Crosstown Linkline, Ancestor of the Overground

The short-lived service that changed London.
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[@john1703]

"because, otherwise, the trains would have to run into the river" 🤣

[@hairyairey]

Loads of trains run into rivers - via tunnels fortunately!

[@teejayy2130]

That's a Jagoism

[@francisboyle1739]

@@hairyairey Tunnels - who needs 'em? - Magnus Volk, probably

[@XDFcooler]

So do you mean pass the buffet stop & straight into the water?

[@hairyairey]

@@XDFcooler t quite like a buffet stop 🍰 ☕

[@tbjtbj7930]

The one problem with watching Jago videos is the mighty algorithm starts recommending all sorts of inferior railway and London channels, so constant whack-a-mole.

[@EmyrDerfel]

So many platform-end suggestions.

[@kjh23gk]

It occasionally recommends some really good ones though. RobsLondon is of the same high quality as Jago's. They are both experts at making small, well researched documentary-style videos about London. edited to add: RediscoveringLostRailways is another amazingly well researched channel that could do with some more support.

[@enisra_bowman]

*international problem* And the algorythm mostly suggest british channels, with the emphasis on the "mostly" part, like a bit more variety on the local side would also be nice

[@DaleDix]

Hit the dots in the corner of the thumbnail and choose don't recommend this channel.

[@EmyrDerfel]

@@DaleDix I've been playing whacamole with the anoraks for a while and yet the algorithm still finds more of them.

[@anthonylloyd6094]

Ah, yes. The joys of riding the North London Line from Richmond to Woolwich with my trusty 'Capital Card' It was a fad when I was around 12 years old to travel all day on various trains/tubes/Waterloo & City Line.

[@marionbloom1218]

I used this line when I was a student studying in Woolwich in the early Eighties. It was a real step back in time, the old DMUs and the semaphores made it feel like a rural branch line transplanted into the city. I liked the fact the the drivers often left the blinds behind them open so you could see out of the front, it was a really interesting ride through the declining industrial areas with flour mills, docks and sugar factories (Tate & Lyle Sugars still there to this day of course, the only remaining mill!). DLR was only a gleam in the eyes of planners then, one of my fellow Engineering students got involved in delivering it. Now I cover part of the route when I ride the "Lizzie"! It never seemed very busy to me, but I think this line helped to make the case for the improved transport that followed.

[@1258-Eckhart]

I used this line every working day from 7. February until 20. May 1983, commuting between Hackney Central and West Hampstead. The Cravens Class 105's were dear old things, with deeply sprung and bouncy seats. Their aged and rattly underslung diesels blew loud raspberries every time the driver changed gears. I remember the service as being highly dependable and full of character. Jago's characterisation of the infrastructure as having been built with spare money found down the back of the sofa is spot on. 👍Colonel Stephens lived on at BR.

[@nadems]

'North Woolwich was picked as the eastern terminus, because otherwise the train would have to run into the river 🗿' This was the sentence of the day for me 💀💀

[@keithwasntbarrumsing483]

shoutout to North Woolwich 🔥🔥🔥keeping passengers dry since 1979

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Those Cravens units had a chequered history. The first 14 units by that builder were originally allocated to Hull, but later used on the Midland & Great Northern until that closed, when most of them went to the King Cross suburban services, for which their internal layouts were entirely unsuitable, but had to be used because only short-framed units fitted in the Hotel Curve and there were no such units with suburban layout. (The former "Lea Valley" suburban diesel hydraulic units also found their way to the GN lines when the Lea Valley Line was electrified (some years after the Enfield and Chingford lines), but were banned from the Moorgate services - as non-standard they were withdrawn when the GN line was, in its turn electrified). The Cravens units then found their way onto various Great Eastern unelectrified backwaters such as the Emerson Park Line, North Woolwich to Tottenham Hale, and the Southminster, Braintree and Sudbury branches. Unusual in having initially having Leyland engines, instead of AEC engines as most Cravens units did, they were originally classified 106.

[@SamanthaWritesThings]

Just imagine all the lives that would've met a watery end if North Woolwich hadn't existed. 🙏

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Some time in the 1970s I took a ride from Stratford to North Woolwich and back for the sake of it. Dreary low level platforms at Stratford that were hard to find, and I was the only passenger on the return journey. North Woolwich station was completely derelict.

