There was a riot at Padd one day when a Greenford train was run into a platform with the new barriers. The punters from there weren't used to buying tickets.
1978 and off I went to my first job, commuting to Tottenham Court Road from Greenford. Up the wooden escalator, I felt so grown up. I loved the Central Line back then. Greenford station felt safe and welcoming. Morning paper from the paper kiosk, and in the evening the 120 bus waiting outside. Those were the days. I’ve long moved from the area yet still drive to Greenford, park in a secret location I know of, and “commute” from my favourite station. An Art Deco gem, which still feels, despite the changes to the escalators and the addition of an incline lift, very much the station it always was. And yes, the paper kiosk is still there. Thank you for taking me down memory Lane and visiting the best station on the network, well, at least in Greenford 😂 👏👏👍😀 Andrew
To me semaphores are reassuring in that it indicates that there are real people involved in the safe passage of trains and not just another remote computer system. Now someone will inform me that these signals are operated by some robot miles away. Please don't destroy my illusions!
Quite so... faraway in single track heaven in Levin NZ I nearly choked on my ice-cream... and at the end of Lord Jago presentation, as the goods train was passing through,,,,one semaphore arm had dropped... action happening.
The "push you pull me" was a busy service when it continued on into Paddington. There were stops along the way that were only served by this line, such as South Greenford, Castlebar Park and then Acton Main Line. Stopping these trains halfway destroyed that service, it was an amazingly fast way to get into Paddington.
It was certainly busy at peak times, though truthfully it also provided free local transport to many people (tbh it essentially provided free trains to Paddington until they finally put up barriers there, and even then there was the Hammersmith & City platform Oyster validator to touch-in). People can still, in practice, ride for free between South Greenford and Drayton Green - but not many people have a need for that fair to say! Actually one of the best things about the Greenford service was its pretty consistent use of Platform 14 at Paddington and its easy access to/from the then Hammersmith & City Paddington platforms - the redesign of that station caused me no end of bother when trying to catch a twice hourly service in the evening. We were originally promised a 4tph shuttle service on the Greenford branch line, but GWR obviously were obviously uninterested in running 2 train units on the line. Transferring in the morning wasn't so much the problem, as having to use the footbridge in the evening. For a few years it was quite the dangerous run along Platform 4 and I am amazed noone died. Now the footbridge is a bit better placed, but as GWR would not hold the service, TFL having taking over the other West Ealing services...it made the return commute basically unviable. (Update: I can see the Elizabeth line being more or less in full operation changing that a bit, and the 'regeneration' at Copley Close should eventually create additional demand at CBP.)
@@alanfarquharhill Yeah the service is generally awful , still no Sunday service, Trains often smell of Urine due to leaky toilet (Avoid that carriage at all costs) The footbridge at Castle Bar Park is dangerous and I've almost fallen down it several times to due to the surface coming away or filling with rain water. Still no sign of the Battery Powered Electric Trains we were promised either.
@@popmonika It won't happen, it's a completely different set of stations. TFL don't really want it, but in the end it will probably be designated TFL Rail. But maybe not soon.
As a kid in the 50s i lived not far from Castlebar holt and obviously saw the trains., 60 yesrs later i finally rode the line from Greenford to W Ealing, my life is now complete.😆
I used to live right next to south greenford station (I think the least used station in the whole of london) and would use the GWR trains to go one stop to greenford station and then onto the central line. I loved the GWR trains they are spacious and slow with big windows and just sort of relaxing ride to greenford overlooking a park. For some reason it also charged me less pay as you go lol. I remember the wooden escalators and when I was young I used to be scared of them quite a bit. I love the design of the platforms where the GWR train just slips in the middle of the central line platforms. Love the video x
I'd argue Haste Hill is the least used station, being a request stop on a miniature line. However the TfL journey planner lists it and will give you directions to the station if you wish to do so
Good grief! I never thought this would happen - I've ridden a London suburban route that you haven't travelled yet! Back in 1967 I used the West Ealing to Greenford branch to visit a friend who lived in Greenford. I remember being struck by the unusual arrangement of the station with the bay platform sandwiched between the Underground's running platforms as well as the fact that my train had to climb up to reach the same level as the Underground! Thanks so much for the video. I hope the short branch hasn't lost its charm.
Back in late 1990/91 I used to work trains in & out of Greenford with the 121 "Bubble car" units from Paddington. I vividly remember the bay platform starter signal was a semiphore but was pnumatically operated from Greenford Signal box. I remember watching it slowly drop in the "off" (clear) postition before giving the driver the RA signal. I see from your film, that it's now a LED colour light signal.
Ah yes.....I had the opportunity to get to know Greenford station well on the times I couldn't be arsed to cycle to work there. When approaching from the east on the Central line in summer there was always a glorious canopy of foliage to look down on. Which, it must be said, provided much-needed contrast to the street-level scenery of Greenford.
Greenford station is at Greenford Green to the North of the A40 Western Avenue, some distance from the main shopping area to the south at Greenford Broadway. Significantly, the station is adjacent to the large former J.Lyons site, which used the railway (and the Grand Union Canal) to transport raw materials and finished goods. The GWR suburban services and the later Central Line would have also been used by the hundreds of Lyons workers. Nearby, to the west of Greenford Road was Rockware Glass, which, at it's peak employed over 1,000 workers.
And back to Paddington at the end of thr service, where several hours later it gets attached to another unit to get back to Reading depot (not sure if that occurs every day or not).
Apparently the battery electric trains proposed here will recharge automatically using a short section of third rail laid under the train (presumably at each end of the line). Although I read today that Vivarail, who are refurbishing the old District Line units, went into administration on 23/11/22, so presumably everything is now uncertain.
@@MrSmith1984 I spoke to a senior manager of the TOC I then worked for (but no longer do) who had been made to attend a Vivarail presentation and look round a 230, with the DfT pressuring all attendees to 'show interest' as they saw 230s as a cheap way of getting "new" trains for the provinces. I asked the manager if that meant they would be having any and was bluntly told "Over my dead body!" From what that manager went on to say about the feelings of other senior rail industry managers, the TOCs don't want 230s; the few that have been taken on have either been mandated by the DfT ("You *will* have these!") or by politicians (TfW!).
@@adriangiddins6065Correct, and it would be using a patented system to only energise the third rail when in use. Vivarail had some interesting battery projects in the pipeline, some of which hadn’t yet been announced. The news came as a jolt to everyone in the industry.
@@jackiespeel6343 Yes, a few goods trains still use the line. There are connections both east and west at both ends of this branch. The only passenger trains that use these are a few through services from Paddington (south-east link line, mentioned in other comments here), and the Chiltern train (north-west link).
There's a rather nice cab ride over that route: th-cam.com/video/KAEOaqvw0OM/w-d-xo.html Greenford station visible at about 13:24 on right. Then we go past signal box, under the two guest bridges where the road from Greenford bay platform comes in from right at about 15:00 and meets our road at 15:10 Greenford West jn Keep watching to see the rest of the line to and beyond West Ealing
I love Greenford as I get to see the other trains I don't normally see as I only use the tube and I love that strange sideways lift, we need more strange sideways lifts
The GWR service sadly now terminates at West Ealing, previously running via Ealing Broadway and on to Paddington…..which was a fast and overground in fresh air service….
I’ve been to West Ealing this week - really good spot for a wide variety. You’ve got the branch, the GWR mainline IETs, lots of freight, Elizabeth line, the Heathrow Expresses, all sorts. I’ve got enough footage from there in about two hours to make several pieces I’m currently working on!
