[Source:
Nick Catford]
Uxbridge Vine Street Station Gallery 5: old10.jpg) Last train leaving Uxbridge
Vine Street on 8 September 1962 with the 22.52 to West DraytonPhoto by Chris Totty street_old46.jpg) With St Margaret's Church, Windsor Road, visible in the background, this was Vine Street station in British Railways days and possibly during the freight-only period. On the right are a number of containers on Conflat wagons; these containers offered what was known as the 'Door-to-Door' service and were a common sight at Vine Street. The journey was usually largely by rail with road lorries collecting and delivering at the beginning and end of the journeys. The idea was moderately successful but never realised its full potential other than among larger industries who despatched goods by the trainload. A van stands at the platform, probably for parcels and newspaper traffic while another van and some open wagons stand in the goods yard to the left. The goods shed is visible albeit largely hidden by the running-in board which is well secured to its backboard. Note the stanchions designed for height adjustment if necessary. Looking further along the platform, the alterations undertaken following removal of the trainshed in 1933 are clear to see. The station was well endowed with totems, angled upwards to catch the light from the lamps above them although the lamp standard nearest the camera has lost its lamp. Following complete closure, the station retained its totems for quite some time for, in those days, BR totems were neither as valuable or as soughtafter as they are today and were viewed by BR as nothing more than scrap. The fencing on the left is misleading as it gives the impression it is mounted on the edge of the platform, in fact it is the other side of the track serving the Downside of the platform. Photo from John Mann collection  An unidentified ex-GWR 'Small Prairie' 2-6-2T shunts vans, including a British Railways Mark 1 full brake (BG), sometime shortly before complete closure of Vine Street station in 1964. On the left, some of the tracks serving the goods yard have already been lifted and the sleepers dumped awaiting collection. The name 'Prairie' suggests the USA and that is exactly right. It comes from the 'Whyte Notation' system of naming locomotive, mainly but not exclusively steam, wheel arrangements devised by Frederick Whyte while he was an employee of the New York Central Railroad in the early years of the 20th century. Perhaps the best known Whyte embellishment is 'Pacific' for a 4-6-2 locomotive. The Great Western had Small and Large Prairie tanks, the Small version coming under several classes according to variations in design and that depicted here appears to be a member of the 4575 Class which also embraced what is sometimes referred to as the 5500 Class. The Small Prairie, in any variation, had a somewhat dumpy appearance and somehow never looked quite at ease unlike the Large Prairie. The locomotive is carrying a Class C (or Class 3) headcode; parcels, fish, fruit, livestock, milk and other perishables with train formed entirely of vehicles conforming to coaching stock requirements. 'Coaching stock requirements' meant, basically, fitted with the continuous automatic brake. The headcode displayed in this view thus conforms with the stock being shunted. Both Vine Street and High Street stations finally closed in 1964 and with their demise ended parcels, perishables etc traffic by rail to Uxbridge. The road van in the left background catches the eye but is too far away for positive identication. Nevertheless it has the look of an ex-military ambulance about it, perhaps dating from WWII and of US Army origin.