[@wmorgan6080]

Used to live in Sky studios which backed onto the North Woolwich station, there was a small museum there ( the lettering can still be seen on the top front of the building) but not many visitors, think it is a church now,the pier for freight is still there but in poor condition…….

[@tangerinedream7211]

So when this service was initiated, they encouraged folks to visit the seaside and countryside, by, not going to work. Brilliant concept,way ahead of it's time . Thanks for brightening up yet another grey cold and wet Sunday Jay go go go.

[@tonys1636]

Having worked weekends, bank Holidays and Christmas and New years most of my working life having days out midweek was a bonus, often far less crowded and cheaper at attractions. Always got the schools permission to take the kids if during term time. Nearly always said yes if going to an historic house or castle.

[@andrewhotston983]

I remember making a special trip to London to ride on those rattly old Cravens DMUs when the Cross Town Link Line started running. It was quite a novelty to have passenger trains reintroduced on a line that had been freight only.

[@alanbudgen2672]

"Otherwise had to run into the River..." 😂 I didn't know of the Crosstown Link, I thought the stations came about with the Richmond to N Woolwich line, which was great. I loved the section down to NW, and the little museum.

[@anthonylloyd6094]

Shame the museum closed.....

[@Ash_Marshall]

Jay Foreman at 4:19 ? catching a sneeky photo

[@jonathanbutson1385]

thanks for your fascinating vid, please note the LTSR station at west Ham wasn't opened until 1999, when the Jubilee line extension opened. I had the privilege of working on the North London Line Improvement Project 2007-2009, the upcoming Olympics was the catalyst for the government to finally spend the money on this Cinderella line and finally get it up to a decent standard that people deserve.

[@lazygazzzer]

I used to live in West Ham. There was a platform there but it was not part of the West Ham station, it was on the other side of the road.

[@skendler5]

@@lazygazzzerJonathan is referring to what are now the c2c platforms. They were disused between 1940 and 1999 and sat looking derelict opposite the District Line platforms for almost 60 years.

[@ianhalsall-fox]

I wish your last line "upgraded public transport brings in passengers" could be heard outside of Greater London and the South East. Try living in Greater Bristol area!

[@chrisprice4203]

You are the passenger service to my freight only line :)

[@a1white]

I remember using the old Silverlink trains along this route a few years before the line closed (and the DLR took over). it really gave the impression of a neglected line in neglected area of London. I was probably the only person on the train. The difference between that and the popularity of the DLR (and Elizabeth line) is incredible.

[@user-yp1mv5nc7z]

I remember the grotty 2 carriage trains on the North London line. They were slam door and if I recollect correctly had horizontal bars on the carriage door windows. They looked like prison trains.

[@highpath4776]

Well if the bars were not there you risked decapitation with lineside structures/ tunnels and or/ approaching trains.

[@HertsCommuter]

The bars were on the Class 416 and Class 501 trains that plied between Richmond and North Woolwich. As @highpath4776 alludes to, they were necessitated by the narrow clearance of Hampstead Tunnel in particular.

[@henrybn14ar]

They had very comfortable seats with a decent amount of leg room.

[@1258-Eckhart]

The Cravens Class 105's were slam-door 2-carriage, but had no bars on the windows and ran between the termini which Jago references. Not the 105's but the Class 501's (slam-door, three-carriage EMU) had bars on the windows to stop people chopping their heads off in the limited clearance tunnels. They ran on the N. London line between Broad Street and Watford.

[@highpath4776]

@@1258-Eckhart So did the (avaliblity of) Rolling Stock thus restrict terminus to Camden Road ?

[@andrewrevans8496]

I remember those Cravens units emerging from the gloom of the Hotel Curve tunnel into the midst of Kings Cross Suburban having come up from Moorgate. They were also standard fayre round Sheffield. The interiors stank of exhaust fumes 🤮

[@BrainW33a]

I travelled on them in the '60 between Enfield Chase and KX/Moorgate. One evening got to sit in the cab on the way home. I preferred the old steam hauled stock.

[@bingbong7316]

The ELL project hung in the balance for what seemed to be forever. Within 3 months of opening, passenger numbers were 4x the anticipated.

