London and Blackwall Railway#Millwall Extension Railway
{{Short description|Former British railway company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{London and Blackwall Railway}}
Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) in east London, England, ran from Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting the City of London and East End to many of London's docks in Poplar. It was operational from 1840 until 1926 (for passengers) and 1968 (for goods), closing after the decline of inner London's docks. Much of its infrastructure was reused as part of the Docklands Light Railway. The {{abbr|L&BR|London and Blackwall Railway}} was leased by the Great Eastern Railway in 1866, but remained independent until absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 Grouping.{{cite book |last=Awdry |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Awdry |title=Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies |year=1990 |publisher=Guild Publishing |location=London |id=CN 8983 |page=144 }} Another branch was opened in 1871, the Millwall Extension Railway.
History
File:London Limehouse Blackwall.jpg on the London and Blackwall Railway. It now carries a branch of the DLR. The partially-open iron fencing was popular with passengers, as it gave a quieter ride than the nearby London and Greenwich Railway's reverberating brick walling.{{cite journal|last=Timbs|first=John|date=1840-07-11|title=The London and Blackwall Railway|journal=The Literary World|publisher=G. Berger|location=London|volume=3|issue=68|page=225|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mG0EAAAAQAAJ&q=%22London+and+Blackwall+Railway%22&pg=PA225|accessdate=2008-09-29}} This section of line carried an iron roof when steam locomotives were first introduced.{{cite web |title=Docklands Light Railway—Journey Through History Tower Gateway to West India Quay|url=http://www.mernick.org.uk/dlr/documents/09.pdf |publisher=Docklands Light Railway |accessdate=25 August 2019}}]]
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Commercial Railway Act 1836
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for making a Railway from the Minories to Blackwall, with Branches, to be called "The Commercial Railway."
| year = 1836
| citation = 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. cxxiii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 28 July 1836
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Will4/6-7/123/pdfs/ukla_18360123_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|Commercial Railway Act 1839}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for extending the Line of the Railway between London and Blackwall called "The Commercial Railway;" and for amending the Acts relating thereto.
| year = 1839
| citation = 2 & 3 Vict. c. xcv
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 17 August 1839
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/2-3/95/pdfs/ukla_18390095_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1842}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to alter, amend, and enlarge the Powers and Provisions of the Acts relating to the London and Blackwall Railway.
| year = 1842
| citation = 5 & 6 Vict. c. xxxiv
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 31 May 1842
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/5-6/34/pdfs/ukla_18420034_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1846}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for widening the Line of "The London and Blackwall Railway;" and for amending the Acts relating to the said Railway.
| year = 1846
| citation = 9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxxiii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 27 July 1846
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text =
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway (Improvement and Branches to St. Katharine's and London Docks) Act 1848}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to amend the Acts relating to the London and Blackwall Railway, and to authorize the Company to alter the Gauge of their Railway, and to make certain Improvements in the Approaches to the said Railway, and to make Branches to the London and Saint Katherine's Docks.
| year = 1848
| citation = 11 & 12 Vict. c. xc
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 22 July 1848
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/11-12/90/pdfs/ukla_18480090_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Amendment Act 1848}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to alter and amend some of the Provisions of the Acts relating to the London and Blackwall Railway Company.
| year = 1848
| citation = 11 & 12 Vict. c. cxi
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 25 July 1848
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/11-12/111/pdfs/ukla_18480111_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Amendment and Extension of Time Act 1849}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to extend the Time for the Purchase of Lands required for the widening of the London and Blackwall Railway, and to amend the Acts relating to such Railway.
| year = 1849
| citation = 12 & 13 Vict. c. lxxiii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 28 July 1849
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/12-13/73/pdfs/ukla_18490073_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1850}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for granting Facilities for the Use of certain Portions of the Eastern Counties Railways by the London and Blackwall Railway Company; and for amending the Acts relating to the London and Blackwall Railway.
| year = 1850
| citation = 13 & 14 Vict. c. xxx
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 25 June 1850
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/13-14/30/pdfs/ukla_18500030_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway (Branch to Haydon Square) Act 1851}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for making a Branch Railway from the London and Blackwall Railway to Haydon Square, Whitechapel; and for amending some of the Powers of the Acts relating to the London and Blackwall Railway Company.
