London's Lost Railways Ep.2 - Harrow and Stanmore
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- It's Episode 2 of London's Lost Railways, whereh we walk to Stanmore, which once had a railway station many years before the London Underground built their line. It was a branch with trains that shuttled back and forth between Harrow & Wealdstone, with 'Belmont' station in-between too. Let's see what remains today ...
Correction : Stanmore Village closed first in 1952, but a shuttle between Harrow and Belmont ran until 1964, hence "Belmont Rattler"
Download the London's Lost Railways map here: www.geofftech....
More station info:
Belmont Station - disused-station...
Stanmore Village - www.disused-sta...
With thanks to David Kirwin for the illustrations.
I love that you always give a map so we can see whereabouts you're talking about - thanks XX
You’re welcome 😊
@@geofftech2 I agree. As a small improvement though you could also show the locations on a map of London, like you had in the announcement video last week (if I remember correctly).
I was thinking this myself, not knowing all the London area being from Australia :-) .
I would like to see the dates mentioned superimposed on the map, that would be easier to understand while looking at the map. Thanks for these little gems!
I would like to see a Google Earth overview of the full route at the end too ;)
I lived in Harrow for over 20 years and didn't know any of this. Fascinating!
Used to live on the Kenton Lane very near to the old Belmont Station/circle. Times I’ve parked in that car park!
My dad used the old rattler when it went to stanmore (known then as the stanmore rattler). The line was built originally to serve a hotel which is why it stops short of Stanmore itself.
The station building is markedly reduced, having lost its clock tower and the main original features now are just the window mullions (and probably the brick). A real shame!
My Dad when he was a about 14 and working for the Southern Railway in the offices at Waterloo, was sent with some papers for a senior SR official who lived in Stanmore. He took that line to get there. He said the man's wife was very nice to him and gave him some cake.
I remember watching a video of the old Belmont, It would've been a good connection between the Jubliee and Bakerloo Lines. Probably will never come back though. I do like the new intro!
Crisp 4K. This is content I can stand behind.
I'm born & raised Harrow & never knew this. Thanks👍
Bold statement in these uncertaint times...
"you can come here anytime of the year!"
Let's hope that's true forever more 🙂
I grew up in Wealdstone and regularly travelled on the Belmont Rattler as it was affectionately known. I remember the experimental ACV diesel railcar introduced to the branch in the mid-1950s long before DMUs eventually took over from steam tank engines. The final day of service, Saturday 3rd October 1964, saw quite a crowd of us on Platform 7 at Harrow & Wealdstone to greet the last train arriving from Belmont suitably adorned with a wreath.
I so wished I gone on that I was born in 1953 so could have but didn't as I lived in Wembley.
I was born in 1975. So missed that. And my parents are a 10 min walk from Belmont Circle
Loving this series and I don't even live in Britain! Keep it up, Geoff!
Glad you like them! Very kind Owen, thank you.
Same
Stanmore is my hometown! Been waiting for Geoff's amazing videos to cover this one for a while:)
Hey mate nice to meet you in person today, sorry if I scared you :)) All the best !
Just watched this video in 2160p (4K) (off topic but just wanted to mention that lol) but a brilliant London Lost Railways indeed, love some of the remains of the Railway between Harrow & Wealdstone and Belmont. looking forward to where Episode 3 takes us next!
thanks as always Simon! 4K is the future, yes. it looks so good! heh.
@@geofftech2 It did look very good being honest, never knew could watch your videos in 4K till today
Thanks for the brilliant tip! I was compelled to rewatch the video immediately and it looked as if I was actually walking along 🤩
Slight error at 0:42 - only the section from Belmont to Stanmore closed to passengers in 1952, the section from Harrow to Belmont still had a passenger service until it too was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in 1964. On that topic, this was one of only two lines in London to be closed under the Beeching Plan, the other being the branch to Staines West way out on the western edge of the city.
Hence why it was the BELMONT Rattler. Stanmore had a better rail service from 1952 on the Met.
Ok! thanks for this, happy to be corrected! :-)
@@kbtred51 Stanmore was served by the Bakerloo not the Met.
@@alejandrayalanbowman367 1932 opened on the Met Line became Bakerloo in 1939, so yes it was on the Met.
@@kbtred51 should that be from 1932
I was born on Curzon Ave in 1963 Just off Belmont Circle. My Mum was from Wealdstone. She was on her way to work and walking to Harrow Wealdstone to go into London. She decided to go a different route that day and it turned out to be the morning of the great accident. I will be in London in a week and plan on doing this walkabout. Thank you for the great videos.
