When Chessington South station was opened a baby elephant met the first train (with its keeper, I assume) and it then accompanied the dignitaries back to Chessington Zoo where a celebratory lunch was given. No doubt it was all symbolic over the partial opening of this trunk route wot got later truncated ....
Used to live nearby (Sutton) and I always wondered if this line had been axed by Beeching. It looked as if it was going "somewhere" but had been cut off in its prime. Now, questions answered. Thanks Jago.
You know the rules Muttley! If you want to leave Great Yarmouth put it in writing at least 6 weeks in advance of your desired travel date so that the required test's can be arranged. Important ones like "Electricity: Does it still confuse you" and "How to behave in shops that aren't Palmers" Nowadays we're happy to see y'all spreading your horizons but it's also for everyone's safety that we can establish that you won't have a meltdown when confronted with new fangled things such as keyless entry doors and running hot water. (( Just to make extra sure, although my sarcasm was hopefully highly obvious, I am of course jesting and say the above with fondness. Although let the record show that I find the whole train setup around your way somewhat perplexing and disturbingly Victorian in nature))
I did a google search just now, and sadly it seems that the takeaway is no more. The lockdown and reduced patronage of the station must have been devastating to its turnover. ☹️
@@mrbluesky2050 Trust me no1 delivers in Great Yarmouth. I tried during a visit recently and got an error message: Sorry we don't deliver to the 18th Century. Please wait till the internet, cell phones, and the motor car are invented and try again. 🤣
The area around Tolworth is being redeveloped with new homes and offices (Lidl's new head office), so that might bring more people to the line in the near future.
@@chrisamies2141 10-car trains will be restored when the 701s eventually enter service, which will help. Chessington was meant to be on Crossrail 2 but that will probably never happen. I don't see much prospect of any more than two trains per hour, although that might change long term if the long-mooted new townlet is built at Malden Rushett.
There was a band called Leatherhead who released a single in 1974 called Gimme your money please, b/w Epitaph (Phillips 6006 3671). Most of the members actually lived in Ashtead (Surrey).
@@craigthomson3621 there was also The Head who had a minor hit with "Nothing to Do in a Town Like Leatherhead". The town was also home to T-Rex, and to the studio of record producer Nigel Gray, whose son Thomas is now a much-respected luthier, formerly based in Teddington, but like me, a fellow ex Leretian, has moved west (he to the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, I to West Devon, just east of Launceston).
Amazing to see you covering my local station, I’ll be off on my commute from Chessington in the morning 😊 I always love that Chessington is the first station on the line as it means I always get a seat!
Used to live round here and often wondered why this branch had been built. It always looked to me like it had been intended to go further - and indeed it had... My mum grew up in Tolworth, but I only visited her old home when I was little, so have no real memories of it. Mum was 4 when war broke out and was sent away to Yorkshire, and then , like so many other evacuees, was brought home again a year or so later, so she spent most of the war in Tolworth. She used to tell a story about a V1 landing on the house opposite and blowing all their windows out (she wasn't in at the time). I grew up with this story, so never thought much about it, but later in life I realised that everyone had a 'war story', and not all of them were true, so wondered if my mum's was one of those (she was, after all, only young at the time). She died in 2019 and I gave the eulogy at her funeral - only then discovering that I didn't know much about her life before I was born. So I set about trying to find out as much as I could, and that included exactly where she lived (I never knew the address). And then I did what everyone does these days and looked it up on Streetview - and there it was, pretty much as I remembered it. But when I turned round (virtually), there, on the opposite side of the street was a row of exactly the same 1920s semi-detached houses - except for one 1950s bungalow, exactly opposite my mum's old house.
Further commentary on this excellent piece. When the splendid Chisarc-canopied platform buildings were built they were illuminated by blue, white, amber and pink GEC fluorescent tubes which, with the new concrete structures, must have looked startlingly modern and colourful. The dark-green liveried electric units trundling in and out must have seemed very utilitarian by comparison. Then after only a year and three months of this kaleidoscope of colour at Malden Manor and Tolworth, and just over over three months after this innovation at the new Chessy North and South, the blackout was introduced with the advent of WW2 and presumably such "excesses" were never seen again?
