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| Postcards of the Past |
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| London's Railway Stations |
| Victoria was originally two, separate railway stations. In 1858 the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway extended its lines across the Thames from South London to a terminus in central London, just a short walk from Buckingham Palace. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) station opened on 1 October 1860, followed in 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. The former, designed by Robert Jacomb-Hood was demolished and rebuilt in 1906 (and later redeveloped in 1979). |
| Victoria in the early 1900s. Note the "Great Western Railway" name on the front of the building - the GWR ran a few services from here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
| The information above has been gleaned from various books and websites. If you have any interesting facts, figures or stories about the station, please get in touch !! |
| The Grosvenor Hotel, adjacent to and above the station, opened in 1861 and was purchased by LBSCR in 1899. It was leased to Gordon Hotels and re-opened on 10 December 1900. It was extended in 1907, providing a new frontage building to the station beneath. The building was designed by J. T. Knowles and is in an Italianate style with a French Renaissance roof. |
| London, Brighton and South Coast Railway engine no 41 with the "Southern Belle" in Victoria Station about 1910. |
| The Brighton Belle. The Brighton Belle ran on the Southern Railway from Victoria Station to Brighton on the Sussex coast. I remember that in 1971 we went to Brighton on this train, which I think left Victoria at 11am and took 60 minutes to reach Brighton, during which time we had a very nice breakfast. The Pullman service ran from 29 June 1934 until its withdrawal on 30 April 1972 when, despite public protests, the decision was taken not to replace the old rolling stock. All the carriages were preserved and a number are still used on the Venice Simplon Orient Express. |
| The Great Western Railway ran some services from Victoria in its early days - see the postcard above in which the GWR name can be seen on the front of the station. |
| In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest", the main character, Jack Worthing, is a foundling, discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria - the Brighton Line. Lady Bracknell considers the line immaterial ! |
| This postcard was mailed in 1914. Again, the GWR name can be seen. |
| A super view of the South-East and Chatham section of Victoria. |
| Victoria |
| Try searching the internet to see what you can discover about Victoria Station and the old Railway Companies that used it. |
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| Another view of the Station entrance. |
View London, Victoria Station in a larger map
| In 1924, the two stations were merged and a small access made between the two buildings. This was the only connection until Victoria's redevelopment in the 1980's, and although a single rail terminus, Victoria retained its two distinct internal areas, with Platforms 1 - 8 lying in the old South Eastern and Chatham Railway's part of the station whence the boat trains, night trains, Golden Arrow and Orient Express would depart, whilst Platforms 9 - 16 constituted the domain of the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. This side of the station was associated with fast trains to fashionable Brighton. |
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