Waterloo and Whitehall Railway
Encyclopedia
The Waterloo and Whitehall Railway was a proposed and partly constructed 19th century Rammell
pneumatic railway in central London intended to run under the River Thames from Waterloo station
to the Whitehall
end of Great Scotland Yard. The later Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
followed a similar alignment for part of its route.
) in a 12 feet (3.7 m) diameter tube, with the engine at the Waterloo end sucking and then blowing 25 seat carriages acting as pistons. Edmund Wragge
was resident engineer.
collapse. On 2 September 1870 the Board of Trade
used the Abandonment of Railways Act 1850 and the Railway Companies Act 1867 to declare the railway should be abandoned by the company.
.
. Some works appeared during construction of the Shell Centre
on the South Bank.
Thomas Webster Rammell
Thomas Webster Rammell was born in Dent de Lyon on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, United Kingdom. He became an engineer, working for the Metropolitan Board of Health...
pneumatic railway in central London intended to run under the River Thames from Waterloo station
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
to the Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
end of Great Scotland Yard. The later Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London...
followed a similar alignment for part of its route.
Technical information
The pneumatic pressure was to have been 22lb/sqft (1053.4 PaPascal (unit)
The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of force per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre...
) in a 12 feet (3.7 m) diameter tube, with the engine at the Waterloo end sucking and then blowing 25 seat carriages acting as pistons. Edmund Wragge
Edmund Wragge
Edmund Wragge CE was a British-born and trained engineer who constructed the first common-carrier narrow gauge railways in North America...
was resident engineer.
Origins
Authorised by the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway Act 1865, its route was:A Railway commencing in the Parish of St Martin's-in-the-Fields in the County of Middlesex in the Street or Place known as Great Scotland Yard at or near the Western End thereof, and terminating in the Parish of Lambeth and County of Surrey in a Piece of Land belonging to the London and South-western Railway Company, and in the Occupation of Edwin Benjamin Gammon, near to and opposite the Arches under the Waterloo Station of that Railway numbered respectively 249 and 250.The period was extended by the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway (Amendment) Act 1867 and Waterloo and Whitehall Railway Act 1868.
Decline and cancellation
The line was hit by the 1866 financial crisis caused by the Overend, Gurney and CompanyOverend, Gurney and Company
Overend, Gurney & Company was a London wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about 11 million pounds, equivalent to £981 million at 2008 prices.-Early years:...
collapse. On 2 September 1870 the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
used the Abandonment of Railways Act 1850 and the Railway Companies Act 1867 to declare the railway should be abandoned by the company.
Further developments
A further railway, the Charing Cross and Waterloo Electric Railway was incorporated by an Act of 1882 but was abandoned by an Act of 16 July 1885. A third company, The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, secured an Act in 1893. This project was also put on hold, but eventually became the Bakerloo lineBakerloo Line
The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
.
Remains
Parts of the works remained and at some stages there were tubes at the bottom of the Thames and piles protruding from the river. The trench excavated at the northern end is said now to be the wine cellar of the National Liberal ClubNational Liberal Club
The National Liberal Club, known to its members as the NLC, is a London gentlemen's club, now also open to women, which was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 for the purpose of providing club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly-enlarged electorate after the Third...
. Some works appeared during construction of the Shell Centre
Shell Centre
Shell Centre, in London, United Kingdom is one of the two "central offices" of oil major Shell .Shell Centre is located on the Belvedere Road in the London Borough of Lambeth...
on the South Bank.