I think the wooden escalators got a bad deal. wood chars (admitted in the air rush from tube stations that can be a little more infernoesque - but servicing and maintenance of rubbish and grease were as large contributory factors.
What worries me is that the management I see on TOCs today would deny that any such risk existed because it wasn't on their officially approved piece of paper. And then after all the deaths they'd deny that safety was their responsibility too. :(
Great video Jago, there is a once per week train every Wednesday that runs from West Ealing to West Ruislip operated by Chiltern Railways which travels on the New North Main Line from Greenford but it being replaced by a replacement bus after the 7th so there only 2 more weeks left.
The West Ealing to Greenford line could do with becoming part of the Overground. When the case was being made for cutting back the through service to Paddington and reducing it to a shuttle, due to lack of capacity caused by the Elizabeth line, a 4 tph service was promised. If some of those trains were extended to West Ruislip Chiltern would be relieved of the burden of running a Parliamentary service, though the trains wouldn't be able to stop at Greenford or any other intermediate station, except South Ruislip.
I would ride from West Ealing to Greenford if your going to GWR it. I’ve gone both ways recently and the arrival into Greenford is just too fun to miss.
I went to Greenford for a wedding back in 2017. I was incredibly fascinated with the incline lift up to the platform. But it was a nice journey as I’d never been that far west on the Central line.
I enjoy seeing the old semaphores along railway tracks. I guess I like seeing some things remaining from the past. Electric signaling may be nearby in brightly lit up colours, but I like seeing the old and the new cohabiting. An acceptance of new technology, with a fond remembrance of the past. Also, that new generations can feel a connection with the yesteryears of rail commuting.
The section of New North Mainline between Acton and South Ruislip was solely owned by the GWR. The joint GW&GC line started at Northolt Junction (near South Ruislip). The Great Central connection from Neasden via Wembley Hill (now Stadium) joined the GW at Northolt Junction. The Joint line finished at Ashendon Junction out in the wilds of north Bucks, where another Great Central connecting line joined the GC main line at Grendon Underwood. Until the GW connection between Ashendon Junction and Aynho Junction on the GW Didcot & Chester line opened in 1910, GW trains left the joint line at Princes Risborough and ran along the GW branch line to Oxford via Thame.
Of course, with semaphore signalling, there is still a signal box there. It sits beneth the Central Line bridges and is a fairly gloomy place. Hard to get a photo of although i did manage it when there with a 37 and an engineers train i was driving, one Sunday back in the late 1990s..... I didn't thing the semaphores would still be there now, it was lunacy that the area wasn't put into Slough or Marylebone IECC's.....
Despite what people have said re Vivarail going into administration, the battery train trials are still due to happen spring next year by the sounds of things. Also, the NNML I believe is just a stub at the moment as the Old Oak Common end was cut first because of Crossrail and now because of HS2 (which will run in tunnels parallel to the NNML all the way to West Ruislip - the shaft where all four TBMs will be removed from are just opposite and slightly south of Greenford). There have been proposals to revive a service on it but I'm not sure what's happening with those ideas - it's not as if people want a Birmingham Moor Street to Old Oak service when there would be HS2 that does basically the same thing but so much better...
Actually, it would be great to have a Birmingham Moor Street to Old Oak Common service. The point wouldn't be to have a slower version of HS2. The point would be to have all the express trains banished and a full stopping service parallel to HS2. That way, folks living close to Birmingham Moor Street or Old Oak Common could take a train to connect with an HS2 train. And people who didn't want to go all the way from Birmingham to London could use the line to commute to their own city. And, if there were more direct services from Greenford to Paddington, that might pursuade some folks to stop using the Central Line.
@@DavidShepheard Point taken, although a Moor Street to Paddington via OOC would probably be preferable to one terminating at OOC (providing they can cross EL tracks easily enough). Either way, most of the expresses from London to Birmingham use the Euston to New Street line, so the local services would get a bigger boost there than OOC to Moor Street would. However, that does not make the idea of BMS-PDN bad, it just means that it's main change in role would be to free up more space at Marylebone for Aylesbury/Winslow/Milton Keynes services by going to Paddington instead.
@@JP_TaVeryMuch I think they were killed in a recent timetable change - although by that point I think they only went from Milton Keynes. (The Southern Service via the West London Line, that is)
Just to add that the ‘New Line’ is currently severed at Old Oak Common for the construction of HS2. Hopefully it will be reinstated later to allow trains from the Chilterns to reach the new Old Oak Common station.
I travelled from Greenford to E. Acton by tube to get to school from 1966 to 1973. During that time the old Western Region station still had its platforms, and at least in the first few years of my school travels on the way home I sometimes used to go up onto the WR platforms. I now can't remember if I noticed them closing the subway or if it outlasted my school career. Earlier than that I'd occasionally travelled on the Western Region from the bay platform, both when it was a tank logo push-and-pull service. Unlike some push-and-pulls the loco was at one end not in the middle; in particular at Greenford it came in at the front so you walked past the loco to get to the single carriage (or occasionally there were two). The loco faced the train. That was so that when it pushed the carriage all the way back to Ealing Broadway (where it terminated at that time) the driver had a better view: the "spectacles" being further away from the carriage than the back of the loco would have been if the train was formed with the bunker (rear) end attached to the carriage. Later we had the DMU "bubble" cars, which were great because you could almost see as much as the driver, and could watch him do everything. It was only when I was older that I realised that in retrospect I preferred steam trains. At the foot of the escalator and staircase was a ticket collector in a both who checked our school passes but got to know is as regulars. Theoretically he should have stopped us walking through to the WR platforms instead of exiting, because we never bought the mandatory platform tickets from the machine, which used to take a 1d coin and at decimalisation was converted to taking 2p (increasing the cost by x4.8 or +380%) no doubt because the coins were the most similar in size. In fact he just told us not to leave the platform into the ramps or tracks or we'd be banned. That would mean finding a different way to get to school. The down escalator (where the inclined lift thingy now is) was boxed off and never in use for my entire school career. I never heard what the story was on that And that's all I can tell you about Greenford that wasn't on the video already. If you read this far you probably found it interesting, and could be the inclined elevator to my escalator by liking this comment ;)
Occasionally on Saturdays in the late 50's we used to catch the push and pull gwr 040 tank engine drawn train from west ealing station to greenford and back. At that time we passed a long since gone running track just after leaving the main line onto the branch line. A clip showing a bit of the original west ealing station facade can be seen on the "carry on constable" film.
Used to work in Greenford but the team also had an office in Central Ealing so occasionally used the GWR service when it ran to Paddington. It was nice, but the E1 or E10 were so much more useful and usually faster.
It was the first inclined elevator. The local pub quiz used to go ‘where was the other in London’ and that was at the millennium Bridge. But as you’ve said. A good few on the Liz line.
Nice to see the apostrophe in Shepherd's Bush on the cast iron signpost. I don't recall that the GWR ever had a streamlined locomotive. William Stannier, who spent most of his working life with the GWR, was not a big fan and something that he faugh against tooth and nail when he moved to the LMS. Needless to say that was a battle he lost!
There was both a King and a Castle that were sort of streamlined. Ugly as f*** they were, and it was removed before very long. Surprisingly, the King kept its curved cab front right up until it was scrapped.
Another nice slice of Tube life, thanks Jago. The last 'in service' wooden escalator at Greenford may have been removed a few years ago but the disused one at Alperton which connects to the Eastbound platform is, I believe, still in situ but it's behind a locked door so us mere mortals can't see it. I reckon if someone got in there with a spanner they could get it working but probably only for demonstration purposes.
