SideTracked - Ravenscourt Park
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The line through Ravenscourt Park station was opened on 1 January 1869 by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) on a new branch line to Richmond. The branch was built from the West London Joint Railway starting north of Addison Road station (now Kensington (Olympia)). The line ran through Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith via a now closed curve and initially the next station west from Hammersmith (Grove Road) (also now closed) was Turnham Green.
Ravenscourt Park station was opened as Shaftesbury Road by the L&SWR on 1 April 1873.
On 1 June 1877, the District Railway (DR, now the District line) opened a short extension from its terminus at Hammersmith to connect to the L&SWR tracks east of Ravenscourt Park station. The DR then began running trains over the L&SWR tracks to Richmond. On 1 October 1877, the Metropolitan Railway (MR, now the Metropolitan line) also started a service to Richmond via Grove Road station.
On 5 May 1878 The Midland Railway began running a circuitous service known as the Super Outer Circle from St Pancras to Earl's Court via Cricklewood and South Acton. It operated over a now disused connection between the North London Railway and the L&SWR Richmond branch. The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880.
Following an accident at Turnham Green on 9 April 1878 when a passenger fell trying to climb the 24 inches (610 mm) from the platform into a DR carriage, the platforms at Shaftesbury Road were experimentally raised from the L&SWR standard height of 1 foot 9 inches (530 mm) above rail level to 2 feet 10 inches (860 mm), which was lower than the DR standard height of 3 feet 1+1⁄2 inches (952 mm).
The Richmond branch was a major stimulus to residential development along the route and traffic on the line was high. The DR's service between Richmond, Hammersmith and central London was more direct than either the L&SWR's or the MR's routes via Grove Road station or the L&SWR's other route from Richmond via Clapham Junction and it took much of the custom.
On 1 March 1888, the station was given its present name in advance of the nearby park being opened to the public.
From 1 January 1894, the GWR began sharing the MR's Richmond service and served Turnham Green once again, meaning that passengers from Ravenscourt Park could travel on the services of four operators.
Following the electrification of the DR's own tracks north of Acton Town in 1903, the DR funded the electrification of the tracks through Ravenscourt Park. The tracks between Acton Town and central London were electrified on 1 July 1905. Whilst DR services were operated with electric trains, the L&SWR, GWR and MR services continued to be steam hauled.
MR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1906 and GWR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1910 leaving operations at Ravenscourt Park to the DR and L&SWR. The L&SWR constructed an additional pair of non-electrified tracks between Turnham Green and its junction with the District at Hammersmith and opened these on 3 December 1911 although their use was short-lived as the District's trains out-competed the L&SWR's to the extent that the L&SWR withdrew its service between Richmond and Addison Road on 3 June 1916, leaving the District as the sole operator.
In the early 1930s, the London Electric Railway, precursor of the London Underground and owner of the District and Piccadilly lines, began the reconstruction of the tracks between Hammersmith and Acton Town to enable the Piccadilly line to be extended from Hammersmith to Uxbridge and Hounslow West (then the terminus of what is now the Heathrow branch). The inner tracks at Ravenscourt Park were designated for the Piccadilly line between the stopping lines of the District line. Services on the Piccadilly line began running through Ravenscourt Park on 4 July 1932.
To the east of the station, the remaining parts of the viaduct (pictured) taking the L&SWR's tracks to Grove Road station are situated between the eastbound District and Piccadilly lines on the approach to Hammersmith station.
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Date: Tuesday 23rd January 2024
Time: 10am - 11am
Where: The Plough & Harrow - JD Wetherspoon
120-124 King St, London W6 0QU
All are welcome for geochat, trackable deiscovery and swapping. Drinks and food available to purchase at the bar or on the app for those regulars to JDW :)
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About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website