Innings, Outings And Stackings (3)

Festive Revelation At Falcon Road

A street walk from one side of Clapham Junction station to the other would take you via Falcon Road. In general terms it was not a very attractive environment for a stroll! 

Until now, that is.

Ever changing coloured lighting has been installed plus stove enamelled decorative panels on the walls. The pictures were taken when the road was closed to traffic for the official launch.

The bridge is now named officially ...

... and is a vast improvement on the previous gloom!

The wall panels were made by Isle of Wight firm, A J Wells, also renowned for London Underground signage. Peter Wells was a regular preacher at the fbbs' IoW church and Peter's boy, Alex, is a good friend of the fbbs No 1 son. All Peter's progeny have, at various times, been regular attendees at the fbbs' Bible groups. A J Wells has always been run on Christian principles.

They do excellent stove enamelling and also make excellent stoves!

Back To The 344

This route is relatively new in the lengthy near-century of London Transport history. 

The story begins with route 44. which, in 1950 replaced Trolleybus 612 ...

... seen here at its Battersea terminus.

It's ancestor, Tram 12 which only ran to Wandsworth. 

Bus 44 ...

... ran every 5 to 6 minutes Monday to Friday, slightly less frequently on Saturdays and every 10 on Sundays.

In May 1991 the 44 was cut back to run from Vauxhall to Tooting and a new 344 was introduced to cover the deleted bit.

The 344 ran, and still runs, from Liverpool Street to Clapham Junction.

Best not try to cope with the 344 map on the TfL web site.

Ian Armstrong tells us that the 344 has had a wide variety of rolling stock. In its early days it enjoyed (?) diddy midi buses.

The route must have been successful ...

... as it now runs a 24 hour service, every TEN minutes at night!

The daytime service is designated as "frequent", which means the timetable may well be fictional - whilst maintaining a frequency of less than every 10.

The timetable terminus is opposite the exit of the shopping arcade at Clapham Junction ...

... as seen in this map extract.

Here is the alighting stop c/o Google Maps.

After disposing of its passengers, the 344 trots off to its little "stacking" area. 

It picks up outside the arcade.

Also terminating and picking up, like the 344, are two night services.

The N19 is much less frequent than the 344.

Also a night time terminator is the N31 ...

... sharing a joint frequency with part of the N28.

So there are plenty of night travel options from Clapham Junction!

There are, of course, other stops on Falcon Road and Grant Road. The ever helpful London Buses does not now produce a 'Spider' map for Clapham Junction, so unravelling what stops where is always a challenge for the non expert.

So best of luck if you are intending to change from train to bus or bus to bus.

Thanks TfL!

It Did Set

The station fence did stick to the wodge of foliage-encrusted hillside.

Latest carriage to join the Peterville collection ...

... is a bit of mystery.

Tomorrow we expect to go to the North West of England ...

... or is it Australia?

It sounds the same!

 Next Pot hole house blog : thu 29 Oct 

Innings, Outings And Stackings (2)

 Two Mysteries Solved

We now know that the Mark 2 station building for LSWR passengers closed in the early 1940s and what remains (the former taxi road) is used for "stacking" buses. 'Stacking' was the term used in Sheffield for parking buses between trips.

Before fbb looks at this 'stack' there are two more entrances to Clapham Junction to examine. 

Or are there?

Here is a simplified plan of the station and its main roads ...

... with an unmarked Falcon Road running roughly north south and below the tracks.

As the eastern end of the station, a main thoroughfare, Falcon Road, plunges under the tracks. Here is the approach from the north ...

... showing the double arrow logo in the gloom on the right.

But it is not an entrance as such as it announces a walkway partially under the tracks, through a colonnade ...

... which takes passengers via a bus 'stacking' area ...

... to the northern entrance to the passenger subway/tunnel on Grant Road.

Disappointed, fbb had hoped that he had discovered a dank and dismal tunnel with a surprise exit on Platform 13!

That would have been exciting!

Then we move to the Southern portal of the Falcon Road Bridge ...

... where there is (or was?) another logo.

The road on the left is named Junction Approach ...

... which leads to a well hidden but small car park ...

... and a real muddle of "back yard" building clutter. Surely there should be an entrance to Clapham Junction station on Junction Approach!

But there isn't: not a sign of British railway signs, not doorways, nor signposts or passenger tunnel entrances. This version of the station map ...

... shows the passenger subway ending in a logo for a lift (DARK BLUE) and a logo for an exit (DARK GREEN) plus a roadway in white but a slab of unexplained grey. So is that the missing entrance off Junction Approach?

fbb could find no entry to the station ...

... just cars and clutter. Perhaps the only entrance to that passenger subway is via the shopping arcade with accessed on St John's Hill?

It is called " shop stop " ...

... and it does lead to the 'proper' station entrance complete with bollards, barriers and departure screens.

But then fbb had a thought; a rarity these days. In a far corner of the car park area on Junction Approach (remember?) the old man spied a tiny white triangle ...

... which, being enlarged, bore the logo of the shopping arcade.

This is or was a side entrance to the shops and thus to the station access tunnel! Someone has snapped the doorway from car park level.

fbb has no idea what happens when the shops are closed whilst access is still required to the station. Are you told to divert via the LBSC station nearby?

And The Bus Route?

Due to pressure of other work, this exciting conclusion will be held over until tomorrow's blog.

Meanwhile ...

... talking of other work ...

... here is Peterville Castle Halt.

The fencing cost more (£12) than the second hand Hornby Station (£8)! 

The railbus hides the fact that part of the fence is incomplete - it declined to stick to the bit of backscene that should be behind the railbus.

It might have stuck in time to star in tomorrow's blog.

The station ramp needs something to hold it up!

 Next Clapham Junction blog : Wed 28 Oct