Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station

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Hammersmith & Chiswick
Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station, 1894.jpg
Map of station, 1894
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Hammersmith & Chiswick
Location of Hammersmith & Chiswick in Greater London
Location Chiswick
Owner North & South Western Junction Railway
Number of platforms1
Key dates
8 April 1858 (1858-04-08)Opened as Hammersmith
1 July 1880Renamed Hammersmith & Chiswick
1 January 1917 (1917-01-01)Closed to Passengers
3 May 1965Closed Completely
Replaced by Stamford Brook
Other information
WGS84 51°29′37″N0°14′52″W / 51.4935°N 0.2477°W / 51.4935; -0.2477
Underground sign at Westminster.jpg  London transportportal

Hammersmith & Chiswick was a railway terminus in west London that was opened in 1858 by the North & South Western Junction Railway and closed in 1917, during the First World War.

Contents

Originally named Hammersmith but renamed Hammersmith & Chiswick in 1880, [1] the station was located midway between Chiswick and Hammersmith and was intended to serve both areas.

History

Hammersmith station was opened on 8 April 1858 by the North & South Western Junction Railway (N&SWJR) on the site of a goods yard, which had opened on 1 May 1857, on Chiswick High Road in what was then a rural area. [2] The station was at the end of a 1.5 mile (2.5 km) branch line which ran northward from the North London Railway (NLR) line at South Acton and turned sharply to run south into Hammersmith & Chiswick.

The station building was not purpose-built but was a converted private house. In 1904, a writer described it as "abounding with flowers, and resembling rather the terminus of some far distant country branch line than what one might expect to find at a place bearing the dual distinction of the names of two west London suburbs". [3]

Until the interchange station at South Acton was opened on 1 January 1880, the branch line to Hammersmith & Chiswick employed an unusual mode of operation. Southbound NLR trains to Kew (which was on the western chord to the Hounslow Loop near the current Kew Bridge station) included a carriage for passengers travelling to Hammersmith & Chiswick. This carriage was uncoupled from the rest of the train immediately south of the junction. The N&SWJR's sole locomotive would then reverse onto the mainline, be attached to the carriage, and take it down the short branch to Hammersmith & Chiswick. [1] From 1 January 1880, on the station opening at South Acton, passengers could change there from Broad Street to Richmond trains onto the Hammersmith & Chiswick services.

Before the interchange at South Acton opened, one train per hour served the branch, while thereafter until closure there was one train every half-hour. [2]

In an effort to boost passenger numbers, which had been badly affected by the opening of the nearby District line station at Stamford Brook, three intermediate halts were opened on 8 April 1909: Rugby Road Halt, Woodstock Road Halt, and Bath Road Halt. These were little used, so trains stopped only on request.

The site of the station, 2005 Hammersmith & Chiswick station site geograph-3596502-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
The site of the station, 2005

During the First World War, in 1917, all passenger services on the branch were suspended as a wartime economy measure and were never resumed. The three halts were closed only eight years after their opening. Hammersmith & Chiswick remained in use as a goods yard, primarily to serve a large coal depot. As the demand for coal reduced the branch was permanently closed on 3 May 1965. [2]

The station site was redeveloped in the 1980s and no trace remains.

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References

  1. 1 2 Catford, Nick (28 January 2005). "Hammersmith & Chiswick". Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1996). Willesden Junction to Richmond. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN   1-873793-71-5.
  3. Clegg, Gillian. "Travel". Chiswick History. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Bath Road   North & South Western Junction Railway
Hammersmith branch
 Terminus