One of the other stations I look after as part of my role working for London Overground. It's got a lovely office and when I need some fresh air, I just sit on the platform. Nice video, Jago!
@@apolloc.vermouth5672 It really is! I look after the North section of the network, so I get to see a lot. I’ve sent this to my colleague who manages the station - he’s always interested in things like these.
I rode this line a couple of times in the late 1970's. The trains were old and dilapidated with few passengers. This station was in a deplorable condition. It was as if this line was being deliberately run down for closure. Great to see it so much improved and widely used.
Indeed. Camden Road was a very dark and dingy station in the 70s and 80s. Mind you, the whole line was pretty depressing then, and some of the suburbs it passed through were pretty grotty too. Amazing how much has changed in 40 years.
The coaches were cramped then. I remember I scratched my itchy leg and couldn't understand why I wasn't easing it. I looked down and I realised I was scratching the leg of the bloke next to me. I apologised and he was gracious about it; maybe he was just relieved that the old bird next to him had made a mistake and not a pass.....
Just a bit to add, the coffee shop (Hidden Coffee) working in the building is great as well. The terrace sees regular sunshine in the mornings, so it is awesome to sit there, even on winter mornings the sun keeps you somewhat warm and in a good mood. Plus they have great coffee, friendly staff, and give out free coffee for homeless people, instead of being rude ot them.
I always like to try independent coffee shops so you've given me an idea... and as luck would have it I'm visiting London for a couple of days next week. Therefore this place is on my list, so thanks for the tip!
On the odd occasion I used the North London line in the early 80s, peering through the brake-dust encrusted windows of the grubby blue electrics, at the decaying trainscape of inner North London, I always remembered those lines of Betjeman: "Rumbling under blackened girders, Midland bound for Cricklewood, Puffs its sulphur to the sunset, Where that land of laundries stood" I know it's not the same line, but he just summoned up the atmosphere of North London so well.
Whilst attending the Abbey Choir School in the late 50s, our science master was a dedicated railways fanatic. I well recall him taking the five of us who were in his year 5 class to see the class 9f Black Prince locomotive at Camden Road station during a British Railways children's day held on a Sunday afternoon. We even got to miss singing Evensong that Sunday. Obviously, to him the engine was a greater focus of worship that day than any God!! 🤭
Black Prince was a beast of a locomotive. I was lucky to ride on its footplate when it was at the West Somerset Railway. Its current home is the North Norfolk railway.
Camden Road use to be my local station. I used it regularly between 2007 to 2015 and the transformation of the North London line has to be one best things to happen to London in recent history and shows that much needed was investment can return dividends. It’s a fantastic way of getting from east to west (and vice versa) avoiding zone 1 with added benefit on humid summer days of having rolling with air con.
There was a time in the 1970s when London Transport refused to incorporate the North London Line on the underground map which made a bunch of supporters manually add it to as many underground station maps as they could one night. Shortly afterwards, LT succumbed and added it to the map as the "honorary line" that you mentioned
I've walked it several times and there is always something that I didn't notice on previous visits. The highlight for me is the distant view of the Statue of Liberty.
Because of popularity and context, being a train history enthusiast can be a very insular passion. When somebody like you pops up and produces a video such as this about one of one’s own favourite station, your heart can’t help but leap for joy 😊Thank you x
As usual exceptional work young man , 1 of my granddads was an engineer based at Camden Road , at 1.40 seconds you can see the large black gates/doors on the left behind is a cobbled ramp which used to go down to the workshops and office .
There's so much history encased in these stations that I didn't know about. I was aware of the Camden Town station on the Underground and how crowded it is but not this Overground one. Thanks for continuing to document these stations and how and why they came to be as they are.
Ref; to the High Line proposal,the New York equivalent is based on the old New York Central West Side freight line,abandoned during the 1970's,[There was a version of Beeching,cutting out excessive trackage,and there a story or two there,but that's for another time]! During the 1990's,the line was proposed as a linear park,and now does attract people with a different perspective of Manhattan,so some good things do exist in NYC! Thanks Jago,for the forum and,gosh,I forgot,one very well known literary character called Camden Town,home!! Remember Bob Cratchit from Dicken's,"A Christmas Carol",his family resided there too! Nothing like Christmas in July! Thanks again for your ever thoughtful rambling,and side trips!! 🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎
Hmmmph. When I finally gathered together my courage to go to NYC, I discovered it is FULL of WONDERFUL things. Including Grand Central Terminal. Amongst them, the Highline is certainly one. (Also, the people are couth, if you're reasonably polite. As a rather grand friend once remarked, "Ah yes, they do respond to kindness.)
And the NYC one was inspired by the Promenade Plantée, a linear park in Paris on the former line to the Bastille rail station. The Bastille line closed in the 1980s -- when the Bastille station was torn down to make room for a new opera house -- and the park was built on it in the early '90s. Part of it is elevated on the Viaduc des Arts (with artisans' shops and artists' galleries in the arches underneath), while other sections are at ground level or depressed.
My concern with the linear park plan, would be that any further expansion of the railway infrastructure would be compromised. This must be a very intensively utilized stretch of line nowadays. I worked over it when based at Stratford in the late 70’s, of course things were in decline, but taking the goods lines out of use seemed shortsighted, even in those days!😮
A bit of history on the Highline, it serviced the meat packing district from the early 1920s until the 1980s when it was shut down because trucks were moving all the meat freight. I think the last train shipped turkeys in 1983. Its stayed shuttered and not used. There were plans, at several points, to tear it down and use the space for development. In 1999 a group was founded called friends of the highline, they were residents who lived around the structure. Some of their apartment windows were so close that they were able to climb out and experience the natural garden that grew around the tracks (the whole structure was a platform). in 2003 they commissioned a design competition in order generate interest and awareness of the structure. This helped generate a ton of interest in how the space could be used. It wasn't until 2009 that CSX Transportation donated the structure to the city and Friends of the Highland began planning conversion into the park. I think the first section opened in 2012 and the final section opened in 2019. The full length is just under 1.5 miles. I know so much because I did a photo project on the structure before it turned into the park it is now. One had to sneak past a parking lot attended near 34th street in order to gain access. I had a nice chat with some guy (he in his kitchen and me on the highland) who used grew tomatoes. And I took a ton of pictures. The park as it currently stands is great, so many people use and it is such a unique space where you are above street level but not indoors or on a roof top.
Except that it's built of brick instead of stone, Horne's street level building would look very much at home in Bradford, among those sober looking Italianate blocks designed by Lockwood & Mawson.
The locomotives used on the line were quite small. I think the change of name to North London Railway was because E&WD&BJR wouldn't fit on their side tanks.
The trouble with putting a park on the bridge is that it becomes nearly impossible to re-use it as a railway when the need arises in the future. The legal battles would be epic. In Bristol, fortunately, similar disused bridges were retained by the railway and have allowed the recent re-instatement of 4-tracks between Temple Meads and Filton Junction (Near Parkway) as traffic levels have risen. The NLR is 4-track between Dalston and Maiden Lane (except for the tunnel near Highbury & Islington) so the short 2-track stretch from there to Camden Rd looks like a bottleneck, or at least a potential one for future traffic patterns, especially as it is also the access to the North London Incline into St Pancras.
I would love you to cover some of the less impressive stations next. Like, _"Top 10 Shittiest London Stations"._ Something in that vein. Wouldn't have to travel much either; many are in Enfield, along with several other inferior travel options (have you _seen_ our -roadside parking- alleged cycle lanes??). Great video, mate!
This is a really interesting thought. We all have favourite stations but how many of us actually have stations we can’t stand or stations we feel aren’t what they used to be. It’s a tough one- as enthusiasts, even one as bland as Euston Road can be loved because it’s an alternative to the hustle and bustle of the main station.
