Trains at Harrow & Wealdstone, WCML + Overground (11/10/2024)

VIDEO: An hour or so in the late afternoon at Harrow & Wealdstone station on the West Coast Main Line, featuring the usual glut of passenger and freight stock. Trains featured in this video include: Avanti West Coast class 390s London Northwestern Railway class 350s West Midlands Trains class 730s Southern class 377s London Overground class 710s. Freightliner class 66s and 90s. GB Railfreight class 66s. a DB Cargo UK / Maritime class 66. ---------------------- Harrow & Wealdstone station was opened on July 20, 1837 by the London and Birmingham Railway as, simply, "Harrow". When it first opened, the station was situated within rural Middlesex, roughly around a mile or so from the settlements of Harrow-on-the-Hill and Wealdstone. The station didn't get its current name until Wealdstone had expanded to be closer to the station, in 1897. In 1890, a short branch line that ran to Stanmore was opened, constructed by the London and Birmingham Railway's larger successor, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Initially, the branch simply ran to Stanmorew with no intermediate stations but, in 1932, a small halt at Belmont opened. The line closed to passengers in September 1952 and altogether in 1964. Harrow & Wealdstone is also the northernmost terminus of the Bakerloo Line which first came through the station in 1917, although it actually ran all the way out to Watford Junction until 1982 when it was cut back to Stonebridge Park. A full service wasn't reinstated until 1989, following five years of irregular operation, as it stands today. The line up to Watford Junction is currently part of the London Overground's Watford DC Line (renamed to the Lioness Line in November 2024). The station would also be the site of the worst post-war train crash in British history, and second-worst overall after the Quintinshill disaster of 1915. On October 8, 1952, a southbound express train ploughed into the rear of a local train stopped on one of the platforms, only for a northbound express train to collide with the wreckage just moments later. The crash killed 112 people and injured over 300. The cause was attributed to the driver of the southbound express passing through two danger signals although the reasons why remain unknown. In the aftermath, British Rail fast-tracked the introduction of the modern Automatic Warning System (AWS), which informs drivers if they are approaching a signal at caution (yellow) or danger (red) in enough time to slow down or stop. ---------------------- WANT TO SUPPORT THE CHANNEL? SUBSCRIBE: @DARam4009 BECOME A MEMBER:    / @daram4009   SUPPORT ME ON PATREON:   / scotrail380018   WANT TO SEE MORE CONTENT? FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM:   / daram.trains   FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER for updates on new videos:   / daram4009   © David Ramsay 2025. All rights reserved.