The Crossrail project, should it ever get built, will use the marooned stub of track between Custom House and North Woolwich, surfacing from its London side tunnel just west of Custom House station and continuing in the North Woolwich direction before diving into tunnel again under the Thames. There will be no replacement station at North Woolwich. The original station building is Grade II listed, so that at least will survive. |
Photo taken from the platform that was retained by the Old Station Museum. This was the solitary platform in use in the late 1970s but the joining of the branch to the North London line saw the service transferred to the other remaining platform on the right and, as mentioned, a new ticket office built. The new office was to the right of the old building, out of sight of the camera. |
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...now cars stand on the track bed. |
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View in the same direction as the above two photos but from the opposite platform. |
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A North London Line train to Richmond waits at the platform. From this angle, it appears that the old station building serves this platform, yet the access to the new station building and the road was to the right of the brick wall seen at the end of the platform. The different shades of brickwork seen on the upper floor of the old station building indicate repair work following severe World War II bomb damage. |
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Westward view showing a train belonging to the North London Line on the left and a Thomas The Tank Engine train belonging to the North Woolwich Old Station Museum on the right. |
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This sign was curiously to be found in the old station museum and not in the in-use part of the station, where one might have thought it would be more useful. |
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Twilight time in the twilight years of the station; a Richmond bound train photographed in November 2006, less than two weeks before the station's complete closure. |
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Only two other passengers on the platform making the journey westward. The Docklands Light Railway station at King George V is only a few minutes walk from North Woolwich. |
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A final sunset. |
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The station in 2009, three years after closure. The industrial estate to the north-east of the station (actually built on part of the original expanse of it) has been demolished and an intruding and not particularly aesthetically pleasing housing block built in its place. At least the industrial estate had some small kinship with the heavy goods workings that this station used to have. |
Alan A. Jackson states in London's Local Railways that the North Woolwich railway started life as an alternative "...to river passenger services, handling pleasure traffic before becoming servants of the dock complexes and riverside industry." The railway company, the Eastern Counties & Thames Junction Railway, later taken over by the LNER, built a ferry pier for river connecting traffic. The introduction of the Woolwich free ferry caused the closure of the ECR's own ferry service, although the pier was still used for other river services. As of 2009, the pier was still in existence, although in a very dilapidated condition. |
Facing eastward. The North Woolwich station building is opposite the stairs on the left hand side of the photo. (photo: 2009) |
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There is some dubious argument that the graffiti paint will help preserve the rusting metals! (photo: 2009) |
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The charred remains of the booking office. (photo: 2009) |
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(photo: 2009) |
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(photo: 2009) |
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(photo: 2009) |