Photo from John Mann collection street_old37.jpg) Uxbridge Vine Street signal box photographed on 18 October 1962, shortly after the passenger service was withdrawn but when goods and parcels trains were still operating. Some wag has painted 'For Sale 2/6' on the front of the box. Situated on the Down side of the line 2 miles 21 chains from West Drayton, the box dated from 1920 and was to a GWR design common across that company's system with most being of brick, as here, but with a few constructed of wood. The box, which contained a 26-lever frame, was a replacement for an earlier box which had stood on the Up side of the line more or less opposite the site of the 1920 box and had, a 14-lever frame probably supplied by Saxby & Farmer. The 1920 box is on record as being open Monday - Saturday 5.15am - 11.30pm and Sundays 7.0am - 11.20pm during GWR days at least. Aside from this information, signalling at Vine Street remains something of a mystery. When the Vine Street branch opened, signalling, if any other than at West Drayton, would have been of the disc and crossbar type operated locally by what were then termed 'Policemen'. Originally Broad Gauge single track, the Vine Street branch was converted to Standard Gauge in 1871 and then double-tracked in 1881. Whether the gauge conversion was direct or involved a period of mixed gauge track is not known but given the short length of the branch it was probably a direct conversion. A Board of Trade inspector's report (forerunner of HM Railway Inspectorate) from 1881 has survived and relates to the passing of the then new double track as fit for service. In the report mention is made of the signal box having a 14-lever frame and apart from its location being shown on pre-1920 maps this is the only confirmed information concerning the original box which had come to light at the time of writing. What remains a mystery is if the original box predated 1881 or was installed with the double-tracking of the line. The GWR did not begin to install signalling as we know it today, albeit mechanical of course, in the London area until 1874 apparently so it is probably safe to assume Vine Street's original box did not appear until 1881. Yet another mystery is why, in 1920, a new and resited box with 26 levers was deemed necessary. The answer may lie in an expansion of siding facilities, if indeed there were any, and possibly the situation at Cowley which latter station had opened in 1904. Cowley is known to have had basic semaphore signalling at some point in time but no signal box is known to have ever existed. More likely to have been operated via a lengthy wire run from West Drayton West, it is also possible it was operated by an equally lengthy wire run from Uxbridge. Either way, the answer as to why Vine Street box was resited and enlarged remains a mystery. One further mystery concerns the renaming of the box from 'Uxbridge' to 'Uxbridge Vine Street Signal Box'. Logic says the renaming was done to avoid any possible confusion with the box at Uxbridge High Street, also a GWR station and which opened in 1907. The service to High Street was suspended in 1917, to resume again in 1920 - coincidentally the same year the new and larger box at Vine Street came into use. Renaming aside, it is possible the 1920 signal box came into being as a result of a decision to retain and expand facilities at Vine Street in the light of the proposed link to the High Street branch, which would have seen Vine Street station closed, were abandoned beyond some work being undertaken at either end of which some earthworks were still visible close to Whitehall School in 2018.
Photo from Jim Lake collection 19.jpg)
20.jpg)
Uxbridge Vine Street station looking south on 23 March 1965 during track lifting.
Photo by Chris Totty street36.jpg) Uxbridge Vine Street station frontage on 28 March 1965. Although the station has been closewd for2½ years there is little to indicated to the casual passer that the station is not open for business. The building is tatty but it looked in a similar state when it was still open. Photo
by John Cosford from his Flickr photostream
street37.jpg)
Vine Street station concourse on 28 March 1965. The building appears derelict when this photo was taken but it would later be used for a short while by a local retailer for storage.
Photo by John Cosford from his Flickr photostream street38.jpg)
The island platform and station buildings at Uxbridge Vine Street on 28 March 1965, a few days after the track was lifted.
Photo by John Cosford from his Flickr photostream street39.jpg) Uxbridge Vine Street goods shed in March 1965, thirteen months after withdrawal of goods traffic and this total closure of the railway. The lean-to appendage was the goods office but the shed itself has undergone significant changes, a comparison best being made with the aerial photographs from 1933. Whitehall Road is on the left, running in front of what was then the Territorial Army building, while Vine Street runs left to right in the background. Present are a number of period motor cars. On the right is an Austin Westminster (which belongs to Ron Fisher) and the lack of chrome around the radiator grille aperture (the grille itself is missing) suggest it is the A90 variant. On the left, between two further BMC vehicles stands a Vauxhall Cresta PB estate while in the left foreground stands a topless fifty gallon oil drum used, no doubt, for burning rubbish. The shed would be demolished a few months later.
Photo by John Cosford from his Flickr photostream 11.jpg)
Uxbridge Vine Street station looking north in April 1965 a few weeks after the track was lifted. Within days the sleepers would be lifted and in July the canopy would be demolished. A goods dock can just be made out on the far right, this was built on the site of the engine shed which closed in 1897.
Photo by Ron Fisher from his Flickr photostream 12.jpg) Uxbridge Vine Street station looking north along the island platform in early April 1965, as week or so after the track had been lifted. The short side platform on the right was cut back to the short stub seen here when the trainshed was removed in 1932/3. It was never used by passenger trains.Photo by Ron Fisher from his Flickr photostream Click here for Uxbridge Vine Street Station Gallery 6:
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