Originally I came for the views of London (as an ex- Londoner) but I stay for the gentle humour and clear and concise telling of a story.Brilliant work,as I know from experience how difficult it is to make a story work in such a short amount of time. Looking forward to the next video and hope you pass 50k or more subscribers. P.S Love the pun!
Interesting... I beg to differ on the signage at 1:52 From the damage to the name plate, I would suggest it is Vitreous Enamel (like a kitchen oven) which is not hand painted but screen printed, then fired... Just saying! 😘
Never would've guessed it that it was a struggling station, it's usually packed during evening (before pandemic). Not to mention how busy it gets during chelsea matchdays - they even open one of the side gates so that people can get out from the overground side without going through the barriers
You are not wrong, it looks lovely. Added to my growing list of stations to visit. As for a station to visit: I have a penchant for Arno's Grove, lovely place and well worth it.
Astonishing to think that when this station was opened it was in deserted countryside (hence low passenger numbers) and even in the 1980s there were just 2 peak hour trains a day from Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia. All due to the "people must go through Central London" mindset. Now the Overground trains are packed to the gunwales as they open up so many round-London journey opportunities. The restored outer circular route is a huge success story for TfL. Still some extra things that could help - restoring main line platforms at Willesden Junction for instance, exploiting the confluence of routes at Old Oak by the new HS2 interchange, and a couple more peak-hour SWR long-distance trains stopping at Clapham Junction.
In between the periods covered by the West London Railway and the Overground, there was a regular passenger service between Clapham Junction and Kensington Olympia on this line during rush hours. The service was for post office staff working at the nearby GPO savings office near Olympia. The service was not advertised, but anyone could buy a ticket at Clapham Junction if they knew about these trains. It was nicknamed The Kenny Belle.
Thanks for the tip! I may have to research this. The name rings a bell (pun not originally intended), I think I encountered it in a history of Clapham Junction.
@@JagoHazzard I believe, or I want to believe ! That if you were inclined to do a scale layout of Clapham Junction in OO scale. An area the size of Centre Court in Wimbledon would be needed. The Silly game place. Not the rubbish shopping centre of course. Although my N gauge layout of High Barnet , sits quite comfortably on a bit of wood 3' x 5' .
Surprising or not that there was a perfectly good railway from West to South London that was barely used for decades! When I moved to the area the situation was as you described and I expected services to vanish completely. Fortunately someone saw sense.
West Brompton's underground station used to shut at the weekends and only adopted standard 7-day opening shortly before the Overground station reopened. The grassy remains of the Overground station were only barely visible before that stage. Whilst travelling home southbound on the District Line I've often seen Eurostar trains and one steam locomotive running parallel down the West London line between West Brompton and Fulham Broadway.
And quite stupidly mayor boris johnson signed off removing the other two tracks through on the old freight runs, but I think the separate freght capacity- onto HS2 - would have been needed through the WLL
Living in West London, its a way of getting to south London without going through Zone1 ie Notting Hill Gate. You can join the district line via West Brompton and make your way towards Wimbledon and beyond like East Croydon. For travellers you can get a direct train to Gatwick Airport again avoiding Victoria and Zone 1. With Stressfield White City opening in 2008, we got a new Overground station called Shepherds Bush. This station was formerly known as Uxbridge Road and was closed in 1940. We also got another new Tube Station called Wood lane on the Hammersmith city and circle lanes. Both stations were so called abandoned stations, so it was just a matter of putting up signs since the platforms were still there. With numbers at 8 million and 4 million respectively, it makes you wonder what we did before and is a good case for considering opening up abandoned stations. Does Shepherds Bush hold the record for having 3 stations all called Shepherds Bush, although they changed the Shepherds Bush on the Hammersmith and City to Shepherds Bush Market.
I think when your mentioning most stations, Hammersmith has 2, right across from each other, tooting has three with different names and not close to each other though, Clapham has four: south, north Common and junction, not close to each other though, so it's probably between shepherds Bush and Hammersmith.
@@wwerules000 The former metropolitan borough of Fulham has five stations: Putney Bridge, Parsons Green, Fulham Broadway, Barons Court and West Kensington. Do not be fooled by the names of the first and last mentioned stations,they are in Fulham.
I love how the S-Stock (again) fits into the late 1800/ begin 1900 station Architecture just because of it's shape which is similar to that what used to run almost a hundred years prior to the line itself.
What I really enjoy about these videos, is to see stations that are so vastly different from the ones here in Germany. Here most towns and cities were still rather small, despite how important they might were. That means, that the stations were often placed into the outskirts of the town, or even just behind the town/city walls. Plenty of room for planing it all through, and no need to develop the city closer to the rails. Even in big cities like Berlin, Munich, or Cologne, stations are usually planned though and places in an open area with plenty of room. And then there is the fact, that Germany never really tried to use small lines to connect city districts, but rather used trams, or later just buses. And then there is London, that just grew around it's many stations, or has station shoehorned into small places. It's just so vastly different, and also kinda lovely.