[@simontay4851]

Well of course they were, they always are. On every line that reopens, passenger numbers are ALWAYS at _least_ 2x what they anticipate. They always think no one will use it for some reason.

[@_Ben4810]

3:44 We had those exact same Class 105 DMU's that served all the local rural lines out of Norwich station....I distinctly remember that 3+2 seating configuration with the wavy chromed seat frames & blue seats.... They were VERY comfortable seats & meh...the DMU's were actually pretty good trains that did the job well & served passengers without complaint round our Norfolk way for a good few decades...!?!

[@iankemp1131]

Yes, I remember travelling all round East Anglia on them (and enjoying the views out the front). The "Paytrains" helped keep those rural lines alive when they were under threat. They weren't bad for their day but the later Sprinters and express units were a clear upgrade. The Cravens 105s were a bit underpowered, with one power car and one trailer, but were fairly lightweight so seemed comparable in performance to a Metro-Cammell 2+1.

[@TreffpunktZoo]

Love the dreamy soft-focus on some of this footage - perfectly captures my mood when I’m standing on an Overground platform 😍

[@DanielKat2012]

A good day when we learn history of TFL lines on a Jago Hazzard upload

[@ukmoshinist4595]

Got to pull you up on one thing Jago. The passenger service from Stratford Low Level was NOT withdrawn in the 1940’s. It was very much in existence in 1979, and the Crosstown link was simply an extension of this service to Camden Rd. The service that WAS withdrawn in the 1940’s was from Broad St to Poplar via Hackney Central and Victoria Park. This was why Hackney Central required reopening. As far as I am aware, the line from Victoria Park jct, to Stratford Low level never had regular passenger trains until the crosstown link commenced.

[@JayJay-nc7pr]

There were plans for the North London line to join with the North Kent line, one route was via the ELL using what is todays ELL extension route from Islington to New Cross and another via a brand new tunnel from North Woolwich to a station at Woolwich (similar to the Elizabeth line station) then run services from Richmond & North London to Medway

[@IndigoJo]

Hadn't heard of this before but it seemed like a weird misnomer for a line across east London until you realise that it refers to the two lines being linked together across Stratford rather than crossing London. Given that it became part of the NLL, it looks like a great success rather than a long-forgotten failure.

[@michellebell5092]

I had forgotten about the Crosstown Link line . Thanks for reminding us 👍

[@ADAMEDWARDS17]

The Cravens class 105 DMUs previously ran out of Kings Cross to Hatfield and other lucky towns. When the north London Link was electrified on third rail, cascaded 2 car slam door emus from the Southern Region took over, also replacing the 3 car north London line units. It sort of shows the progress: 2 car dmu to emu to (eventually) 3 car class 313s, then replaced by 4 car later 5 car Overground Electrostars.

[@bertspeggly4428]

The Cravens were the ones powered by a bus engine, IIRC. 98 hp. is a tad low for a train. I remember how it took forever for the driver to get enough revs to change gears!

[@norbitonflyer5625]

@@bertspeggly4428 They had two 150hp engines in a 2-car unit.

[@user-rc4eu1be7d]

Ì loved the Cravens for the chrome fittings, seat trim, and large windows. Yes, they were slow compared with todays units. Although 105 ride quality was far superior to today's rattle cans. I believe the asbestos materials incorporated in them shorted their running life.

[@Nimboid-20]

@@user-rc4eu1be7d Yes, when I'm being lurched about by a 717, I long for a 313 or even a Cravens. After all, I was able to write up my homework on the Cravens home from school!

[@insertnamehere5660]

The sign on the right of the fence at 6:22 has mis-spelled safety and I cannot unsee it

[@user-ck3uu8rj3x]

I'm going to have to increase my video resolution 😊

[@Tevildo]

@@user-ck3uu8rj3x It says "Staff passing this point must comply with saftey [sic] instructions", if you don't manage it. 😺

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

Weird, as it looks like a pretty standard "saftey" sign otherwise!

[@insertnamehere5660]

@@PlanetoftheDeaf I've seen similar signs before spelled like this and I can't work out if it is an actual way of spelling or if it is just a wide grammatic error!

