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Amersham
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The line to Chesham was for a while the terminus of the
Metropolitan Railway. When the Met pushed out from Harrow and
Rickmansworth in the 1880s, Chesham was the destination. There were
proposals to link on from Chesham to the main London Euston to Birmingham
line around the Tring area. Indeed, some land north of Chesham station was
acquired for this purpose. I wonder if Watkin the then Chairman of the Met
had a wry smile to himself when the people of Chesham actually raised
funds to locate the station in a more central location as opposed to the
proposed station in the Waterside area. If Watkin already had plans to
extend beyond Chesham, he must have been delighted to receive the funds
from Chesham to extend the railway to central Chesham.
The
line from Chalfont Road (now Chalfont & Latimer) was single track,
it being double up to Chalfont. When the main line was diverted through
Amersham to Aylesbury, the line to Chesham became a branch line, with a
shuttle service from Chalfont & Latimer to Chesham, with a few
through trains to and from London each day. In December 2010, the
Chesham Shuttle service officially ended, with through trains to London
running all day.
When I was young, I remember the service was referred to by some as the
"Chesham Flyer" although the name "Chesham Shuttle" was more widely used.
David Pickering has informed me "the name Chesham Flyer came about
after a train accident at Chalfont and Latimer in 1961 when a train ran
into the buffers. My father was the driver of that train, Jim Pickering,
and as of that accident he was known by his fellow drivers as the
Chesham Flyer"
The above picture shows loco of 41284 on the Chesham branch approaching
Chalfont & Latimer on 11 September 1960. Note the track is already
electrified and steam services would soon end. The coaches are the famous
"Ashbury" stock, some of which are now preserved on the Bluebell Railway.
See the link here
for details of their preservation. These coaches had a long life,
first built in 1898 with others in 1900, they were converted several times
and ended up being fitted as auto train coaches, this meant the engine
driver could drive the steam train from the front of the coach, while the
fireman remained on the locomotive. This saved having to run the engine
round the train at each end of the line.
When electrification came to the Chesham branch some through services to
the City were hauled by the Met's electric locomotives, thus avoiding the
need for the change of steam to electric locomotives at Rickmansworth.
Taken in September 1960, a Chesham / Chalfont service approaches the
bridge at Bell Lane
When
the line was electrified in 1961, the then new A60 stock formed
the rolling stock for the line (although other electric stock made an
appearance in the early days of the electric service). A four car unit
was used to form the shuttle to and from Chalfont. A new bay platform
was built at Chesham to allow the shuttle train to be at Chesham when a
through 8 car service was operating in the rush hour. This bay platform
has been removed which meant if the through trains were late, the
shuttle had to wait at Chalfont for the line to clear.
Picture courtesy of Frank Phillipson
An A60 stock train waiting at Chalfont to form the Chesham shuttle
service in December 1975.
Chesham has always enjoyed through trains to and from the City in the peak
hours (often in the past to and from Liverpool Street) and Saturday lunch
time (workers used to work Saturday mornings). The Saturday through
service was removed many years ago, but two peak hours services remained.
There were often proposals to cut these services as they can cause delays
in the timetable for the rest of the line, but pressure from the Chesham
commuters and other interested bodies maintained the service.
Picture courtesy of Simon Smiler - citytransport.info
An A60 stock train waiting at Chesham.
With
the introduction of the new S stock onto the Metropolitan line
from 2010, the shuttle service could not be maintained. Owing to
the short bay platform at Chalfont & Latimer, the shuttle service
had been provided by a 4 car train. The new S stock trains are all 8
cars long (for the Metropolitan line, there are 7 and 6 car trains
for the District, Hammersmith & Cityt and Circle lines) and
are thus too long for the bay platform. Rather than extend the
bay platform and relocate the points to the branch line at Chalfont,
the decision was taken to end the shuttle so that all trains to Chesham
are 8 car through trains. The last official shuttle ran on 11
December 2010. A public consultation on the shuttle had been held
and the public had voted for a through service. When the shuttle had
run it often ran without
problems being not dependent on the service on the rest of the line..
Almost
immediately after the shuttle service ended, it was temporarily re
introduced owing to very heavy snow. This flexibility will be
lost when there are no more short A60 trains.
Chalfont &
Latimer thus is no longer a "Junction for Chesham" and will become even
quieter. Much changed from when it was a junction with its goods
yard.
Picture courtesy of Agnes Barstow
The
above picture is of George Ratcliffe station master
at Chalfont & Latimer before World War II. He then moved
on to Great Missenden as Station Master. George Ratcliffe was the grand
father of Agnes Barstow and her father also worked on the Met as a
signalman at Amersham - see the picture of Hector Ratcliffe at www.metroland.org.uk/amersham/metro/memories.htm
The last day of the shuttle was marked by a small "celebration"
Picture courtesy of Ben Elias
Picture courtesy of John madden / Agnes Barstow
The
shuttle on its last on the last day at Chesham. The rather grubby
A60 train attracted quite a bit of attention. Apparently, problems with
the washing plant caused its less than perfect condition.
On the last day of operation, the Chesham Shuttle waits at Chalfont on 11
December 2010, complete with commemorative head board.
Picture courtesy of Ben Elias
The last normally timetabled Chesham Shuttle on 11 December 2010
If anyone has any more photos or details past or present, please email
the web master
Any additions, corrections, alterations, please email
the web master
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