I helped pick up a drunken lad who fell onto the District Line southbound track at this station about 15 years ago. I was a bit drunk myself and it was about 11pm. We were lucky we didn’t all die that day!
I used to regularly visit family living in Balham while I was based in Shepherd's Bush attending Imperial College. Discovering that I could travel direct to Balham (or 1 change at Clapham Junction) on that line was an absolute godsend. Journey time dropped from about an hour (not including walking to and from stations) to about 20mins.
I worked at this West Brompton from 2009 - 2011. My favourite feature of the wooden shed are the mahogany handrails. Absolutely stunning. Thanks for the memories.
What I like about West Brompton is its connection to the West London Line and the potential opportunities it carries. It goes up to Milton Keynes, and on the other end, it connects to Brighton, South West, and even Chatham Main Lines.
Good spot Jovan! Yes, it seems only a month or so since it was creeping towards 20K, so it has almost doubled! It seems that word is getting around that this is a Good Place to Be.
@@maryapatterson I don't know, I left the area way back in 2002 and moved to Buckinghamshire. I'm now in Oxfordshire but hopefully I can move back to Parsons Green when I'm a little richer - current budget says no!
@@maryapatterson where were the stairs before? They are grand. And I'm amazed at all the space they have for sidings. B4 covid a developer would have loved to insert an office + luxury housing right there.
Hounslow West is a very attractive station and also has some fantastic heritage below stairs if you can talk a member of staff into letting you through the back door. Also Alperton has something hidden behind one of the doors in the ticket hall.
Great video. I used West Brompton back in the 80’s when I attended the Oratory School nearby. In those days I often wondered where the BR line went to! 👍
The west London this line nowadays is always packed. All the stations from willesden to clapham are busy. The Overground taken over in 2007 has been a big success.
Years ago, one lived just around the corner, at the edge of Earl's Court. This was the closest station, used it a lot, mostly to change at Shepherd's Bush.
I lived in various places around this area in the 70s and 80s so used West Brom a fair bit over the years. Although the ruined modern day overground station was not used then, sitting on the District line platforms. you'd see the odd mainline trains passing through it, including the odd 'express' cross-London services from Kent and Sussex bound (slowly) for Bristol, or Birmingham and points north which stopped at Kensington Olympia. The 'Kenny Flier' passed through West Brom in the mornings and evenings, usually a small diesel loco (class 33?) pulling three or four dirty old carriages to and from Clapham Junction, mainly for post office workers at their Olympia facility - occasionally this might be worked by an old DMU. Even the odd freight and works train, but the line wasn't used much.
Thanks for all these fantastic documentary videos. Your style and humour is fantastic and draws me to the next video each time. You're the Tom Scott of the London world. You could make a video about toilet paper and I'd still watch it hahhaa.
Amazing to see the turnaround on the West London line. Obviously it wasn't the only reason, but Westfield certainly helped, and the Overground is such a good way of getting there from North or South London
Tales from the Tube’s deviation from its origins is evident when it feels weird that Jago makes an episode about a station that _is_ on the Underground. Nevertheless, I will still watch as I always do.
one would either get stuck at signals at wimbledon park or waiting a platform at clapham junction, the Southern service is normally the first to be culled when insufficient drivers book on .
@@highpath4776 I was on the losing Clapham Junction route but Clapham Junction was fine. Unfortunately, a bank holiday, me missing the train to Clapham Junction and the next one being cancelled really meant the issues boiled down to West Brompton. I will never forgive it.
Great title, great video, great station! This is of my favourite stations in London. Well designed, not too busy and very useful. I remember taking the Connex train (Brighton - Rugby) from Brighton and getting off here not long after it first opened. These days I think the Southern service is just East Croydon - Milton Keynes. Idk if it’s still possible to get to Gatwick Airport direct from here.
According to www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ Southern trains run from Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes, or just to Watford Junction at weekends. For Gatwick you need Thameslink, etc, from central London.
I'm sure the WL&JR shareholders would be astounded to see how busy the National Rail services are these days; having caught one from Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction just earlier this evening it was almost pre-COVID levels of crowding (quite unpleasant really). Such a shame the opportunity given by the demolition of Earl's Court to make it into a four-track railway wasn't taken up.
I don't think many people fall into the category of having great interest in both London as a place and 90s Hip-Hop. As one of that small group of people, I'd clicked on this video in seconds.
Fulham Broadway - no hugely important reason. Looks very similar to West Brompton. It was just my local station when I lived there 50+ yrs ago. I always find Earl's Court quite fascinating too. The surface bit of the district and the deep Piccadilly. Also the amount of kiosks and coffee bars at the time of course.