[@heroicnonsense]

You assume they *mean* 'safety' though - for all we know, "Saftey" is the last name of the local supervisor and this sign is just telling you you should do as he/she says...

[@CarolineFord1]

I need to know more about the re-opened stations!

[@nawbus]

My Dad, while working for BR, had something to do with the opening of Dalston Kingsland. I can't remember if he was still at the old Stoke Division at the time or had moved to Crewe (I think it was still Stoke), but he went to the opening and brought me back a vinyl sticker that said "I've found my new station in life. Dalston Kingsland"! Still have it somewhere. There is a picture of a train on it, which I think was an NNL class 501. I'd never realised it was opened as part of a new service. Sadly, I can't ask Dad about it anymore, but at least I still have the sticker!

[@norbitonflyer5625]

If the sticker shows an electric train at Dalston Kingsland on its opening day, its a bit ahead of itself as tghe line through Kingsland was not electrified until 1985, two years after the station opened.

[@nawbus]

@@norbitonflyer5625 Time to dig it out and check lol

[@DavidShepheard]

Thanks for mentioning the Crosstown Linkline. I vaguely mention hearing about this, but never went on it. I did however go to Dalsland Kingsland, back when it was a British Rail station. It was a weird station, with the entrance set back from the pavement and almost impossible to see, once you walked 20 feet away from it.

[@trevorelliston1]

Another excellent video by Jago, history and a bit of social commentary.

[@officialmcdeath]

Tales from 'Tales from the Overground' - like a stacking doll \m/

[@NineWorldsFromDrew]

Can you also please do a video about the “Magic Train” route, or London Crosslink as it was officially known, operated by Anglia Railways (a GB Trains subsidiary)? I believe it ran mainly from Colchester to Basingstoke, using this same North London Link line between Brentford and Stratford. It was essentially the original Crossrail! Though perhaps serving a different purpose from the Elizabeth Line.

[@Leonards-leopard]

It ran all the way up the east Suffolk line to Lowestoft

[@ukmoshinist4595]

I used that service to get from Ipswich to arrive at Euston before 7am, a previous impossibility, and probably still the case! What I found bizarre about that service tho, was the way virtually every train had a different origin, destination or stopping pattern!😳😂😂

[@NineWorldsFromDrew]

@@ukmoshinist4595 The Wikipedia page for the service displays an old timetable for the route, and I noticed on it what you’re saying! It’s so strange! 😆

[@JohnLeeming23]

@@NineWorldsFromDrew It looked as though it was designed to fail.

[@NineWorldsFromDrew]

@@JohnLeeming23 Maybe. But if that’s the case, or it was a Parliamentary route, or something like that, I’d like Jago to explain it, in only the way he can.

[@norbitonflyer5625]

1:33 Historically, the Broad Street line was the branch - the original raison d'etre of the North London Line was to give access from the West Coast Main Line to the Docks - as signified by its original name - East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction railway (try fitting that on the side of a locomotive!) 1:42 The North Woolwich Line was still operating a passenger service in 1979 - to/from Tottenham Hale via Lea Bridge: the rump of a route that had previously continued (via South Tottenham) to Seven Sisters and Palace Gates. 2:27 Fenchurch Street Line trains did not call at West Ham until 1999, as part of the rebuilding to acommodate the new Jubilee Line extension

[@spitfire1962]

I went to college in Woolwich between 1978 and 1982. One of my fellow students lived in Hackney and used this line to commute.

[@t2Steve1960]

Homerton was an old station similar in design to Hackney Central, Dalston Jnct, Mildmay Park and even if memory serves from childhood, Canonbury. All similar architecture.

[@user-xh3lz9xt4l]

I remember using Stratford Low Level mainly on a Sunday to go to Rye House for speedway

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

Dog tracks & speedway stadia! That's a Jago video I want to see.

[@bertspeggly4428]

I rode that line to North Woolwich when I was a young boy, I think it started at Palace Gates and went through Stratford. N2's and Gresley Quad-arts, those were the days!

[@simonadams71]

Excellent and great to find out some history of my favourite line. Cheers.

[@isashax]

Never heard of this line, thanks for bringing it to our attention!

