The North London Railway

Our first afternoon meeting of the 2025/26 season had a good attendance to
hear Adrian Wright and his slide presentation on the North London Railway.

The first half of his presentation was mostly verbal, with a description of
the origins and development of the North London Railway, which ran for 14
miles from Broad Street, westwards to Chalk Farm and eastwards to West India
Docks at Poplar - as opposed to the later marketing description of the North
London Line (Broad Street to Richmond).   He provided copies of a useful
chronological historical map showing the extent of the NLR and its
connections.    Although built to help the LNWR gain access to the London
Docks it rapidly gained importance as a passenger railway.     The complex
arrangements of railways around Willesden Junction were illustrated and
discussed.   We also saw some of the NLR's passenger and freight
locomotives, including the single survivor 58850 of the latter, now at the
Bluebell Railway, and heard that many of the freight trains were hauled by
other companies' locomotives.

The second half was an imaginary illustrated journey eastwards along the
North London Line, starting at Richmond station, built by the Southern
Railway and recently attractively refreshed.  The images started in the
1960s and included some more recent images and some older ones purchased as
well as many in the 1960s and 1970s.  We also saw some of the locations
served by the railway, from the famous botanical gardens close to Kew
Gardens station, to the playgrounds adjacent to Gospel Oak and the rebuilt
Kentish Town West, closed for ten years after arson.  The complex
arrangements at Dalston Junction were discussed and then we moved to Broad
Street station itself, showing both signal boxes, the magnificent exterior
and an almost deserted mid-morning view of the concourse.   A few
illustrations of the eastern section were also shown including Hackney and
Poplar.  Hackney still has its original Edwin Horne building, although no
longer in railway use.

The speaker also kindly brought some books along for sale to help branch
funds. The meeting concluded with the usual quiz and thanks to the speaker.