Viaducts built as four-track from the start?

[snowball]

Are there many viaducts that were built as four or more tracks from the start? I would guess there are very few.

This question is prompted by a post in the TRU thread:

I also realise yesterday that Huddersfield railway viaduct has been historically widened. You can can see the middle and the sides at Bradford road. I never realised this before.

I hadn't examined Huddersfield viaduct, but I know that many main lines were originally built as two tracks. Also I think of Stockport viaduct which can easily be seen from below to have been widened, Welwyn which is still two tracks, Wilmslow which is two separate viaducts alongside each other.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Denham?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

How about the long viaduct East of London Bridge? which currently appears to have 8-10 lines for much of it's length? (I don't know how it was first built though). I'm also wondering about the 4-track viaduct South of Blackfriars station, and the 4-tracks between Charing X and Waterloo East, much of that on a viaduct?

 

[snowball]

I suppose it's reasonable that approaches to major (mostly London) termini would have been built wide.

 

[zwk500]

How about the long viaduct East of London Bridge? which currently appears to have 8-10 lines for much of it's length? (I don't know how it was first built though).

It currently has 11 lines at it's widest. However the original London and Greenwich Railway viaduct appears from early illustrations to have been double track.

I suppose it's reasonable that approaches to major (mostly London) termini would have been built wide.

Quite a number were built as 2-track and then widened later. Ones where the terminus was a later extension (Victoria and Waterloo come to mind) have a higher chance of being 4-track from the outset though.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I guess the thing is, if you think back to the 19th century when most viaducts would have been originally built, there were loads of railway lines but frequencies on each one tended to be much lower than today so you probably wouldn't have had today's issues of how to get fast trains to overtake slow ones. I'd therefore imagine it would have been rare for the companies building them to envisage upfront any need for more than two tracks (other than at stations). So my guess is that London termini is the best (and almost the only) place where building >2-tracks on a viaduct would have made any sense at the time.

 

[philosopher]

Was the eastern approach viaduct to Birmingham New Street station built as four tracks?

 

[Snow1964]

The LSWR extension from Battersea to Waterloo (instead of Nine Elms) was 4 track on viaduct at opening. Later was generally widened twice, to 6 and later 8 tracks

I'm also wondering about the 4-track viaduct South of Blackfriars station, and the 4-tracks between Charing X and Waterloo East, much of that on a viaduct?

The Charing Cross viaduct was originally 3, the addition of 4th track is obvious at bridges, on southern side of viaduct

 

[John Webb]

It currently has 11 lines at it's widest. However the original London and Greenwich Railway viaduct appears from early illustrations to have been double track.

I can confirm from my copy of "London's First Railway" (R H G Thomas, published by B T Batsford, 1972) that the London and Greenwich Railway was double track only. There were plans to widen in around 1845 but a financial panic stopped these plans. The book goes on to detail how various Acts were passed over the years to keep on widening it!

 

[30907]

I'm also wondering about the 4-track viaduct South of Blackfriars station...

The City extension of the LCDR was (unusually) 4 tracks from the start (map confirmation goes back to about 1870, and the line had only been open 5 years!) and so was the South London Line, but I don't think that has any 4-track viaducts.

 

[Halifaxlad]

A more interesting question would be:

how many were built as 3 track from the start ?

Ive found out many years ago that the viaduct immediately South of Halifax station was built 3 track wide!

 

[swt_passenger]

A more interesting question would be:

how many were built as 3 track from the start ?

Ive found out many years ago that the viaduct immediately South of Halifax station was built 3 track wide!

Some quite significant bridges such as the Newcastle High Level Bridge were built as 3 track, which I think was quickly found inadequate, but it looks to me as if widening would have been very complex. Solved after 50 odd years by building another 4 track bridge.

 

[Boodiggy]

As a guess Haversham, north of Wolverton on the WCML.

 

[snowball]

As a guess Haversham, north of Wolverton on the WCML.

Which question are you answering here? The original 4-track question or Halifaxlad's 3-track question?