Brought back memories. I used to work for Decca in the 1970s and they had a big R&D place at Davis Rd Chessington and I used to commute to Tolworth. The "Goods Yard" you mentioned at Tolworth was primarily for coal when I used to go there, and there was a huge green bunker affectionately known as "The Football Stadium". Incidentally, just down the road from us, was a company called "Gala Cosmetics", nothing special about them other than the 1965 film "Curse of the Fly" was used as the outside shots for the mad scientists laboratory. Brabham Racing Motors (BRM) also has their workshops there.
I used to work for the MoD at Chessington back in the 1980s, where the "new" housing development (Merritt Gardens) is at the traffic lights. My office was close to the WoA and I could hear the screams of the lovely kids when I was trying to work. I used the line occasionally to get into work from home (I had moved to Fulham) but it took so long from Clapham Junction that I preferred to drive - the 12 miles could be covered in under 30 minutes. There was an alley way that meant you had a shortcut from Garrison Lane to the site without having to walk to the main entrance. Coincidentally in the 1960s we had a Church coach outing to Chessington Zoo from Hastings. It was much smaller if my memory serves me right. I had always assumed the line had been cut because of Beeching and the only reason Chessington South and North survived was because of the huge military presence in the area - our site was huge, and adjacent was an American Military Hospital. On the other side of Leatherhead Road the Barwell Business Park was a mix of civil service organisations.
Yes, as a through station, I always thought that Chessington South looked like the premature end of an unfinished scheme - interesting to learn that it actually was.
I lived in 2 Chessington locations, one by North station and the other by South station. I always liked this quirky little line especially as I am a fan of art deco. The embankment south of Chessington South station was built by the Royal Engineers as an excercise and can still be seen from the road today. I once went to find the end of the embankment and started at the Ashstead end. After trekking over a muddy piece of ground I entered the woods and there was the embankment. It didn`t peter out it just stopped abruptly.
My father lived in Chessington in the 1930's - it was all green fields in those days and he remembered the coming of the railway. His parents lived their until the late 1970s and we moved back in the late 60s. By then there was lots of road traffic and the road we lived on was destroyed as it was turned into a main throughway and the green verges and trees disappeared forever. We used to have a rag and bone man come down the road on his horse and cart. I commuted into London as a student for a short while - it was truly horrible, depressing looking at the backs of row after row of houses. I soon moved into the city and away from the 'burbs forever. The railway stopped but sadly the development hasn't, now the M25 cuts a swathe near Ashtead. One bright spot was when a Leopard (I think) escaped from Chessington Zoo (before the theme park) and it supposedly went along the railway line heading north. We had police and all kinds out until it was captured....lol.
can you remember the Harrier jump jet between Tolworth and Chessington North? The air cadets at 1034 squadron had it parked in their yard for some years. Health and safety killjoys made them remove it.
Went to school at Fleetwood county sec school which was by the side of Chessington south.1957 to 1962. We used to walk the embankment passed the station till it ran out In school we could hear the lions roaring from the zoo,it was a zoo and circus then with a t ram outside.happier days .Had 2 girlfriends who lived at Malden manor one became my wife.moved out the area in 1972.
One of my great grandmothers was from Tolworth. Her father was landlord of The Red Lion and stood for Parliament as the Labour candidate for Kingston in the 1918 General Election. Long before the Chessington branch was thought of obviously.
Sadly, the Red Lion was knocked down a few years ago by an opportunistic developer. No permit or planning permission, just went ahead and did it. Same bastard also owns the wreck of the old Regal cinema (now being converted into flats on a very rotten steel frame!) and the equally neglected Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare.
I have a massive soft spot for how Art Deco and railways intertwine in their stations, stock and promotional material over the years. Would enjoy seeing more brutalism in my train stations though! Also “alight here for chessington world of adventures” makes me believe you can get off, light a cigarette and be transported to a roller coaster within minutes.
