General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
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CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
That happened around 1986 as part of the Eurostar project. The bridges at Barrington Road and Loughborough Junction also got changed (maybe many more).
Not sure where you'd look to find what you are asking. Railway Construction Gazette? I doubt SLP would have got it. They would if a crane had dropped one of the concrete cross beams and killed someone of course.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Not for freight - hadn't you noticed those Hanson aggregates wagons, not mention the car freighters etc that sometimes go by on the upper level line?
I presume it joins up with the bridge going to Willsden Junction etc. But I'm sure you know more about that than me.
I just spotted a Wikipedia article which might be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole_depot
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
editor
hiraethified
The railway bridge on Valentia Place appears to have been replaced some time after 1991 (although the Wiki article incorrectly identifies it as the site of East Brixton)
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I'm well aware of the freight as I watch it go right past my place, and keep quite a close track on it. It's partly because it's a major freight route that I'm surpised it would be strengthened for Eurostar - I'm fairly sure the Eurostar trains are pretty light in comparison.
You're right that much of it goes on via Willesden Junction (via Olympia and Shepherds Bush). It's the main freight route through south London and pretty much anything from Kent or from the Channel Tunnel goes along it. And shipping containers from Thamesport but sadly that traffic ceased a couple of years ago and it looks like it might not return.
I remember North Pole depot being in action - you could see Eurostars running through Shepherds Bush etc to get between it and Waterloo.
Apparently Kensington Olympia was identified as an alternative terminus for the Eurostar trains should there be some kind of emergency that closed Waterloo.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
You seem to be the railway expert - I am just trying to be helpful.
Eurotunnel stats for 2013 seem to indicate a significant number of freight services in addition to Le Shuttles passenger services.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...K-Regulatory-Announcement-Groupe#.UwZZtYXYNnQ
Why would you think that our heavy duty trans-Brixton freight trains are going elsewhere?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Sure - sorry if it sounded like I was suggesting otherwise!
Not quite sure what you mean.
The aggregate trains that pass through Brixton don't go to the tunnel - they are all domestic. They are to/from ship offloading points along the Thames estuary, quarries/gravel pits, and construction material depots around London.
If you see container trains or covered wagons then some of those are to/from the Tunnel and destinations beyond including Italy and Germany. Some of them carry steel or aluminium (on the British side they originate in places like Scunthorpe and South Wales), some of them carry fruit and other perishables. There's one from France that's entirely full of Evian bottled water.
The Channel Tunnel is actually under-utilised for freight trains (other than the Euroshuttle trains which carry road lorries). It has quite a lot of spare capacity. The last 5-10 years the number of freight trains through the Tunnel has been rather low but it seems to be on a gradual increase at the moment. There are now some that use HS1 to get directly to a depot in East London (the wider loading guage means that they can convey full-size European wagons which won't fit on the rest of the UK network). Those ones don't pass through south London at all.
The shuttles that carry lorries (competing directly with cross channel ferries) are doing good business and they've just ordered new trains to increase the frequency. That's all very well but really what we want is an increase in proper long distance freight trains through the tunnel. The lorry-carrying trains just dump the lorries at either end to carry on with their high-pollution journeys.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
It seems that Eurostar was inaugurated 6th May 1994 (from Waterloo).
I would suggest then that the bridges were changed between 1991 and 1994.
In any event it was very disruptive, but well planned.
They closed Coldharbour Lane, Valentia Place and Brixton Road for a weekend each (not at the same time) and had massive cranes to lift the steel and concrete into position.
If it had happened 10 years later no doubt on-line pictures would have surfaced by now.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I do recall some local group campaigning against excessive rail freight on this route due to excessive noise and vibration. My near neighbour at that time was involved and had Railtrack as it was then doing noise measurements etc but they concluded in the end that there was not enough disturbance to anything about it - ore give any compensation.
I think this was in the SLP and questions were being asked about why this freight could not go outside London via Redhill.
Nuclear waste was part of the argument of course - Lambeth being a "Nuclear Free Zone" (is it still?)
teuchter
je suis teuchter
The nuclear flask trains still come through.