| year = 1851
| citation = 14 & 15 Vict. c. xxviii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 5 June 1851
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/14-15/28/pdfs/ukla_18510028_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Lease Act 1865}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to enable the London and Blackwall Railway Company to lease their Undertaking to the Great Eastern Railway Company; and for other Purposes.
| year = 1865
| citation = 28 & 29 Vict. c. c
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 19 June 1865
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/28-29/100/pdfs/ukla_18650100_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
It was authorised by an act of Parliament, the {{visible anchor|Commercial Railway Act 1836}} (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. cxxiii), entitled An Act for making a Railway from the Minories to Blackwall, with Branches, to be called "The Commercial Railway" dated 28 July 1836 in the reign of William IV. The length of the railway was to be {{convert|3+1/4|mi|km}}.{{cite book |last1=McCarthy |first1=Colin |last2=McCarthy |first2=David |title = Railways of Britain – London North of the Thames |publisher = Ian Allan Publishing |location= Hersham, Surrey |isbn=978-0-7110-3346-7 |year=2009 |page=12}}
The engineer of the line was intended to be John Rennie, but the project's City financiers favoured Robert Stephenson, believing that they would also benefit from the knowledge and wisdom of his respected father George. Although, because of the terms of the act of Parliament, Robert Stephenson had to follow Rennie's route and use the obscure track gauge of {{track gauge|5ft0.5in}}, he was free to choose his own method of propulsion. Drawing on his experience with the Camden Incline on the London and Birmingham Railway he decided upon cable haulage from stationary steam engines.
The railway was on brick arches as far as the West India Docks, and then on an embankment before entering a shallow cutting near the Blackwall terminus at Brunswick Wharf. The station there had an iron-roofed shed, and offices designed in an Italianate style by William Tite.{{cite journal |year= 1840|title=Blackwall Railway|journal=The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal |volume=3 |pages=213–}}
The line opened on 6 July 1840, and the company changed its name to the London and Blackwall Railway on completion of an extension to Fenchurch Street, just within the City boundary, in 1841. The line was converted to use steam locomotives in 1848, partly because wear on the rope proved greater than anticipated (a steel-wire replacement had been tried but this twisted and kinked ferociously) and partly in consequence of the intended 1849 extensions. {{cite journal |year= 1848 |title=Robertson, Andrew (March 1848) "Blackwall Railway Machinery"|journal=The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal New York: Wiley & Putnam 11.}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London, Blackwall and Millwall Extension Railway Act 1865}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to authorize the Construction by the London and Blackwall Railway Company of Railways in the Parishes of Stepney, Poplar, and Limehouse, to be called "The London, Blackwall, and Millwall Extension Railway;" to authorize Agreements with other Companies with reference thereto; and for other Purposes.
| year = 1865
| citation = 28 & 29 Vict. c. cxvi
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 19 June 1865
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/28-29/116/pdfs/ukla_18650116_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London, Blackwall and Millwall Extension Railway Act 1868}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for extending the Time limited for the compulsory Purchase of Lands authorized to be taken by The London, Blackwall, and Millwall Extension Railway Act, 1865, and also the Time limited for completing the Railways and Works under such Act; for authorizing Arrangements with other Companies; and for other Purposes in relation to the London and Blackwall Railway Company.
| year = 1868
| citation = 31 & 32 Vict. c. cxx
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 13 July 1868
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text =
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London, Blackwall and Millwall Extension Railway Act 1870}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to enlarge the powers of the London and Blackwall Railway Company, and to enable them to abandon certain Railways authorised by "The London, Blackwall, and Millwall Extension Railway Act, 1865."
| year = 1870
| citation = 33 & 34 Vict. c. lxii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 20 June 1870
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/33-34/62/pdfs/ukla_18700062_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway (Steamboats) Act 1873}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to authorise the London and Blackwall Railway Company to provide and to use Steam Vessels between Millwall and Greenwich; to authorise arrangements with the owners and lessees of Potter's Ferry and the Great Eastern Railway Company; and for other purposes.