There used to be a very nice but disused (by passengers) station in Enfield. Just to the west of Enfield Chase station up Windmill Hill was the original GNR Enfield terminus, being a goods depot when I lived in the area in the 1950's. It closed to passenger traffic in 1910 and was closed in 1974. It's site is now housing I believe.
I did my bit to keep it going, 1964 until Christmas 1965 I used it to go between Canonbury to Camden Road to go to North London College. Great video as always, happy memories and cheers from my Sunday morning cuppa!
As someone from overseas, I find your videos completely enthralling. London as a whole is mesmerising but seeing such in-depth videos on individual sections/stations along less widely covered lines (aka underground etc) really makes you realise how densely packed London is with railways. Maps just don't do it justice. Thank you!!
On my first visit to Britain, and at Richmond, I found I could use the North London line to get to Broad Street station - one that featured, with excellent photos, in a book of London stations written by John Betjeman. It was a great trip, all the more so when I later learned that Broad Street's French Empire station is no more. Thanks Jago ,for prompting the memories.
The four tracking from Camden Town to Dalston Western Junctio and onward to Broad Street were all passenger lines. The southern tracks were the No 2 lines and were dc electrified by the L&NNR and is what formed the basis of the 1980's improvements. The northern tracks were the No 1 lines and though not electrified by the L&NWR, the up line from Camden Town Junction to Maiden Lane Junction was electrified with dc current rails to enable passenger trains to pass standing freights awaiting entry to St Pancras Sidings. The last regular passenger trains to use the No 1 lines were weekday Tring - Broad Street until about 1969 and the GN services from Canonbury Junction. The overheads were installed during about 1965 over the No 1 lines to access the container terminal at Maiden Lane, though this had a very short life and the wire were redundant from then on.
Today, on BBC World Service, the "In the Studio" programme was about developing the Camden High Line - James Corner was talking about his work to develop just what you were taking about. What excellent timing - on both parts!
As a youngster in the mid 1940 / early 1950s my parents took me on the North London Line quite often when we went to see my grandparents in Dalston. We lived in Wembley at the time, so went to Willesden Junction and changed to the High Level station. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we would get a direct Broad Street train which branched off the main line at Chalk Farm to access the NLL at Camden Road. But what I remember best was the LNWR Oerlikon EMUs; people say that they were the best EMUs to ever grace the rails of Britain - and who am I to argue?! My first memory of these trains was when they were what looked to me like a dirty brown colour, but I later realised it was LMS maroon. One day, however, one of these trains turned up in a shiny new green livery; it would have been in 1948 and Nationalisation had arrived. Despite that, my Dad still referred to them as LMS trains...
Ron Fisher, Your dad was quite right to refer to them as LMS trains if they were built by or for the LMSR. Indeed some had been built for the LNWR by metro cammell, the earliest with Siemens power equipment, most with Oerlikon. The green livery could and would have been known as Southern green, even though it was chosen by BR for non- Southern routes.
@@thomasburke2683 The LNWR Oelikon sets had spacious saloon interiors, but the later LMS sets had individual compartments. The LNWR sets were much nicer to ride in, but the LMS set were much nicer than the BR Class 501s that were introduced in 1957. These were the trains with window bars mentioned in an earlier comment. The 'Southern Green' colour was the colour that BR used on all EMUs across the country after nationalisation. But I was somewhat taken aback as a youngster when the expected brown train (as I called the LMS maroon trains) turned out to be a green train! At that age, I was too young to know anything about politics and railway nationalisation. My Dad was still referring to the LMS long after 1948 in the same way that I sometimes find myself referring to Network Rail and the TOCs as BR!
The original 1963 electrification was at 750v DC third rail. Then in the 1980s when BR started putting in sections of 25kV overhead things got interesting as the pantograph was up and down like a yo-yo. Now of course the whole route beyond Acton is on overhead. But don't forget Jago Richmond is in SOUTH West London!
Where you have a station on a viaduct you need buildings underneath to hold up the platforms and station buildings. There used to be rather robust houses in Bonny Street built in the same Italianate style for that purpose. In the 1960s, my group of friends used to have parties in one of those houses and under the railway arch that served for a back yard. Google Street View suggests that the houses have been repurposed, but I haven't been there to see.
As a train spotter from the 1960s I always thought the NLR as the D&BR or the Dull&Boring Railway as it ran boring electric emus complete with bars over the windows so you couldn't stick your head out the window. If you went to Broad Street station it's was as exciting as watching paint dry. Well the line has really changed now.
Have changed trains at Camden Road but never realised the exterior was so impressive. Will have to take a closer look next time! Less sure about converting the disused track to a walkway. Why not reinstate it and increase track capacity? It was always said that the limit on the North London service was fitting it round the freight trains. Are they now all confined to night time? And I do wonder whether the Primrose Hill-Camden Road section could still be useful. If some trains used that, it would free space further north for Goblin trains to go further west rather than terminating at the poorly-connected Gospel Oak. Some remodelling would be needed at Willesden Junction but that's worthwhile anyway. The loss of the mainline platforms is still a gap; Willesden is an underexploited hub. It's also frustrating how many Overground trains from the south terminate at Dalston Junction rather than continuing to the vital connecting point of Highbury and Islington. In some parts, the Overground is now overcrowded, including Stratford-Highbury - partly a victim of its own success, but it shows its value and usefulness, and kudos to TfL for realising the potential.
The two northern tracks through the station were electrified at 25kV around 1967 to serve the first Freightliner depot at York Road. It was removed when the depot was closed. The original electrification by the LNWR was on the fourth rail system and opened in 1916 using the Oerlikon stock. It was converted to the third rail system around 1970. The Oerlikon stock was replaced by the class 501 BR units from 1956.
I worked in Camden Town in the 80’s, getting there on the Northern Line, but Camden Road to Broad St was my back up for any major Northern Line problems. It seemed very run down then and becoming part of the overground was probably the best thing to happen to the line
Would be nice to put the lines back across the other bridge, then freight can bypass the station. Also there’s a very good book about this line called: A very political railway by Wayne Asher.
It also gets a mention in a song by Suggs called Camden town, "In Camden town, I'll meet you by the underground" a tube train also gets used in the music video (not sure what stock it is)
Good video. Might have been worth mentioning that, as well as Westbound trains to Richmond and Clapham Junction via Willesden Junction, it was possible until 1992 to catch trains to Watford via Primrose Hill (some Eastbound trains going to Liverpool Street).
I loved the North London Line when I lived near South End Green in Hampstead. It was an easy way to get to Islington, where I had friends, Kew, which I love to this day and later to London City Airport. The trains were pretty crap but it was overground and I always enjoyed looking out of the window while I travelled from Hampstead Heath station, which was a few hundred metres from my flat. I usually just walked down to Camden Town but I did occasionally alight at Camden Road and I always thought it was an attractive station.
I use Camden Road extensively to take the nice, if at times dingy, path along the canal to the markets. The dream would be an overground train route that went from Camden Road and took a left going west over the viaduct to South Hampstead so you could see the bustling market the same way as where you quickly have to take a gawp down Brick Lane as you pass.
I've had a fixation on the entire North London Line for 40 years. I'm delighted to see this video. There are 3 UCL halls of residence about 2 blocks from the Camden Road Station. I was lucky enough to get a room in Max Rayne in 1982 - I'd not lived in London before. It was such a different time. There were no problems parking in most parts of London because car ownership was much rarer. The GLC existed. Route Masters make taking buses quick easy and fun. I loved that I could go from Camden to Richmond so quickly with no changes. In a cold and wet November, I convinced a very dubious American student to go with me via the line to Islington so see Venice Preserved at the Almeida - which had no heating, & used chairs on scaffolding for seating. The Almeida has changed a lot too At that time the Dept of Transport was always trying to shut the line. It's great, you can get to the east, west, and south west so quickly. Back then it had the carriages with doors at every set of seats. Probably considered horribly dangerous now - but I loved them.