I used the one at Alperton on my daily journey to school in Hammersmith from 1973-82. It's not wooden though, probably one of the first aluminium ones, as it was moved there from the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Ah yes, you're quite right. The photo I saw made it look as if the escalator had wooden treads but closer inspection shows them to be metal. Strange that something can't be done to bring it back into service especially in these 'getting the whole tube step-free' crusade TfL are currently on.
4:20 - while you’re mentioning the semaphores, there’s another hint that this did indeed use to be a GWR line: these signal arms go _down_ to indicate a clear route. (You can even see this at 6:04.) On the parts of the network that didn’t belong to GWR, semaphore signal arms usually go up.
@@KasabianFan44 That's a shame really, but I know that a lot of guys don't read railway history books any more which are so full of information that hasn't found its way online yet. Also, when I was younger I joined railway clubs which was a good way of learning from older members. But now young people seem to avoid talking to older people because either they think we are boring, or worse, assume we are all paedophiles.
Thanks for an interesting account. It was also interesting to see that the semaphore signals were GWR 'lower quadrant' or whatever the correct term is for 'clear.'
I heard somewhere, probably on a Jago video, that some people considered them dangerous because if they were broken or damaged they could fall into the "go" position.
I concur with Thomas Burke. That 'fine unimpeachable source' Wikipedia quoting from a 1978 Ian Allan publication on BR Signalling - 'The advantage of the upper quadrant signal is that should the signal wire break, or the signal arm be weighed down by snow (for instance), gravity will tend to cause the signal to drop to the safe "danger" position. In a lower quadrant signal, the opposite may happen, sending the signal to "off" when in fact it should be illustrating "danger". Their spectacle cases, which are on the opposite side of the spindle on which the signal arm is pivoted, are therefore required to be sufficiently heavy to prevent this happening.'
Cameo appearance of Lidl 2019 trolley stock at 0:58 . Greenford is also home of the Brompton bicycle company, near to the Tube station. Enjoyed you pointing out the GWR finials. I'll look out for them in the future.
Extraordinarily, there seem to be three(!) intermediate stops on the GWR line between West Ealing and Greenford - Drayton Green, Castle Bar Park and South Greenford. Five stations, including a terminus, in a 12 minute train ride!
Class 230 trials have yet to take place - the unit to be used is that from COP26 and is currently at Bletchley - likely to be during 2023, subject to VivaRail's new today. Ps. The West Ealing to West Ruislip Chiltern Ghost Train service on Wednesday's only has two Wednesday's to run -(07-Dec last day, the next week it becomes a ghost bus) before it becomes a bus - so a potential video could be done out on West Ealing to West Ruislip service; Central line back to Greenford and then the GWR service down to Ealing.
@@mapp3r7: I'm going to have to second that - guess it's required unless you go through the closure process, but I would think that having the timetabled service "replaced" by ticket acceptance on the Central Line/GWR shuttle would be easier with basically the same outcome?
I did this journey last week, going from Greenford to Northolt the long way round. A fair few people turned out for the Chiltern train, a lot more than the regular Greenford service would expect to see at that time of day - all us enthusiasts making a trip before the Vivarail works to install the battery charging at West Ealing suspend it! I have no idea if it'll come back once that work is done, although I don't see why not as I believe the Greenford service will continue to be 2tph operated by a single train.
@@lichp1 I went there on Wednesday (30 November) along with 50+ others. And they cancelled the train at the last minute! So got a trip into the Greenford bay instead and was able to explore the station. And use the inclined lift as well! Quite slow as it creeps into the meshing points.
Despite using the station very frequently whilst living nearby not long ago, I never did take that GWR route to West Ealing. Though I did rarely glance at the track adjacent to the Central line to briefly watch it curve away and down and think, "I wonder where that goes." Insightful video. God bless 👍🏾
Thank You Jago for such a lovely Greenford Station video - it brought back some very happy memories - re the Greenford to West Ealing line I used it often and lets say it is interesting as it is very varied - the Malvern Hills it is not but you will not be disappointed - I lived nearby and being a total idiot who did not like life used it as a short cut home - in those days there were even less trains than there are today - one advantage between Greenford and Castle Bar was how straight the line was - so straight that even a drunken fool could see anything coming - is a mainly raised section which gives it a sense of space in a mostly built up area - after that there is an interesting box tunnel which was built for no other reason but to build local authority houses on it - Indeed it has a bus route running over it for a short section - you might want to look this up as I am told it is rare - pretty boring to look at but rare - near Drayton Green I believe that the Plessey Works are still there - also as a piece of trivia the footbridge at the western end of West Ealing station I am told was used for the opening credits of Citizen Smith which shows Wolfie running across a urban bridge - thank you again your video was my wife's Jackie magazine to my happy memories ....
Another of my old haunts. I lived in Greenford for a short time in the 90’s and frequently used the Ealing Broadway service as this was a lot more use to me than a trip to North Acton!
You definitely should take the branch down to Ealing, so you can experience the artificial tunnel on which the former GLC Castlebar estate is built. A good friend of mine as a schoolboy bunked off school to walk through it and came across a dead body, run over by a previous train. He got out of there pretty quickly, presumably squirting urine as he ran. Apart from that it's a delightful little ride. There used to be a rumour that it's survival was because HST's that had contrived to be "wrong end" with the first class not at the Paddington end could be turned around by running around the branch. Now that Greenford to Old Oak has been closed for HS2 works, I guess it's made the poor branch even less economical than it was.
Semaphore signals. Everytime holidaying with my grandparents these were a feature to get us excited when a train was coming (back in the day). Although those semaphores went up for OK to proceed rather than down (is this a GWR feature of semaphore signals?). I rather miss them - with or without finials. Perhaps its time to retire the mainline branch and give it over entirely to LT?
Yes, few left now (especially in London). The ones that went down are called "lower-quadrant" and were mainly on the GWR and LSWR (and probably a few other railway companies). The others were "upper-quadrant".
25/11/22 Just read a piece regarding Vivarail. It has applied to go into administration. The article also stated that the Class 230 was indeed to enter service on the Greenford branch in 2023. This sad news may also also effect the Island Line.
Yay Greenford - one of the many convenient Underground / 'Liz Lines / Overground and National Rail stations that run close to the Grand Union Canal making it easier to get to and from my narrowboat! The inclined lift freaked me out the other week. I thought it was just a vertical lift then realised I wasn't descending at 180 degrees. It did take an age to connect with the lower door.
With so much of the network on viaducts and/or bridges, I would've thought that many more stations would have an escalator going up the platforms than only just Greenford!
Agreed - I was waiting for this. It was just seconds away!! Though I grew up in Perivale, where watching the traffic lights change colour was considered exciting.
@@surreygoldprospector576 I remember standing by the control box listening to the relay operate as a vehicle passed over the pad which preceded the traffic lights. That was my early entry into electronics. 😀
Who doesn’t love a finial? There can’t be many tube stations where you have to go up rather than down from the entrance… this one, the one in Albert Square…
Most of the ones on the Hammersmith and City west of Paddington; Parsons Green, Putney Bridge and East Putney on the District. That's assuming the common meaning of 'Tube' and not the pedantic one. And of course, none of them have escalators.
