View through the viaduct over the Dollis Brook

Image: © Marathon Taken: 31 Aug 2016

This is the Northern line between Finchley Central and Mill Hill East. The viaduct is to carry the line over the Dollis Brook which is to the left of the road here and Dollis Road. It dates from 1867 and has 13 arches. It has another claim to fame on the Underground network - at 59 feet above the road this is the highest that a line runs above the ground. This does not include the Elizabeth Line or the Overground. The line between what is now Finsbury Park and Edgware was opened by the Great Northern Railway on the 22nd August 1867. In the London Passenger Transport Board's 'New Works Plan' of 1935 it was proposed that the line be taken over by the Northern line and be diverted into the new Underground station at Edgware which had opened in 1924. The service on the line from East Finchley to Edgware was suspended from 11th September 1939 to allow the work to be completed and the New Works Plan was expected to be completed by spring 1941. In the event the Northern line branch never got past Mill Hill East and so 11th September 1939 was the last day the line was used by passenger trains. Northern line trains first served Mill Hill East on 18th May 1941. The line beyond Mill Hill East was closed completely on 1st June 1964. For a history of Mill Hill east station see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Hill_East_tube_station and for the line beyond Mill Hill East see http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Northern_Heights_9.html This is the viaduct seen at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5099743 and this view looks across Dollis Road and Dollis Brook. A similar but better-known view of another viaduct can be seen at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2431431

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