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View of the White City platform site from the northern end of the northbound platform at Shepherd's Bush station (renamed Shepherd's Bush Market in 2008). (photo: Apr 2005) The old position of White City (H&C) was just beyond the signal [on the left] shown in your photo from Shepherd's Bush Met (Signal R111). This was previously a running signal while White City station existed. Both R111 and its associated running signal were decommissioned in 2008 with the signalling changes for Wood Lane. |
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Because it was only intended as a temporary station, it was built mainly from wood. The platforms straddled the viaduct and this location - the through arch seen here on MacFarlane Road - is between half and two-thirds of the way along the platform from the ticket office. The ticket office was located on the right, now hidden behind what was the BBC car park (as of Aug 2016, it is just labelled Television Centre). The houses that stood on the right were demolished to make way for the car park. Two of the houses (still extant) on MacFarlane Road on the left, out of picture, had their daylight obscured by the construction of the station and the owners were compensated by the Metropolitan Railway (as it was then). |
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The opposite side of the MacFarlane Road arch. The newer yellow bricks date from repairs carried out during World War II after the viaduct and the station above it were badly damaged by a bomb. (photo: Apr 2005) Two photos of the damage, courtesy of the London Transport Museum, are here: |
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(photo: Apr 2005) |
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South-western view of the station site from the top of the BBC car park. (photo: Feb 2013) |
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Looking directly down from the top of the BBC car park. (photo: Feb 2013) |
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The arch shown here provides vehicular and pedestrian from the old BBC car park to the main buildings. The booking office was located in the arch to the left. A contemporary photo taken from virtually the same position is here: The photo in the link above is very interesting: note the awnings on the far side of the arch, used to cover passengers from the ticket office to the stairs of the eastbound platform, which can be seen on the far left of the photo. The awnings have been retained: they are just visible in the recent photo above, painted blue. There was a short road that linked the booking office arch with Wood Lane (the road). It was located behind the photographer but the space is now taken up by the Television Centre car park. The reliable railway historian, Jim Connor, states that "...the booking office...was accommodated within an existing arch and was accessed from the west side of Wood Lane".(1) (photo: Feb 2013) Three photos showing the ticket office inside the arch, are here: |
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It has been suggested that this is the original ticket office but as noted above, the ticket office was located in an arch. The railway-type awnings, painted blue, are indeed that but provided covering for pedestrians between the booking office and the stairs on the right leading up to the platform. The darker bricks on the left hand side of the structure seen here are from the original station wall but they have been adapted and the remainder is a relatively new build. A closer inspection of the brick laying pattern would reveal that this is a cavity wall construction i.e. breeze blocks on the inside faced with bricks on the outside. It is unlikely that this building is more than a couple of decades old. (photo: Feb 2013)
Footnotes: (1) J.E.Connor - London's Disused Underground Stations. ISBN 0 947699 29 5 |