Exceptional video, agreed comfortably the best overground station. The high-line is a capital idea too. I'll make my plea as I always do, if we could have a Jago Hazard video for the Primrose Hill Station, one would be very grateful.
The Camden mini high line is one of several that have been proposed over the years. As well as the disused section of line into the old Bishopsgate goods yard, there was also the Limehouse curve, and coal sidings at Peckham. Another scheme was proposed for West London in Hammersmith. All will pale in comparison, though, with the wonderful New York high line that I have walked several times.
@@eattherich9215 : That was exactly my comparator. I was lucky enough to live in Manhatttan for a time and the High-Line on a sunday, particularly when the weather was crisp, it was a real joy. I hope they bring the idea to fruition.
Interesting video, Jago... I didn't realise that Camden Road had such a varied history. Incidentally I love the last bit... buildings and architecture interest me too and I like spotting this kind of thing. Thanks for reminding people to *look up*!
Very interesting video! I think there were also plans to reopen the viaduct to provide extra capacity for a HS2 to HS1 link, but that was abandoned as well.
Loved this video Jago - thanks. I used to live in Hackney back in the early 80s and used the station on a semi-regular basis - "not quite" as nice as it is today, lol, but it brought back memories.
The ELL should be extened to Camden Road (and honestly should connect with the Watford DC lines at some point in the future IMO. Bring all the platforms back into use and you'd give an extremely good service to the busiest part of the line. Youd have to quad track the viaduct for ~100m but thats not exactly a huge expensive to give what could act as a Crossrail type service to E London, especially as it would take pressure off of Euston while its inevitably rebuilt.
I missed out on Camden Rd. I used to live a mile or so from Dalston Kingsland and made quite a few trips back in the 80s on the North London Line: a fare few to Brondesbury, half a dozen to Finchley Rd & Frognal for the nearby camera shop, even more to West Hamstead but by far the best though less frequent those to Kew Gardens were the best ( did seem to take an age). The rolling stock was old and dilapidated then.
There is the other Camden Road station, the closed one, a little bit along Camden Road, that was part of the Midland Railway Company. Maybe do an article about these closed Midland suburban station? Finchley Road, where the buildings were recently pulled down, and are now just a vacant area, Camden Road, and another who's name escapes me just north of Farringdon. Others too?
Slight anorak moment, the line thru Camden Road was electrified in the 1920s I believe to 4th rail electrification into Broad street, it was then electrified to overhead wires in stages from the 1970s so container trains could run from Stratford to Willesden and primrose Hill onto the wcml
Another interesting story from Jago. Thank you. As someone who lives overseas but nevertheless has spent some days in Amersham in the past, I have had an enjoyable day on a number of occasions travelling all round London on an off peak travelcard which excluded Zone 1. These were reasonably priced. For that you could take in all the North London line, the DLR, the Croydon - Wimbledon tram, the link from Clapham Junction to Willesden which did not exist when I lived in London, etc, etc. A great way for a transport nut to explore.
A very grand building! I think I remember visiting here when “seeing how far you can go in a lunch break from Baker Street” was a thing with a friend of mine at work at the time. (And yes, it took more than an hour to get there and back - this was pre 2007!)
I used to live in Hackney and the Overground is my favourite London railway. Its stations are a rollcall of places you need to have visited if in London and getting there on the Overground is the best way.
In met Mick Jagger on the platform twice in the early sixties and, no wait, that can't be true, I wouldn't be born until a decade later. Well anyway, cheerio, great viddo, I sure had a bally good time watching. As usual.
I really enjoy your videos. You empart so much history, with delightful humor. I come from a railroad family and love trains, stations, and all other things railroad. Please keep up the good work.
Well done, excellent video. Camden Road was my go to station when I lived around the corner on Royal College St. This brought back such good memories. As a New Yorker a Highline style park for the disused tracks would be amazing. The NYC highline has done wonders for that neighborhood, I am sure it would be a boon for the business in the area and provide another green space for the residents.
I live on the North London line at Gunnersbury. The office building 389 Chiswich High Road, which is above and surrounds the station, booking hall and platforms must make it the most carbuncular monstrosity on the line if not in the whole of London.
1855 a loco boiler explosion from defective welding , riveting possibly, we were not turning out welded boilers till after the turn of the century and even the riveting remained a main stay into and beyond the 50’s, electric welding I think was patterned in the 1880’s As always a excellent presentation
Thank you for another piece of London history,Jago ! - I know I have mentioned this before,but how about something along the history of Cinemas in London - Yep, I know it's well outside your wheelhouse,but I read several articles years ago,suggesting a more than casual link between transport links and the sucess or otherwise of popular entertainment venues.... And some of the buidlings are still beautiful.
You may or may not be surprised that we are among that number that use the North London Line to Camden Road precisely because it helps us get there without all the faff, in the open air, and in a much shorter time. OK so you do have an additional five minute walk to the centre, but it’s all just that little bit more leisurely 🤷🏻♂️ I confess it was all from a situation of necessity. There were massive snarl ups everywhere en route to a gig many years ago and were told of delays through the centre of London. At the time, I’d occasionally use the old NLR via North Woolwich to get to Charlton games. “Come on, we can go to Camden Road instead” I say. My idea was less than enthusiastically received as though this leap of faith could only be met with disaster as there is surely only one way to Camden and protests that “it’s not even Camden Town” as though Camden Road was going to be miles away and surely surrounded by impenetrable murky out lands of boggy filth (which in fairness, some of it was in those days but that’s not the point) and they’d be lost to the world for ever, etc. 🙄 So my girlfriend, myself and one trusting friend that actually believed I wasn’t evil jumped off, duly caught a 313 unit to Camden Road and were already on our second pint by the time the non-believers turned up at The Devonshire Arms all flustered and almost saying it was my fault for not persuading them to follow! 🤣😂😅 It was a shadow of the station it is now in fairness. The TFL upgrade has really helped the old building shine. When I went that way again about 6 or 7 years later, I was struck by just what a nice job of renovation had been done. The stairwells weren’t nearly as grubby or smelly and it felt a bit loved (I think the new trains and all new OHLE helped give it more prominence too)😎 As for the tea incident: as much as one may be dying for a cuppa, the story actually made me think of my dear nanna, from who I developed my own addiction to loose leaf tea at all parts of the day. She worked hard in her dry cleaning shop and my ‘duty’ as an 9 year old (I dunno, child Labour even in the 1970s!) was to make the tea. And I remember the many times she’d finally get to have a sit down at the table out back, we’d pour it out and she’d say “Ahhhh! Cup o’ life-saver!” Never was a phrase more apt than those fortunate fellows of theNLR that day! 😜🍀 We’ll be going to Camden again later in the year to the Roundhouse for a gig, and I suspect that my lovely missus and I will again opt for the much more enjoyable and civilised route via Camden Road, albeit of course these days one has to get the Jube to Stratford which ironically makes it a slightly longer journey, but it is still the better way 🤓 Cheers Jago, great video of a very, very handsome handsome station 🍻👍🫖😊
The intersection of architecture, railroads and cities. For my tastes in history, it doesn't get better than that Thank you again for presenting this most enjoyable confluence.That truly is a wonderful building that captures the stature of its public role.
Far more impressive than the station at Camden Road it would appear was that at Highbury (and perhaps video- worthy?). Your mention of it got me searching. It was evidently quite something, but was mostly destroyed by a V1 rocket in 1944, along with most of Highbury Corner - which became instead a roundabout.
I'm a Canadian subscriber two year your channel from Canada, and fallen in love with all things metro and underground. I find myself wishing in the cities i lived in had too invested deeply in electric trains and advanced commuter travel. I admire your work and the extensive knowledge of back history and even the corrections interspersed with humor and changing my pronunciations of names here in Canada as well so hear is a heart for you Good sir! Though I live outside out of Montreal which has had its own underground systems and is near completion of an overground network as well. Thunder Bay could had well developed much bigger had they taken considerations in their past and been a far more industrious place considering they have the Bombardier Co. building rolling stock for other major cities such as Toronto and other places even in europe. Poor foresight I suppose. ❤
Glad that charming architecture survives! I like the idea of a Camden 'High Line' - as said in other comments, the success of the one in New York more than proves the value of such schemes.