Seems a bit silly to me, to start complaining about noise from freight trains living next to this line. It's been the case for decades! I think there is possibly a bit more vibration than there used to be, because trains are longer/heavier, but on the other hand more modern engines mean they are actually quite a bit quieter.
The reasons why the Redhill route can't be used (without very expensive work) instead are various and complex... there is a detailed explanation somewhere in a Network Rail report about it, which I read a while ago. It does seem a bit crazy that a main freight artery runs right through one of the most congested bits of London...but that's just the way history has destined it to be. I imagine at some point an outside-of-London route will be created, but not in the near future.
Anyway, I enjoying having the freight trains coming past, makes it feel like we're connected to other places and it kind of makes the metabolism of our industrial/post-industrial age visible, if you choose to look at it like that. For quite some time there were several trains a day that were just full of the spoil from Crossrail....makes you realise the scale of operations of that kind. Maybe some day I'll write an Alain de Botton style book about the South London Line, which no-one will read.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
1.The deeds of these Coldharbour houses show the land originally belonged to the railway (between Barrington Road and the railway bridge over Coldharbour Lane near Control Tower/Ackee Tree minicabs)
Imagine what it must have been like with steam trains every few minutes! (Some of the properties were built "blind back" because of this).
2.I had a publication about "SOLTA" somewhere. Must dig it out and see what it says.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Yes, I like seeing the odd steam train passing but the pollution must have been terrible when they were going past all the time. The line was electrified quite early on though. Originally had overhead wires until they were replaced with the standard Southern 3rd rail. You can still see the bases of the old gantry towers attached to the side of the viaduct in places.
What's SOLTA?
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I think it meant South London Line Travelers Assocation.
Couldn't find the SOLTA report just now - but I did find a letter from Leslie Smith, Managing Director, Terminal Freight dated 21th July 1993. I am retyping ther last three paragraphs below. May be able to attach jpg later (I don't think Urban can load pdf)
Extract from Trainload Freight letter (capitalisation as original letter):
"I am sorry that residents have been disturbed by passing freight trains. Until last year our freight trains could not operate on the lines closest to you, known as the "Atlantic Lines", because of weight restrictions placed on the bridges along it then. These bridges have now been rebuilt and so the restrictions have been lifted. By routing freight trains over the "Atlantic Lines" we have been able to avoid congestion at Brixton and so operate the railway more efficiently.
The bridge strengthening work was primarily undertaken to permit the operation of freight trains to/from the Channel Tunnel over this route. We are however doing a number of things which should reduce the intrusiveness of both domestic and Channel Tunnel freight trains.
The wagons on Channel Tunnel freight trains will not have to be quite so heavy am axle load as the wagons used on domestic freight trains. So there should be less vibration caused by the Channel Tunnel freight trains. In addition the Channel Tunnel freight trains will be hauled by electric locomotives which are generally perceived to be quieter than diesels too.We are also replacing the existing jointed track with continuously welded rail. This will give all types of trains using these lines a much smoother ride and so reduce the vibration that is presently causing you nuisance."
It seems clear from all this that the bridges were strengthened/rebuilt in 1992. And that Channel Tunnel traffic was the precipitating cause - maybe primarily to "avoid congestion at Brixton", where of course the Eurostar passenger services weere coming through from Herne Hill mainly, as you said in your earlier post.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Here is the letter - the icing on the cake would have been if it was an original. The logo seems to be heraldic in nature and might have been fetching!
P.S. I haven't blanked the address as the lady in question died 20 years ago and her family moved.
BigMoaner
What A Load of Old Bollocks
cracking place to get parts for vauxhalls just beyond the bridge.
editor
hiraethified
I came across this lovely old sign recently:
The long lost Forest Hill Brewery lives on in Tintern Street, Brixton
The long lost Forest Hill Brewery lives on in Tintern Street, Brixton
editor
hiraethified
I'll go with Google on this one, not that it's particularly important. So long as people can locate it, that's all that matters really.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Snap (on a bike). Will keep an eye out for you.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Certainly is. It is Ferndale Ward. CORE Brixton.