Yes: coming from Perivale on the Central Line you go over a girder bridge across a valley and the single track into the bay station comes up between you and the line going the other way. Both Central Line tracks are on identical looking girder bridges parallel to each other and both bridges are also spanning the chords that join the line towards Hanwell and West Ealing from the "new" GWR tracks. See also a view from the cab of a DEMU going under both bridges on the road (track) that the road from the bay meets: th-cam.com/video/KAEOaqvw0OM/w-d-xo.html Greenford station visible at about 13:24 on right. Then we go past signal box, under the two guest bridges where the road from Greenford bay platform comes in from right at about 15:00 and meets our road at 15:10 Greenford West jn
I believe the battery train trials are a go as earlier today I caught the last Parliamentary train from West Ealing to West Ruislip. It will be on temporary suspension (with a possibility of never returning).
@@dambrooks7578 - Not really, but it’s nice to sit and watch the trains, a mix of passenger, freight, departmental and the occasional excursion (sometimes even a steam one).
In 1998, when we first stayed in Ealing Broadway, we caught the central line train from Tottenham Court Road, after arriving at Euston , and, catching the northern line there. We soon learnt at the time that a zone 1-4 travel card is not only cheaper, but, quicker. From then on in, when we arrived at Euston, catch the tube to Paddington, then the next (at the time) Thames Turbo (now GWR) to Ealing Broadway.
Greenford seems to me to be the most remote part of the London Area (though Collier Row and Swakelys might also hold claim ) , but remote in terms of having a bit of population and a tube (specifically) line.
They should of sent the District line to Greenford instead of Ealing Broadway just so it can be on the green line lol. Anyways great video as always, love hearing these interesting facts. :)
That or (slightly unrealistic I know) they can extend the central along and then up the Greenford branch to connect it so it can rejoin and go up towards west ruislip. Greenford Branchees wouldn’t lose much because since the Elizabeth line it’s rare for their trains to go to Paddington
Thank you, Jago old boy as a Sarf lunderner my only knowledge of train travel is of the above ground type that conveyed my family to visit our close relatives still living in SE London and so therefore I slowly as I ventured into the metropolis on exploration (in those day 7yrs old was ok to go to the shops on your own) with me two and six from me Grandparents and me older bro + Cousins, male and female we sallied forth using the underground for adventure as much the same could be found by the young on the Woolwich ferry I was in my late teens early twenties b4 I found out underground trains could travel in sunlight
Suggestion: The line to West Ealing could be integrated into the London Underground and than extend it to Ealing Broadway. Now the central line has a funny loop at both ends, or the District line go to Greenford
I think it should be made a branch of the Elizabeth line Line. There are lots of trains that terminate at Paddington. Some of them should continue to Greenford.
@@katrinabryce I think more of them will be continuing further westwards in the new service after May. Still it seems a very logical idea to terminate some at Greenford - 24 tph gives a lot of potential destinations. I have a nasty feeling though that the current track layout at West Ealing doesn't allow it.
@@iankemp1131 Cartometro and the satellite view on Google Maps both show it as _physically_ possible, though down trains would have to cross over onto the up track for something like 50 metres, and after the junction, weirdly, the branch temporarily becomes single-track, again for about fifty metres. So there might be potential problems.
@@iankemp1131 I don't see any problem with the track layout. They used to go to Ealing Broadway, and Elizabeth line Line trains go there. The branch would need to be electrified though.
Back in 2005 I took a train From South Ruislip to Paddington in very quick time….it was empty and very few services or it could be Greenford!! It was a one off!
Clear storey (as in a floor of a building) not story (as in a tale to tell). That's what it is: a clear storey whose purpose is to let in light rather than to be occupied, so it's clear in both senses. Spellings have changed over the centuries, obscuring the meaning, so maybe it's no longer a clear story at all...
Point of order, Jago - the Great Western Railway Company continued to exist as a legal entity for nearly two more years, being formally wound up on 23 December 1949
The class 230 /D-train battery trials probably won’t ever happen, since Vivarail (the company who builds those trains) has apparently gone into administration. Services on the Marston Vale line have been suspended and replaced with bus service due to said company, who maintained the class 230s for LNWR, having this existence crisis.
Could be SCC. Hot afternoon with some jam and cream scones and a beer or two. The thwack of leather against willow. To be fair, Greenford (even on its best days) is a bit sh*t even for London.
I reckon that signpost is somewhere on the Line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. Burlescombe is South of BL and the water tower is ex-GWR. Mind you, some folk will add 2 + 2 and get 6¼!
4:53 Concerning your prospects: Why not integrate the branch line to Greenford into the Central Line by diverting some trains heading to West Ruislip to West Ealing-via the existing Central branch to Ealing Broadway-in order to enable a well-integrated service and more direct journeys?
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There was a riot at Padd one day when a Greenford train was run into a platform with the new barriers. The punters from there weren't used to buying tickets.
1978 and off I went to my first job, commuting to Tottenham Court Road from Greenford. Up the wooden escalator, I felt so grown up. I loved the Central Line back then. Greenford station felt safe and welcoming. Morning paper from the paper kiosk, and in the evening the 120 bus waiting outside. Those were the days.
I’ve long moved from the area yet still drive to Greenford, park in a secret location I know of, and “commute” from my favourite station. An Art Deco gem, which still feels, despite the changes to the escalators and the addition of an incline lift, very much the station it always was. And yes, the paper kiosk is still there.
Thank you for taking me down memory Lane and visiting the best station on the network, well, at least in Greenford 😂
👏👏👍😀 Andrew
Enjoyed reading your text .
@@patriciaoreilly8907 Thank you. Most kind of you to say so.
Lower quadrant semaphore signals with finials are enough to get any rail enthusiast excited.
To me semaphores are reassuring in that it indicates that there are real people involved in the safe passage of trains and not just another remote computer system. Now someone will inform me that these signals are operated by some robot miles away. Please don't destroy my illusions!
Quite so... faraway in single track heaven in Levin NZ I nearly choked on my ice-cream... and at the end of Lord Jago presentation, as the goods train was passing through,,,,one semaphore arm had dropped... action happening.
@@MrDavil43 You're OK. As far as I know Greenford East Signal Box is still running, tucked away next to the bridge under the eastbound Central Line.
The "push you pull me" was a busy service when it continued on into Paddington. There were stops along the way that were only served by this line, such as South Greenford, Castlebar Park and then Acton Main Line. Stopping these trains halfway destroyed that service, it was an amazingly fast way to get into Paddington.
It was certainly busy at peak times, though truthfully it also provided free local transport to many people (tbh it essentially provided free trains to Paddington until they finally put up barriers there, and even then there was the Hammersmith & City platform Oyster validator to touch-in). People can still, in practice, ride for free between South Greenford and Drayton Green - but not many people have a need for that fair to say!
Actually one of the best things about the Greenford service was its pretty consistent use of Platform 14 at Paddington and its easy access to/from the then Hammersmith & City Paddington platforms - the redesign of that station caused me no end of bother when trying to catch a twice hourly service in the evening.
We were originally promised a 4tph shuttle service on the Greenford branch line, but GWR obviously were obviously uninterested in running 2 train units on the line.
Transferring in the morning wasn't so much the problem, as having to use the footbridge in the evening. For a few years it was quite the dangerous run along Platform 4 and I am amazed noone died. Now the footbridge is a bit better placed, but as GWR would not hold the service, TFL having taking over the other West Ealing services...it made the return commute basically unviable.
(Update: I can see the Elizabeth line being more or less in full operation changing that a bit, and the 'regeneration' at Copley Close should eventually create additional demand at CBP.)
@@alanfarquharhill Yeah the service is generally awful , still no Sunday service, Trains often smell of Urine due to leaky toilet (Avoid that carriage at all costs) The footbridge at Castle Bar Park is dangerous and I've almost fallen down it several times to due to the surface coming away or filling with rain water. Still no sign of the Battery Powered Electric Trains we were promised either.
