Hatfield to St Albans Branch Line Footage including Smallford Station in 1968

Footage taken in 1968 by Ron Kingdon, of the Hatfield to St Albans Branch Line, showing;
- Hatfield Station
- Ellenbrook Lane (Nast Hyde) Level Crossing
- Smallford Bridge and Station
- Fiddlebridge Sidings
- Lemsford Road Bridge and Halt

[@zennor_man]

Fascinating viewing. I lived in this area for many years. Seeing what has been achieved with the Watford- St Albans branch it's hard to justify the closure.Thanks for uploading.

[@johnpirie4804]

I'm from the area. This line was loss making from when it was first built and if it were not for the World War Two it would have closed earlier. There was talk of light rail conversion for many years but of course it came to nothing.

[@stephencopps1561]

I remember a few families that used cine film,it looked like a hell of a lot of work but the results are solid gold! Thanks 👍

[@davidbarrett1006]

This took me back - a young boy happily exploring a branch line in its last months. I was doing exactly the same thing at the same time albeit 100 miles further north on the GNR Horncastle Branch in Lincolnshire.

[@ambientatomicorbitals7810]

Me and my boy regulary ride on our bikes along here from Hatfield Ground lane to the very end near Verulam St Albans. Still has the existing tunnels and near to the end one of the stations is still there as a nursery school. Its a good ride or walk on a sunny day. There is even a porters cabin still standing.

[@cphaza]

Excellent stuff. Trying to pick out where the fiddlebridge sidings are in the film. My friend has a business on the industrial units that are there now, would be interesting to see a then and now shot

[@scamper2able]

Great to see this line again. I remember as a child going from Wood Green station (or possibly Finsbury Park) through to St Albans London Road station on this line. It would of been about 1962/63 i think, although the line had been shut for passenger use for some time, they introduced passenger trains again for a short period around that time.......thats how i remember it.

[@stephencopps1561]

It would be great to see the same views in present day and compare!

[@TheWellington2006]

Didn't realise there was a line there until I noticed the old bridge beside the realigned A1, prior to the tunnel.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I traversed this branch on 12th March 1961 behind an LMS 2P on a Branch Line Soc. railtour. St.Pancras-Rickmansworth (Church Street)-Watford Jct.-St.Albans Abbey-Hatfield-St.Pancras. Just occasionally I can glimpse the bridge that the line went under (the old A1) on my left at Hatfield as I am about to go under the Galleria heading north on the modern A1.

[@johnjephcote7636]

Oops! 4F 44675.

[@BMF-NJ]

Wish it was still here running

[@aklasuddin9147]

This video for information for me. There is even a porters cabin still standing.

[@jessehalper]

My mum lived opposite hill end station during the war. The Germans tried to bomb the nearby de Havilland factory but couldn't get close so they dropped their bomb on the railway. Direct hit. Mum heard the whistle as it came down but it failed to detonate.

[@lesfez1875]

What a wonderful film, that child was like myself fascinated by the railway and wanting to touch everything. No health & safety - and no one got hurt, trespass on the railway - shock, horror! No harm done though. And although the "Cold war" was at its highest, you could walk along the track in peace, no muggings, no stabbings, a time of respect and common sense. I suppose you have to be of a certain age to appreciate it? If the line had stayed open think how many car journeys it would save. I think Beeching was a "Yes man" for Ernest Marples - his "Joey", Marples was the transport owner who stood to gain the most.

[@padraigpearsemulholland8492]

Ah Mick if ourfella was there he would consider it Heaven 🙏 .

[@tonyfranklin8306]

loving the woman pushing he pram on the road with no stuffs given, as it should be!

[@robnewman6101]

DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of TRAIN. In association with THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM.

[@robnewman6101]

Keep off the tracks.

[@gummybear1808]

Why the hell did they shut this down ??So short sighted wouldnt take much to put a track on it again perhaps an electric tram would be so useful and traffic cutting . Not a Eastern European in sight glory days indeed.

[@juliankaye8143]

What’s an Eastern European got to do with it?

[@JonathanMorris777]

@@juliankaye8143 racism

[@johnpirie4804]

@@juliankaye8143 Please see my reply to Zennor_man at the top of the page

[@johnblofield]

@@juliankaye8143 Any excuse for a racist jibe however irrelevant

[@juliankaye8143]

Because not many people were using it in the 1950s. There was no need for the little goods yards. Freight large or small was now on the roads. People were buying cars.