I wish I'd seen you walking the area! Lived around Stanmore for 33 years and always adored the old station building on Gordon Avenue
Thanks for this - enjoyed the video and the various comments. I was born in 1944 and lived in Wolverton Road, Stanmore, close to the Rattler line, from 1951 to 1971. Most of the local kids, myself included, used to congregate outside the Golf Club hoping to do some Caddying. On a good day you could make as much as 10 Shillings. We certainly earned our money as it was (and still is) a very hilly course! Not sure if the public footpath is still there, it ran from Vernon Drive, near the Duck In The Pond pub, over the course and came out the other side in Gordon Avenue, near The Chase. I well remember riding on the Rattler before the service closed. It was easy in those days to climb over the railway fence and up the embankment. From the woods lining the track you could get a great view of the train thundering past. Happy days fondly remembered.
Wonderful, wonderful video, Geoff. I used to live near Belmont Circle so it’s fascinating to see this.
Walked that railway so many times lived near that cemetery and my Great Grandparents are buried there
Thank you for another excellent video look forward to the next one 😀😀😀😀😀
You’d be pleased to know that local school students still learn about the old station today! I remember doing it back in primary school.
Never been this early! Certainly enjoying the lost railways series so far!
I presume the street was named "September Way" because the line closed to passengers in September 1952.
It actually wasn't named "Stanmore Village" until as late as 1950... prior to that it was simply called "Stanmore".
Great to have you walking around my old manor, Geoff!
I like this historical/exploration-type content!
Very interesting! I live in Harrow Weald and learned a lot from this. Thanks!
Wealdstone Raider, “You’ve got no fans!”
Great video Geoff, love these videos of old railway lines that you do. Very informative for someone like me who’s based up in the North East and doesn’t see London and it’s suburbs. 😀👍🏻
Greetings from down under love your vids thanks geoff cheer's bob.
I can remember this line as I used to work around this area from 1962 as a radio and tv engineer
I grew up in Locket road, Wealdstone.
As kids we used go up to Vernon drive to watch the old rattler go through and sometimes to collect lost golf balls on Stanmore golf course to sell for 6 pence (I never found one!).
It is incredible the number of times Geoff has walked in my footsteps.
With Mum, Dad or my older brother we would have used all of the lines around us to go to London, Richmond, Windsor, Watford etc.
Straight after the war I was just 4 years old. My brother would take me up to Broad street to go to the second hand radio shops to get parts. I remember all the holes each side of the road where bombings has been.
Or there would be the trip to Walthamstow with my Mum to see Gran. Nearly 2 hours of bus, train, trolley bus and another bus - Very often with soot in the eyes from hanging out of steam train windows.
And yes, I was often one of those kids on Harrow and Wealdstone station with my Ian Allan train spotter book.
I LOVE this series so much
Didn't know I needed those videos. I got like 19 episodes in my watch later. Meaning they will show up every few days.
Brilliant. I grew up in Belmont and knew there was railway but at that age couldn't picture it. Thanks for filling in the gaps. 👍
Love this. I lived between Belmont & Stanmore Village stations for 10 years. Sadly they closed before I was born!
Great little series keeping alive what once were a lifeline for locals
I've done that walk before it became that trail walk many years ago as I used to live in Harrow and Wealdstone myself. But there was a path pasted the golf course at the time. But it's nice to see its still there.
And when I was very young I remember seeing a steam train at the island style platform station as it was heading towards Harrow.
I am so glad I can still remember seeing it.
I am now 68. Time goes to fast.😃
Thank you so much for that trip down memory lane. I lived a couple of streets away from Belmont Circle, in Elgin Avenue, up until I was 11 years old ( that’s 57 years ago ). I remember that after closure the line remained in situ for a while and was used for filming. Plus I remember using the line as a secret playground where one could catch grass snakes in the ballast. The petrol station at Belmont Circle was where, in the back of my father’s Vauxhall Velux (PXO 657, how is that stuck in my mind?), I heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated.
So thank you again. John
Just great. Thank you!
Wow I used to live in Stanmore and I had no idea that it had another railway at one point and a lovely walk trail, have to check it out when I go back.
I always look forward to your videos, Geoff - this series of London's Lost Railways is one of my favourites!
Was brought to this channel by the original playlist and I can say - great idea to reproduce these videos! Great content 👍
I did this walk with some mates last year, I'm a Harrow local, and When I did it I cleared the two posts at 1:50 from Ivy, they were covered so you couldnt see anything. I'm glad they remain that way!