I do love visiting London. I really enjoyed the vibe of Camden and the people at the Notting hill carnival looked after me and my wife as we wandered about bewildered (turns out I like goat curry).
Thanks for another interesting video Jago! In the mid-1960s my mother used to take us on the North London Line from Gunnersbury to Hampstead Heath on the Broad Street line to visit our aunt who was in the Royal Free Hospital. I remember the line had a distinctly neglected air at the time. The green multiple-unit trains were old and rattled, and grubby slam-door stock, with an odd arrangement of three metal bars across the door windows - presumably to stop passengers leaning out. Some of the older trains had a power compartment behind the driver's cab, like the 1920s standard stock tube trains. They used third-rail electrification at that time. The stations were tired and dingy, especially those at Brondesbury and Brondesbury Park, I seem to remember Hampstead Heath might have been moderised in the mid-century with concrete roofs over the platforms. The signage was red with white text I think. Great to see how much has been improved today!
It's a little unjust to describe the class 501 DC EMUs as shabby in the mid 1960s. They were then only ten years old. They merely seemed old fashioned to people who became accustomed to later designs. Bars on the windows were originally fitted to trains running on routes allegedly with narrow clearance, to prevent passengers ( drunk or adolescent), from injuring their heads or necks. As for the stations etc being shabby, most places were just that in the 1960s, recovering from the war, and still filthy from coal smoke. It was only later that it was realised that with smokeless coal and natural gas becoming the norm, buildings which were cleaned, could now stay clean.
The bars on the windows I think were specifically due to narrow clearances in Hampstead Heath tunnel which made it even more dangerous than usual for people to lean out of the window. Not an experience that most modern rail travellers will have, except if they get a trip on heritage stock (or an HST?).
Great content again thanks, this was my local station when it was commonly known as the Broad St & Richmond line, I remember an accident in the early 60s just west of the station when a train came off the viaduct where the line crosses Kentish Town road. Also remember shopping in Bowman’s, never noticed the artwork though.
Thanks for this video, Jago! It brings back memories of my time in London as a student at UCL. I used to stay at the uni residences just down the road, and became a frequent user of Camden Road, usually to head out toward Canary Wharf, where a cousin lived. I much preferred this route (via Stratford) as it was roomier, airier, and cheaper than the tube through zone 1. My cousin had no idea about the existence of the Overground (not sure if the system was that obscure ten years ago, or she was that ignorant), and I felt pretty smart telling her, a long-time Londoner, about my 'secret' travel hack. One of the details I loved about the station was how the 'O' in both the Camden Town and Camden Road signs painted along the sides of the viaduct were styled as a power button. The Camden Road Highline proposal sounds interesting as well! I used to head down the Canal to get to King's Cross, but it would be nice to have an alternative route as well - there were some nice views along the elevated viaducts toward the City, and I'm guessing the proposal will end up connecting with the Camley Street Nature Park which was quite the hidden gem.
Was it just me or was the HS1-HS2 link line originally planned to use the spare Camden alignment? (The one where the park might end up) Now that would be interesting to see...
like the underground top side railways had a good deal in changing ownerships, station name changes and route deviations all to improve its service (and make more money) what changes would be made in the next 100 years? now that would be something for a future u tuber like yourself to carry on in addition to your history / stories. hope you archive them all for a future jago to find :)
Interesting to see the length of the train. When I used to use the North London Line regularly 50 years ago from Hampstead Heath to Willesden 😊Junction
Wasn't there once a plan to extend the services which currently terminate at Highbury & Islington to Camden Road, reusing the two closed sets of track you've mentioned?
For some reason Camden and the markets holds a mystical status in my brain. Probably from watching too many documentaries about music and culture and stuff.
In Sydney Australia (near where I live), the big department stores and the railways grew in relation to each other. Some department stores failed when they didn't get an underground station and others prospered when they did. I imagine it was a similar thing in London? It might be an idea for a future episode?
The freight trains that ran on the North London line were later pulled by diesel engines and as a result, much of that diesel got split, as a consequence fires on the line, before smoking was banned sometimes occured, even after the end of freight traffic, had ended. I remember a track fire at Highbury and Islington in the late nineties, as a result of diesel residue.
I gotta say Camden Road is my fav station too as my local station and also as a NLL Driver. Professionally I'd love to see the 3rd platform reinstated but as a local the Camden High Line would be pretty cool too.
Was the discontinued line with a station at Victoria Park part of this line? I worked in east London for a time and lodged in Bow for a couple of years. I have a vague memory of some people buying land that had formerly been part of the railway to extend their gardens circa the late 1990s to early 2000s. There had been a long ago murder on that line too.
Love Camden Road for the elevated platform and airy entrance. Nearly bought a house right next to it, but ended up in Stoke Newington, from where the trip to Hampstead (where I used to live nd the kids go to school) is easy: Dalston Kingsland - Camden Rd, short walk, then Camden Town to Hampstead.
You're making so many videos I can't keep up with them all! Problem is I have to watch all of Geoff Marshall's and Tom Scott's videos as well. I need more time.
The North London line was featured on the Underground map in the 70's - Richmond to Broad Street. As you say complicated history. I noticed the connection to Kentish Town, no longer in use and Blackwall, was this where it terminated at North Greenwich? years before development there. I used the line many times in the 80's from North Woolwich. Nicely told history.
Развлечения
Thanks Jago for always letting us see the entire train depart before cutting to a new scene. Appreciate it immensely.
Bit weird but alright
One of the other stations I look after as part of my role working for London Overground. It's got a lovely office and when I need some fresh air, I just sit on the platform. Nice video, Jago!
From one musical elitist to another, that sounds like a pretty sweet gig!
@@apolloc.vermouth5672 It really is! I look after the North section of the network, so I get to see a lot.
I’ve sent this to my colleague who manages the station - he’s always interested in things like these.
I used to service the ticket machines at this station, and all the other stations on the Overground.
I rode this line a couple of times in the late 1970's. The trains were old and dilapidated with few passengers. This station was in a deplorable condition. It was as if this line was being deliberately run down for closure.
Great to see it so much improved and widely used.
It was very much the same way when I started using it before just TFL took over.
I was there a week ago. It’s positively delightful now.
Indeed. Camden Road was a very dark and dingy station in the 70s and 80s. Mind you, the whole line was pretty depressing then, and some of the suburbs it passed through were pretty grotty too. Amazing how much has changed in 40 years.
Sounds like my experience using this line when it was part of the Silverlink franchise in 2007...
The coaches were cramped then. I remember I scratched my itchy leg and couldn't understand why I wasn't easing it. I looked down and I realised I was scratching the leg of the bloke next to me. I apologised and he was gracious about it; maybe he was just relieved that the old bird next to him had made a mistake and not a pass.....
Just a bit to add, the coffee shop (Hidden Coffee) working in the building is great as well. The terrace sees regular sunshine in the mornings, so it is awesome to sit there, even on winter mornings the sun keeps you somewhat warm and in a good mood.
Plus they have great coffee, friendly staff, and give out free coffee for homeless people, instead of being rude ot them.
I always like to try independent coffee shops so you've given me an idea... and as luck would have it I'm visiting London for a couple of days next week. Therefore this place is on my list, so thanks for the tip!
This homeowner must give them my custom if I visit Camden,in that case. If they're not too hidden for me to find them.
On the odd occasion I used the North London line in the early 80s, peering through the brake-dust encrusted windows of the grubby blue electrics, at the decaying trainscape of inner North London, I always remembered those lines of Betjeman:
"Rumbling under blackened girders,
Midland bound for Cricklewood,
Puffs its sulphur to the sunset,
Where that land of laundries stood"
I know it's not the same line, but he just summoned up the atmosphere of North London so well.