The District's Richmond and Wimbledon branches have some attractive stations. Kew Gardens springs to mind, complete with a pub on the platform. Another great little video, Thank you. 👌👍😁
Thanks for another interesting history lesson. I used to travel through there every day and had no idea the signs were hand painted! I remember it before they decided to rebuild the West London line platforms in the 90's, when it was just the occasional goods train passing through.
The history of the West London Line ('Mr Punche's Railway') has filled a fair few volumes. As a little addition I mention the District to WLER connection laid in 1865-1868 for contractors' traffic.
Could you take a look at Gunnersbury tube station? I find it a bit interesting since its a bit "hidden" between a big office and some houses, would be nice to know a bit of history about it. Also partially since I used to commute from there a lot.
West Brompton this one of the stations that had been considered for additional lifts - currently you can only interchange between the Overground platforms from accessibility point of but you can't join the London underground services.
Back in the 1970s it was my local Underground station, and there were about 1 or 2 trains in each direction between Clapham Junction and (I suppose) Kensington Olympia (which at the time only had Exhibition Service on the Underground, although later that changed to a full day service), which I used to see while waiting for my train in the mornings. I do remember wondering why there wasn't a British Rail station at West Brompton, as it looked as though there had been one there once....
Thanks for that. I've spent the last few days feeling miserable with a twisted and swollen knee. Your video cheered me up no end - possibly because it showed somewhere without 100% cloud cover. Never had cause to go to that station, but it does look nice. Thank you.
I've been to London for a staggering 24 hours in my life, and know none of these places you talk about, but these videos are super enjoyable. Thank you.
You didn't mention the trains that run from West Brompton to Watford. I used to have to get the District Line down to Wimbledon and then get South West Trains to Clapham Junction, to get those trains. But once this station opened up, I could just to get West Brompton and get one. My only problem was that the District Line operates one train every 6-8 minutes and there is only one train to Watford per hour. So I've had to plan my entire journey around hitting that hourly connection. (It's almost been like what things are like for people outside London.) That railway line is literally as important as Thameslink is. But everyone ignores it and pretends it does not exist. It really needs to be noticed more.
Love it! I used to change here regularly on my way to university and I really liked the "understated grandeur" of the station. And that roundel is gorgeous. Despite having lived around there I had never heard of the Kensington Canal - this might be straying a little from your usual content but it's be great to see a video on that!
Very interesting as ever. How about an episode about Monument/Bank: 2 stations? 1 station? Biggest collection of random underground pedestrian tunnels in the universe?
It’s one I do want to get around to. I’m currently holding off until rebuilding works are complete and the Waterloo and City reopens, whenever that is...
If you are intersted in that (and King William Street) then the London Transport Museum are doing "Hidden London" virtual tours about that at the moment...
I like it because it's a transfer point on my route between Gatwick to Underground Zone 2 (Hammersmith, say) that saves me a bundle. Friendly pink Oyster card gizmo!
Memories of a great station. I spent many years working at Empress State (the tricorn building at 2:38 in the video) so was a daily commuter here. Thanks Tom!
You know, the modern lift shaft towers are actually pretty nice. Some nifty brickwork, and a design hearing back to the heyday of railway architecture.
Filming the station because you think it looks nice is good enough for me. It also lets me know about more Underground/overground stations in and around London. Very handy for playing Mornington Crescent.
It is a nice stn especially as it has the Brompton Cemetery right next door which is a lovely tranquil place for a bit of quite time (also has nice Cafe in there! 😆)
Thanks for this video, very interesting. I have always been quite intrigued by West Bromptom with the old to nee and retaining wall but minimal station building so you have explained these very well.
I have used it, mainly because of the relatively new route from East Croydon to Milton Keynes, and it is a nice station. Glad you pointed out the roundels, news to me. Thank you. I also like Crystal Palace station - not sure if you’ve covered it - what a grand station it must have been? And still is in my eyes!
Well, if you ask me....LOL....You may cover any of the Leslie Green stations which are spectacular, please and thank you. There is a wonderful book - The Underground Stations of Leslie Green by David Leboff, no doubt you know it. Perhaps your audience would love to know more about his beautiful stations. I have endeavored to visit each one; noting the differences and the various cartouche designs in particular. They are glorious and most people simply walk by and never stop and admire and appreciate. Many thanks indeed for your lovely, fun videos. Cheers
Great videos as always. Suggestions for other stations & surrounds: Shepherd’s Bush Green - old & new with Rail & two other tube stations Goldhawk Rd & Shepherds Bush Met line. Harrow-On-The-Hill - Art Deco Station with the picturesque rival to Eton. Queensway & Bayswater - they look far apart on the tube map but almost next to each other. I am surprised your Baker St Station coverage did not mention 221b Baker St or the museum, people from the EU & US also watch your vids, you know! 😄 I look forward to the next video!