Yea but I hate the way they often ruin them by allowing willy nilly commercial businesses slap their advertising all over the frontage hiding features.
Ahh, the Chessington Branch! I spent a few years commuting from Wimbledon to Chessington North (and back again) - always felt like I was going in the opposite direction to the rest of the rush hour, given how quiet and empty the branch’s trains were compared to… everything else that stopped at Wimbledon. Didn’t know about the original Chessington station names, so that was interesting to see. Fascinating to see the Jago take on one of my old commutes!
Thanks for this insight into a truncated byway of railway history. By the 1930's under the progressive regime of Sir Herbert Walker the Southern Railway had encouraged its in-house architecture team led by James Robb Scott to hoist their art deco petticoats and go really odeonesque. Surbiton Station (1937) on the nearby mainline is the best example, but it looks as though the Chessington branch stations are a cut price version of the general aesthetic.
Many years ago, sometime in the 70's, I went on a London Railtour and one of the places the special train visited was Chessington Goods. Some adventurous tour participants climbed down onto the track to have a look around, no one cared much about H&S or PTS certs in those days.
I went to school in Chessington, right beside the railway. About 1955 to 1960. Remember the steam hauled coal trains going to Chessington South every week.
Very good. I grew up in Motspur Park and now live in Chessington, so this line and its architecture is extremely familiar. It was, and still is, route code 18 (Chessington South - Waterloo) and now in the hands of the dull class 455s. Mind you, the old 4-SUB/EPB slam door trains would also have been considered dull in their time. Back in the day there was also a regular coal train service from Wimbledon Yard to Tolworth, hauled by a class 73 loco, which livened things up a bit. Stop me if I'm going on.
Raynes Parker here, I always thought the 4SUBs to be "proper trains", when the tested the 2/4 PEP they felt like toys and more like Playcraft than Tri-ang.
There was a time, long, long ago (thank you, Don Mclean), when I lived in the area (on a boat at Surbiton, at Thames Ditton, and at Teddington (where two-ton Ted resided)) so this was of particular interest to me. Thank you, Mr H, for a most enlightening video. Entirely up to your usual standard. Simon T
Thanks for this video my late uncle as a child living in a nearby road remembered the building of Chessington South station and the bridge going over the aptly named Bridge Road.
A sneaky great view over the North Downs about a minutes walk from Chess South Stn, left out the station and the first footpath on the right leads to a hilltop view you rarely get to see in any London Fare Zone
Honestly, I’m glad this line wasn’t ever completed. Ashtead common is a really nice place to go cycling and walking and if this railway was built this wouldn’t be possible. Good video, it was interesting to watch.
Born in the late 1950s, I lived the first ten years of my life in Chessington, a couple of hundred yards from Chessington North station. A familiar backdrop to my childhood was the sound of carriage doors slamming and the distinctive whining of the electric motors. I’ve only been back once, eleven years ago, and was saddened to see how decrepit both stations were.
I used to live 200 yards from Chessington North and frequently made the short hop to Chessington south for school. Great video that brought back some memories.
I lived for many years in the late 90’s in walking distance of Chessington South. Brought back many memories, like the old bridge over chalky Lane which was built but never used.
We live a few minutes walk from Chessington North, but if we’re heading into Waterloo we generally get the 71 bus to Surbiton and the train from there! It’s usually faster and there’s loads more trains…
Thank you for this video about the Chessington Line, it takes me back to the 1960’s when as a young boy we visited Chessington Zoo and fair ground with my parents, grandparents and sisters, we all took the train changing at Clapham Junction for Chessington South and remember that everything beyond Chessington South station was all open fields, although that’s no longer the case with an industrial estate now built on what would have been the track bed to Leatherhead. I have to say that I do love your commentary and I think it’s very quintessentially English when your final words at the end include “cheerio”, would love to hear that word from you more often.