Mark Thompson,
God bless John Betjeman.
Not merely did he save Saint Pancras, but his lyrics are appreciated more as the years go by.
Whilst attending the Abbey Choir School in the late 50s, our science master was a dedicated railways fanatic. I well recall him taking the five of us who were in his year 5 class to see the class 9f Black Prince locomotive at Camden Road station during a British Railways children's day held on a Sunday afternoon. We even got to miss singing Evensong that Sunday. Obviously, to him the engine was a greater focus of worship that day than any God!! 🤭
Black Prince was a beast of a locomotive. I was lucky to ride on its footplate when it was at the West Somerset Railway.
Its current home is the North Norfolk railway.
Camden Road use to be my local station. I used it regularly between 2007 to 2015 and the transformation of the North London line has to be one best things to happen to London in recent history and shows that much needed was investment can return dividends.
It’s a fantastic way of getting from east to west (and vice versa) avoiding zone 1 with added benefit on humid summer days of having rolling with air con.
0:32 "Sometimes the smallest railways choose the grandest titles". Another example - The Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Limited.
And the Staleybridge,Hyde Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Tramways and Electricity Board.
The little Railway in the top left hand corner of Wales!!..
There was a time in the 1970s when London Transport refused to incorporate the North London Line on the underground map which made a bunch of supporters manually add it to as many underground station maps as they could one night. Shortly afterwards, LT succumbed and added it to the map as the "honorary line" that you mentioned
I was thinking of writing something similar. They used something like a giant sheet of Letraset. I salute them!
The New York High Line is really cool, I’d love to see something similar put together in central London…
I've walked it several times and there is always something that I didn't notice on previous visits. The highlight for me is the distant view of the Statue of Liberty.
I always use this station to go to Camden. Far less stressful than using the underground's station
I like to imagine that department store at the end was very much like Grace Brothers.
I'm free.
"I've lost my pussy!" Copyright Mrs Slocombe...
I worked at Bowman Bros in the early sixties as a weekend lift boy and to my chagrin I have to say that I never noticed the mosaics.
They also had a branch in chatsworth Road , Hackney E5 when I was a kid ,got dragged In there for my first school uniform 😫
Because of popularity and context, being a train history enthusiast can be a very insular passion. When somebody like you pops up and produces a video such as this about one of one’s own favourite station, your heart can’t help but leap for joy 😊Thank you x
As usual exceptional work young man , 1 of my granddads was an engineer based at Camden Road , at 1.40 seconds you can see the large black gates/doors on the left behind is a cobbled ramp which used to go down to the workshops and office .
There's so much history encased in these stations that I didn't know about. I was aware of the Camden Town station on the Underground and how crowded it is but not this Overground one. Thanks for continuing to document these stations and how and why they came to be as they are.
Ref; to the High Line proposal,the New York equivalent is based on the old New York Central West Side freight line,abandoned during the 1970's,[There was a version of Beeching,cutting out excessive trackage,and there a story or two there,but that's for another time]! During the 1990's,the line was proposed as a linear park,and now does attract people with a different perspective of Manhattan,so some good things do exist in NYC! Thanks Jago,for the forum and,gosh,I forgot,one very well known literary character called Camden Town,home!! Remember Bob Cratchit from Dicken's,"A Christmas Carol",his family resided there too! Nothing like Christmas in July! Thanks again for your ever thoughtful rambling,and side trips!! 🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎🚎
Hmmmph. When I finally gathered together my courage to go to NYC, I discovered it is FULL of WONDERFUL things. Including Grand Central Terminal. Amongst them, the Highline is certainly one. (Also, the people are couth, if you're reasonably polite. As a rather grand friend once remarked, "Ah yes, they do respond to kindness.)
And the NYC one was inspired by the Promenade Plantée, a linear park in Paris on the former line to the Bastille rail station. The Bastille line closed in the 1980s -- when the Bastille station was torn down to make room for a new opera house -- and the park was built on it in the early '90s. Part of it is elevated on the Viaduc des Arts (with artisans' shops and artists' galleries in the arches underneath), while other sections are at ground level or depressed.
@@AaronOfMpls I didn't know that, thank you. And one day, maybe some motorways will be turned into linear parks.
My concern with the linear park plan, would be that any further expansion of the railway infrastructure would be compromised. This must be a very intensively utilized stretch of line nowadays. I worked over it when based at Stratford in the late 70’s, of course things were in decline, but taking the goods lines out of use seemed shortsighted, even in those days!😮
A bit of history on the Highline, it serviced the meat packing district from the early 1920s until the 1980s when it was shut down because trucks were moving all the meat freight. I think the last train shipped turkeys in 1983. Its stayed shuttered and not used. There were plans, at several points, to tear it down and use the space for development. In 1999 a group was founded called friends of the highline, they were residents who lived around the structure. Some of their apartment windows were so close that they were able to climb out and experience the natural garden that grew around the tracks (the whole structure was a platform). in 2003 they commissioned a design competition in order generate interest and awareness of the structure. This helped generate a ton of interest in how the space could be used. It wasn't until 2009 that CSX Transportation donated the structure to the city and Friends of the Highland began planning conversion into the park. I think the first section opened in 2012 and the final section opened in 2019. The full length is just under 1.5 miles. I know so much because I did a photo project on the structure before it turned into the park it is now. One had to sneak past a parking lot attended near 34th street in order to gain access. I had a nice chat with some guy (he in his kitchen and me on the highland) who used grew tomatoes. And I took a ton of pictures. The park as it currently stands is great, so many people use and it is such a unique space where you are above street level but not indoors or on a roof top.
Except that it's built of brick instead of stone, Horne's street level building would look very much at home in Bradford, among those sober looking Italianate blocks designed by Lockwood & Mawson.
Canada Water is my favourite. It means I’m almost home.
Haven’t been to Camden in years. You’ve inspired me to go again soon.
Don't bother with the market, it is utterly rubbish these days.
@@katbryce it’s been disappointing since the early 00’s. Lots of pickpockets too.
The locomotives used on the line were quite small. I think the change of name to North London Railway was because E&WD&BJR wouldn't fit on their side tanks.
The trouble with putting a park on the bridge is that it becomes nearly impossible to re-use it as a railway when the need arises in the future. The legal battles would be epic. In Bristol, fortunately, similar disused bridges were retained by the railway and have allowed the recent re-instatement of 4-tracks between Temple Meads and Filton Junction (Near Parkway) as traffic levels have risen.
The NLR is 4-track between Dalston and Maiden Lane (except for the tunnel near Highbury & Islington) so the short 2-track stretch from there to Camden Rd looks like a bottleneck, or at least a potential one for future traffic patterns, especially as it is also the access to the North London Incline into St Pancras.
I came here to say just that!
I would love you to cover some of the less impressive stations next. Like, _"Top 10 Shittiest London Stations"._ Something in that vein. Wouldn't have to travel much either; many are in Enfield, along with several other inferior travel options (have you _seen_ our -roadside parking- alleged cycle lanes??).
Great video, mate!
Bush Hill Park ?
This is a really interesting thought. We all have favourite stations but how many of us actually have stations we can’t stand or stations we feel aren’t what they used to be. It’s a tough one- as enthusiasts, even one as bland as Euston Road can be loved because it’s an alternative to the hustle and bustle of the main station.
@@andrewphipps8103 plans are afoot to expand Euston Road as part of HS2’s arrival so enjoy it while it lasts 😉
There used to be a very nice but disused (by passengers) station in Enfield. Just to the west of Enfield Chase station up Windmill Hill was the original GNR Enfield terminus, being a goods depot when I lived in the area in the 1950's. It closed to passenger traffic in 1910 and was closed in 1974. It's site is now housing I believe.
@@andrewphipps8103 Euston Road = Euston Square?