Won't be surprised if they just make it a part of the Elizabeth line.
Would surely help services.
@@popmonika It won't happen, it's a completely different set of stations. TFL don't really want it, but in the end it will probably be designated TFL Rail. But maybe not soon.
@@alanfarquharhill It'll more likely take the Overground label, like the Emerson Park shuttle.
As a kid in the 50s i lived not far from Castlebar holt and obviously saw the trains., 60 yesrs later i finally rode the line from Greenford to W Ealing, my life is now complete.😆
I used to live right next to south greenford station (I think the least used station in the whole of london) and would use the GWR trains to go one stop to greenford station and then onto the central line. I loved the GWR trains they are spacious and slow with big windows and just sort of relaxing ride to greenford overlooking a park. For some reason it also charged me less pay as you go lol. I remember the wooden escalators and when I was young I used to be scared of them quite a bit. I love the design of the platforms where the GWR train just slips in the middle of the central line platforms. Love the video x
I do that exact thing 😂 it’s my way to get to school
I'd argue Haste Hill is the least used station, being a request stop on a miniature line. However the TfL journey planner lists it and will give you directions to the station if you wish to do so
Innsbrucker Platz in Berlin has an inclined lift which connects the U4 terminus to the S-Bahn platforms.
Good grief! I never thought this would happen - I've ridden a London suburban route that you haven't travelled yet! Back in 1967 I used the West Ealing to Greenford branch to visit a friend who lived in Greenford. I remember being struck by the unusual arrangement of the station with the bay platform sandwiched between the Underground's running platforms as well as the fact that my train had to climb up to reach the same level as the Underground! Thanks so much for the video. I hope the short branch hasn't lost its charm.
It's the finial countdown!
Doodloo Doo, doodloo doodoo
I saw one of the Rail Adhesion trains while on the platform at Greenford. Bowled over to actually see a moving ‘62 stock train for the first time!
Back in late 1990/91 I used to work trains in & out of Greenford with the 121 "Bubble car" units from Paddington. I vividly remember the bay platform starter signal was a semiphore but was pnumatically operated from Greenford Signal box. I remember watching it slowly drop in the "off" (clear) postition before giving the driver the RA signal. I see from your film, that it's now a LED colour light signal.
Ah yes.....I had the opportunity to get to know Greenford station well on the times I couldn't be arsed to cycle to work there. When approaching from the east on the Central line in summer there was always a glorious canopy of foliage to look down on. Which, it must be said, provided much-needed contrast to the street-level scenery of Greenford.
Can't beat a set of L Q semaphore signals. Don't they just look gorgeous!
Great video Jago. I grew up not too far from here, so it’s lovely to hear the history.
Greenford station is at Greenford Green to the North of the A40 Western Avenue, some distance from the main shopping area to the south at Greenford Broadway. Significantly, the station is adjacent to the large former J.Lyons site, which used the railway (and the Grand Union Canal) to transport raw materials and finished goods. The GWR suburban services and the later Central Line would have also been used by the hundreds of Lyons workers.
Nearby, to the west of Greenford Road was Rockware Glass, which, at it's peak employed over 1,000 workers.
Interesting
There is still one train a day from Paddington to Greenford, it’s at around 5-6 am on a Mon- Fri morning.
And back to Paddington at the end of thr service, where several hours later it gets attached to another unit to get back to Reading depot (not sure if that occurs every day or not).
I can just remember seeing an up football (schoolboys')special at Denham hauled by BR blue A4 Seagull and train of teak-finish carriages on the GW/GC.
Apparently the battery electric trains proposed here will recharge automatically using a short section of third rail laid under the train (presumably at each end of the line). Although I read today that Vivarail, who are refurbishing the old District Line units, went into administration on 23/11/22, so presumably everything is now uncertain.
In all honesty; it's no surprise that Vivarail has gone bust, especially when few TOCs have actually put their trains into service.
I understand that the recharging point will be at West Ealing only and that the trial has been delayed until early 2023
@@MrSmith1984 I spoke to a senior manager of the TOC I then worked for (but no longer do) who had been made to attend a Vivarail presentation and look round a 230, with the DfT pressuring all attendees to 'show interest' as they saw 230s as a cheap way of getting "new" trains for the provinces. I asked the manager if that meant they would be having any and was bluntly told "Over my dead body!"
From what that manager went on to say about the feelings of other senior rail industry managers, the TOCs don't want 230s; the few that have been taken on have either been mandated by the DfT ("You *will* have these!") or by politicians (TfW!).
@@adriangiddins6065Correct, and it would be using a patented system to only energise the third rail when in use.
Vivarail had some interesting battery projects in the pipeline, some of which hadn’t yet been announced. The news came as a jolt to everyone in the industry.
There is a link between the mainline train line and the Greenford Line - saw a train make the switchover once.
Yes, this is used by the Wednesdays Chiltern service from West Ealing. You'll have to hurry though - it's only running for another 2 weeks!
@@surreygoldprospector576 It *might* have been a goods train (it was a long time ago).
@@jackiespeel6343 Yes, a few goods trains still use the line. There are connections both east and west at both ends of this branch. The only passenger trains that use these are a few through services from Paddington (south-east link line, mentioned in other comments here), and the Chiltern train (north-west link).
There's a rather nice cab ride over that route:
th-cam.com/video/KAEOaqvw0OM/w-d-xo.html
Greenford station visible at about 13:24 on right. Then we go past signal box, under the two guest bridges where the road from Greenford bay platform comes in from right at about 15:00 and meets our road at 15:10 Greenford West jn
Keep watching to see the rest of the line to and beyond West Ealing
I love Greenford as I get to see the other trains I don't normally see as I only use the tube and I love that strange sideways lift, we need more strange sideways lifts
The GWR service sadly now terminates at West Ealing, previously running via Ealing Broadway and on to Paddington…..which was a fast and overground in fresh air service….
I’ve been to West Ealing this week - really good spot for a wide variety. You’ve got the branch, the GWR mainline IETs, lots of freight, Elizabeth line, the Heathrow Expresses, all sorts. I’ve got enough footage from there in about two hours to make several pieces I’m currently working on!
I think the wooden escalators got a bad deal. wood chars (admitted in the air rush from tube stations that can be a little more infernoesque - but servicing and maintenance of rubbish and grease were as large contributory factors.
What worries me is that the management I see on TOCs today would deny that any such risk existed because it wasn't on their officially approved piece of paper. And then after all the deaths they'd deny that safety was their responsibility too. :(
Great video Jago, there is a once per week train every Wednesday that runs from West Ealing to West Ruislip operated by Chiltern Railways which travels on the New North Main Line from Greenford but it being replaced by a replacement bus after the 7th so there only 2 more weeks left.
It's a shame that's being closed by stealth.
It's the sort of service that London Overground should be taking over...and improving.
The West Ealing to Greenford line could do with becoming part of the Overground. When the case was being made for cutting back the through service to Paddington and reducing it to a shuttle, due to lack of capacity caused by the Elizabeth line, a 4 tph service was promised. If some of those trains were extended to West Ruislip Chiltern would be relieved of the burden of running a Parliamentary service, though the trains wouldn't be able to stop at Greenford or any other intermediate station, except South Ruislip.
Chiltern is removing the parliamentary train service and it will become a parliamentary bus service from the beginning of December
I would ride from West Ealing to Greenford if your going to GWR it. I’ve gone both ways recently and the arrival into Greenford is just too fun to miss.
I went to Greenford for a wedding back in 2017. I was incredibly fascinated with the incline lift up to the platform. But it was a nice journey as I’d never been that far west on the Central line.