Thanks Jago, if I may be so bold. This excellent video was a real trip down memory lane for me, as a nipper I'd visit my Gran with eagerness as her house backed onto the Leatherhead line, and Ashtead was the nearest station ( I learnt only later it was typical that some stations weren't actually very close to the actual villages their name implied). As soon as I heard an approaching train I would run down to the back yard and peer in anticipation over the chain fence, this was my introduction to, and where my lifelong love of railways began. I went to school in Leatherhead but annoyingly the bus was more convenient for the school. I have travelled on the Chessington Line, it's a shame the Art Deco style which I like is only a shadow of what it could be and I hate the look of desolation at the end of the line with the second disused and neglected platform.... but many thanks again for the nostalgic journey.. .....Drew
I worked in Tolworth about 5 years ago - commuting from Vauxhall. I love the shape of the canopies. The architecture round there is lovely - Surbiton station (where I'd go if I missed the Chessington train) is gorgeous too - not something you'd say about the actual places themselves!
When I drove freight some time ago, the branch was always known as the "Up and Down", specifically you approached stations on an uphill gradient meaning a driver could brake later, and you departed downhill enabling rapid acceleration! Makes a lot of sense? I was told it was designed with this in mind, but I suspect it's just the natural landscape. No help with a 2000 tonne aggregate train though... Anyone heard of this before?
The Southern seemed to do this on their lines built specifically for electric trains - Wimbledon to Sutton is a good case, I think it includes a 1 in 44. But interesting that they were able to build stations at he tops of hills. Traditional towns tended to be in valleys, but I guess that need not apply to a brand new suburb.
Richard Challoner? I went to school there too 😁 (I cycled from Tolworth). My dad went there too, I think he left in 1975 I'm still traveling on that line into Waterloo £270 for the month, ouch!
Before 1929 Leatherhead and Epsom both had 2 station in there towns ran by competing operators LBSCR and LSWR. Leatherhead LSWR closed in 1927 with retaining wall remaining and Epsom Town LBSCR closed in 1929 with building still there behind single story shops
Part of the old western embankment still exists with quite a bit of the old brickwork along Station Approach. There's also Old Station Approach with three clearly railway-built houses. The track ballast was still there under the grass at the edge of the car park for the small office units at the top of Old Station Approach when I dug a hole there some 25 years ago.
This is such a great video - thank you! I lived in Chessington through the 1990s and commuted to the City from Chessington South. I always wondered why the line petered out because it looked as if it had the potential to go further towards Leatherhead. I hadn't really noticed too that the stations on the line were art deco. I grew up in Surbiton so knew that station was art deco but had never noticed on the Chessington line. On the journey up it was great to always get a seat as it was the end of the line but the Chessington line seemed to be the one that got cancelled first from Waterloo when there were general issues!
It seems to me that the solution to the whole "speculators bought up the land to hold the railroad to ransom" problem would be for the Government to step in and force the speculators to sell the land to the railroad at not _one pence more_ than they had bought it for - _not_ adjusting for inflation, thus giving said speculators a thorough rinsing, if not quite soaking them, to discourage any future such attempts to hold public-works improvements hostage for financial gain.
I appreciate how the shots are always as you find them and not prettified by say panning not to include the broken train indicator or waiting for the truck to park or the tractor to pass by (at an impressive speed).
Another excellent video - I’m never likely to take a train on this branch but I’ve always been fascinated by the Art Deco architecture, the curved platform “canopies” and that it was never completed!
Thanks for the memories.Ashtead was where I spent my first 30 years.I passed by the branch hundreds of times but I am ashamed to say I never visited it.At least I know a little more now.
Ooh! I'd love to see you do videos about lines out of London like this! I have always lived on the Tattenham Corner line and am fascinated by it's history. Defo not as interesting as some other lines although I heard the Queen used to keep her Epsom race day train in the sheds at Purley and get out at Tattenham Corner.