I did my bit to keep it going, 1964 until Christmas 1965 I used it to go between Canonbury to Camden Road to go to North London College.
Great video as always, happy memories and cheers from my Sunday morning cuppa!
As someone from overseas, I find your videos completely enthralling. London as a whole is mesmerising but seeing such in-depth videos on individual sections/stations along less widely covered lines (aka underground etc) really makes you realise how densely packed London is with railways.
Maps just don't do it justice.
Thank you!!
On my first visit to Britain, and at Richmond, I found I could use the North London line to get to Broad Street station - one that featured, with excellent photos, in a book of London stations written by John Betjeman. It was a great trip, all the more so when I later learned that Broad Street's French Empire station is no more. Thanks Jago ,for prompting the memories.
CAMDEN TOWN ͶWOT ͶƎᗡMAƆ, the suburb so good they named it twice, once in reverse.
That backwards signage freaks me out. 😵💫
The four tracking from Camden Town to Dalston Western Junctio and onward to Broad Street were all passenger lines. The southern tracks were the No 2 lines and were dc electrified by the L&NNR and is what formed the basis of the 1980's improvements. The northern tracks were the No 1 lines and though not electrified by the L&NWR, the up line from Camden Town Junction to Maiden Lane Junction was electrified with dc current rails to enable passenger trains to pass standing freights awaiting entry to St Pancras Sidings. The last regular passenger trains to use the No 1 lines were weekday Tring - Broad Street until about 1969 and the GN services from Canonbury Junction. The overheads were installed during about 1965 over the No 1 lines to access the container terminal at Maiden Lane, though this had a very short life and the wire were redundant from then on.
"Weekday Tring to broad Street until about 1969"
What traction was this?
@@thomasburke2683 steam until about 1964 then diesel.
Today, on BBC World Service, the "In the Studio" programme was about developing the Camden High Line - James Corner was talking about his work to develop just what you were taking about. What excellent timing - on both parts!
As a youngster in the mid 1940 / early 1950s my parents took me on the North London Line quite often when we went to see my grandparents in Dalston. We lived in Wembley at the time, so went to Willesden Junction and changed to the High Level station. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we would get a direct Broad Street train which branched off the main line at Chalk Farm to access the NLL at Camden Road. But what I remember best was the LNWR Oerlikon EMUs; people say that they were the best EMUs to ever grace the rails of Britain - and who am I to argue?!
My first memory of these trains was when they were what looked to me like a dirty brown colour, but I later realised it was LMS maroon. One day, however, one of these trains turned up in a shiny new green livery; it would have been in 1948 and Nationalisation had arrived. Despite that, my Dad still referred to them as LMS trains...
Ron Fisher,
Your dad was quite right to refer to them as LMS trains if they were built by or for the LMSR.
Indeed some had been built for the LNWR by metro cammell, the earliest with Siemens power equipment, most with Oerlikon.
The green livery could and would have been known as Southern green, even though it was chosen by BR for non- Southern routes.
@@thomasburke2683 The LNWR Oelikon sets had spacious saloon interiors, but the later LMS sets had individual compartments. The LNWR sets were much nicer to ride in, but the LMS set were much nicer than the BR Class 501s that were introduced in 1957. These were the trains with window bars mentioned in an earlier comment.
The 'Southern Green' colour was the colour that BR used on all EMUs across the country after nationalisation. But I was somewhat taken aback as a youngster when the expected brown train (as I called the LMS maroon trains) turned out to be a green train! At that age, I was too young to know anything about politics and railway nationalisation.
My Dad was still referring to the LMS long after 1948 in the same way that I sometimes find myself referring to Network Rail and the TOCs as BR!
We should think about a suitable venue, railway station, for the Jago Hazzard Appreciation Society to meet.
The original 1963 electrification was at 750v DC third rail. Then in the 1980s when BR started putting in sections of 25kV overhead things got interesting as the pantograph was up and down like a yo-yo. Now of course the whole route beyond Acton is on overhead. But don't forget Jago Richmond is in SOUTH West London!
Where you have a station on a viaduct you need buildings underneath to hold up the platforms and station buildings. There used to be rather robust houses in Bonny Street built in the same Italianate style for that purpose. In the 1960s, my group of friends used to have parties in one of those houses and under the railway arch that served for a back yard. Google Street View suggests that the houses have been repurposed, but I haven't been there to see.
As a train spotter from the 1960s I always thought the NLR as the D&BR or the Dull&Boring Railway as it ran boring electric emus complete with bars over the windows so you couldn't stick your head out the window.
If you went to Broad Street station it's was as exciting as watching paint dry.
Well the line has really changed now.
Never been to this station but hope visiting in my next trip to London. I love that idea of the viaduct park!
There is already one that runs from Finsbury Park to Highgate!
@@alanmoss3603 I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know!
@@isashax It's a great walk, with a welcome pub at the end of it! Really spooky at night!
Have changed trains at Camden Road but never realised the exterior was so impressive. Will have to take a closer look next time! Less sure about converting the disused track to a walkway. Why not reinstate it and increase track capacity? It was always said that the limit on the North London service was fitting it round the freight trains. Are they now all confined to night time? And I do wonder whether the Primrose Hill-Camden Road section could still be useful. If some trains used that, it would free space further north for Goblin trains to go further west rather than terminating at the poorly-connected Gospel Oak. Some remodelling would be needed at Willesden Junction but that's worthwhile anyway. The loss of the mainline platforms is still a gap; Willesden is an underexploited hub. It's also frustrating how many Overground trains from the south terminate at Dalston Junction rather than continuing to the vital connecting point of Highbury and Islington. In some parts, the Overground is now overcrowded, including Stratford-Highbury - partly a victim of its own success, but it shows its value and usefulness, and kudos to TfL for realising the potential.
I agree to all of that.
The two northern tracks through the station were electrified at 25kV around 1967 to serve the first Freightliner depot at York Road. It was removed when the depot was closed.
The original electrification by the LNWR was on the fourth rail system and opened in 1916 using the Oerlikon stock. It was converted to the third rail system around 1970. The Oerlikon stock was replaced by the class 501 BR units from 1956.
I worked in Camden Town in the 80’s, getting there on the Northern Line, but Camden Road to Broad St was my back up for any major Northern Line problems. It seemed very run down then and becoming part of the overground was probably the best thing to happen to the line
Would be nice to put the lines back across the other bridge, then freight can bypass the station. Also there’s a very good book about this line called: A very political railway by Wayne Asher.
It also gets a mention in a song by Suggs called Camden town,
"In Camden town, I'll meet you by the underground" a tube train also gets used in the music video (not sure what stock it is)
You like the overground and I like your videos, especially when they include bonus mosaic action. Sometimes things do work out nicely. ♡
Good video. Might have been worth mentioning that, as well as Westbound trains to Richmond and Clapham Junction via Willesden Junction, it was possible until 1992 to catch trains to Watford via Primrose Hill (some Eastbound trains going to Liverpool Street).
I loved the North London Line when I lived near South End Green in Hampstead. It was an easy way to get to Islington, where I had friends, Kew, which I love to this day and later to London City Airport. The trains were pretty crap but it was overground and I always enjoyed looking out of the window while I travelled from Hampstead Heath station, which was a few hundred metres from my flat. I usually just walked down to Camden Town but I did occasionally alight at Camden Road and I always thought it was an attractive station.
I use Camden Road extensively to take the nice, if at times dingy, path along the canal to the markets. The dream would be an overground train route that went from Camden Road and took a left going west over the viaduct to South Hampstead so you could see the bustling market the same way as where you quickly have to take a gawp down Brick Lane as you pass.
I've had a fixation on the entire North London Line for 40 years. I'm delighted to see this video. There are 3 UCL halls of residence about 2 blocks from the Camden Road Station. I was lucky enough to get a room in Max Rayne in 1982 - I'd not lived in London before.