[@christopherdean1326]

Way back in the mists of time, when I was volunteering with the Guardian Angels, we "discovered" the North London Line, and considered it somewhere we were perhaps needed more than other parts of the Underground. The main office was (if I remember rightly) at Stratford, and the staff there welcomed us with the proverbial open arms. I would not like to claim we turned it's fortunes around, but we certainly made it a safer place to be. Assaults and other crimes went down while we were there, which was kind of the whole point of the organisation. It all ended (for me at least) with stupid internal politics and talking rather than action, but I am proud of the time I spent with them.

[@Keithbarber]

*CORRECTION* there were no platforms at West Ham in 1979 for London tilbury and southend trains These came along in 1999 when the jubilee line opened

[@simonwinter8839]

Whatever you do Keith don't hang your blue drawers on the overhead cable.Them and you might dry quicker than you bargained for.😅

[@amethyst7084]

...but there were platforms on the lower level at West Ham, which served the North Woolwich - Stratford track...

[@Keithbarber]

@amethyst7084 but Jago said platforms existed for southend trains, and that's what he got wrong

[@teecefamilykent]

True that!

[@VladimirPutinIsGood]

​@@Keithbarber I Agree

[@TheCyberSalvager]

Always good to learn the history of the railways round various parts of London. Although it's a shame that the old docklands were only really useful in the 70s as filming locations for The Sweeney and The Proffessionals, it's interesting to know how the railways were repurposed in this way. Keep up the good work.

[@Thesmokercoaster]

❤

[@timbounds7190]

Pedantic point regarding West Ham station and interchange with the Fenchurch St line - Fenchurch St line trains didn't used to stop at West Ham, presumably since the District Line took over the local service. My recollection is that they didn't restart stopping there until some time later than this Cross Town Link - I think this only happened when the DLR started running through West Ham. It almost certainly would have required a significant upgrade to the station so that trains could reuse the F.St line platforms which hadn't been used for decades, and to build some sort of suitable interchange facility.

[@Maltloaflegrande]

Weirdly enough, when the LTS stopping services between Bromley and Barking were withdrawn (post electrification because the District Line services were adequate), all the platforms were retained bar the one station where they would eventually be needed again.

[@timbounds7190]

@@Maltloaflegrande I lived along the line as a kid, and remember whizzing (well as much of a whizz as LTS trains did!) through those stations. Most of the platforms looked very neglected, but I didn't realise the West Ham ones had gone!

[@Roland-pw5xj]

​@timbounds7190 West Ham Station is likely to get busier once the new Twelve Trees housing development is completed. A new station entrance is to be created specially for it.

[@Maltloaflegrande]

@@timbounds7190 I also remember it as a kid. The "green trains" as we called them seemed impossibly fast and loud when they thundered through Upton Park station. If you passed an eastbound train at West Ham when you were heading into town, they were right next to the westbound District Line rails and seemed to come out of nowhere.

[@timbounds7190]

@@Maltloaflegrande Were the LTSR trains ever green? I don't remember that - I always remember them being a dull blue. However, I do remember steam locos on the line - which considering that they were withdrawn when I was 3 is quite impressive. They must have made a big impact!

[@davidmartin6215]

I remember travelling that line. Craven cars were rattly as hell but the seats were soft. Yes reliability could be an issue and I was never able to get anyone to sell me a ticket at the stations so I travelled for free! These were mostly the very early variant class 106 Cravens with extra rattle thrown in too from the Stratford allocation!

[@AndrewG1989]

If the North London Line (Stratford-North Woolwich section) was still here today with the 3rd Rail part to be retained. Then I think there could have been extensions from North Woolwich to Woolwich Arsenal via building a new tunnel underneath the River Thames. And Woolwich Arsenal to be rebuilt with 2 existing platforms for Southeastern and 2 bay platforms for London Overground to terminate at Woolwich Arsenal from Richmond and Stratford.

[@rsmith2312]

Wondered for some years why Silverlink trains had link in the name. Thanks. Perhaps worth mentioning the plan had been to use much of the rail corridor for the inner London ring roads. Once they understood the Westway was a disaster on London and its people the GLC focused on returning the railway again.

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

Even after electrification, the line between Stratford and North Woolwich was a bit of a backwater. Incidentally when this was done it was all via 3rd rail. Subsequently most of the North London line was changed to overhead electrification.