| year = 1873
| citation = 36 & 37 Vict. c. cxci
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 21 July 1873
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/36-37/191/pdfs/ukla_18730191_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1873}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to enable the London and Blackwall Railway Company to enlarge their Stepney Station; to construct a Landing Pier in the Thames in connexion with their Millwall Extension Railway; to authorise arrangements with the Great Eastern Railway Company; and for other purposes.
| year = 1873
| citation = 36 & 37 Vict. c. clxiii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 21 July 1873
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/36-37/163/pdfs/ukla_18730163_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1874}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to enable the London and Blackwall Railway Company to enlarge certain of their stations; to authorise agreements with other companies; and for other purposes.
| year = 1874
| citation = 37 & 38 Vict. c. xxxix
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 30 June 1874
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/37-38/39/pdfs/ukla_18740039_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1885}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to authorise the widening and improvement of parts of the London and Blackwall Railway and the raising of additional Capital; and for other purpose.
| year = 1885
| citation = 48 & 49 Vict. c. cxiv
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 22 July 1885
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/48-49/114/pdfs/ukla_18850114_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1888}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to extend the times respectively limited for the compulsory purchase of Lands for and for the completion of the works authorised by the London and Blackwall Railway Act 1885[m] and to authorise the raising of additional capital; and for other purposes.
| year = 1888
| citation = 51 & 52 Vict. c. lxviii
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 28 June 1888
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/51-52/68/pdfs/ukla_18880068_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Railway Act 1893}}
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to further extend the time limited for the completion of the works authorised by the London and Blackwall Railway Act 1885 and to authorise the raising of additional capital and for other purposes.
| year = 1893
| citation = 56 & 57 Vict. c. ix
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 29 April 1893
| commencement =
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status =
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/56-57/9/pdfs/ukla_18930009_en.pdf
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
A line from Stepney (now Limehouse) linking it with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) at Bow was opened in 1849, known as the {{visible anchor|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} (LBER), at which time the line was converted to steam locomotive operation and the track converted to {{track gauge|4ft8.5in|al=on|allk=on}}. Agreement between the {{abbr|L&BR|London and Blackwall Railway}} and the {{abbr|ECR|Eastern Counties Railway}} about operation of the services over the {{abbr|LBER|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} could not be reached so the actual junction was not completed. An interchange station called Victoria Park & Bow was opened but the {{abbr|ECR|Eastern Counties Railway}} stopped few services there so most services terminated at Bromley and Bow. Services were withdrawn from Victoria Park & Bow on 6 January 1851.
By 1854 relations between the two companies had improved and the junction between the two lines was built and the {{abbr|LBER|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} became part of the initial London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) route to Fenchurch Street and the {{abbr|ECR|Eastern Counties Railway}} started operating trains from Loughton into Fenchurch Street.{{cite book|last1=Connor|first1=J E|title=Fenchurch Street – Barking|date=August 1998|publisher=Middleton Press|location=Midhurst UK|isbn=1-901706-20-6|page=VII}}The {{abbr|LBER|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} and {{abbr|ECR|Eastern Counties Railway}} were partners in the {{abbr|LTSR|London, Tilbury and Southend Railway}}.
The {{abbr|LBER|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} was joined to the new {{abbr|LTSR|London, Tilbury and Southend Railway}}. direct line from Barking at Gas Factory Junction in 1858.
In 1852 the North London Railway had linked up with the {{abbr|L&BR|London and Blackwall Railway}} at Poplar, and Fenchurch Street became the terminus for that line until Broad Street opened in 1865. In 1871 another branch line, the {{visible anchor|Millwall Extension Railway}}, opened from Millwall Junction to Millwall Docks to serve the West India Docks better. A year later the line was extended to North Greenwich, near the site of the original Island Gardens DLR station.
