IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Nether Street, LONDON, N3 1RH

Top of a redundant railway yard light just outside Finchley Central Station, next to the Mill Hill East branch. The concrete post has decayed exposing the tube that carried the power cable. One of Ken Livingstone's 'Rats with wings' prepares for another days work in the waste food disposal industry.

The railway was originally built by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway, but was taken over by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) before it was opened in 1867. This section was on the line between the original Finchley and Hendon station, now the Finchley Central tube station, and Edgware. A branch line from Finchley and Hendon station to High Barnet was opened by the GNR in 1872. Today the main GNR line here forms the stub end of the Northern Line's branch to Mill Hill East, while the former branch line to High Barnet is now the main route of the Northern Line. In the distance in this photo a High Barnet bound train has just left Finchley Central station and is taking the sharp bend to the north towards High Barnet. This is the view from the footbridge joining Dollis Park and Nether Street. Of the three tracks in view here the central one is a headshunt siding that ends at a set of buffers just beyond the bridge behind the photographer, while the two outer tracks join beyond the end of the siding to create the single track line to Mill Hill East. Please see Image in Image for the view from the footbridge in the opposite direction.

The railway was originally built by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway, but was taken over by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) before it was opened in 1867. This section was on the line between the original Finchley and Hendon station, now the Finchley Central tube station, and Edgware. A branch line from Finchley and Hendon station to High Barnet was opened by the GNR in 1872. Today the main GNR line here forms the stub end of the Northern Line's branch to Mill Hill East, while the former branch line to High Barnet is now the main route of the Northern Line. This is the view from the footbridge joining Dollis Park and Nether Street. Of the three tracks in view here the central one is a headshunt siding that ends at a set of buffers, while the two outer tracks join beyond the end of the siding to create the single track line to Mill Hill East. Please see Image in Image for the view from the footbridge in the opposite direction.

From Christmas day through to December 30th the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line was closed for upgrade work. As a result a system of rail replacement bus routes was instigated. Here we see Metroline DE995, an ADL Enviro 200, crossing over the closed Barnet Branch tracks on Nether Street. Normally operating services in the Brentford area, it is operating route C which replaced the rail service between Finchley Central and Mill Hill East. Two other routes were operating; Route A was operated by Sullivan Buses and connected High Barnet with Golders Green whilst Route B was operated by Metroline and connected with all the stations on the Barnet Branch from High Barnet to Camden Town with the exception of West Finchley where low trees prevent double deck operations.

Mill Hill East bound Northern Line train leaves Finchley Central. The station is just visible through the arches of the bridge, which carries Regents Park Road over the railway. Southbound trains from Mill Hill use the line on the left. The centre line is used to turn trains that terminate at Finchley Central.

It seems that the local authority have recently undertaken a regular severe pollarding of the roadside London Plane trees in this area of Finchley, and Dollis Park is no exception. Only open fields were shown in this area on the 1896 Ordnance Survey map, but by the time that the 1913 edition was printed, the current road and house layout was almost completely in place.

A Northern Line Mill Hill East to Morden via Charing Cross train approaches Finchley Central with car 51665 leading. The train is crossing Crescent Road, one of three bridges in the photo. Further back is Dollis Brook Viaduct and beyond that is the bridge over Frith Lane, just before the line turns left on the approach to its terminus at Mill Hill East. The undulating nature of the track is evident in this telephoto shot - in fact it almost seems like the line sags between the bridges!

This bridge is between Finchley Central and Mill Hill East on the High Barnet Branch of the Northern Line where Crescent Rd passes under the line.

A southbound Northern Line train rounds the tight bend on the High Barnet branch at Finchley Central. The pronounced cant applied to the track is evident from the photo as well as the check rail alongside the inner running rail. The train is routing to Morden via Bank.