@@JagoHazzard Thanks!!! I did indeed enjoy it! More please! I think we need an Art Deco London series... covering BBC Bush House St Olafs (London Bridge Hosp) Fleet St Daily Express building Senate House Bloomsbury (in film 1984) M&S front façade London Underground HQ 55 Broadway Zoroastrian center outside Rayners La tube. Odeon Cinemas eg Leicester Sq & Kensington maybe there’s more...
I’ve used West Brompton quite a few times, for getting to Kensington Olympia on Weekdays, and a vegan shop, and vegan restaurant are a short walk away.
"Indeed, the second world war was a handy way to get rid of lines and services they didn't much care for" - this made me chuckle quite a bit! I love your videos mate, such a joy to watch! :D
I live in the north of the country, I go to London maybe once a year, I don't know much about it's geography but I find your mini doc videos really interesting!
Used to commute from Croydon to university at Imperial. Although my standard route was East Croydon - Victoria - South Kensington, I would occasionally change at Clapham Junction and get an old Silverlink 313 EMU to West Brompton, then change there for Gloucester Road and a slightly more pleasant walk. Thinking back it can't have been long after it reopened, I can't remember if there were any stations between Clapham Junction and West Brompton.
An easily missed station. I went to school at the Oratory just round the corner. I can’t believe how it hasn’t changed much at all since I last saw it in 1980!!!
Love you to do a video on Brompton Cemetery nextdoor.... Its an amazing place I walk thru it everyday. The catacombs are really creepy to.... Loads of movies use it
Although its been a while since i was there, Upminsters an nice and somewhat unsual station in as its so far out on the district line. Was a handy way to *ahem* get to Southend if you didnt have hte train fare from Liverpool Street.
You should do a video on some of the disused stations and tunnels beneath London. There’s a whole subterranean world beneath London that is endlessly fascinating.
For no rational reason I'm curious about Brompton too, but only because of the bicycle. In the days of the radio cassette player, a place I worked in had a penchant for NWA which had a habit of scaring the customers. .The workshop manager took a screw driver to the workings and reduced it to Radio 4 on Long Wave only. That's where I developed my phobia of The Archers; it's one of these things that grates on your nerves, compelling you to listen no matter what you do, although the theme tune's rather jolly and should be the new national anthem.
As a fan of puns and stations and the NWA, I applaud your witty title good sir. Keep up the great content!
Thanks!
@@JagoHazzard You could have visited the cemetary and its not disimilar frontage
'it takes a nation of millions'
to create us
@@2Worlds_and_InBetween yep, I hear you bro. Word. (or is this too mac daddy for these days?) lol
Originally I came for the views of London (as an ex- Londoner) but I stay for the gentle humour and clear and concise telling of a story.Brilliant work,as I know from experience how difficult it is to make a story work in such a short amount of time. Looking forward to the next video and hope you pass 50k or more subscribers. P.S Love the pun!
Thanks!
NWA - Straight Outta Brompton.. Can't imagine Ice Cube shopping at Fortnum and Mason down the road!
I've always liked the old skool charm of Barons Court too.
Then you’re in luck, because I m- no no spoilers spoilers
@@JagoHazzard queens club
Interesting...
I beg to differ on the signage at 1:52
From the damage to the name plate, I would suggest it is Vitreous Enamel (like a kitchen oven) which is not hand painted but screen printed, then fired...
Just saying! 😘
Never would've guessed it that it was a struggling station, it's usually packed during evening (before pandemic). Not to mention how busy it gets during chelsea matchdays - they even open one of the side gates so that people can get out from the overground side without going through the barriers
Thank-you for a nice start to the day. I'm in a good mood now. The station has beautiful character.
I am not even from London or the UK but I am addicted to these tube videos!
Thanks!
You are not wrong, it looks lovely. Added to my growing list of stations to visit. As for a station to visit: I have a penchant for Arno's Grove, lovely place and well worth it.
All the Wimbledon branch stations are different and quite interesting, each could do with an episode of their own.
@Capo di tutti capi Indeed, my error entirely! This is why I shall never be a proper Underground geek!
Astonishing to think that when this station was opened it was in deserted countryside (hence low passenger numbers) and even in the 1980s there were just 2 peak hour trains a day from Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia. All due to the "people must go through Central London" mindset. Now the Overground trains are packed to the gunwales as they open up so many round-London journey opportunities. The restored outer circular route is a huge success story for TfL. Still some extra things that could help - restoring main line platforms at Willesden Junction for instance, exploiting the confluence of routes at Old Oak by the new HS2 interchange, and a couple more peak-hour SWR long-distance trains stopping at Clapham Junction.
Like Kevin Costner (or someone) said in that Baseball flick, 'If you build it, they will come...'!
In between the periods covered by the West London Railway and the Overground, there was a regular passenger service between Clapham Junction and Kensington Olympia on this line during rush hours. The service was for post office staff working at the nearby GPO savings office near Olympia. The service was not advertised, but anyone could buy a ticket at Clapham Junction if they knew about these trains.