=Withdrawal of services=
In 1893 the Fenchurch Street–Stepney line was widened to four tracks, but by the turn of the century traffic to Blackwall and the Isle of Dogs was dropping. To save money railmotors acquired from the Great Western Railway were introduced in 1922, but nonetheless passenger services east of Stepney to North Greenwich and Blackwall were ceased on 3 May 1926 as a result of competition from trams.The Blackwall branch was meant to close on 30 June but the 1926 United Kingdom general strike saw this brought forward.{{cite web |title=Docklands Light Railway—Journey Through History West India Quay to island Gardens|url=http://www.mernick.org.uk/dlr/documents/10.pdf |publisher=Docklands Light Railway |accessdate=25 August 2019}}{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Alan A|title=London's lost railways|date=1999|publisher=Capital Transport Publishing|location=Harrow Weald UK|isbn=1-85414-209-7|page=422}}
John Betjeman (1906–1984), in his book First and Last Loves (published 1952), wrote of a journey on the {{abbr|L&BR|London and Blackwall Railway}} (most likely in the years just before closure):
Those frequent and quite empty trains of the Blackwall Railway ran from a special platform at Fenchurch Street. I remember them. Like stagecoaches they rumbled past East End chimney pots, wharves and shipping stopping at empty black stations till they came to a final halt at Blackwall station...When one emerged there, there was nothing to see beyond it but a cobbled quay and a vast stretch of wind whipped water...{{cite journal|last1=King|first1=Bill|title=Leman Street, London|journal=Great Eastern Journal|volume=113|page=126}}
The minor stations at Leman Street and Shadwell were closed in 1941 as wartime economy measures (as was Burdett Road opened on the Bow extension route in 1871). The junction at Stepney was disconnected in 1951, so that the only remaining access to the Blackwall Branch was from the {{abbr|LBER|London and Blackwall Extension Railway}} via the Limehouse Curve, and this was abandoned in 1963 (last train ran 5 November 1962). Access for occasional goods services to Blackwall and North Greenwich via the North London Railway at Poplar continued until 1968, but with the closure of the docks the line was abandoned, leaving only the Fenchurch Street–Stepney section of the original Blackwall branch still in use.Freight services to this area of the dock continued up until 3 October 1983 via the North London route via Bow. The track was lifted the following year and later re-opened as part of the Docklands Light Railway
When the Docklands Light Railway opened in 1987, it reused much of the {{abbr|L&BR|London and Blackwall Railway}} line between Minories (renamed Tower Gateway) and Westferry Road. Part of the viaduct at North Greenwich for the line to the original terminus between Mudchute and Island Gardens DLR stations was used, though some of this section became disused again when the extension to {{stnlnk|Lewisham}} was constructed and those stations replaced with ones nearby but below ground.
Cable haulage
As built the line was {{convert|3+1/2|mi}} long, with two bidirectional tracks operated independently of each other. At the opening only one track was complete and the other was not brought into use until one month later. Each track had a double length of hemp rope, as an engine was winding in from one end an equivalent length of rope was being paid out at the other. Fourteen miles of rope, with metal swivels inserted at intervals to resist entanglements, were therefore required.
On journeys from the terminus cars were dispatched in two groups: the first group of four cars for the three most distant stations (the terminus stations, as the most important, received two cars per trip) and the second group destined for the three nearest. Each rearmost car was released ("slipped") as the convoy passed through its destination station. When the extension to Fenchurch Street was brought into use the pair of cars for that station was slipped from the rope at Minories as before, but the brakes were not applied. Momentum carried them up the slight slope to the new platforms. "Slipping" and "pinning" (attaching) was controlled from an open platform at whichever end of a car was leading, using levers connected to iron grips (acting vertically against blocks beneath the carriage floor).Robertson (1848: 83){{cite book |last1=Christopher |first1=John |title=The London & Blackwall railway : Dockland's first railway |date=2009 |publisher=Amberly |location=Stroud, England |isbn=9781445621876}} The carriages were joined by link-and-pin couplings and the pin was withdrawn as each carriage was released.{{cite book |last1=Day |first1=John Robert |last2=Wilson |first2=Brian Geoffrey |title=Unusual Railways |date=1957 |publisher=Frederick Muller Ltd |location=London |page=60 |oclc=2899105}} First and second class accommodation was provided; seats were not thought necessary in second class because of the short journey times.{{cite journal |editor1-last=Timbs |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Timbs |title=The London and Blackwall Railway |journal=The Literary World |date=11 July 1840 |page=1 |publisher=George Berger |location=London}}
It was clearly dangerous to use the reverse method to pick up cars on journeys to the terminus, so all the cars were "pinned" to the cable at their respective stations and started simultaneously with the convoy departing from the terminus, the timing coordinated by an early example of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph. They arrived at the terminus at intervals and a new train gradually assembled itself, with the pair of cars from the far terminus becoming the lead pair for the return trip. The timetable was simply one train every 15 minutes.