I enjoy seeing the old semaphores along railway tracks. I guess I like seeing some things remaining from the past. Electric signaling
may be nearby in brightly lit up colours, but I like seeing the old and the new cohabiting. An acceptance of new technology, with a
fond remembrance of the past. Also, that new generations can feel a connection with the yesteryears of rail commuting.
The section of New North Mainline between Acton and South Ruislip was solely owned by the GWR. The joint GW&GC line started at Northolt Junction (near South Ruislip). The Great Central connection from Neasden via Wembley Hill (now Stadium) joined the GW at Northolt Junction. The Joint line finished at Ashendon Junction out in the wilds of north Bucks, where another Great Central connecting line joined the GC main line at Grendon Underwood. Until the GW connection between Ashendon Junction and Aynho Junction on the GW Didcot & Chester line opened in 1910, GW trains left the joint line at Princes Risborough and ran along the GW branch line to Oxford via Thame.
Well I learned something here. I can now use the word Finial in a game of Scrabble.
Of course, with semaphore signalling, there is still a signal box there. It sits beneth the Central Line bridges and is a fairly gloomy place. Hard to get a photo of although i did manage it when there with a 37 and an engineers train i was driving, one Sunday back in the late 1990s..... I didn't thing the semaphores would still be there now, it was lunacy that the area wasn't put into Slough or Marylebone IECC's.....
Up the wooden escalator to bedforshire?
I did and passed my motorcycle test from the Greenford centre.
Well I never knew what was at Greenford Station! Thank you!
Please do a video about the Greenford Line!
Despite what people have said re Vivarail going into administration, the battery train trials are still due to happen spring next year by the sounds of things. Also, the NNML I believe is just a stub at the moment as the Old Oak Common end was cut first because of Crossrail and now because of HS2 (which will run in tunnels parallel to the NNML all the way to West Ruislip - the shaft where all four TBMs will be removed from are just opposite and slightly south of Greenford). There have been proposals to revive a service on it but I'm not sure what's happening with those ideas - it's not as if people want a Birmingham Moor Street to Old Oak service when there would be HS2 that does basically the same thing but so much better...
Actually, it would be great to have a Birmingham Moor Street to Old Oak Common service.
The point wouldn't be to have a slower version of HS2. The point would be to have all the express trains banished and a full stopping service parallel to HS2.
That way, folks living close to Birmingham Moor Street or Old Oak Common could take a train to connect with an HS2 train.
And people who didn't want to go all the way from Birmingham to London could use the line to commute to their own city.
And, if there were more direct services from Greenford to Paddington, that might pursuade some folks to stop using the Central Line.
@@DavidShepheard Point taken, although a Moor Street to Paddington via OOC would probably be preferable to one terminating at OOC (providing they can cross EL tracks easily enough).
Either way, most of the expresses from London to Birmingham use the Euston to New Street line, so the local services would get a bigger boost there than OOC to Moor Street would. However, that does not make the idea of BMS-PDN bad, it just means that it's main change in role would be to free up more space at Marylebone for Aylesbury/Winslow/Milton Keynes services by going to Paddington instead.
@@JP_TaVeryMuch I think they were killed in a recent timetable change - although by that point I think they only went from Milton Keynes. (The Southern Service via the West London Line, that is)
@@chrisoddy8744 Exactly. As far as I know, they now run between East Croydon and Watford Jct. only.
Perhaps a bigger Chiltern terminal in old oak common which replaces Marylebone?
Just to add that the ‘New Line’ is currently severed at Old Oak Common for the construction of HS2. Hopefully it will be reinstated later to allow trains from the Chilterns to reach the new Old Oak Common station.
I travelled from Greenford to E. Acton by tube to get to school from 1966 to 1973. During that time the old Western Region station still had its platforms, and at least in the first few years of my school travels on the way home I sometimes used to go up onto the WR platforms. I now can't remember if I noticed them closing the subway or if it outlasted my school career.
Earlier than that I'd occasionally travelled on the Western Region from the bay platform, both when it was a tank logo push-and-pull service. Unlike some push-and-pulls the loco was at one end not in the middle; in particular at Greenford it came in at the front so you walked past the loco to get to the single carriage (or occasionally there were two). The loco faced the train. That was so that when it pushed the carriage all the way back to Ealing Broadway (where it terminated at that time) the driver had a better view: the "spectacles" being further away from the carriage than the back of the loco would have been if the train was formed with the bunker (rear) end attached to the carriage.
Later we had the DMU "bubble" cars, which were great because you could almost see as much as the driver, and could watch him do everything. It was only when I was older that I realised that in retrospect I preferred steam trains.
At the foot of the escalator and staircase was a ticket collector in a both who checked our school passes but got to know is as regulars. Theoretically he should have stopped us walking through to the WR platforms instead of exiting, because we never bought the mandatory platform tickets from the machine, which used to take a 1d coin and at decimalisation was converted to taking 2p (increasing the cost by x4.8 or +380%) no doubt because the coins were the most similar in size. In fact he just told us not to leave the platform into the ramps or tracks or we'd be banned. That would mean finding a different way to get to school.
The down escalator (where the inclined lift thingy now is) was boxed off and never in use for my entire school career. I never heard what the story was on that
And that's all I can tell you about Greenford that wasn't on the video already. If you read this far you probably found it interesting, and could be the inclined elevator to my escalator by liking this comment ;)
Occasionally on Saturdays in the late 50's we used to catch the push and pull gwr 040 tank engine drawn train from west ealing station to greenford and back.
At that time we passed a long since gone running track just after leaving the main line onto the branch line.
A clip showing a bit of the original west ealing station facade can be seen on the "carry on constable" film.
Kinda surprised GWR didn’t take one look at that shuttle operation and say “Hey, TfL, meet your newest Overground line…”
The hope was that Chiltern would take it on, but extend it to West ruislip.
Used to work in Greenford but the team also had an office in Central Ealing so occasionally used the GWR service when it ran to Paddington. It was nice, but the E1 or E10 were so much more useful and usually faster.
It was the first inclined elevator.
The local pub quiz used to go ‘where was the other in London’ and that was at the millennium Bridge.
But as you’ve said. A good few on the Liz line.
Nice to see the apostrophe in Shepherd's Bush on the cast iron signpost.
I don't recall that the GWR ever had a streamlined locomotive. William Stannier, who spent most of his working life with the GWR, was not a big fan and something that he faugh against tooth and nail when he moved to the LMS. Needless to say that was a battle he lost!
I think that somewhere I have seen a picture of a King class locomotive with a 'streamlined' prosthetic addition to the front of its smokebox
@@ricktownend9144 Curious!
I believe the GWR briefly streamlined a King, but it looked terrible
@@harrytodhunter5078 Indeed, Charles Collett certainly half-a**ed that one! No wonder it was brief
There was both a King and a Castle that were sort of streamlined. Ugly as f*** they were, and it was removed before very long. Surprisingly, the King kept its curved cab front right up until it was scrapped.
Another nice slice of Tube life, thanks Jago.
The last 'in service' wooden escalator at Greenford may have been removed a few years ago but the disused one at Alperton which connects to the Eastbound platform is, I believe, still in situ but it's behind a locked door so us mere mortals can't see it. I reckon if someone got in there with a spanner they could get it working but probably only for demonstration purposes.
I used the one at Alperton on my daily journey to school in Hammersmith from 1973-82. It's not wooden though, probably one of the first aluminium ones, as it was moved there from the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Ah yes, you're quite right. The photo I saw made it look as if the escalator had wooden treads but closer inspection shows them to be metal. Strange that something can't be done to bring it back into service especially in these 'getting the whole tube step-free' crusade TfL are currently on.
