Dollis Hill Station (TfL)

[MarlowDonkey]

According to Wikipedia, Dollis Hill station was built in 1909. That cannot be the whole story as the current station is in 1930s art deco style which contrasts with Willesden Green, the next station towards Central London.

Also according to wikipedia, it became part of the Stanmore branch of what was then the Bakerloo Line in November 1939.

Presumably then, it was demolished and completely rebuilt, possibly as part of the four tracking of the Metropolitan Railway north west of Finchley Road.

Or is Wikipedia just wrong and the station was built in 1939 rather than 1909?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollis_Hill_tube_station

 

[transmanche]

According to Wikipedia, Dollis Hill station was built in 1909. That cannot be the whole story as the current station is in 1930s art deco style which contrasts with Willesden Green, the next station towards Central London.

I assume that you're referring to the buildings on the platform as being art deco style? They are quite typical of LT buildings of the 1930s - whether a tube station or bus station.

This (undated) photo shows an earlier style of building on the platforms at Dollis Hill.

Source: https://picclick.co.uk/Dollis-Hill-Railway-Station-Photo-Neasden-Kilburn-263234513119.html

 

[DerekC]

Old OS maps show it as follows:

1896 - didn't exist - just what are now the two southernmost tracks, plain line.
1912 - A island platform between new tracks 3 and 4, to the north of the originals
1936 - As 1912, but with two more new tracks to the north of the station
1958 - The island platform moved to between tracks 4 and 5 from the south (instead of 3 and 4)

So it looks to me as though the station was rebuilt when the then Bakerloo line extension to Stanmore was opened in the late 1930s.

 

[Dr_Paul]

According to Wikipedia, Dollis Hill station was built in 1909. That cannot be the whole story as the current station is in 1930s art deco style which contrasts with Willesden Green, the next station towards Central London. Also according to wikipedia, it became part of the Stanmore branch of what was then the Bakerloo Line in November 1939. Presumably then, it was demolished and completely rebuilt, possibly as part of the four tracking of the Metropolitan Railway north west of Finchley Road. Or is Wikipedia just wrong and the station was built in 1939 rather than 1909? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollis_Hill_tube_station

According to Middleston's Marylebone to Rickmansworth, Dollis Hill was opened in 1909 and 'repositioned' in 1938 as part of the modifications in respect of the Bakerloo line. Comparing this map from 1914 to this one from 1954, the platform has been 'shifted sideways', that is, rebuilt slightly to the north, with the quadrupling of the LT lines. The lines are, from south to north, on the first map, down GC, up GC, down Met, platform, up Met; on the second, down GC, up GC, down LT fast, down LT slow, platform, up LT slow, up LT fast.

 

[DerekC]

According to Middleston's Marylebone to Rickmansworth, Dollis Hill was opened in 1909 and 'repositioned' in 1938 as part of the modifications in respect of the Bakerloo line. Comparing this map from 1914 to this one from 1954, the platform has been 'shifted sideways', that is, rebuilt slightly to the north, with the quadrupling of the LT lines. The lines are, from south to north, on the first map, down GC, up GC, down Met, platform, up Met; on the second, down GC, up GC, down LT fast, down LT slow, platform, up LT slow, up LT fast.

There was an interim stage - by 1936 the Stanmore line had been opened as a Metropolitan Line branch and the two extra Met Line tracks added, but Dollis Hill platform was still in its original location. The introduction of Bakerloo line operation happened, as you say, in 1938/39 at which time the Stanmore Line junction west of Wembley Park was grade separated, Dollis Hill station moved and the tracks switched.

 

[Ken H]

Dollis Hill was where the General Post Office laboratory was. There Tommy Flowers built Colossus, the first electronic computer, which was for Bletchley Park for Enigma code breaking.

 

[John Webb]

Dollis Hill was where the General Post Office laboratory was. There Tommy Flowers built Colossus, the first electronic computer, which was for Bletchley Park for Enigma code breaking.

May I respectfully point out "Colossus" was designed not to break the "Enigma" codes, but to handle the more complex "Secret-writer" coding machines (using teleprinter code rather than morse code) and used by the very highest levels of the German Armed forces. See for example "Colossus - Bletchley Park's Greatest Secret" by Paul Gannon (Atlantic Books, 2006), "Battle of Wits" by Stephen Budiansky (Penguin Books, 2000) and others.

 

[martinsh]

Finchley Road - Wembley Park was quadrupled in 1914-5

 

[Ken H]

May I respectfully point out "Colossus" was designed not to break the "Enigma" codes, but to handle the more complex "Secret-writer" coding machines (using teleprinter code rather than morse code) and used by the very highest levels of the German Armed forces. See for example "Colossus - Bletchley Park's Greatest Secret" by Paul Gannon (Atlantic Books, 2006), "Battle of Wits" by Stephen Budiansky (Penguin Books, 2000) and others.

didnt know that. thanks

 

[DerekC]

.This (undated) photo shows an earlier style of building on the platforms at Dollis Hill.

Source: https://picclick.co.uk/Dollis-Hill-Railway-Station-Photo-Neasden-Kilburn-263234513119.html

Nice picture - the dress of the people on the platform suggests that it was taken very soon after the station opened in 1909.

Finchley Road - Wembley Park was quadrupled in 1914-5

That seems about right. The OS 1:2500 map for 1914 shows two (GCR) tracks - the unelectrified nearer tracks in the photo above - and two Met tracks, but the subway to Dollis Hill station is shown going under what is clearly the path for the extra Met tracks. As I understand it bridges were widened for these when the GCR tracks were constructed at the turn of the century.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

The lines are, from south to north, on the first map, down GC, up GC, down Met, platform, up Met; on the second, down GC, up GC, down LT fast, down LT slow, platform, up LT slow, up LT fast.

That may explain it, if it was originally an island platform on a two track Met, then four tracking might trigger a complete rebuild.

 

[DerekC]

That may explain it, if it was originally an island platform on a two track Met, then four tracking might trigger a complete rebuild.

What triggered the rebuild wasn't the four-tracking as such - that happened earlier, in 1914-15 - it was the track switch which happened when the centre two Met tracks were turned over to the Bakerloo line in 1938-39.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

it was the track switch which happened when the centre two Met tracks were turned over to the Bakerloo line in 1938-39.

That would explain it and why some other stations on the line have a similar 1930s style. Presumably the Met had the fast lines on the inside and the stopping lines on the outside.

 

[DerekC]

. Presumably the Met had the fast lines on the inside and the stopping lines on the outside.

I was trying to work that out from the track layout but not getting very far. My guess is that they were down slow, up slow, down fast, up fast - but it could be they were separated by service. A timetable for the 1920s showing which trains stopped at Dollis Hill might give you a clue, but I am not sure where to look for one.