[@Maltloaflegrande]

But they still had ticket offices. One summer when we couldn't afford a proper holiday, my wife and I decided to spend the week visiting Canterbury, Winchester, Brighton, Box Hill etc. We bought Network South East cards which gave big discounts on the entire NSE area. Each day, we'd buy our tickets at Canning Town station, ride to West Ham and take the tube to whatever terminus we needed all on the one ticket. You couldn't do that with unstaffed stations and the current chaotic ticket system.

[@pacificostudios]

This is a great example of the "Start Small" approach to rail transportation. Here in Southern California, the vast majority of train service didn't exist 40 years ago. A major reason I live in Oceanside, CA is that I can get to San Diego and Los Angeles by train.

[@bertspeggly4428]

Except when the track falls into the ocean! (I live in LA)

[@pacificostudios]

@@bertspeggly4428 - It is odd, to me, that so many people in the area do not understand the importance of the LOSSAN line to not only the U.S., but also Mexico. Even elected officials, e.g., a certain Del Mar city councilmember, call for the removal of the railroad, as though it were possible to disconnect San Diego, Tijuana, and Tecate from the North American railroad network .

[@lazygazzzer]

My brother used to live in West Ham and later on I moved there and got a job at a freight depot on Silvertown Way. I remember this line and the later Silverlink. The service in the late 1980s was terrible with delays of 2 hours quite common. As far as I remember part of the route only had a single track. Trains on the route would head off to Camden Town and never come back - the line would be empty of trains heading east. It was essential to get to work on time so I would often have to walk it. I don't recall a single bus service which went down that way. I might have been able to get to Canning Town but that was it. Fast forward to 2024 and all that area has been flattened and rebuilt with block after block of flats - 'luxury apartments'. There's even some sort of private island with a bunch of newbuild developments. The transport is certainly better these days but the feeling of bleakness seems to linger on.

[@meijiturtle3814]

You've jogged my memory, Jago. I remember this now and thought it was a good idea at the time.

[@JW1_1]

Another piece to the puzzle that is (in this case WAS) the North London Link and Broad Street. Nice one Jago!😉

[@davidsummer8631]

Those seats inside that class 105 look like they could break your back

[@robertwilloughby8050]

The seats were.... fine, I guess. But the noise from the rattling windows was beyond indescribable!😂

[@HertsCommuter]

They were much more comfortable than today's seats in a class 700!

[@_Ben4810]

The complete opposite actually....They were really great seats, lots of spring & comfort in them, great for us schoolkids also so you could easily chat with your mates & other passengers (Hey, we traveled out of Norwich station, everybody knew everybody in Norfolk back then...!) & you could stretch out on the 3 seater bench...but don't let the guard catch you with your shoes on the seats..!

[@barttheanorak]

Great video but in 1979 the LTS didn't call at West Ham. The service was withdrawn in 1916 and reinstated in 1999 tying in with the Jubilee Line extension.

[@drt7uk]

Would love a video about Primrose Hill station someday! Go past it every time I come into London

[@jonathanbutson1385]

for further reading; "A Very Political Railway: The Rescue of the North London Line" by Wayne Asher, a very well researched history of the North London Lines

[@Mgameing123]

I wouldn't say the Crosstown Linkline died. It got rebranded and upgraded!

[@JohnLeeming23]

Very interesting. I remember the development of these services well. There was also a short-lived service in the 1980s from Colchester to Glasgow via Stratford and the NLL. This was before the return of local passenger services between Stratford and the NLL. Incidentally, I have a recollection that the Kentish Town / Gospel Oak to Barking line was labelled 'Crosstown Link' for a while around 1980. Does that ring any bells?

[@johna5635]

That red "Crosstown Linkline" map reminds me of of Woolworths - especially "Wool" in "North Woolwich" (...or indeed the "Woolw"...) Ah - a thing that doesn't exist any more reminds me of another thing that doesn't exist any more. [Standard].

[@Jimyjames73]

Yeah - Don't want Locos running into the river Jago!!! Or even finding bits of Station behind the sofa cushions!!!😀🚂🚂🚂

[@VideoMikeA4]

North Woolwich picked as the terminus so as to stop trains running into the river? If only the powers-that-are could exhibit such joined-up thinking today.

