Derelict London - Photography, Social History and Guided Walking Tours
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  • Homepage
  • 20 Years of Derelict London
  • Author's Guided Tours of London
    • Minories to Poplar
    • Woolwich Alldayer
    • Roman Road
    • Whitechapel & Bethnal Green
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar
    • Lost Docks of Wapping
    • Isle of Dogs
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • London's Lost Rivers Tours
    • Shadwell & Stepney
    • Silvertown
    • Bow Creek: River Lea from Bromley by Bow to Leamouth via Canning Town
    • Croydon Canal
    • Dartford guided walk
    • Hammersmith
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • London's Lost Music Venues
    • Tower Hamlets Special
  • 2023 New Pics
  • 2023 New Pics (part 2)
  • 2022 New Pics
  • 2021 New Pics
  • Contact
  • Derelict London - The Book
  • Dereliction and Beyond...Then and Now Photos
    • Derelict London 2008 Book Then and Now Pics
    • Then and Now Pics South of the River
    • Then and Now Pics North of the River
  • London's Lost Rivers - The Book & Website
  • London Transport
    • Derelict London Tube Trains and Stations
    • Derelict London Railway Stations,Lines and Rolling Stock
    • Derelict London Trams
  • Factories and Warehouses
    • North of the Thames Factories and Warehouses
    • South of the Thames Factories and Warehouses
  • Derelict London Homes
    • Homes North of the Thames
    • Homes South of The Thames
    • Derelict homes now Demolished
  • Derelict London Cinemas
  • Derelict London Hospitals
    • Hospitals North of the River
    • Hospitals South of the River
    • Hospitals: Then & Now pics
  • Derelict London Pools and Baths
  • Music History
    • London's Lost Music venues 2
  • Various Derelict London Buildings
  • Derelict London Pubs
    • North London
    • Derelict East London Pubs >
      • East London Pubs from Dereliction to Demolition
      • East London Pubs - Dead Pubs to Conversion
      • East London Pubs Back from the Brink
    • Central London
    • West & South West London
    • South & South East London Pubs
  • Derelict London Cemetery & Churches
  • Derelict London Hotels and Restaurants
  • Graffiti & Streetart
  • Misc London Derelict pics
  • Derelict London Cafes
  • People
  • Porticos and Pillars
  • Shopping Trolleys
  • Derelict London Shops
  • Signs and Murals
  • Derelict London Sportsgrounds
  • Post Offices
  • Derelict London Toilets
  • Toys
  • Derelict London Telephone Boxes
  • War - Bunkers and Pillboxes
  • Waterways and Wharves
  • Wildlife
  • Vehicles
  • Long Lost Burial Grounds
  • London Riots 2011: The Aftermath
  • Derelict London Boats
  • London's Long Lost Sports Grounds
  • Derelict Kent
    • Derelict Kent DA postcodes
    • Derelict Kent ME postcodes
    • Derelict Kent TN postcodes
  • Derelict Essex
    • Derelict Essex RM postcodes
    • Derelict Essex SS Postcodes
    • Derelict Essex CO postcodes
  • Derelict London Public Buildings
  • Derelict London Offices
  • Derelict London Tee Shirts
  • Sponsors wanted!
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies Info
Derelict London - Photography, Social History and Guided Walking Tours
Picture
Derelict London - Trams

London Transport - Trams and Tramways

​​Join the mailing list (see bottom of page) to find out about Derelict London and London's Lost Rivers guided walks as soon as tickets are released plus news on my latest books and website updates. My latest book London's Lost Music Venues is out now and more information can be found at www.londonslostmusicvenues.com.

​​Holborn, WC2 - Kingsway Tramway Tunnel

Picture
​Holborn, WC2 - Kingsway Tramway Tunnel
​Opened in 1906, this tram underpass originally connected a subterranean station at Holborn, and ran the length of Kingsway via a station at Aldwych before rising to the surface under Waterloo Bridge.

The original tunnel was built to carry the single deck cars then in use, but in 1930 the tunnel was closed for a period to allow alterations to be made to enable double-deck cars to be used. A new entrance was built at the northern end (pictured here) while south of High Holborn, the level of the track was lowered to give the necessary clearance. Both stations were rebuilt at the same time and finished in marble and stone with electric lighting.

The trams picked up their electricity supply through a conduit laid between the running rails. Trams were abandoned in Central London in 1952, after which street tracks were lifted, but those in the subway mostly remain in place. The subway remained unused though in 1953, London Transport used the subway to store 120 withdrawn buses and coaches in case they were needed for the Coronation. The southern section was rebuilt in the 1960s as an underpass for cars between Waterloo Bridge and the Aldwych. During the conversion Aldwych station was destroyed but Holborn tram station remains intact in an unused portion of the tunnel. Various films have been shot in the tunnel including 1998's The Avengers starring Uma Thurman & Sean Connery. 

