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Dudding Hill line
The Dudding Hill Line (or Dudding Hill Loop) is a railway line in west and north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. It is roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long, with a 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) speed limit, and semaphore signalling. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, and is not electrified. It is lightly used by freight trains and, very occasionally, passenger charter trains.
The southernmost point of the Dudding Hill line is in Acton, where it branches north from the North London Line between Acton Central and Willesden Junction stations, immediately to the west of the site of the proposed Old Oak Common High Speed 2 station. From there it heads north then east, passing through Gladstone Park and terminating at a triangular junction with the Midland Main Line between Cricklewood and Hendon.
There are intermediate junctions with the West Coast Main Line from the south at Harlesden and the Chiltern Main Line from the south at Neasden.
The line was opened through open countryside on 1 October 1868 (goods) and 3 August 1875 (passengers) as the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR), as part of the Midland Railway's extension to London. It connected the Midland Main Line, and what would become its large Cricklewood goods yard, to the North and South Western Junction Railway, now part of the North London Line, at Acton Wells (an area now called North Acton). It had stations at Dudding Hill and Harlesden (the latter also called Harrow Road and Stonebridge Park).
The M&SWJR was authorised on 14 July 1864 by the Midland and South Western Junction Railway Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. cxc) and absorbed by the Midland Railway on 30 July 1874. Confusingly, the similar name Midland and South Western Junction Railway was later used for a completely different railway in Gloucestershire, which was eventually taken over by the Great Western Railway.
From 1878 to 1880 it formed the basis of the Midland Railway's Super Outer Circle, which ran from St Pancras to Earl's Court via Cricklewood, Acton and the District line. Various other, shorter routes were then used, but passenger demand was low, and it was closed to regular passenger traffic in 1902.
During World War II, air-raid shelters were constructed within the embankment.
Although railway usage is almost always "Dudding Hill Railway", the geographical area is usually called "Dudden Hill", and there is a London Borough of Brent electoral ward of that name. Dudden Hill is named after a Saxon settler called Dodda. The earliest known record, as Dodynghill, dates from 1544. "Dudding Hill" has been regarded historically as the more genteel spelling of the name.
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Dudding Hill line
The Dudding Hill Line (or Dudding Hill Loop) is a railway line in west and north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. It is roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long, with a 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) speed limit, and semaphore signalling. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, and is not electrified. It is lightly used by freight trains and, very occasionally, passenger charter trains.
The southernmost point of the Dudding Hill line is in Acton, where it branches north from the North London Line between Acton Central and Willesden Junction stations, immediately to the west of the site of the proposed Old Oak Common High Speed 2 station. From there it heads north then east, passing through Gladstone Park and terminating at a triangular junction with the Midland Main Line between Cricklewood and Hendon.
There are intermediate junctions with the West Coast Main Line from the south at Harlesden and the Chiltern Main Line from the south at Neasden.
The line was opened through open countryside on 1 October 1868 (goods) and 3 August 1875 (passengers) as the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR), as part of the Midland Railway's extension to London. It connected the Midland Main Line, and what would become its large Cricklewood goods yard, to the North and South Western Junction Railway, now part of the North London Line, at Acton Wells (an area now called North Acton). It had stations at Dudding Hill and Harlesden (the latter also called Harrow Road and Stonebridge Park).
The M&SWJR was authorised on 14 July 1864 by the Midland and South Western Junction Railway Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. cxc) and absorbed by the Midland Railway on 30 July 1874. Confusingly, the similar name Midland and South Western Junction Railway was later used for a completely different railway in Gloucestershire, which was eventually taken over by the Great Western Railway.
From 1878 to 1880 it formed the basis of the Midland Railway's Super Outer Circle, which ran from St Pancras to Earl's Court via Cricklewood, Acton and the District line. Various other, shorter routes were then used, but passenger demand was low, and it was closed to regular passenger traffic in 1902.
During World War II, air-raid shelters were constructed within the embankment.
Although railway usage is almost always "Dudding Hill Railway", the geographical area is usually called "Dudden Hill", and there is a London Borough of Brent electoral ward of that name. Dudden Hill is named after a Saxon settler called Dodda. The earliest known record, as Dodynghill, dates from 1544. "Dudding Hill" has been regarded historically as the more genteel spelling of the name.