[@cj-br9mq]

One of my love route

[@davidfalconer8913]

The Richmond to Stratford section was essential for the 2002 Anglia service ( Crosslink ! ) , which ran from Basingstoke to Norwich , needless to say this was diesel powered , due to running through all kinds of regions with their different electrifications ( or none ! ) ... a weird and crazy trip , not available today .. ( ? ) .......... DAVE™🛑

[@iankemp1131]

I remember seeing it in timetables but never got a chance to travel on it before it disappeared. There just weren't enough people who wanted to make those particular journeys. A pity.

[@JohnLeeming23]

@@iankemp1131 I used it a few times, and the trains were a huge improvement over the normal NLL trains, having air-conditioning and a buffet! There were relatively few passengers because the trains were infrequent, irregular and each one seemed to stop at a random selection of stations. The were also slow over the NLL section, because they had to follow NLL stopping services.

[@iankemp1131]

@@JohnLeeming23 Yes, I imagine it would have been a very pleasant and interesting journey, but not quick. Sadly there just wouldn't have been enough passengers wanting to travel from North Hampshire and SW London to East Anglia. Now if they had been able to run via Heathrow that would have been a different story I'm sure. I always feel a great opportunity was missed by not adding western exits from Heathrow to the GW main line and the SW suburban lines via the old West Drayton-Staines branch when the chance was there.

[@marc21091]

Good photo of users of the line waiting at Cuistom House station about 1980 at 4:11 . Seventies look of everyone 44 years ago - notably the jeans and hair. The tyouths sittiomng on t5he high wall must have been athletic to get up onto the top to wait for the train, and then jump down.

[@EoghanAmI]

Would be really interested to hear about the history of the South London Line (Windrush)!

[@Blade_Daddy]

Thank you.

[@tomburnham5119]

First time I tried the service, not long after it opened, a train reversing at Camden Town derailed on the crossover, blocking that critical 2-track section of the North London Line...

[@zetectic7968]

Never used this as I was always heading NW & W from Dalston and a bus was quicker & more convenient to get to Hackney. Transport planners often don't recognised "If you build it, they will come" with public transport yet will plough 100's of millions into roads that just add to congestion.

[@paintedpilgrim]

Some Transport Planners do, the issue many of them have is those ideas are dismissed when politicians get their mitts on the ideas.

[@hpengwyn]

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old (North London Line) is dying and the new (Overground) cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms (Crosstown Linkline) appear

[@jacksonmahr8915]

Nowadays it's hard to visualise the dire state of that area - many episodes of The Sweeney can provide a helpful reference.

[@radiosnail]

Had a couple of rides on it. Once from Richmond but changed to the underground at Highbury and islington, I think. Another time, I rode from somewhere or other to North Woolwich. This was in the 0s, I'm sure it was all Third Rail by then. Little two coach trains without a lot of speed.

[@highpath4776]

For those of us in Canning Town it was useful to have a direct link to Hackney/Highbury and Islington, and the foot slog against the throngs at Stratford on the replacement DLR / Overground service is little consolation.

[@grahampaulkendrick7845]

Very interesting points.

[@sbv-zs7wz]

I used this route from Hackney C to Stratford for work study at the time and it was pretty dire as described. Also recall that Silverlink ran services over this and were equally rubbish.

[@kbtred51]

Thanks for the memory

[@garycook5071]

Used to catch this every day to work from Custom House to Highbury and Islington.

[@ZeldaFitz]

I remember using this line a lot 83-87 the service was woeful to say the least. You could be waiting for up to 40 minutes for a train to turn up, no announcements at all, just left waiting for a train that never comes.

[@bobcosmic]

All on board! 😊

[@charlie.dowd-lebow]

Thanks!

[@JagoHazzard]

And thank you!

[@Saint_Dan132]

ahhh normal ! cheers my friend hope your sunday is nice and relaxing for you. thanks again very informed of you x

[@teecefamilykent]

Brilliant video sir, you are a legend of KZbin!