It was nicknamed The Kenny Belle.
Thanks for the tip! I may have to research this. The name rings a bell (pun not originally intended), I think I encountered it in a history of Clapham Junction.
@@JagoHazzard I believe, or I want to believe ! That if you were inclined to do a scale layout of Clapham Junction in OO scale.
An area the size of Centre Court in Wimbledon would be needed. The Silly game place. Not the rubbish shopping centre of course. Although my N gauge layout of High Barnet , sits quite comfortably on a bit of wood 3' x 5' .
There's an excellent video on Alan Snowdon's channel that covers these trains.
If the link works ...... th-cam.com/video/3JwuF6vi45g/w-d-xo.html
Surprising or not that there was a perfectly good railway from West to South London that was barely used for decades! When I moved to the area the situation was as you described and I expected services to vanish completely. Fortunately someone saw sense.
West Brompton's underground station used to shut at the weekends and only adopted standard 7-day opening shortly before the Overground station reopened. The grassy remains of the Overground station were only barely visible before that stage. Whilst travelling home southbound on the District Line I've often seen Eurostar trains and one steam locomotive running parallel down the West London line between West Brompton and Fulham Broadway.
And quite stupidly mayor boris johnson signed off removing the other two tracks through on the old freight runs, but I think the separate freght capacity- onto HS2 - would have been needed through the WLL
Living in West London, its a way of getting to south London without going through Zone1 ie Notting Hill Gate. You can join the district line via West Brompton and make your way towards Wimbledon and beyond like East Croydon. For travellers you can get a direct train to Gatwick Airport again avoiding Victoria and Zone 1. With Stressfield White City opening in 2008, we got a new Overground station called Shepherds Bush. This station was formerly known as Uxbridge Road and was closed in 1940. We also got another new Tube Station called Wood lane on the Hammersmith city and circle lanes.
Both stations were so called abandoned stations, so it was just a matter of putting up signs since the platforms were still there.
With numbers at 8 million and 4 million respectively, it makes you wonder what we did before and is a good case for considering opening up abandoned stations.
Does Shepherds Bush hold the record for having 3 stations all called Shepherds Bush, although they changed the Shepherds Bush on the Hammersmith and City to Shepherds Bush Market.
I think when your mentioning most stations, Hammersmith has 2, right across from each other, tooting has three with different names and not close to each other though, Clapham has four: south, north Common and junction, not close to each other though, so it's probably between shepherds Bush and Hammersmith.
I have a video on the situation in Hammersmith coming up - it used to be even more complicated.
Haha im from shepherds bush
@@wwerules000 The former metropolitan borough of Fulham has five stations: Putney Bridge, Parsons Green, Fulham Broadway, Barons Court and West Kensington. Do not be fooled by the names of the first and last mentioned stations,they are in Fulham.
@@mikesaunders4775 Im not sure that the Estate agents would agree with you.....
I love how the S-Stock (again) fits into the late 1800/ begin 1900 station Architecture just because of it's shape which is similar to that what used to run almost a hundred years prior to the line itself.
What I really enjoy about these videos, is to see stations that are so vastly different from the ones here in Germany.
Here most towns and cities were still rather small, despite how important they might were.
That means, that the stations were often placed into the outskirts of the town, or even just behind the town/city walls.
Plenty of room for planing it all through, and no need to develop the city closer to the rails.
Even in big cities like Berlin, Munich, or Cologne, stations are usually planned though and places in an open area with plenty of room.
And then there is the fact, that Germany never really tried to use small lines to connect city districts, but rather used trams, or later just buses.
And then there is London, that just grew around it's many stations, or has station shoehorned into small places.
It's just so vastly different, and also kinda lovely.
I helped pick up a drunken lad who fell onto the District Line southbound track at this station about 15 years ago. I was a bit drunk myself and it was about 11pm. We were lucky we didn’t all die that day!
I used to regularly visit family living in Balham while I was based in Shepherd's Bush attending Imperial College. Discovering that I could travel direct to Balham (or 1 change at Clapham Junction) on that line was an absolute godsend. Journey time dropped from about an hour (not including walking to and from stations) to about 20mins.
I worked at this West Brompton from 2009 - 2011. My favourite feature of the wooden shed are the mahogany handrails. Absolutely stunning. Thanks for the memories.
What I like about West Brompton is its connection to the West London Line and the potential opportunities it carries. It goes up to Milton Keynes, and on the other end, it connects to Brighton, South West, and even Chatham Main Lines.
You've added 10,000 subscribers since I last thought to look! You're on a roll, Young Man!
Thanks!
Good spot Jovan! Yes, it seems only a month or so since it was creeping towards 20K, so it has almost doubled! It seems that word is getting around that this is a Good Place to Be.
Look out piewdipie
British trains do have unique paint schemes
For stations that just look nice, take a look at nearby Parsons Green! That in my opinion is a must!
Yes and when did they move the stairs? I went to secondary school round there.