It appears to have been originally 2 tracks with 2 more added later according to Historic England:

WOLVERTON VIADUCT, Haversham-cum-Little Linford - 1389687 | Historic England

List entry 1389687. Grade II Listed Building: Wolverton Viaduct. May include summary, reasons for designation and history.

historicengland.org.uk

Railway viaduct. Built 1837-8 for the London and Birmingham Railway, engineer Robert Stephenson, widened on the east side 1878-82 by the London and North Western Railway to accommodate two additional lines. Built in red brick in English bond, repaired in blue engineering bricks with red sandstone dressings. Blue engineering brick used throughout in the widened part. The viaduct is 201m long and 17.4m high and has six elliptical main arches, 18.3m wide on high rectangular piers with D-shaped cutwaters at their bases with semi-domed caps. The structure is finished with a prominent stone cornice and a stone-coped parapet; this was broken for refuges and had steel catenaries added at electrification in 1958. The six main arches are framed by giant pilaster buttresses with extra stonework of a frieze band and over sized dentils to cornice. The abutments are pierced by three smaller round-heeded arches above impost bands and a further semi-buried, round-headed arch at either end. History: The viaduct was built by the London and Birmingham Railway, now the West Coast mainline, over the valley of the river Great Ouse. The line became a part of the London and North Western Railway in 1846, and of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. It is the most impressive of the several viaducts on the line, being taller, more elaborately treated and with wider arches. It was one of the principal landmarks of the first trunk railway and one of the earliest viaducts on this scale. The line was quadrupled in 1879-82 and the viaduct was widened by 9.5m to accommodate the extra tracks, the joint can be clearly seen as the structures are not bonded together. Despite this widening the viaduct remains little altered in appearance, apart from the addition of the electric catenaries in 1958. References: Information from Milton Keynes Borough Council. J C Bourne, Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway, London, 1839, pl 24.

 

[zwk500]

As a guess Haversham, north of Wolverton on the WCML.

Definitely 2-track to start, you can see the brickwork quite clearly from underneath.

 

[Topological]

Manchester is presumably similar to London in having large terminals on viaducts. How much of the approach was 4 track (or indeed 3) from the outset is less clear.

Another thought is that the Great Central was built later than other lines. Is it possible that some viaducts were built wider? The approaches to Nottingham Victoria and Sheffield Victoria spring to mind.

 

[snowball]

Manchester is presumably similar to London in having large terminals on viaducts. How much of the approach was 4 track (or indeed 3) from the outset is less clear.

Manchester Piccadilly in its earliest form was known as Store Street. Wikipedia says it was built on viaduct on a large site 500ft wide; but on the other hand it also says that it only had two platforms.

 

[Springs Branch]

As mentioned already, when many of the first railways were built into what would become today's big city termini, the future demand for train capacity would not have been properly appreciated. So most viaducts were probably originally built as double track and later widened.

Possibly the best candidates are those stations which were 'late arrivals' on the scene.

For example, Manchester Central, built between 1875 & 1880 - by which time the need for multiple track approaches would have been well understood. As well as the passenger terminus there were several big city-centre goods depots adjacent to Manchester Central, which probably needed separate parallel goods lines over the approach viaducts.

Looking at Google Maps, it certainly seems that Manchester Central had multiple track approaches on viaducts and bridges. These are separate to the earlier double-track MSJ&AR viaduct, still used by the Network Rail route to Warrington Central. Metrolink trams now use the southernmost viaducts which headed towards Manchester Central, the northern side trackbeds still look derelict.

The various viaducts leading to the River Clyde bridge into Glasgow Central may be other cases which have always been >2 tracks.

 

[snowball]

Looking at Google Maps, it certainly seems that Manchester Central had multiple track approaches on viaducts and bridges. These are separate to the earlier double-track MSJ&AR viaduct, still used by the Network Rail route to Warrington Central. Metrolink trams now use the southernmost viaducts which headed towards Manchester Central, the northern side trackbeds still look derelict.

Hasn't the northern viaduct become a park?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

(link to Google satellite view)

Castlefield Viaduct | Manchester

A historic Grade II listed viaduct turned urban park in the heart of Manchester.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

(link to park website under the National Trust - from which I see the park is only temporary)

 

[Topological]

Hasn't the northern viaduct become a park?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

(link to Google satellite view)

Castlefield Viaduct | Manchester

A historic Grade II listed viaduct turned urban park in the heart of Manchester.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

(link to park website under the National Trust - from which I see the park is only temporary)

It has indeed.

Though in that section the two viaducts are both 2-track. They revert to being a single brick structure further west, but the fact that there are two 2-tracks would suggest widening. It would have to be at the Manchester Central end itself where there had been four tracks.