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

I lived off Crouch End in the early 80's and worked all over North London. I'd forgotten Crosstown (I don't remember the 'Link' bit). The trains and the stations were disgusting, but a train to Highbury & Islington then a train east or west was far better than walking; or wading through bus timetables trying to work out how to get to Canning or anywhere else on the line. As you imply: a game changer. I hope the individual responsible gets recognised.

[@AquaValet2009]

Crossrail, Crosstown Linkline... maybe a video about the short lived Anglia Railways London Crosslink will come in due course! I used London Crosslink back in 2000. An enjoyable journey, and it was a perfect journey for anybody a bit freaked out by the thought of using London Termini and the Underground to use London as a connection rather than a destination. Just that not many people went from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to Surrey and Hampshire!

[@AquaValet2009]

Just realised, a video has already been done! I feel a bit silly now!

[@JagoHazzard]

No worries! There’s a lot of videos to sift through.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

have to wonder, what was the old diesel line running through East London roughly along the Thames back in the middle of the 90s... seemed to have a few very old DMUs going along it, on a track, very close to what the DLR uses/ don't really remember much of it since I was only a kid and we did not live in that part of the country at the time... only road it when visiting my mothers friends.

[@jasonaris5316]

It was the North London line when I started work

[@GeorgeChoy]

Never knew this, thanks

[@thomasreilly6362]

I used to use it quite a lot and one of the few advantages was you could always get a seat as so few people know about it. It did make getting around quick when it ran. The trains were on their last legs

[@ianm3959]

Thanks Jago for your ever fascinating tales about London and it's public transport - and other things! I always look forward to seeing them. I'm interested to know what the station is at 1:30? I noticed the (Australian) Aboriginal flag painted on the wall behind it, along with the writing - something democracy?

[@nickbarber2080]

Pedantically,the line between Victoria Park and Stratford was built and operated by the GER...

[@paultidd9332]

What an interesting video. I really love this type of thing, looking at the ‘dots that joined up’ to create something bigger and better. Like why the Industrial Revolution took place in this country that then changed the world forever, etc.

[@eastlancsesteem]

Another nice history lesson 👍🏾

[@terrycostin7259]

Just a quick note, Homerton also had an existing disused station still to be seen on the opposite side to the newish entrance.

[@PedroRodriguez-so6bj]

Still to be seen is an exageration no! Most of that building is long demolished - what's left is a 2/3 metre 'wall' with barbed wired on the top.

[@PedroRodriguez-so6bj]

PS: I remember 'playing' on the tracks pre the Homerton opening. We'd build mounds of pebbles on the rails and watch as the trains brushed them aside.

[@XDFcooler]

The class 08 switcher & the class 53 are even older the those Southwestern Railway units

[@MrGreatplum]

“Dalston Kingsland” sounds like a right cad from the 1940s 😆

[@YoLo-bb2vc]

2:03 "North Woolwich was picked as the eastern terminus because otherwise the trains would have to run into the river!" yeap that sounds like a fun idea having the new line go directly into the river thames lol id pay for that bath but not the drowning part as i try to escape a sinking train carriage lol

[@kevinlucioni7256]

One thing wrong. LTS trains didnt call at West Ham until 1999 when the JLE openned.

[@timsully8958]

Thank goodness for North Woolwich or they’d have had to fit arm bands to the 105s, because let’s face it phase 1 DMUs were not good swimmers. And they rattled and hummed more than a dodgy U2 album. But they did the job, and I have happy memories of catching these and similar units (I think they were 117s) from South Tottenham to Barking on what I belief was referred to as the Goblin Line before it was absorbed by London Overground. It was almost like riding on an historic railway but was perfectly normal then 😅 BTW, just wanted to point out (sorry) but though the interchange was indeed with the District Line (and Metropolitan, later Hammersmith & City) at West Ham when services resumed, the LTS interchange wasn’t possible at that time. Trains ran between Stepney East (now Limehouse) and Barking without stopping as the platforms were unused since wartime and were demolished after bomb damage. The new platforms 7&8 weren’t built until the Jubilee Line extension was underway. The modern platforms for the District Line replaced the original ones which were of course built by the LTSR and still under BR ownership until the 60s even though no LMS or British Rail service had stopped there in 20 years or so! 🤷🏻‍♂️ Great stuff as ever old chap, love it when you delve into things from my past 👍🍀🍻