@@martynthomas7486 That would be useful. If my memory serves me right, it was pretty reliable and didn't need much maintenance.
4:20 - while you’re mentioning the semaphores, there’s another hint that this did indeed use to be a GWR line: these signal arms go _down_ to indicate a clear route. (You can even see this at 6:04.) On the parts of the network that didn’t belong to GWR, semaphore signal arms usually go up.
Upper quadrant, lower quadrant. Those are the terms.
@@Clivestravelandtrains
I know. I deliberately avoided using technical terms, because not everyone knows them.
@@KasabianFan44 That's a shame really, but I know that a lot of guys don't read railway history books any more which are so full of information that hasn't found its way online yet.
Also, when I was younger I joined railway clubs which was a good way of learning from older members. But now young people seem to avoid talking to older people because either they think we are boring, or worse, assume we are all paedophiles.
"We're riding on the Escalator of life,...." ~Robert Hazzard. 👀😂😀👍🇬🇧
There is also the Chiltern parliamentary train that stops there as well I'm pretty sure
No, it parts with the Greenford shuttle at South Greenford and joins the North line to West Ruislip via South Ruislip but not Greenford
Thanks for an interesting account. It was also interesting to see that the semaphore signals were GWR 'lower quadrant' or whatever the correct term is for 'clear.'
I think 'lower quadrant' is correct.
I heard somewhere, probably on a Jago video, that some people considered them dangerous because if they were broken or damaged they could fall into the "go" position.
@@caw25sha lower quadrant semaphore signals are counterbalanced to ensure they move to the horizontal stop position, in the event of failure.
I concur with Thomas Burke. That 'fine unimpeachable source' Wikipedia quoting from a 1978 Ian Allan publication on BR Signalling - 'The advantage of the upper quadrant signal is that should the signal wire break, or the signal arm be weighed down by snow (for instance), gravity will tend to cause the signal to drop to the safe "danger" position. In a lower quadrant signal, the opposite may happen, sending the signal to "off" when in fact it should be illustrating "danger". Their spectacle cases, which are on the opposite side of the spindle on which the signal arm is pivoted, are therefore required to be sufficiently heavy to prevent this happening.'
Cameo appearance of Lidl 2019 trolley stock at 0:58 . Greenford is also home of the Brompton bicycle company, near to the Tube station. Enjoyed you pointing out the GWR finials. I'll look out for them in the future.
I don't know any better, I watch Jago Hazzard videos!
Very good Jago. Always look forward to your video's
Extraordinarily, there seem to be three(!) intermediate stops on the GWR line between West Ealing and Greenford - Drayton Green, Castle Bar Park and South Greenford. Five stations, including a terminus, in a 12 minute train ride!
Class 230 trials have yet to take place - the unit to be used is that from COP26 and is currently at Bletchley - likely to be during 2023, subject to VivaRail's new today.
Ps. The West Ealing to West Ruislip Chiltern Ghost Train service on Wednesday's only has two Wednesday's to run -(07-Dec last day, the next week it becomes a ghost bus) before it becomes a bus - so a potential video could be done out on West Ealing to West Ruislip service; Central line back to Greenford and then the GWR service down to Ealing.
@@mapp3r7: I'm going to have to second that - guess it's required unless you go through the closure process, but I would think that having the timetabled service "replaced" by ticket acceptance on the Central Line/GWR shuttle would be easier with basically the same outcome?
annoyingly I have commitments on the 30th nov and 7th dec so cannot get to ride a route I have never done
I did this journey last week, going from Greenford to Northolt the long way round. A fair few people turned out for the Chiltern train, a lot more than the regular Greenford service would expect to see at that time of day - all us enthusiasts making a trip before the Vivarail works to install the battery charging at West Ealing suspend it! I have no idea if it'll come back once that work is done, although I don't see why not as I believe the Greenford service will continue to be 2tph operated by a single train.
@@lichp1 I went there on Wednesday (30 November) along with 50+ others. And they cancelled the train at the last minute! So got a trip into the Greenford bay instead and was able to explore the station. And use the inclined lift as well! Quite slow as it creeps into the meshing points.
Despite using the station very frequently whilst living nearby not long ago, I never did take that GWR route to West Ealing. Though I did rarely glance at the track adjacent to the Central line to briefly watch it curve away and down and think, "I wonder where that goes." Insightful video. God bless 👍🏾
Thank You Jago for such a lovely Greenford Station video - it brought back some very happy memories - re the Greenford to West Ealing line I used it often and lets say it is interesting as it is very varied - the Malvern Hills it is not but you will not be disappointed - I lived nearby and being a total idiot who did not like life used it as a short cut home - in those days there were even less trains than there are today - one advantage between Greenford and Castle Bar was how straight the line was - so straight that even a drunken fool could see anything coming - is a mainly raised section which gives it a sense of space in a mostly built up area - after that there is an interesting box tunnel which was built for no other reason but to build local authority houses on it - Indeed it has a bus route running over it for a short section - you might want to look this up as I am told it is rare - pretty boring to look at but rare - near Drayton Green I believe that the Plessey Works are still there - also as a piece of trivia the footbridge at the western end of West Ealing station I am told was used for the opening credits of Citizen Smith which shows Wolfie running across a urban bridge - thank you again your video was my wife's Jackie magazine to my happy memories ....
Thanks Mr H.
Nicely done video.
There's no cheese slipping off the cracker Jago, as in the end, finely cast finials are a fine find!
Another of my old haunts. I lived in Greenford for a short time in the 90’s and frequently used the Ealing Broadway service as this was a lot more use to me than a trip to North Acton!
You definitely should take the branch down to Ealing, so you can experience the artificial tunnel on which the former GLC Castlebar estate is built. A good friend of mine as a schoolboy bunked off school to walk through it and came across a dead body, run over by a previous train. He got out of there pretty quickly, presumably squirting urine as he ran. Apart from that it's a delightful little ride.
There used to be a rumour that it's survival was because HST's that had contrived to be "wrong end" with the first class not at the Paddington end could be turned around by running around the branch. Now that Greenford to Old Oak has been closed for HS2 works, I guess it's made the poor branch even less economical than it was.
Good lord, you went to Greenford and the incline lift wasn't broken! Quick, put a line on the lottery!
Semaphore signals. Everytime holidaying with my grandparents these were a feature to get us excited when a train was coming (back in the day). Although those semaphores went up for OK to proceed rather than down (is this a GWR feature of semaphore signals?). I rather miss them - with or without finials.
Perhaps its time to retire the mainline branch and give it over entirely to LT?
Yes, few left now (especially in London). The ones that went down are called "lower-quadrant" and were mainly on the GWR and LSWR (and probably a few other railway companies). The others were "upper-quadrant".
@@surreygoldprospector576 And don't forget the "somersault" ones where the arm was pivoted close to the centre. They are my favourites
25/11/22 Just read a piece regarding Vivarail. It has applied to go into administration. The article also stated that the Class 230 was indeed to enter service on the Greenford branch in 2023. This sad news may also also effect the Island Line.
My dear Jago - you are the ornamental finial in my otherwise workaday existence.
The progress of time, the new works plan back in the day.
Extension of ULEZ today, well next August.
Yay Greenford - one of the many convenient Underground / 'Liz Lines / Overground and National Rail stations that run close to the Grand Union Canal making it easier to get to and from my narrowboat! The inclined lift freaked me out the other week. I thought it was just a vertical lift then realised I wasn't descending at 180 degrees. It did take an age to connect with the lower door.
