1839. The following lines are either closed to regular passenger services, freight only, part of tourist and heritage railways, or closed and removed. [1] New Street has always been the busiest of provincial British stations. Cowper’s station was entirely re-built by British Railways in the mid 1960s when the West Coast Main Line was electrified. It is a bland, efficient station of no substantial architectural interest. At 211 feet (64.31m.) Cowper’s original wrought iron and glass roof had the largest single span anywhere — until it was surpassed by Barlow’s and Ordish’s St Pancras train shed at 243 feet (74.07m.) completed in 1867. New Street was constructed by Messrs. Fox, Henderson & Co. for whom Cowper had worked — he had been responsible for the company’s contract drawings for Joseph Paxton’s 1851 Crystal Palace. George Gilbert Scott praised New Street in Secular and Domestic Architecture (1857): “An iron roof in its most normal condition is too spider-like a structure to be handsome, but with a very little attention this defect is obviated. The most wonderful specimen, probably, is that at the great Birmingham Station . . . ” Cowper was among the leading figures from what L T C Rolt described as a “brief heroic age of engineering”. He was the son of a professor of engineering at King’s College, London. At fourteen he began a seven-year apprenticeship with John Braithwaite (1797-1870) — a successful civil engineer. While still an apprentice he devised a system of railway signalling by means of small detonators — which made a load bang when a train passed over them. These were widely used in fog to alert engine drivers of hazards — when conventional signals could not be seen. Cowper set up on his own account as a consulting engineer in 1851. He contributed much to the development of steam technology. In 1870 he invented a device by which hand-written messages could be transmitted by telegraph without the need for the use of Morse code. Cowper was consulting engineer to the Post Office. St Pancras, London (1865-68)Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2022 . Retrieved 12 November 2022. One other line that failed to be included into the Underground network was the one from Wimbledon to Sutton. First proposed in 1910 and intended to be an extension to the District Line, it was opposed by both the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway and the London & South Western Railway on the grounds that it would infringe on their territory. When the line finally opened in 1930 it was therefore operated by Southern Railways (which had absorbed the LB&SCR and LSWR in 1923). Today it is part of Thameslink. The C&SLR was a significant innovation in urban transportation, and it paved the way for the development of other underground railways in London and in other cities around the world. The success of the C&SLR demonstrated the feasibility of building underground railways in densely populated urban areas, which had previously been considered impractical. The railway also helped to alleviate traffic congestion in the city and provided a faster and more convenient means of transportation for commuters. Today, the C&SLR is part of the London Underground network and is known as the Northern Line. It continues to be an important transportation artery for the city, carrying millions of passengers each year. Victorian railway Architecture Victoria station proved to be unexpectedly popular for both the main companies, and by 1862 there were frequent delays due to congestion at Stewarts Lane Junction. In March 1863 the LB&SCR and the LC&DR jointly funded a new high-level route into Victoria, avoiding Stewarts Lane and requiring the widening of Grosvenor Bridge, including the replacement of the broad-gauge rails with a third LB&SCR line. The work was completed during 1867/8. [29] [30] The South Eastern Railway (SER) wanted to use Victoria as a London terminus as it was more convenient than London Bridge, but were advised they would need to pay extensive tolls and expenses to do so. Consequently, the SER constructed a station at Charing Cross instead. [31]

The crime revealed that in terms of safety, wealth and position made no difference, the assault on Mr. Briggs took place in an isolated first class carriage. The Daily Telegraph, dated 13th July 1864 seems to capture sense of public panic: “There is one general feeling which this dark crime has excited among the population there must be an end put to the absolute imprisonment…which railway travelers endure” Night-train services stopped running from Victoria on 4 September 1939 after World War II was declared, and other services were terminated following the German invasion of France in May 1940. Though the station was bombed several times in 1940 and 1941, there was not enough damage to prevent operations. A plane crashed into the eastern side of the station on 15 September 1940 and a flying bomb caused partial damage on 27 June 1944. [55] Thameslink operate limited services from London Victoria to Sevenoaks in Kent, usually on Sundays or early mornings. BBC News (21 March 2013). "Debbie Linsley murder: Reward offer over 1988 train death". London. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013 . Retrieved 28 August 2022.The introduction of the train timetable revolutionized travel in the 19th century. For the first time, travelers could plan their journeys in advance, knowing exactly when their train would depart and arrive. This made travel more convenient and reliable and helped to boost the popularity of the railways. In addition, the timetable also allowed railway companies to coordinate their services more efficiently, leading to a more streamlined and cost-effective operation. In the latest of his features for ChronicleLive, local historian CHARLIE STEEL recalls the various railway and Metro stations that have served North Shields since the middle of the 19th century

Meanwhile from the south, the London & South Western Railway (normal terminus Waterloo) ran trains from Wimbledon via Clapham Junction to Ludgate Hill, and also had a rather circuitous Richmond service, taking its own line from Acton towards Hammersmith (now the Piccadilly and District lines), then switching via a link now lost to the West London Line to Clapham Junction, and going on from there to the Ludgate Hill. How old is the Circle line?". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 . Retrieved 19 August 2017. Southeastern services at Victoria use platforms 1–8. The station is served by a mixture of metro and long distance (mainline) services. Metro services are operated using Class 465 and 466 EMUs whilst mainline services are operated using Class 375 and 377 EMUs.The following links provide some discussion on some recent ideas I have had. Returned Passenger Services British Rail (BR) not only ran the rail infrastructure, stations, and trains, but they also became involved in train development. Possibly the most infamous train they created was the Intercity 125 (HST 125) and the train that almost eclipsed it, the APT 125 or better known to the public as the Tilting Train. British Rail also ran the Dover Cross-channel Hover Craft.