It was such a different time. There were no problems parking in most parts of London because car ownership was much rarer. The GLC existed. Route Masters make taking buses quick easy and fun. I loved that I could go from Camden to Richmond so quickly with no changes. In a cold and wet November, I convinced a very dubious American student to go with me via the line to Islington so see Venice Preserved at the Almeida - which had no heating, & used chairs on scaffolding for seating. The Almeida has changed a lot too At that time the Dept of Transport was always trying to shut the line.
It's great, you can get to the east, west, and south west so quickly. Back then it had the carriages with doors at every set of seats. Probably considered horribly dangerous now - but I loved them.
Exceptional video, agreed comfortably the best overground station. The high-line is a capital idea too. I'll make my plea as I always do, if we could have a Jago Hazard video for the Primrose Hill Station, one would be very grateful.
The Camden mini high line is one of several that have been proposed over the years. As well as the disused section of line into the old Bishopsgate goods yard, there was also the Limehouse curve, and coal sidings at Peckham. Another scheme was proposed for West London in Hammersmith. All will pale in comparison, though, with the wonderful New York high line that I have walked several times.
@@eattherich9215 : That was exactly my comparator. I was lucky enough to live in Manhatttan for a time and the High-Line on a sunday, particularly when the weather was crisp, it was a real joy. I hope they bring the idea to fruition.
Interesting video, Jago... I didn't realise that Camden Road had such a varied history. Incidentally I love the last bit... buildings and architecture interest me too and I like spotting this kind of thing. Thanks for reminding people to *look up*!
Jago as usual Far and Beyond on history videos uploads. Thank you so much for sharing.
Very interesting video! I think there were also plans to reopen the viaduct to provide extra capacity for a HS2 to HS1 link, but that was abandoned as well.
Loved this video Jago - thanks. I used to live in Hackney back in the early 80s and used the station on a semi-regular basis - "not quite" as nice as it is today, lol, but it brought back memories.
The ELL should be extened to Camden Road (and honestly should connect with the Watford DC lines at some point in the future IMO. Bring all the platforms back into use and you'd give an extremely good service to the busiest part of the line. Youd have to quad track the viaduct for ~100m but thats not exactly a huge expensive to give what could act as a Crossrail type service to E London, especially as it would take pressure off of Euston while its inevitably rebuilt.
I missed out on Camden Rd. I used to live a mile or so from Dalston Kingsland and made quite a few trips back in the 80s on the North London Line: a fare few to Brondesbury, half a dozen to Finchley Rd & Frognal for the nearby camera shop, even more to West Hamstead but by far the best though less frequent those to Kew Gardens were the best ( did seem to take an age). The rolling stock was old and dilapidated then.
There is the other Camden Road station, the closed one, a little bit along Camden Road, that was part of the Midland Railway Company. Maybe do an article about these closed Midland suburban station? Finchley Road, where the buildings were recently pulled down, and are now just a vacant area, Camden Road, and another who's name escapes me just north of Farringdon. Others too?
I adore London and spend as much time as I am allowed to on the trains. I love them.
Loving all the steam the channel has lately
Slight anorak moment, the line thru Camden Road was electrified in the 1920s I believe to 4th rail electrification into Broad street, it was then electrified to overhead wires in stages from the 1970s so container trains could run from Stratford to Willesden and primrose Hill onto the wcml
Another interesting story from Jago. Thank you. As someone who lives overseas but nevertheless has spent some days in Amersham in the past, I have had an enjoyable day on a number of occasions travelling all round London on an off peak travelcard which excluded Zone 1. These were reasonably priced. For that you could take in all the North London line, the DLR, the Croydon - Wimbledon tram, the link from Clapham Junction to Willesden which did not exist when I lived in London, etc, etc. A great way for a transport nut to explore.
A very grand building! I think I remember visiting here when “seeing how far you can go in a lunch break from Baker Street” was a thing with a friend of mine at work at the time. (And yes, it took more than an hour to get there and back - this was pre 2007!)
I used to live in Hackney and the Overground is my favourite London railway. Its stations are a rollcall of places you need to have visited if in London and getting there on the Overground is the best way.
In met Mick Jagger on the platform twice in the early sixties and, no wait, that can't be true, I wouldn't be born until a decade later. Well anyway, cheerio, great viddo, I sure had a bally good time watching. As usual.
I really enjoy your videos. You empart so much history, with delightful humor.
I come from a railroad family and love trains, stations, and all other things railroad.
Please keep up the good work.
Jago thanks for brightening up my Sunday afternoon !
4:20 Even back then the importance of user experience was too often lost on the people responsible for it. Thanks for the video!
Well done, excellent video. Camden Road was my go to station when I lived around the corner on Royal College St. This brought back such good memories. As a New Yorker a Highline style park for the disused tracks would be amazing. The NYC highline has done wonders for that neighborhood, I am sure it would be a boon for the business in the area and provide another green space for the residents.
'Railway history is never simple', so thanks for all the lovely video, maps and diagrams. 😉
I live on the North London line at Gunnersbury. The office building 389 Chiswich High Road, which is above and surrounds the station, booking hall and platforms must make it the most carbuncular monstrosity on the line if not in the whole of London.
1855 a loco boiler explosion from defective welding , riveting possibly, we were not turning out welded boilers till after the turn of the century and even the riveting remained a main stay into and beyond the 50’s, electric welding I think was patterned in the 1880’s
As always a excellent presentation
That brought me up short too. They would have been rivetted.
@@dukenukem5768 The UK was very backward on boiler welding even in the 40's
Thank you for another piece of London history,Jago ! - I know I have mentioned this before,but how about something along the history of Cinemas in London - Yep, I know it's well outside your wheelhouse,but I read several articles years ago,suggesting a more than casual link between transport links and the sucess or otherwise of popular entertainment venues.... And some of the buidlings are still beautiful.
You may or may not be surprised that we are among that number that use the North London Line to Camden Road precisely because it helps us get there without all the faff, in the open air, and in a much shorter time. OK so you do have an additional five minute walk to the centre, but it’s all just that little bit more leisurely 🤷🏻♂️
I confess it was all from a situation of necessity. There were massive snarl ups everywhere en route to a gig many years ago and were told of delays through the centre of London. At the time, I’d occasionally use the old NLR via North Woolwich to get to Charlton games. “Come on, we can go to Camden Road instead” I say. My idea was less than enthusiastically received as though this leap of faith could only be met with disaster as there is surely only one way to Camden and protests that “it’s not even Camden Town” as though Camden Road was going to be miles away and surely surrounded by impenetrable murky out lands of boggy filth (which in fairness, some of it was in those days but that’s not the point) and they’d be lost to the world for ever, etc. 🙄
So my girlfriend, myself and one trusting friend that actually believed I wasn’t evil jumped off, duly caught a 313 unit to Camden Road and were already on our second pint by the time the non-believers turned up at The Devonshire Arms all flustered and almost saying it was my fault for not persuading them to follow! 🤣😂😅
It was a shadow of the station it is now in fairness. The TFL upgrade has really helped the old building shine. When I went that way again about 6 or 7 years later, I was struck by just what a nice job of renovation had been done. The stairwells weren’t nearly as grubby or smelly and it felt a bit loved (I think the new trains and all new OHLE helped give it more prominence too)😎
As for the tea incident: as much as one may be dying for a cuppa, the story actually made me think of my dear nanna, from who I developed my own addiction to loose leaf tea at all parts of the day. She worked hard in her dry cleaning shop and my ‘duty’ as an 9 year old (I dunno, child Labour even in the 1970s!) was to make the tea. And I remember the many times she’d finally get to have a sit down at the table out back, we’d pour it out and she’d say “Ahhhh! Cup o’ life-saver!” Never was a phrase more apt than those fortunate fellows of theNLR that day! 😜🍀
We’ll be going to Camden again later in the year to the Roundhouse for a gig, and I suspect that my lovely missus and I will again opt for the much more enjoyable and civilised route via Camden Road, albeit of course these days one has to get the Jube to Stratford which ironically makes it a slightly longer journey, but it is still the better way 🤓
Cheers Jago, great video of a very, very handsome handsome station 🍻👍🫖😊
The intersection of architecture, railroads and cities. For my tastes in history, it doesn't get better than that Thank you again for presenting this most enjoyable confluence.That truly is a wonderful building that captures the stature of its public role.