Pete Williams writes to Derelict London: 
"I remember two things, regarding travelling through the Kingsway Subway, as a toddler on the top deck of a E1 tram going around the sharp, left-hand bend as the tram left the Aldwych one - way to turn into Kingsway- it seemed that the car was going to bury itself into the tunnel wall before turning sharply. The second was at the Holborn entrance- the fear that if the tram was held at a red traffic light, before turning right, that the brakes would fail and the tramcar would roll back into the tunnel."
​

Crossrail contractors made use of the tunnel to build an 8m-deep, 5m-wide, grout shaft below the floor of the tunnel. The grout shaft allowed engineers to pump grout deep into the ground to firm it and protect nearby buildings from any potential ground movement caused by Crossrail tunnel boring machines. This work has been completed, and the tunnel remains vacant again.
These interior pics of the tunnel were taken with a very basic camera in 2003 hence the poor quality. 
Tram conduit on cobbled road down to the defunct Kingsway Tram Tunnel
Inside abandoned London Transport tram tunnel in Holborn
Tram rails in dark tunnel of disused London tunnel
Kingsway Tram Station with marking left by London Transport roundel
London Transport roundel evidence on wall of disused Kingsway tram tunnel in Holborn
Steps leading to Kingsway street level from derelict tram station
Abandoned steps from Kingsway Tram Tunnel to street level
Belsize Road signage discarded in disused London tram tunnel

​​West Ham Tram Depot - Plaistow, E13

Derelict offices of the ​West Ham Tram Depot in Plaistow, London E13
​West Ham Tram Depot offices - Plaistow, E13 (2017)
​​Between 1903 and 1905, West Ham Corporation had taken over all the North Metropolitan Tramways company lines within the borough. West Ham Depot was built in 1906 as the headquarters of the West Ham tramway service with a large overhead electric car shed. The opening ceremony was carried out by Alderman A Bothwell, the mayor of West Ham.

By the time that they became the responsibility of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, West Ham Corporation operated 134 tram cars on over 16 miles of tracks. With the demise of the tram, West Ham Depot became a trolleybus depot, operating from 1937 until 1960, and then it housed buses until around 1992 when the garage closed. It has since been demolished and replaced by housing. The office building was renamed Stephen Lawrence House and housed charity offices though that fell into dereliction and  since these photographs were taken in 2017 it has been converted into flats.
Derelict London Passenger Transport Board tram depot offices in Plaistow
Boarded up offices of West Ham Tram Depot and tablet commemorating ceremony carried out by Alderman A Bothwell, the mayor of West Ham
Neglected building of West Ham Corporation tram depot in Greengate Street, Plaistow
Boarded up entrance to Stephen Lawrence House, 90 Greengate Street, Plaistow

​​Join the mailing list (see bottom of page) to find out about Derelict London and London's Lost Rivers guided walks as soon as tickets are released plus news on my latest books and website updates. My latest book London's Lost Music Venues is out now and more information can be found at www.londonslostmusicvenues.com.

​Silvertown, E16 - Silvertown Tramway

Abandoned wooden level crossing gates of the Silvertown Tramway on the road linking Factory Road with North Woolwich Road in Newham
​Silvertown, E16 - Silvertown Tramway Level Crossing Facing East (2006)
This section of track formed the Eastern Counties Railway extension to N Woolwich but after the building of Victoria Dock in 1850-55 the problems posed by the railway crossing the dock entrance via a swing bridge prompted the building of a diversion line to the North of the dock. This original line was then used as a goods line from 1855 to around 1987 serving many of the local factories and known as the Silvertown Tramway.

​The abandoned wooden level crossing gates on the road linking Factory Road with North Woolwich Road remained until 2007 and the rails in the road were removed by 2012. Small sections of track are still visible in front of the former entrance to Tay Wharf and in West Silvertown parallel with the flyover. A level crossing warning sign remains outside St Marks Church (aka Brick Lane Music Hall).
Derelict overgrown wooden level crossing gates at the disused Silvertown Tramway
​Silvertown, E16 - Silvertown Tramway Level Crossing Facing West (2006)

North Greenwich, SE10 - Tramway Telephone Cabinet

Disused tramway telephone cabinet of  London Passenger Transport Board on Blackwall Southern Approach in North Greenwich
North Greenwich, SE10 - Tramway Telephone Cabinet (2003)
​This traction telephone box has the initials L.P.T.B which stood for London Passenger Transport Board which was formed in 1933 to operate all public transport in Greater London. Tramway traction telephones were provided in these cast iron feeder pillars. The pillars had a small telephone cabinet on top, with louvred sides for better hearing of the telephone's ringer.

 I stumbled upon this rare piece of street furniture in 2003 on the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach. I haven't seen it since and presume that it is long gone.

Links to other pages on this website:

​Derelict London Transport - Tube Trains and Stations

Derelict London Transport - Railway Stations, Lines and Rolling Stock


Paul Talling's Derelict London - all photographs are copyright © 2003-2023
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