Joe Brown’s London atlas

I was delighted to see that the London Railway Atlas by Joe Brown has reached its fifth edition.

I obtained a copy, and it remains (in my opinion) the best railway atlas ever produced for content and clarity - and the paper quality has improved, too.

Despite its title, it extends over 74 maps to Chesham, Ongar, Shenfield, Gravesend, Redhill, Horsley, Virginia Water and Slough. And the detail is stunning, showing not only the situation up to Crossrail and planned projects such as HS2 and Heathrow T5 to Langley (2024), but every line that has ever existed from the 1802 Surrey Iron Railway onwards.

Maps 75 to 92 add plans for major areas over various dates - for example, the Stratford area in 1951 and 2018 and Waterloo in 1895, 1952 and 2018, all showing deep level Tubes as well as the surface layouts.

Stations, sidings and depots have opening and closing dates, plus ownership details. Each map has a scale, and rivers and canals are added (a useful reference point while travelling).

The 61-page index is astonishing in its detail, with comprehensive notes about each station. For example, we’re told Bond Street was to be Davies Street, but opened as Bond Street on September 24 1900, with the Jubilee Line platforms added on May 1 1979. The Central Line platforms closed from April 23 2014 to June 18 2014 for station upgrade work, as did the Jubilee platforms from June 30 2014 to November 30 2014.

However, the impeccable detail extends to adding that the last trains actually ran on June 27 2014, owing to a pre-planned weekend closure. Finally, we’re told the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) platforms should open autumn 2019. Pity the London Mayor didn’t read that!

Joe Brown is Operations Manager at Wembley Park Depot, and produces this at home. I frequently browse a page for pleasure, and learn so much. Now published by Crécy, it’s fabulous value for only £20 (or about £5 less from Amazon!)