This was my local lost railway. I grew up 5 mins walk from it! Excellent stuff! I will just add though, that you’re right that Stanmore Village closed to passengers in 1952, but passenger trains still shuttled to Belmont from HRW until 1964, freight lingering on a little longer.
I love the shots where we just see you walking, but I guess its weird to film them.
Love this new series. You have to be near Bletchley Park and the museum. I dealt with a wholesaler in Stanmore and conversations revealed there was a YHA in or near Stanmore and Bletchley Pk, where the Enigma crew were in WW2 and the museum is now. I seriously was going to cycle there, mix business with pleasure; get a good few miles of exercise too, but it never happened.
[There's a statue of Alan Turing sitting on a bench eating an apple (contemplating the apple which killed him in fact) in Sackville Gdns in Manchester. You can respectfully contemplate his genius and life. But many find it's great for posing with; you can prop your bike against it, sit beside him or put your Apple device on his lap with your lunch beside him on the seat and stand behind looking over his shoulder at the screen].
I grew up in Kenton, and remember going over the disused railway in Belmont
When I was a kid, we used to clamber up a bridge near the mysteriously named banana shed and onto the Rattler. Anything edible in the gardens by the track was fair game for after school snacks. A train still ran on it back then, from Harrow to Stanmore I think. I believe it's a tourist attraction now. I haven't been there for 60 odd years!
I think this series is neat.
I'm glad you found all the old videos Geoff.
This is 4K. It's not the old video. He just remade it, as it's something he can do while not travelling on trains.
There is another Belmont Station on the line between Sutton & Epsom Downs, this one used to be called 'California' after the local pub but was change to Belmont in 1875. Still open and will probably be getting a lot busier as they are building a medical research hub nearby employing around 10k people.
Thanks Geoff! I was born the year that Beeching's axe fell and the rattler was my local disused railway growing up. In those days the rails and sleepers had been taken up but there was a lot of ballast on the ground. At least part of the platform remained at Belmont but the buildings had gone. At Harrow & Wealdstone the line pointed the 'wrong way' so direct trains towards Euston or Broad Street would not have been an easy option even if they were viable!
Love the B1 on the Belmont Trail markers! I expect this is the only time a B1 has been seen on the branch as being a LMS line, its very unlikely they would have worked on the line in steam days!
Unfortunately a B1 never did the Belmont Line but 9Fs and WD 2-10-0s were recorded. Even a Jubilee and a Royal Scot as well! The line had a wide range of engines.
London's my favourite city in the whole world (and I don't generally like cities). I'm loving this distance travel, thanks for the awesome content.
Amazing video Geoff Marshall
Dear jeff been waching al your films been lerning so.much , love the one about queensbury i work awound the couner from t her nrver knew so.much history.
Done that walk to belmont years ago never knew what that house was on old church lane thank u x
I see a few people have already commented that the Belmont to H&W section didn't close for passengers until October 1964, I grew up in the area and remember travelling on it as a child at least once. There's a great photo of Belmont Station taken by Hugh Ballantyne on page 22 in Alan Butcher's 'The Heyday of the DMU' (Ian Allan Publishing). Great video, keep them coming!
Always thought the bridge at Belmont was a bit odd but never thought it was because of an old railway line.
Also assumed they built too many platforms at H&W Station due to a photocopying error by the builder.....that clears that up.
Getting ever closer to seeing Geoff randomly one day.......ill have a good drink that night if it ever happens.
Really interesting Geoff. I've often passed that building with the plaque on it at the corner of Gordon Avenue and Old Church Lane and wondered what it was.
Awesome history Geoff. Looking forward to Pt 3
Great video, Geoff, for which many thanks. I lived in the area for over 30 years & was obsessed with that lost railway. The old Belmont platform was still in tact into the 1980s, before the land was filled and a car park built. I saw that plaque unveiled at Stanmore Station in 1975 aged 10, having waited an hour in the rain. A report featured on my actions in the Harrow Observer. (I was a strange child.)
I am on time. I know this railway because Mat mentioned it in his runderground video on the Overground that passed here and thus, I know about the disused platform at Harrow and Wealdstone
Travelled on the Belmont Rattler railcar a fair few times in the early sixties from Belmont to Harrow & Wealdstone. I remember also the London bus that took a short cut back to the garage via Christchurch avenue and wedged itself under the low bridge. Only RLH low height double deckers used that 230 route (we have a couple of those still in existence here in New Zealand). Cycled over the Belmont railway bridge for five years on my way to Belmont Secondary Modern School that is now a housing estate. Times change but memories are still there. Seem to recall my mate and I used to go under the station platform at Belmont scavenging.
Youll end up getting your camera pinched with these walking shots one day Geoff 😂
Liking this series.
