When Eltham did it first ..... travelling in a double-decker train

I say Eltham but strictly speaking it was the Southern Region of British Railways who came up with the idea of the double-decker train to alleviate the overcrowding during the rush hour on the Bexleyheath line into London.

Goodbye, 1971, Well Hall Railway Station

The service ran from 1949 to 1971 and was received with a mixed response.

I loved them making them my preferred train from Well Hall up to Charing Cross during the 1960s.

But some found the seats uncomfortable, ventilation of the upper deck was bad and worst of all the loading and offloading of passengers was slow. *

And I grant you having travelled on double decker trains into Milan which were quite swish, our version was a bit clunky.  

That said the appearance of our trains with their curved upper windows marked them out as very different.

I have never quite forgotten them although they have slid back in my memory along with those summer concerts at the Pleasusance, the Burton’s on the corner of the High Street and the pubs which were the haunt of my growing up.

But when the Today Programme on BBC radio ran the story that Eurostar had ordered some double deck trains, I was instantly back with the 8.30 from Well Hall nonstop to Waterloo.  The piece included references to our unique trains and rather dismissed them as having been a short experiment and raising again the issues of uncomfortable seats and poor ventilation.

Now that was a bit unfair given that they ran for twenty-two years which is quite long in the history of public transport vehicles.

And that is almost that, although there is delightful account of the design and history of the Bexleyheath double decker’s in Gus White’s book, The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995, published by the Eltham Society.

And an equally interesting article from BBC News which carries a Pathe News clip of the trains from 1949.**

So a win for all. And yes there were other double decker trains around the world, and yes I would welcome more pictures and memories from anyone who like me let the "train take the strain" between 1949 and 1971.

Location, Well Hall, 1949-1971

Picture; the double-decker on its last run at Well Hall, October 1971 from the Kentish Times and reproduced in The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995

*Gus White, The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham, 1895-1995, The Eltham Society

**Eurostar orders first double-decker trains, Katy Austin, BB News, October 22nd 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6n1w80z1zo

Well Hall in the 1920s nu 1 ........... catching the train and watching out for the cows

A short occasional series on Well Hall in the 1920s.

Now I washed up in Eltham in the spring of 1964 and for two and half years made the daily  train journey back to New Cross and Samuel Pepys School which continued until I switched to Crown Woods.

I didn’t like Samuel Pepys over much and the trip from Well Hall to New Cross and back was pretty much the best bit of the day.

Even now I have fond memories of seeing the woods above out house come into view ast thetrain took that final bend and came into the station.

The trains were always packed but there was something about knowing you were coming home to Well Hall.

And I suspect Mr Jefferson may have shared that feeling, so here are some of his memories of the same station just 40 or so years before I used the station.

They are taken from the book he published in 1970.

“The railway station was called simply ‘Well Hall’ when we came and the platforms were not so long as they are now.  

A workman’s ticket cost 8d return to London and early workers making their way past the tumbledown ‘Well Hall’ which is now the Pleasaunce would frequently be hindered by cows coming up hawthorn-hedged Kidbrooke Lane and turning in at the wide gate in Well Hall Road.”*

Location; Well Hall

Picture; the railway bridge over Well Hall Road, 2014, from the collection of Chrissie Rose

*The Woolwich Story, E.F.E. Jefferson, 1970 page 202

One hundred and a bit years of the railway that served Eltham

For two and bit years I travelled on Southern Region from Well Hall Station up to New Cross.

I have few memories of those journeys other than the last stretch on the way home to Eltham when the train took that slow bend and you got a glimpse of Shooters Hill and the woods.

But in all that time and since I have given little thought to why the railway was built, the people behind it and its construction.

It was built in 1895, quite late in the history of the railways by “landowners wanting to enhance the value of their agricultural land for house building.”* 

Amongst the shareholders was Thomas Jackson of Eltham Park, Charles Beadle a coal and corn merchant and George Mence Smith who owned seventy oil shops in the area.

The story of the planning, construction and first 100 years of the railway are told in The Bexleyheath Railway at Eltham 1895-1995, by Gus White and published by The Eltham Society.

Eltham Park 1895

It is a fascinating account and demonstrates yet again that some of the best history is not written by professionals but local people with local knowledge and a desire to share it with their neighbours.

Much of the book concentrates on the early 20^th century but there are descriptions of the opening of the new station in 1985, the Well Hall train crash thirteen years earlier and the reference to those double decker trains which ran from 1949 to ’71.

I have to confess I had begun to doubt that they existed or that I travelled on them given that I was always met with disbelief from friends when I described them.

Eltham Park 1985 eight months after its closure

There are also some fine pictures many of which cover the period before and after I left Eltham, and in between a few of the station and bus station that I remember.

My own favourites must be of Well Hall Station in the 1920s, the approach to the station taken in 1985 along with another from1955 showing the station master's house and with out doubt that of a tram travelling south under Well Hall railway bridge.

So there you have it, 100 years of Eltham’s railway history all for just £2 if you are a member of the Eltham Society and £3 plus post and packaging from the Eltham Society, 

http://www.theelthamsociety.org.uk/publications.php

Picture; of Eltham Park, DISUSED STATIONS, by courtesy of Nick Catford from http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/eltham_park/index.shtml

*White, Gus, The Bexley heath Railway at Eltham 1895-1995, The Eltham Society, 1996

On coming home ............. arriving at Well Hall station

Now I have no idea when this picture was taken but it brings back powerful memories of the old Well Hall Station.

From 1964 through to 1966 I stood on that platform along with shed load of commuters bound for central London although in my case it was only as far as New Cross and my last two years at Samuel Pepys.

After that I transferred to Crown Woods and Well Hall Station became less used.

But I continue to have a fondness for the old station which I have never quite shared with the new one.

And of all the memories that crowd in it is of the return journey on a summers afternoon with the train taking the curve and the first sight of the woods on the hill.

All of which meant that I was home.

Now I was not born in Eltham and we only arrived from Peckham when I was just 14 but I embraced the place and like many a newcomer became fiercely attatched to it.

Fifty one years later and four decades in the North I still think of Eltham as home.

And that is about it.  If I carry on I shall no doubt slide into nostalgic tosh and that would never do.

After all I have written about the railway line and its history, so I will just thank Ryan who sent me the picture and reflect that where we grow up is often an accident but in my case Well Hall was one of the more welcome accidents in my life.

Picture;  Well Hall Station, date unknown, courtesy of Ryan Ginn

*One hundred years of the railway that served Eltham, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Eltham%20Trains