@@maryapatterson I don't know, I left the area way back in 2002 and moved to Buckinghamshire. I'm now in Oxfordshire but hopefully I can move back to Parsons Green when I'm a little richer - current budget says no!
@@ChilternTransportProductions 🤣🤣🤣
@@maryapatterson where were the stairs before? They are grand. And I'm amazed at all the space they have for sidings. B4 covid a developer would have loved to insert an office + luxury housing right there.
Hounslow West is a very attractive station and also has some fantastic heritage below stairs if you can talk a member of staff into letting you through the back door. Also Alperton has something hidden behind one of the doors in the ticket hall.
Great video. I used West Brompton back in the 80’s when I attended the Oratory School nearby. In those days I often wondered where the BR line went to! 👍
Earl's Court is superb. Worthy as the main station of any major town. BTW: Hull is impressive, but outside the Oyster zone.
I like old brickwork. I notice old walls and bridges etc.
Indeed as do i, so much nicer than the modern idea of wipe clean panels or non wipe cleanable concrete.
The west London this line nowadays is always packed. All the stations from willesden to clapham are busy. The Overground taken over in 2007 has been a big success.
Years ago, one lived just around the corner, at the edge of Earl's Court. This was the closest station, used it a lot, mostly to change at Shepherd's Bush.
I love that the old, hand painted sign is still there. These videos are the best, thanks so much for making them!
You’re very welcome! Thanks for watching!
I lived in various places around this area in the 70s and 80s so used West Brom a fair bit over the years. Although the ruined modern day overground station was not used then, sitting on the District line platforms. you'd see the odd mainline trains passing through it, including the odd 'express' cross-London services from Kent and Sussex bound (slowly) for Bristol, or Birmingham and points north which stopped at Kensington Olympia. The 'Kenny Flier' passed through West Brom in the mornings and evenings, usually a small diesel loco (class 33?) pulling three or four dirty old carriages to and from Clapham Junction, mainly for post office workers at their Olympia facility - occasionally this might be worked by an old DMU. Even the odd freight and works train, but the line wasn't used much.
Thanks for all these fantastic documentary videos. Your style and humour is fantastic and draws me to the next video each time. You're the Tom Scott of the London world. You could make a video about toilet paper and I'd still watch it hahhaa.
Thank you!
I love West Brompton. It's very photogenic. I also applaud the name of this video. Great stuff!
Amazing to see the turnaround on the West London line. Obviously it wasn't the only reason, but Westfield certainly helped, and the Overground is such a good way of getting there from North or South London
Tales from the Tube’s deviation from its origins is evident when it feels weird that Jago makes an episode about a station that _is_ on the Underground.
Nevertheless, I will still watch as I always do.
I found your videos by an accident and now I can't stop watching them. Great work, I can't believe that you have only 40k subscribers!
Only ever had a single use for West Brompton, racing to Croydon via Clapham Junction or Wimbledon.
West Brompton let me down.
one would either get stuck at signals at wimbledon park or waiting a platform at clapham junction, the Southern service is normally the first to be culled when insufficient drivers book on .
@@highpath4776 I was on the losing Clapham Junction route but Clapham Junction was fine. Unfortunately, a bank holiday, me missing the train to Clapham Junction and the next one being cancelled really meant the issues boiled down to West Brompton. I will never forgive it.
While there are many things I would like to witness if I had a time machine, this channel has added the history of the British rail to that list.
Great title, great video, great station! This is of my favourite stations in London. Well designed, not too busy and very useful.
I remember taking the Connex train (Brighton - Rugby) from Brighton and getting off here not long after it first opened. These days I think the Southern service is just East Croydon - Milton Keynes. Idk if it’s still possible to get to Gatwick Airport direct from here.
According to www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ Southern trains run from Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes, or just to Watford Junction at weekends. For Gatwick you need Thameslink, etc, from central London.
I'm sure the WL&JR shareholders would be astounded to see how busy the National Rail services are these days; having caught one from Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction just earlier this evening it was almost pre-COVID levels of crowding (quite unpleasant really). Such a shame the opportunity given by the demolition of Earl's Court to make it into a four-track railway wasn't taken up.
It was four track, boris closed two for the flats developements on the west you now see.
Especially the stairs are nice. And the roundels of course
There is still a bridge visible from the canal the line was built over, amazing that has survived.
Thanks for posting. I used to live near there quite some time ago, so it's brought back memories. Thanks.
I don't think many people fall into the category of having great interest in both London as a place and 90s Hip-Hop.
As one of that small group of people, I'd clicked on this video in seconds.
Fulham Broadway - no hugely important reason. Looks very similar to West Brompton. It was just my local station when I lived there 50+ yrs ago. I always find Earl's Court quite fascinating too. The surface bit of the district and the deep Piccadilly. Also the amount of kiosks and coffee bars at the time of course.