With so much of the network on viaducts and/or bridges, I would've thought that many more stations would have an escalator going up the platforms than only just Greenford!
Very strange and incongruous to see semaphore signals still being used in the London region.
It would be great if we could have some of those D-Trains in London.
Great video, though it would have been nice to wait for the semaphore to revert to ‘stop’ at the closing shot.
Agreed - I was waiting for this. It was just seconds away!! Though I grew up in Perivale, where watching the traffic lights change colour was considered exciting.
@@surreygoldprospector576 I remember standing by the control box listening to the relay operate as a vehicle passed over the pad which preceded the traffic lights. That was my early entry into electronics. 😀
Who doesn’t love a finial?
There can’t be many tube stations where you have to go up rather than down from the entrance… this one, the one in Albert Square…
Most of the ones on the Hammersmith and City west of Paddington; Parsons Green, Putney Bridge and East Putney on the District. That's assuming the common meaning of 'Tube' and not the pedantic one. And of course, none of them have escalators.
The underground tracks straddle the bay platform? There is surely a tale there.
Yes: coming from Perivale on the Central Line you go over a girder bridge across a valley and the single track into the bay station comes up between you and the line going the other way.
Both Central Line tracks are on identical looking girder bridges parallel to each other and both bridges are also spanning the chords that join the line towards Hanwell and West Ealing from the "new" GWR tracks.
See also a view from the cab of a DEMU going under both bridges on the road (track) that the road from the bay meets:
th-cam.com/video/KAEOaqvw0OM/w-d-xo.html
Greenford station visible at about 13:24 on right. Then we go past signal box, under the two guest bridges where the road from Greenford bay platform comes in from right at about 15:00 and meets our road at 15:10 Greenford West jn
I believe the battery train trials are a go as earlier today I caught the last Parliamentary train from West Ealing to West Ruislip. It will be on temporary suspension (with a possibility of never returning).
I am actually a big fan of the art deco designed stations 🚉
My dining room overlooks one!
@@AtheistOrphan sweet, was it a factor when you were thinking of moving in* 🙂
@@AtheistOrphan I'm jealous!
@@dambrooks7578 - Not really, but it’s nice to sit and watch the trains, a mix of passenger, freight, departmental and the occasional excursion (sometimes even a steam one).
@@aprilsmith1166 - Thank you. I love it, it’s nice to sit and watch the various trains go by whilst enjoying a cuppa. ☕️
In 1998, when we first stayed in Ealing Broadway, we caught the central line train from Tottenham Court Road, after arriving at Euston , and, catching the northern line there. We soon learnt at the time that a zone 1-4 travel card is not only cheaper, but, quicker. From then on in, when we arrived at Euston, catch the tube to Paddington, then the next (at the time) Thames Turbo (now GWR) to Ealing Broadway.
Greenford seems to me to be the most remote part of the London Area (though Collier Row and Swakelys might also hold claim ) , but remote in terms of having a bit of population and a tube (specifically) line.
Now you've made me want to travel to England just to see Greenford station. I hope there's a good pub nearby.
One does not simply walk into Greenford ! ! !
They should of sent the District line to Greenford instead of Ealing Broadway just so it can be on the green line lol. Anyways great video as always, love hearing these interesting facts. :)
That or (slightly unrealistic I know) they can extend the central along and then up the Greenford branch to connect it so it can rejoin and go up towards west ruislip. Greenford Branchees wouldn’t lose much because since the Elizabeth line it’s rare for their trains to go to Paddington
Finial love is not to be disregarded Jago ❤
Thank you, Jago old boy as a Sarf lunderner my only knowledge of train travel is of the above ground type that conveyed my family to visit our close relatives still living in SE London and so therefore I slowly as I ventured into the metropolis on exploration (in those day 7yrs old was ok to go to the shops on your own) with me two and six from me Grandparents and me older bro + Cousins, male and female we sallied forth using the underground for adventure as much the same could be found by the young on the Woolwich ferry I was in my late teens early twenties b4 I found out underground trains could travel in sunlight
Suggestion: The line to West Ealing could be integrated into the London Underground and than extend it to Ealing Broadway. Now the central line has a funny loop at both ends, or the District line go to Greenford
Pascal S,
The branch should be restored to its historical Greenford - Ealing - Paddington service.
I think it should be made a branch of the Elizabeth line Line. There are lots of trains that terminate at Paddington. Some of them should continue to Greenford.
@@katrinabryce I think more of them will be continuing further westwards in the new service after May. Still it seems a very logical idea to terminate some at Greenford - 24 tph gives a lot of potential destinations. I have a nasty feeling though that the current track layout at West Ealing doesn't allow it.
@@iankemp1131 Cartometro and the satellite view on Google Maps both show it as _physically_ possible, though down trains would have to cross over onto the up track for something like 50 metres, and after the junction, weirdly, the branch temporarily becomes single-track, again for about fifty metres. So there might be potential problems.
@@iankemp1131 I don't see any problem with the track layout. They used to go to Ealing Broadway, and Elizabeth line Line trains go there. The branch would need to be electrified though.
Brilliant video again sir!
FYI viva rail who build those electric trains you mentioned at the end have today started the process to go into administration today......
Back in 2005 I took a train From South Ruislip to Paddington in very quick time….it was empty and very few services or it could be Greenford!! It was a one off!
clerestory pronounce as if two words: clear story
Clear storey (as in a floor of a building) not story (as in a tale to tell). That's what it is: a clear storey whose purpose is to let in light rather than to be occupied, so it's clear in both senses. Spellings have changed over the centuries, obscuring the meaning, so maybe it's no longer a clear story at all...
Point of order, Jago - the Great Western Railway Company continued to exist as a legal entity for nearly two more years, being formally wound up on 23 December 1949
Fun experience in 1989 when the wooden escalator was out of order for weeks.
Interesting & Enjoying.
Central Line. The Train Now Approaching Is To Epping: Please Stand Back From The Platform Edge.
The class 230 /D-train battery trials probably won’t ever happen, since Vivarail (the company who builds those trains) has apparently gone into administration. Services on the Marston Vale line have been suspended and replaced with bus service due to said company, who maintained the class 230s for LNWR, having this existence crisis.
5:12 I believe the line will close temporarily shortly for them to be introduced... not sure the exact date but it isn't going to be too long...
Thanks for teaching me the word 'finial'. I hope I remember it, next time I want to impress somebody cute who knows words.
Those 92's are looking a big smeggy these days. I used to drive those when they came out. Still preferred the 62's.
The curve on the station frontage reminds of the curve that the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto would use
Interesting video.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Greenford in 6 minutes! Well, maybe, I did not want to know, but I listened anyway!
Best name ever, Shepherd’s Bush.
I don't think I've ever seen a signpost to the Gwrly station before.
I am going to have to sit and consider this for a bit.
SCC = Somerset?
Could be SCC.
Hot afternoon with some jam and cream scones and a beer or two.
The thwack of leather against willow.
To be fair, Greenford (even on its best days) is a bit sh*t even for London.
I reckon that signpost is somewhere on the Line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. Burlescombe is South of BL and the water tower is ex-GWR. Mind you, some folk will add 2 + 2 and get 6¼!
@@roboftherock Gwrly: in Wales surely?
You are a great historian
4:53 Concerning your prospects: Why not integrate the branch line to Greenford into the Central Line by diverting some trains heading to West Ruislip to West Ealing-via the existing Central branch to Ealing Broadway-in order to enable a well-integrated service and more direct journeys?