Our house used to back onto this line. We lived there 61 to 75. I never remember any track beyond Belmont. Passenger services were certainly running until 64 when the line was closed and the track lifted. I never remembered any freight services. Passenger service was by a 2 car dmu although one morning I had the joy of a steam train and 1/2 coaches. Possibly a 4mt for those that are interested!
Excellent video Geoff. I grew up there and used to walk the line as a kid - long before it became an official footpath and you could still walk through the golf course in those days!
Hi Geoff, I am loving your Lost Railways videos they are absolutely brilliant, all the hard work and effort you put in for all of us to see past and present railways! You are one of the best on RUclips! I always enjoy watching your videos! 😊👍
Thank you so very much I was quite looking forward to this episode, being a resident of the local area and not that, that very house was once a railway station is just something. Thanks again!
Hi geoff great vlog mate love it i am from Harrow area so yeah this is the best one so far keep on doing them plus i walked that path last year
Oh, and by the way, all your videos are fantastic, informative, entertaining and just good fun. Thank you for my nostalgia trips.
Another great one Geoff. Just getting round to watching the ones you’ve done so far. I remember the original Londonist videos too as well as the canal videos which were great.
Great video Geoff I love your videos.
Thanks for this - I thought I knew most of London's closed lines but had never heard of this one. Some really nice pictures of the old Stanmore Village station on Google Images. A one or two coach train hauled by a small tank engine seemed to suffice for most services back in the day.
This is my local area and my daughter and I walked the bit through Belmont many times during Covid Lockdown 1. Watch out for reprobates and ne'er-do-wells hiding in the bushes with illegal substances by the side of the path running past the cemetery.
We have more recently been walking through the rather more picturesque Stanmore Country Park the edge of which has the Tube line which never was, just North of Stanmore Station. The unadopted road running up the hill and continuing the the existing track alignment has a giant grid of manhole covers which I strongly suspect covers exploratory tunnel excavations. There's very little info on the topic except that there were incomplete and never formally submitted plans to extend what was then the Metropolitan Railway/Line (not sure which) North from Stanmore, predating the Northern Heights extension from Edgware Station.
I would concur! the best time to walk this is probably early on summer Sunday morning ... (which is what i didn't do...)
Nice, I clicked on it instantly cause I live in Harrow😊
Great vids geoff which they could be longer bet you love being out and about again
Geoff, yu have thought me sooo much about London. Thanks sooo much!👍
Great stuff as usual Geoff! 😜👍
You should definitely do the old Watford to Rickmansworth line - now a footpath called Ebury Way.
I’ve seen the Stanmore house a couple times driving from Uxbridge to Edgware to work very occasionally and always wondered where the line used to be so top video 👍🏻
Never knew there was a railway from Harrow and Wealdstone to Stanmore. 👍🏾
Nicely done
glad to know you can go there any month of the year and not just September!
Keep the excellent videos coming really enjoying these
Love these videos, Geoff. Brilliant work as always.
Really enjoying these so far , looking forward to the next one 👍
Being a kid from this area it brought back memories of being with my dad on walks 19 ish years ago and now being in my 20s
Infact the old station building at the end we would always have to go by to get to my grandads house!!
Another fascinating vid Geoff. I love the ones with footpaths and maps, they are right up my alley/jitty/snicket/ginnel* *delete as appropriate depending on area of UK.
Loving the lost railways episodes, great work geoff.
excellent work as always, Geoff!
I loved the editing in this video! Your videos are always fantastic fair play! Excited for the rest!
Thanks for taking time to add actual captions. Having map accompany video make your videos clear and easy to understand.
Brilliant video as always Geoff I’m loving the re-do’s of this series as it was one of the things that first brought me to your channel!!! Great entertainment to end my birthday with as well so thanks a million! Stay safe and keep up the outstanding work!!!
Interesting video Geoff! Love your videos!
You do epic work on your videos keep it up
Great job! So informative. Keep up the hard work
Great video Geoff, used to work for harrow council, just across the main road from the station.
used to live in bushey at the top of Stanmore hill.,great memories,
Thanks for posting
Funnily I walked down part of the Mill Hill to Edgware railway yesterday, but sadly Geoff had decided to film his next disused railway video elsewhere 😂
Great video like the maps so we can see where you are at 👍
My old colleague was from Belmont ; John Eddy - he just missed 1952 Harrow disaster as off sick from school !
I've been to Harrow and Wealdstone Station. On more than one occasion.
Brilliant video thank you for sharing this.
I've seen you that day at Wenzel's in Belmont Circle!