Great video jago, beautiful architecture, and painted sign👌👍😃
I like it because it reminds me of visiting my grandmother when I was young!
I love how you are fascinated by trains and all that stuff. I appreciate your videos very much! ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks!
The District's Richmond and Wimbledon branches have some attractive stations. Kew Gardens springs to mind, complete with a pub on the platform.
Another great little video, Thank you. 👌👍😁
It's quite near to Brompton cemetery, I seem to recall - surely a topic for another day.
Thanks for another interesting history lesson. I used to travel through there every day and had no idea the signs were hand painted! I remember it before they decided to rebuild the West London line platforms in the 90's, when it was just the occasional goods train passing through.
The history of the West London Line ('Mr Punche's Railway') has filled a fair few volumes. As a little addition I mention the District to WLER connection laid in 1865-1868 for contractors' traffic.
I love the wooden stairs, and crossover things, apparently the were designed by MC Escher
Could you take a look at Gunnersbury tube station? I find it a bit interesting since its a bit "hidden" between a big office and some houses, would be nice to know a bit of history about it.
Also partially since I used to commute from there a lot.
West Brompton this one of the stations that had been considered for additional lifts - currently you can only interchange between the Overground platforms from accessibility point of but you can't join the London underground services.
Boston Manor is a lovely station, and I think its very overlooked
Back in the 1970s it was my local Underground station, and there were about 1 or 2 trains in each direction between Clapham Junction and (I suppose) Kensington Olympia (which at the time only had Exhibition Service on the Underground, although later that changed to a full day service), which I used to see while waiting for my train in the mornings. I do remember wondering why there wasn't a British Rail station at West Brompton, as it looked as though there had been one there once....
Before the west London line station reopened in 1999, the tube station used to be closed on sundays!
Thanks for that. I've spent the last few days feeling miserable with a twisted and swollen knee. Your video cheered me up no end - possibly because it showed somewhere without 100% cloud cover. Never had cause to go to that station, but it does look nice. Thank you.
Loving the videos as always!
Straight outta Brompton! On yer bike, Jago Hazzard!
I've been to London for a staggering 24 hours in my life, and know none of these places you talk about, but these videos are super enjoyable. Thank you.
You’re very welcome! I’m kind of surprised by how many non-London viewers I have, I thought I was being very niche.
You didn't mention the trains that run from West Brompton to Watford.
I used to have to get the District Line down to Wimbledon and then get South West Trains to Clapham Junction, to get those trains. But once this station opened up, I could just to get West Brompton and get one. My only problem was that the District Line operates one train every 6-8 minutes and there is only one train to Watford per hour. So I've had to plan my entire journey around hitting that hourly connection. (It's almost been like what things are like for people outside London.)
That railway line is literally as important as Thameslink is. But everyone ignores it and pretends it does not exist. It really needs to be noticed more.
Love it! I used to change here regularly on my way to university and I really liked the "understated grandeur" of the station. And that roundel is gorgeous.
Despite having lived around there I had never heard of the Kensington Canal - this might be straying a little from your usual content but it's be great to see a video on that!
0:51 - I SO want to write the words ‘Wombling free’ at the bottom of the sign on the left!
Very interesting as ever. How about an episode about Monument/Bank: 2 stations? 1 station? Biggest collection of random underground pedestrian tunnels in the universe?
It’s one I do want to get around to. I’m currently holding off until rebuilding works are complete and the Waterloo and City reopens, whenever that is...
If you are intersted in that (and King William Street) then the London Transport Museum are doing "Hidden London" virtual tours about that at the moment...
@@LondonAndy70 Thanks. I have just booked onto a tour!
I used to pass through it on my way to Southfield for tennis at Wimbledon each summer in the 70's & 80's. It always looked nice but very underused.
Most people would use Earls Court, but getting out at West Brompton for a walk is handy if you want to avoid a crush
I like it because it's a transfer point on my route between Gatwick to Underground Zone 2 (Hammersmith, say) that saves me a bundle. Friendly pink Oyster card gizmo!
Memories of a great station. I spent many years working at Empress State (the tricorn building at 2:38 in the video) so was a daily commuter here. Thanks Tom!
Is that the CIA HQ in London ?
You know, the modern lift shaft towers are actually pretty nice. Some nifty brickwork, and a design hearing back to the heyday of railway architecture.
Filming the station because you think it looks nice is good enough for me. It also lets me know about more Underground/overground stations in and around London. Very handy for playing Mornington Crescent.
Liking a station because it looks nice is the most legitimate reason to like a station!
It is a nice stn especially as it has the Brompton Cemetery right next door which is a lovely tranquil place for a bit of quite time (also has nice Cafe in there! 😆)
I did take a stroll around there after filming this. It’s really most delightful.
36k plus subs. Wow, congratulations.
