Welwyn Junction - A Blast from the Past
The early days of the railways in
Britain were a random collection of
tracks that latticed the countryside.
One of the first major lines was the
famous LNER (London and North
Eastern Railway) line that went from
London, Kings Cross to Edinburgh.
Although there was another line (the
LMS), they could not really compete.
In fact it was the incessant attempts
to compete that was the primary cause
of a major accident after which all
train racing was stopped by law.
One of the stations on the LNER
main line was Welwyn Junction, this
was sited north of the present
Welwyn Garden City station about 25
miles from Kings Cross.
An alternate name for Welwyn Junction could easily have been Welwyn South, because it was this station
that gave Welwyn North Station its name, that and the fact that the area was known as North Welwyn, but I
digress.
The station was built in 1858 to service the great Welwyn/Digswell Viaduct that spans the Mimram Valley.
At the time it was built in the 1860’s there was a small village called Digswell just beyond the station, a
village that disappeared in 1926 when Welwyn Garden City was built.
The station at Welwyn Junction spanned the main line, with a platform on both sides, the west platform,
shown in the picture, served the line between Hatfield and Luton while the east platform served the Hertford
Line.
Passengers would Travelling either way between Hertford and Luton (or Ayot Green, Welwyn’s other
station), would disembark at the Junction and walk across the main line to reach the appropriate platform, to
board the earlier train to continue their journey.
This may seem a strange statement, but consider, The 4pm train from Luton to Hertford would arrive at the
west junction at 4.30pm, trav