A real case now of, “if they service it well, they will come” and with new housing developments - and Lidl’s new UK headquarters - along the line, especially at Tolworth, now should be the time. It’s not uncommon to see people from Tolworth travel to mainline Surbiton to get trains to Waterloo, ignoring their local station because there are only those two trains an hour compared to the far more frequent service from Surbiton. This means that at rush hour more traffic is pushed through Surbiton, compounding that station’s overcrowding problem, so money has to be spent there to relieve it. Maybe some lateral thinking with the Chessington Branch could see it being a viable alternative. Even putting on a four car shuttle service at rush hour to Motspur Park to join the route into Wimbledon could make a massive difference and could take unnecessary traffic away from both the roads and Surbiton station.
On Google maps the track disappears under some trees below Chessington South Station so it's impossible to see exactly where it ends but presumably there are buffers there.
Oh i had fond memories of visits to Chessington Zoo in the 1960's but always went by car(Austin A35) which my dad drove. Anyway back to the railway stuff have been to Kingston on Thames on the train and occasionally Sutton & Cheam areas in Surrey. Marc In The Bletchley Bungalow G6XEG
Thanks for another interesting video - you're gradually ticking off all the places I've ever lived or worked - I'd long wondered what the history was for this line because it looks so different. One of my strong memories is the huge service interval - no wonder not many people use that line when there's only two trains an hour. If there had been a better route to get to Chessington North I would have taken it.
It is strange! Overground to Watford - 4 per hour; Central Line to West Ruislip - at least 6 per hour; Chessington - 2 per hour. Is it because Waterloo is full up? - perhaps when (? if) Crossrail 2 gets built, Chessington will get a better service. If someone in the train-building industry could invent a better (quicker) way of joining /dividing trains, the quarter-hourly service to Motspur Park could divide there, and both branches (to Chessington and to Epsom) could benefit from that level of service, which would surely generate extra custom.
I would like to see this railway line extended to Chessington World of Adventures, with the station opening directly onto the theme park on one side and a bus station on the other side.
Growing up just to the west of this area and later living in Leatherhead I often wondered about this line. Never realised the intention was to continue to Leatherhead.
My dad commuted from Tolworth to Waterloo along it for must be 20 years. I always presumed the line was never finished because of different priorities after the war, didn't know about all the buying-up of land thing which meant only the London part was completed.
I grew up in a house that backed onto this line and know it well. I never quite appreciated the architecture, just seemed normal to me! It's such a shame that they're not looking quite as smart as they once were. It had never occurred to me that those towers were built but never equipped with lifts, now they make good structures for mobile phone aerials
On disused railways there is an aerial photo of the bridge that went over chalky lane onto another embankment, with the intention of taking the line through the trees, from some 80 years ago. The Bridge I believe, was removed in the 1960s but the embankments remain to this day. Much of the route also remains but the other end is now occupied by the M25.
Keep an eye on any railway main line and you'll see that goods are still a major part of the railway's income. Nowadays the goods are mainly containerised or transported in bulk trains. But you are correct in that most of it goes AROUND London, not into London, by train.
Another top video, the chezzy branch is another that I maintain as member of S&T, a couple of other notes are that the stone yard at Chessington south is so new that it’s yet to be brought into service where it’ll be a stone yard like the one at Tolworth. The stone yard at Tolworth still uses a mechanical ground frame for moving stone trains into and out of the yard there, the stone yard at Tolworth also used to be a coal yard until that traffic died out.
Excellent video ! I commuted for 18 years on the line . The line did extend further and was used by the Army in the war as a training event when they blew up a bridges down/or embankment.
Such a nice surprise to see you covering one of my childhood local lines. I grew up in between Worcester Park and Malden Manor stations, so commuting into London was always a choice between the 2. The Chessington branch, being quieter, offered a much better chance of getting a seat in morning rush hour!
Marine - Presumably from Bexhill On Sea De La Warr Pavillion, Brighton Aqaurium, The Midland Hotel in Morecambe, some of the coastal Lidos (and the bus garages of Bognor and Eastborne that Southdown had).