Nice appendix with the mosaic 👍
Far more impressive than the station at Camden Road it would appear was that at Highbury (and perhaps video- worthy?). Your mention of it got me searching. It was evidently quite something, but was mostly destroyed by a V1 rocket in 1944, along with most of Highbury Corner - which became instead a roundabout.
I'm a Canadian subscriber two year your channel from Canada, and fallen in love with all things metro and underground. I find myself wishing in the cities i lived in had too invested deeply in electric trains and advanced commuter travel. I admire your work and the extensive knowledge of back history and even the corrections interspersed with humor and changing my pronunciations of names here in Canada as well so hear is a heart for you Good sir! Though I live outside out of Montreal which has had its own underground systems and is near completion of an overground network as well. Thunder Bay could had well developed much bigger had they taken considerations in their past and been a far more industrious place considering they have the Bombardier Co. building rolling stock for other major cities such as Toronto and other places even in europe. Poor foresight I suppose. ❤
Lovely, thanks Jago. As folkies Camden Road means one of our regular trips to nearby Cecil Sharp House avoiding zone 1.
Glad that charming architecture survives! I like the idea of a Camden 'High Line' - as said in other comments, the success of the one in New York more than proves the value of such schemes.
I do love visiting London. I really enjoyed the vibe of Camden and the people at the Notting hill carnival looked after me and my wife as we wandered about bewildered (turns out I like goat curry).
Thanks for another interesting video Jago! In the mid-1960s my mother used to take us on the North London Line from Gunnersbury to Hampstead Heath on the Broad Street line to visit our aunt who was in the Royal Free Hospital. I remember the line had a distinctly neglected air at the time. The green multiple-unit trains were old and rattled, and grubby slam-door stock, with an odd arrangement of three metal bars across the door windows - presumably to stop passengers leaning out. Some of the older trains had a power compartment behind the driver's cab, like the 1920s standard stock tube trains. They used third-rail electrification at that time. The stations were tired and dingy, especially those at Brondesbury and Brondesbury Park, I seem to remember Hampstead Heath might have been moderised in the mid-century with concrete roofs over the platforms. The signage was red with white text I think. Great to see how much has been improved today!
It's a little unjust to describe the class 501 DC EMUs as shabby in the mid 1960s. They were then only ten years old. They merely seemed old fashioned to people who became accustomed to later designs. Bars on the windows were originally fitted to trains running on routes allegedly with narrow clearance, to prevent passengers ( drunk or adolescent), from injuring their heads or necks.
As for the stations etc being shabby, most places were just that in the 1960s, recovering from the war, and still filthy from coal smoke. It was only later that it was realised that with smokeless coal and natural gas becoming the norm, buildings which were cleaned, could now stay clean.
The bars on the windows I think were specifically due to narrow clearances in Hampstead Heath tunnel which made it even more dangerous than usual for people to lean out of the window. Not an experience that most modern rail travellers will have, except if they get a trip on heritage stock (or an HST?).
Great content again thanks, this was my local station when it was commonly known as the Broad St & Richmond line, I remember an accident in the early 60s just west of the station when a train came off the viaduct where the line crosses Kentish Town road. Also remember shopping in Bowman’s, never noticed the artwork though.
Thanks for this video, Jago! It brings back memories of my time in London as a student at UCL. I used to stay at the uni residences just down the road, and became a frequent user of Camden Road, usually to head out toward Canary Wharf, where a cousin lived. I much preferred this route (via Stratford) as it was roomier, airier, and cheaper than the tube through zone 1. My cousin had no idea about the existence of the Overground (not sure if the system was that obscure ten years ago, or she was that ignorant), and I felt pretty smart telling her, a long-time Londoner, about my 'secret' travel hack. One of the details I loved about the station was how the 'O' in both the Camden Town and Camden Road signs painted along the sides of the viaduct were styled as a power button. The Camden Road Highline proposal sounds interesting as well! I used to head down the Canal to get to King's Cross, but it would be nice to have an alternative route as well - there were some nice views along the elevated viaducts toward the City, and I'm guessing the proposal will end up connecting with the Camley Street Nature Park which was quite the hidden gem.
Was it just me or was the HS1-HS2 link line originally planned to use the spare Camden alignment? (The one where the park might end up)
Now that would be interesting to see...
like the underground top side railways had a good deal in changing ownerships, station name changes and route deviations all to improve its service (and make more money) what changes would be made in the next 100 years? now that would be something for a future u tuber like yourself to carry on in addition to your history / stories. hope you archive them all for a future jago to find :)
Thanks again Jago , for showing me more of your infrastructure , and Cheers from California !
used to go to school from the old Dalston Junction to Camden Road - used to be a lovely sweet shop next to the Camden Road station entrance
Interesting to see the length of the train. When I used to use the North London Line regularly 50 years ago from Hampstead Heath to Willesden 😊Junction
They were 3 carriages long
Wasn't there once a plan to extend the services which currently terminate at Highbury & Islington to Camden Road, reusing the two closed sets of track you've mentioned?
For some reason Camden and the markets holds a mystical status in my brain. Probably from watching too many documentaries about music and culture and stuff.
We're in the middle of a massive drought and yet Jago's videos always seem to show it raining...
I was cursed as a child.
Bringing rain to drought struck lands is surely the sign of blessing rather than curse?
Camden town is one of my favourite places in London 😆 soooo happy to see this video😆
Its a pity all the abandoned platforms look such a mess
In Sydney Australia (near where I live), the big department stores and the railways grew in relation to each other. Some department stores failed when they didn't get an underground station and others prospered when they did. I imagine it was a similar thing in London?
It might be an idea for a future episode?
How could we not fall in love with a station to which Jago Hazzard gives his imprimatur ?
The freight trains that ran on the North London line were later pulled by diesel engines and as a result, much of that diesel got split, as a consequence fires on the line, before smoking was banned sometimes occured, even after the end of freight traffic, had ended. I remember a track fire at Highbury and Islington in the late nineties, as a result of diesel residue.
I gotta say Camden Road is my fav station too as my local station and also as a NLL Driver. Professionally I'd love to see the 3rd platform reinstated but as a local the Camden High Line would be pretty cool too.
Thanks Mr Hazzard, I only used Camden Rd once but was v impressed with the architecture and styling
Was the discontinued line with a station at Victoria Park part of this line? I worked in east London for a time and lodged in Bow for a couple of years. I have a vague memory of some people buying land that had formerly been part of the railway to extend their gardens circa the late 1990s to early 2000s. There had been a long ago murder on that line too.
Thanks for the great videos and keep doing them. Whats with the back to front bridge writing though?
Bowmans can be seen in the video for Grey Day by madness 1981, the band performed in the front window of the store.
Love Camden Road for the elevated platform and airy entrance. Nearly bought a house right next to it, but ended up in Stoke Newington, from where the trip to Hampstead (where I used to live nd the kids go to school) is easy: Dalston Kingsland - Camden Rd, short walk, then Camden Town to Hampstead.
You're making so many videos I can't keep up with them all! Problem is I have to watch all of Geoff Marshall's and Tom Scott's videos as well. I need more time.
The North London line was featured on the Underground map in the 70's - Richmond to Broad Street. As you say complicated history. I noticed the connection to Kentish Town, no longer in use and Blackwall, was this where it terminated at North Greenwich? years before development there. I used the line many times in the 80's from North Woolwich. Nicely told history.
Camden road stations looks quite nice, one of the reasons why I really ought to explore more of the London Overground network. :)