Power was provided by eight marine steam engines from Maudslay, Sons and Field, providing for four in use and four in maintenance. The Minories winding house had four at {{convert|110|hp|kW|lk=in}} but the engines at Blackwall were only at {{convert|75|hp|kW}} as the overall gradient of the line fell from the west, where it was built on brick arches, to the east.
The line was converted to use steam locomotives in 1848, partly because wear on the rope proved greater than anticipated (a steel-wire replacement had been tried but this twisted and kinked ferociously) and partly in consequence of the intended 1849 extensions. A light roof over the line was provided where it passed near to timber stores or shipping, because of the anticipated fire risk from locomotive sparks. It then became possible to travel directly between intermediate stations, without a detour by way of a terminus.
Stations
The stations were:
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Station | Opened | Closed | Notes |
| Fenchurch Street | 1854 | {{efn-lr|name=open}} | |
| Minories (resited) | 1841 | 1853 | |
| Minories (original) | 1840 | 1841 | Site used for Tower Gateway in 1987 |
| Leman Street | 1877 | 1941 | |
| Cannon Street Road | 1842 | 1848 | |
| Shadwell | 1840 | 1941 | |
| Stepney | 1840 | {{efn-lr|name=open}} | 1923 renamed Stepney East, 1987 renamed Limehouse |
| Limehouse | 1840 | 1926 | not to be confused with the above |
| West India Docks | 1840 | 1926 | |
| Millwall Junction | 1871 | 1926 | |
| Poplar | 1840 | 1926 | on a different site to Poplar DLR station |
| Blackwall | 1840 | 1926 | on a different site to Blackwall DLR station |
{{notelist-lr|refs=
{{efn-lr|name=open|still open, served by c2c}}
}}
Branch to Bow from Stepney, called the London and Blackwall Extension Railway (opened 1849, joint-operated with the Eastern Counties Railway):
- Burdett Road (opened 1871, closed 1941)
- Bromley and Bow (1849–1850)
- Bow Road first station (1876–1892) then closed and replaced by second station to provide interchange with Bow (North London Railway station) and on site of original Bromley and Bow station (opened 1892, closed 1949)
- Victoria Park & Bow (opened 1849, closed 1850, interchange with Eastern Counties Railway – not to be confused with Victoria Park or Bow stations)
Branch to North Greenwich from Millwall Junction, called the Millwall Extension Railway:
- South Dock (opened 1871, closed 1926)
- Millwall Docks (opened 1871, closed 1926)
- North Greenwich (opened 1871, closed 1926; not to be confused with North Greenwich Underground station)
Notes
{{Reflist|group="Note"}}
References
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Gordon|first=W. J.|date=1910|title=Our Home Railways|volume=2|publisher=Frederick Warne & Co|location=London}}
- {{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Alan A.|date=1978|title=London's Local Railways|publisher=David & Charles|location=Jackson, VT|isbn=0-7153-7479-6}}
- {{cite journal
| last =Robertson
| first =Andrew John
| title =Blackwall railway machinery
| journal =The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal
| volume =11
| issue =March 1848
|page=83
| publisher =John Wiley & Sons
| location =New York, NY
| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=swoAAAAAMAAJ&q=minories&pg=RA2-PA83
| accessdate = 2007-11-30
| year =1848}}
{{Refend}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/railwaysgreatbr00whisgoog|title=The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated|first=Francis|last=Whishaw|author-link=Francis Whishaw|edition=2nd|location=London|publisher=John Weale|year=1842|pages=255–269|oclc=833076248}}
{{London and Blackwall Railway topics}}
{{LNERconstituents}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:London And Blackwall Railway}}
Category:Early British railway companies
Category:Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Category:Railway companies established in 1836
Category:Railway lines opened in 1841
Category:Closed railway lines in London
Category:History of rail transport in London