I must say my thinking about Manchester also focused on the section between Salford Central and Manchester Victoria through Manchester Exchange (as was).

 

[Irascible]

how many were built as 3 track from the start ?

Dalston to Broad St was originally.

 

[edwin_m]

Another thought is that the Great Central was built later than other lines. Is it possible that some viaducts were built wider? The approaches to Nottingham Victoria and Sheffield Victoria spring to mind.

Nottingham Victoria had double-track tunnels each end. There was a four-track section through the Meadows and just across the Trent, and I think some four-track viaducts through Leicester Central. Any of these must have been built as such, as the railway never had enough traffic to be expanded later.

 

[Boodiggy]

Which question are you answering here? The original 4-track question or Halifaxlad's 3-track question?

It appears to have been originally 2 tracks with 2 more added later according to Historic England:

WOLVERTON VIADUCT, Haversham-cum-Little Linford - 1389687 | Historic England

List entry 1389687. Grade II Listed Building: Wolverton Viaduct. May include summary, reasons for designation and history.

historicengland.org.uk

I was answering the original but you have shown it was originally two!

 

[Steven Taylor]

The City extension of the LCDR was (unusually) 4 tracks from the start (map confirmation goes back to about 1870, and the line had only been open 5 years!) and so was the South London Line, but I don't think that has any 4-track viaducts.

I am pretty sure it was originally built as two track and within a year or so was quadrupled. I will check this out on Thursday by looking at the viaduct in question.

 

[unlevel42]

The four track 1848 Wicker Arches(41 in number) across the Don Valley in Sheffield.
Designed by Britain's most important civil engineer (Sheffield born) Sir John Fowler.
The main arch which crosses the former main road into Sheffield (The Wicker) spans 22m.
A single line is still in rare use.
The viaduct was not solely constructed for Victoria station as it was now a through route.

 

[Steven Taylor]

Apropos my post about 10 minutes ago, I have found this on the `Kent Rail`web site

"In conjunction with the works to open through to Farringdon, quadrupling of the line from Herne Hill to the southern approaches of Blackfriars station (thence northwards already being four-track) was undertaken, completion coming in 1866. As part of this, Elephant & Castle received a further two platform faces on its western side, upon a parallel-running viaduct. For decades, these platforms always looked like an afterthought, given that the trainshed of 1862 was retained over the original two lines whilst the later additions received standard canopies."

 

[30907]

Apropos my post about 10 minutes ago, I have found this on the `Kent Rail`web site

"In conjunction with the works to open through to Farringdon, quadrupling of the line from Herne Hill to the southern approaches of Blackfriars station (thence northwards already being four-track) was undertaken, completion coming in 1866. As part of this, Elephant & Castle received a further two platform faces on its western side, upon a parallel-running viaduct. For decades, these platforms always looked like an afterthought, given that the trainshed of 1862 was retained over the original two lines whilst the later additions received standard canopies."

I stand corrected. So effectively only Blackfriars Bridge was built x4.

I've checked the South London - from Cambria Jn to approximately Coldharbour Lane Bridge is on arches so qualifies; beyond that the LCD and LBSC tracks diverge horizontally and vertically. There's also a short section just west of Peckham Rye (which was 5 tracks at one stage!).

 

[hwl]

How about the long viaduct East of London Bridge? which currently appears to have 8-10 lines for much of it's length? (I don't know how it was first built though). I'm also wondering about the 4-track viaduct South of Blackfriars station, and the 4-tracks between Charing X and Waterloo East, much of that on a viaduct?

originally 2 track with 3 widenings to a narrow 12 track which was later reduced to a more usable loading gauge with 11 tracks. The extensions effectively adding 3 /4 tracks at a time. The oldest bit is in the middle.

 

[snowball]

Denham?

Where is Denham viaduct? The ones that cross the M25, A413, River Colne and Grand Union Canal near Denham, Bucks, carry only two tracks.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Where is Denham viaduct? The ones that cross the M25, A413, River Colne and Grand Union Canal near Denham, Bucks, carry only two tracks.

Between Denham West Junction and Denham Station there were Up and Down Passenger Loops besides the two running lines. There is a structure over (just) the River Colne labelled 'Viaduct' on the 25" Ordnance Survey map after the construction period. It lies between wooded areas named Altcar Covert and Widows Cruise Covert.

The track layout has been rationalised since the 1960s.