Railway Herald
On a dreary 2nd August 2014 morning, Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1 drifts through Studland Road Junction, heading for Hammersmith District & Piccadilly line station, leading the 08:24 Northfields to Moorgate, the first train of the London Transport Museums Hammersmith & City Line 150th commemoration. The train consisted of Metropolitan Railway Milk Van No. 4, Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Coach 353, 4 Ashbury coaches (Nos. 387, 412, 394 and 368, originally from the Chesham shuttle set) and Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive No. 12 'Sarah Siddons'. On arrival at Moorgate, the train would perform three round trips to Hammersmith, which is believed to be the first steam on the branch since 1962. Directly behind the train is the abandoned viaduct that carried the old L&SWR line from Addison Road station (now Kensington Olympia) to Richmond via Turnham Green. The line would have turned north-east at this point before calling at Hammersmith Grove Road station. The line was opened in 1869 and also carried GWR traffic for a short period in 1870, as well as GWR services between Grove Road and Richmond from 1894. Following the opening of the Metropolitan District line in 1877, which offered a more direct route into the centre of London, the other operators scaled down their services and the L&SWR closed the line from Studland Road Junction to Addison Road in 1916. The station at Hammersmith Grove Road was demolished and the line lifted, although the line to the west of the junction remains part of the District line.
Neil Prior
