An amazing and very wet evening spent at Watford Junction on the West Coast Mainline and the start of the Watford to London D.C line where we see countless services from Virgin Trains, London Overground, London Northwestern Railway, Southern and freight from Freightliner, DB Cargo UK, GBRF and a steam charter courtesy of West Coast Railways being led by 61306 Mayflower
Watford Junction has gone through 2 stages during its lifetime. It's first iteration was 200 yards north of where the current station currently sits. It was opened by the London and Birmingham Railway in 1836. When it was first opened it consisted of a small, single story building that contained a first and standard class waiting area, a departure yard, carriage shed and engine house. During the 21 years that the station was operational it was also used for royalty however this was only brief when used by the Dowager Queen Adelaide whilst she was in residence at Cassiobury House.
The station was eventually closed and demolished and the current station was built and opened in 1858. It was named as Watford Junction due to the connecting branch line heading towards St Albans.
In 1862 the Watford and Rickmansworth Railway opened a railway from Watford to yep you guessed it....Rickmansworth. However the line is now mostly closed.
The station also serves as a terminus for the Watford to Euston D.C line which at stage was the terminus of the Bakerloo Line which now finishes at Harrow and Wealdstone. This means that the line heading north from there is purely worked by London Overground.
In 1984 the Victorian station was demolished and rebuilt to a more modern structure, there was a large travel centre and office built above the station which housed the lorry and bus manufacturing company Iveco. A much larger car Park was constructed to allow a greater increase in capacity at the station which meant that the St Albans Abbey Branch Line platform to be shuffled northwards to allow for the building work to commence. The station forecourt went through a change during 2013 which allowed for a new taxi rank to be built by shuffling it to the side of the station which allowed for a much greater pedestrian area and a much larger bus terminal. Although that completely went to pot due to the fact that because the pedestrian area is so vast it actually means that buses struggle to gain access to the station and the current road system really throws a spanner in the works.
Last year the station took on 8.3 million passengers, no real change from the previous year.
My next station is going to be Luton on the Midland Mainline, my next rush hour film will be from Potters Bar on the East Coast Mainline.
You can now find me on Facebook through the group Tornado922. There you will find regular updates, videos and photos from all of my goings on throughout 2019.
You can also find me on Instagram through the name tornado922.