As always entertaining and informative. keep em coming!
i visited london once on holiday for a week and this was my local station… shame it was closed on the weekend though
Straight outta Brompton 😂. Lovely informative video 👏🏻
Since following you....there are now quite a few stations that I just want to go & see!
Would never have noticed the hand painted sign ..thank you 💕
Thanks for this video, very interesting. I have always been quite intrigued by West Bromptom with the old to nee and retaining wall but minimal station building so you have explained these very well.
I have used it, mainly because of the relatively new route from East Croydon to Milton Keynes, and it is a nice station. Glad you pointed out the roundels, news to me. Thank you.
I also like Crystal Palace station - not sure if you’ve covered it - what a grand station it must have been? And still is in my eyes!
It’s one I want to visit, it is indeed pretty splendid. You can tell the builders had big ideas for it.
Hi from Australia, loving your channel xx
Thanks!
Well, if you ask me....LOL....You may cover any of the Leslie Green stations which are spectacular, please and thank you. There is a wonderful book - The Underground Stations of Leslie Green by David Leboff, no doubt you know it. Perhaps your audience would love to know more about his beautiful stations. I have endeavored to visit each one; noting the differences and the various cartouche designs in particular. They are glorious and most people simply walk by and never stop and admire and appreciate. Many thanks indeed for your lovely, fun videos. Cheers
Maida Vale and Kensal Green are nice,
Great videos as always. Suggestions for other stations & surrounds:
Shepherd’s Bush Green - old & new with Rail & two other tube stations Goldhawk Rd & Shepherds Bush Met line.
Harrow-On-The-Hill - Art Deco Station with the picturesque rival to Eton.
Queensway & Bayswater - they look far apart on the tube map but almost next to each other.
I am surprised your Baker St Station coverage did not mention 221b Baker St or the museum, people from the EU & US also watch your vids, you know! 😄
I look forward to the next video!
You may enjoy this: th-cam.com/video/htXHQzTVff8/w-d-xo.html
@@JagoHazzard Thanks!!! I did indeed enjoy it! More please!
I think we need an Art Deco London series... covering
BBC Bush House
St Olafs (London Bridge Hosp)
Fleet St Daily Express building
Senate House Bloomsbury (in film 1984)
M&S front façade
London Underground HQ 55 Broadway
Zoroastrian center outside Rayners La tube.
Odeon Cinemas eg Leicester Sq & Kensington
maybe there’s more...
I’ve used West Brompton quite a few times, for getting to Kensington Olympia on Weekdays, and a vegan shop, and vegan restaurant are a short walk away.
Reminds me of a moment peering out of the rear entrance of Earl's Court during a school trip to the Motor Show back in the early 1970s.
"Indeed, the second world war was a handy way to get rid of lines and services they didn't much care for" - this made me chuckle quite a bit! I love your videos mate, such a joy to watch! :D
I live in the north of the country, I go to London maybe once a year, I don't know much about it's geography but I find your mini doc videos really interesting!
Used to commute from Croydon to university at Imperial. Although my standard route was East Croydon - Victoria - South Kensington, I would occasionally change at Clapham Junction and get an old Silverlink 313 EMU to West Brompton, then change there for Gloucester Road and a slightly more pleasant walk. Thinking back it can't have been long after it reopened, I can't remember if there were any stations between Clapham Junction and West Brompton.
An easily missed station. I went to school at the Oratory just round the corner. I can’t believe how it hasn’t changed much at all since I last saw it in 1980!!!
Oh and another one you may wish to do is a video on those tube stations that have an island platform! That might be interesting.
Love you to do a video on Brompton Cemetery nextdoor.... Its an amazing place I walk thru it everyday. The catacombs are really creepy to.... Loads of movies use it
The line between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction never closed.
but the station did. as did some passenger services
Brilliant stuff!
Acton town could be a good idea especially if you could get on the now disused platform that used to take district line trains to South Acton.
Although its been a while since i was there, Upminsters an nice and somewhat unsual station in as its so far out on the district line. Was a handy way to *ahem* get to Southend if you didnt have hte train fare from Liverpool Street.
I liked this video genuinely for the pun!
Here at 40k subs. lets see how fast you grow mate!!!
You should do a video on some of the disused stations and tunnels beneath London. There’s a whole subterranean world beneath London that is endlessly fascinating.
This was crying out for some maps - pleeeease think about finding some old maps to add in to give us some context!
Try this www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php
Thank you
0.32 Is that the site of Earles Court Exhibition Halls in the background ? What a crying shame.
Yes, site cleared in 2019 I believe
For no rational reason I'm curious about Brompton too, but only because of the bicycle.
In the days of the radio cassette player, a place I worked in had a penchant for NWA which had a habit of scaring the customers. .The workshop manager took a screw driver to the workings and reduced it to Radio 4 on Long Wave only. That's where I developed my phobia of The Archers; it's one of these things that grates on your nerves, compelling you to listen no matter what you do, although the theme tune's rather jolly and should be the new national anthem.