Train Simulator 2019 - Network Southeast Class 313 cab ride - Croxley Green Branch Line

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DC 4260 Productions

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14,300

Published on March 5, 2019 2:44:59 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SagUHbiIHyo

Game:

Train Simulator Classic (2009)

Duration: 23:09

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18

Today's run is on a route that I have never driven on before. It's the Croxley Green line, which is available on UKTrainSim (file id 31133).

In this video I take a Class 313 - in Network Southeast livery - on a stopping service from Watford Junction to Croxley Green. Along the way we stop at Watford High Street, Watford Stadium, Watford West and Croxley Green. Also seen at Watford Junction is a Class 321 and a Class 90. The reason I chose a Class 313 for this run is because that's the train that ran on the branch in its last 10 years of operation.

As I alluded to earlier, the Croxley Green route is available from UKTrainSim. As for the Class 313, that is available from Armstrong Powerhouse - as is the 321 and 90.

The Croxley Green line branched off from the Watford DC Line just south of Watford High Street. It opened in June 1912 as a branch of the Watford to Rickmansworth Railway, and was initially operated by the London & North Western Railway.

The Watford to Rickmansworth railway was electrified in 1917, with electric services starting in April. At the time the London Electric Railway operated a Queens Park to Watford service - using deep-level 'tube' trains (the so-called 'Watford Joint' stock). Originally this service was only run on weekdays until a daily service was introduced in July 1919. This was in an effort to cope with the voltage drop caused by the branch being supplied only from the Watford end. These services were supplemented by LNWR trains from Broad Street during peak periods and steam services from London Euston. The Croxley Green branch was electrified on the 30th of October, 1922, with Rickmansworth following in September 1927.

The so-called 'Watford Joint' tube stock was retired in 1939, and replaced by ex-LNWR electric units. Sometime in the 1960s, Class 501 electrics were introduced to the line. Curiously, Class 104 diesel units ran on this line in 1987, and I can't find out why. The Class 313's were used on this line from 1986 to 1996.

Passenger services on the Croxley Green Line continued as normal for a number of years, but they began to decline in the 1960s. Despite being recommended for closure in the infamous 'Beeching Report', the Croxley Green line remained in operation.

In the 1980s, attempts were made to improve the situation on the branch. One of these was the construction of a special football station, Watford Stadium Halt, was built in 1982 for the use of Watford FC supporters. Even so, it was only used when Watford were playing at home. In 1988, a daytime service - running every 30 minutes - was introduced to further revitalise the line. Sadly this service didn't work, and - by the early 1990s - services were reduced to one return working from Watford Junction on weekdays, which left the junction at 6:00am. This was a parliamentary train, which - like all traditional parliamentary trains - was run to avoid the costly and tedious process of officially closing the line. The facilities at Croxley Green and Watford West were significantly downgraded in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For example, the original covered platform at Croxley Green was removed in 1989 and replaced with a temporary scaffolding platform with no protection from the elements, and at both stations the covered staircases were demolished and replaced with open stairways.

In 1996, the dual-carriageway Ascot Road was built. This work required a section of embankment near the Grand Union Canal to be removed, which severed the railway between Watford West and Croxley Green. Services on the Croxley Green line finally ended in March 1996. Curiously the line was mothballed rather than officially closed. As such the stations, along with the track, street-level signage and the remaining station facilities, were left abandoned and remained in situ for many years. The branch wasn't officially closed until 2003.

Seven years later - in 2010 - the Department for Transport proposed a scheme called the Croxley Green Link. This was to be a new railway built along much of the old Croxley Green line, and would become part of London Underground's Metropolitan Line. The line would terminate at Watford Junction, and result in the closure of the original Watford station. The 'Croxley Green Link' project would include two new stations - Cassiobridge and Watford Vicarage Road. Due to financial problems, the scheme was cancelled in 2018.

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