The disused London Road Station in St Albans

6th December 2008

Soon after starting work in St Albans I had been told about this forgotten railway station along the London Road. I'd found it hard to believe that a station site in the middle of the town could have survived intact for so long after closure and added to the story was that WW2 tanks were stored there. I was intrigued enough to wander down one lunch time and when I walked down the overgrown approach road it was a surprise to find it was all true. Some 10 years later the site has been cleared and developed but the main station building has been restored as an office. It can be located on google earth at 57'44'42.29"N/ 0'19'40.05W where you can still make out the platform alignment. The line use to connect Hatfield to St Albans Abbey where the train would reverse and continue to Watford. (This last section is still open) I have no idea who owned the tanks or where they went. But in a city where land development has been rife for years it was certainly an odd place to find.

How the station appeared soon after closure. Looking south west towards St Albans Abbey Station 1076x640 Londonroad.jpg	4064x2742 LR1.jpg	2742x4064 LR10.jpg	Standing on the platform looking in the direction of the Abbey station. Would be easy to step off the platform at this point as it was so overgrown. 4053x2742 LR11.jpg
2742x4053 LR12.jpg	2742x4053 LR13.jpg	2752x4053 LR15.jpg	A stack of old engine blocks wait vainly for the next train 2752x4043 LR16.jpg
Not the sort of thing you would expect to find in the middle of St Albans in the late 1990's 4053x2752 LR17.jpg	The remains of the goods shed 4043x2752 LR18.jpg	Its difficult to imagine there was much goods traffic from such a city location 4064x2752 LR19.jpg	4086x2742 LR2.jpg
The former goods yard office. 4064x2742 LR20.jpg	4021x2742 LR21.jpg	The goods yard crane pivot 4000x2742 LR22.jpg	4053x2731 LR23.jpg
4096x2731 LR24.jpg	A very grand station facade that probably never had much business. 4043x2742 LR25.jpg	4086x2731 LR3.jpg	An old wagon body being used as a store. 4096x2731 LR4.jpg
I'm standing on the loop platform looking across at the main station building.. not that it can been seen clearly 2763x4096 LR5.jpg	More like a scene from a horror film than where trains once ran 2752x4107 LR6.jpg	Looking under the A1081 on the trackbed towards Hatfield 2752x4086 LR7.jpg	The station canopy 4086x2742 LR8.jpg