London's Many Abandoned Termini

Spa Road, we hardly knew ye.

[martingrimmitt]

I’m amazed how many times we heard “…was closed to passenger traffic and continued on as a goods depot into the 1960’s”. A video on rail borne freight in London would be very interesting

[TheEulerID]

Surely the London Necropolis railway station should have been included. Wikipedia certainly calls it a terminus, and it did carry passengers, both live and dead. It was opened in 1854 at a location which was close to the nearby Waterloo Bridge Station, on a site that is now part of the Leake Street Arches, with facilities dedicated to mourners as well as the transshipment of bodies. It was later demolished to make way for the expansion of Waterloo Station, but only after the opening of a new station on Westminster Bridge Road in 1902. It closed after the line was badly damaged in a bombing raid in WW II, although the building survives as Westminster Bridge House.

Not exactly a huge terminal station, but a terminus, in more ways than one.

[ivorwhitecar]

I drove trains in and out of Holborn Viaduct until it closed. We then had to 'learn the road' on foot down to St Pauls Thameslink and Smithfield Sidings at the weekends, as it was still being built. I never drove a train down there though, as the Fire Service stopped any slam door trains operating there do to the limited clearances.

[nemosis]

I used to work in the "Spa road gang" p way during the mid 80's where we had a workman's hut just before the old platforms used to be and there was an old spiral staircase that went down to the old ticket office where it would come out near a chip shop or pub! Hard work wet and grimy but great lads to work with.

[johnpulman]

Your videos are always interesting and informative and very well researched. One thing I especially appreciate is the use of archive materials, photos and videos that actually reflect what is being discussed. So many YouTube channels just pad their content out with generic visuals which have little or nothing to do with the subject. 👏👏👏

[RoadkillGoat]

The closure of broad street was crazy that station would be so busy now, it was criminal that they didn't extend Liverpool Street into a part of it to provide more capacity

[nigelcole]

Splendid video without abandon - many thanks

[roderickmain]

There are one or two Terminii on the outskirts of London. Places like Epsom Downs. Fantastic station in its day - mainly when those days involved horse racing and "specials" would arrive from all over. Now, sadly, a tiny stop at the back of housing estate. And Olympia. Maybe difficult to call it a terminus as such and it seems it never became the station that it was intended to be. Looked like there were plenty of platforms (as I remember as a young thing) - just not too many tracks to them.
Fascinating stuff though, Jago.

[crossleydd]

My parents married, then moved to be near to South Merton Station in 1933, I imagine because she worked in Hatton Gardens and travelled by train every day to Holborn Viaduct Station. (She continued to use her maiden name until 1937, when she was pregnant with me and left!). This train service must have been just about the only one to stop at Wimbledon, yet not go into Waterloo. I recall her telling me that some trains went into a nearby tunnel near to Holborn Viaduct Station; she knew not where.

[jameswarner]

I was born round the corner from Bricklayers Arms when it was still a goods yard. I remember seeing the rather odd Scammell Scarab three-wheeler goods trucks trundling around the local streets back in the early 60s.

[stephenreardon]

The situation at Moorgate is complicated. Obviously the tube offers a variety of through services, and the Northern City Line terminus is still in operation, but the City Widened Lines terminated Mainline services on platforms next to Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines. Hope it gets a mention in the video on existing London termini.

[WWarped]

Great, as always. Your mention of Broad Street has made me think of other station in pop culture. Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad Street a 1984 musical, and also a computer game by Mastertronic the same year. Then My mind goes blank, I guess the song Waterloo Sunset?

[mrd]

I remember catching a train from Broad St to Watford Junction in the mid 80s and spent a lunch break during the early 90s trying to find the station again. Now, I finally know what happened to it!

[paulketchupwitheverything]

There was a temporary terminus for Midland Mainline trains sort-of behind St. Pancras between about 2004 and 2006 when you had to walk round to where the the Battlebridge Lane entrance is while the main part of St Pancras was still being worked on. I think it was the same tracks the later, finished station uses but stopping short of the older part'
Waterloo was the London terminus for Eurostar services between 1994 and 2007. The Eurostar platforms then stood unused for a long time before being converted for regular use a few years ago.

[dr.ryttmastarecctm]

An interesting story is the development of the "Elevated" Loop that defines Chicago's loop downtown district. In the beginning these were street-running interurban lines that terminated on the edge of Chicago's main business district. Over time, and with urban growth, these lines were elevated above street level. The late comers running over alleys. The story of how the loop rail network was built is a fascinating read.

[alanbudgen]

Interesting how much London is shaped by the termini. Had there been through connections, we might not have had the underground quite so early. Thameslink has become an extraordinary route (or set of routes) which gives access to so many places - living near to Farringdon, I am always surprised where we can get to on one train. Likewise the Elizabeth Line.

[RJSRdg]

A couple you've missed would be the Necropolis terminus adjacent to Waterloo, and also Brunel's temporary GWR terminus slightly to the west of Paddington (from which GWR mileages are still counted today).

Arguably Aldwych, the Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross, and the Widened Lines platforms at Moorgate could also be thought of as abandoned termini.


And of course there are more abandoned termini further out, including Palace Gates, Crystal Palace High Level, and Addiscombe.

(Arguably Ongar, Brill and Verney Junction could be counted as well, but that's probably a bit too far

[andrewrevans]

The problem with both Holborn Viaduct and the pre-rebuild Blackfriars was that they had really short platforms.

One of the first actions of the merged SECR was to build the Chislehurst chords which enabled all boat trains to be concentrated at Victoria, but also the Kent Coast rush hour expresses to all operate from the long-platformed Cannon Street.

[MoodIndigoNL]

As always Jago, this is amazing. Your endless knowledge and splendid story telling voice makes all your videos fun and entertaining to watch. I do not react all too often (if ever, even).

[zeddessell]

1:08 Spa Road was actually the SECOND London Terminus! The first terminus was Blue Anchor Lane, situated just short of the later Spa Road. Blue Anchor Lane was open between 9th June 1835 and 12th November 1835, during which time the London & Greenwich Railway ran "demonstration" services as a way of drumming up publicity for when the line would open in full (this WAS the first railway in London, after all). The other end of the line during this demonstration period terminated at a station called Grand Surrey Canal, there was also one intermediate station called Cobbet's Lane.

Of course, you could make the argument that Blue Anchor Lane doesn't count as it was never used for any "proper" rail services, but it does deserve at least an honourable mention.