Aborted ELR Extension to Cambridge Heath

[Jorge Da Silva]

According to London Railway Atlas 5th Edition it has a disused line coming off it north of Whitechapel with the words “aborted ELR extension To Cambridge Heath”. Anyone get any more details. Page 90 of the Atlas

 

[swt_passenger]

I remember a discussion about this in uk.railway many years ago, it was basically a future proofed layout that stopped dead under the higher level approach to Spitalfields coal depot. They aligned it so that with a suitable tunnel dug under the GE Liverpool St lines it could then head off in the right general direction, but then IIRC (from distant memory) it couldn’t be built north of the GE, because by then housing had covered any practical route.

I suspect it was all about possible freight services rather than passengers though.

NLS side by side 25” map shows the stub end:

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

maps.nls.uk

It seems to me the alignment shown in the Atlas is a bit more optimistic than in the old OS map, ie it’s as though it’s been drawn aiming directly for Cambridge Heath, a bit further round than the angle on the map?

 

[bassmike]

I think it's alignment was along/under Mape street.

 

[DerekC]

There is an interesting 1:1056 OS map of 1876 on old.maps.co.uk which shows the outline of the excavation for the East London Line then in course of construction in this area, with the outline of the curve of the abortive connection also shown.

I presume the intention was to link to the GER at Cambridge Heath. Pity it wasn't built - it would have made a good addition to the Overground today.

 

[Along the bay]

It was to be built for the transfer of coal to South London and cities such as Brighton and Maidstone, in the process the head-shunt and reversal at London Liverpool Street could be avoided.

 

[DerekC]

That makes lots of sense - is it documented anywhere? The connection would have transformed the route, I think. Unlikely that it would have become an LU backwater for so long.

 

[DerekC]

Here's an interesting clip from Weller's map of London of 1868 - available at:

https://london1868.com/weller33.htm




It shows the GER east to west, heading for Bishopsgate (Liverpool Street not being built). The black line has clearly been added after the map was drawn up and is marked "East London Railway" further south. As I understand it the southern section of the ELR was under construction art that time so presumably the route in this area is as-proposed. The connection via the Mape Street route to Cambridge Heath on the GER Bethnal Green to Hackney Downs route (also inserted on the map in black and opened in 1872) is shown.

What's even more interesting is what happens to the west. The ELR makes no connection with the GER but runs independently to a small terminus tacked onto the east side of Broad Street NLR. Can anyone shed light on this arrangement?

 

[etr221]

Something I've found is LONDON & TEN MILES AROUND - A NEW MAP OF PROPOSED RAILWAYS & MISCELLENOUS IMPROVEMENTS 1864 - see Proposed Railways 116 and 230. (Then look at the villages of East and West Ham, etc.!)

Crayonistas, eat your hearts out!

For those who seek more where that came from, http://igrek.amzp.pl/maplist.php?cat=TPOTHERS&listsort=sortoption13&listtype=standard , link from http://english.mapywig.org/news.php ...