The Depot arose as an outcome of disagreements between the plethora of railway companies that proliferated in London in the second half of the 19th-century. One of the companies, the Metropolitan District Railway Company, found itself competing for maintenance provision for its rolling stock in 1868 and decided to establish its own yard on a vacant plot by the West London Extension Joint Railway in West Brompton, in the vicinity of the Lillie Bridge (Fulham).[1][2] It opened in 1872.[3] After further mergers and acquisitions around the turn of the 20th-century, Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway became a key player in its development.
Despite widespread opposition, the Depot is scheduled to be de-commissioned by 2019 by Transport for London, as part of the controversial 'Earl's Court' regeneration scheme.[4][5] Part of the Depot is already demolished, such as its entrance and shed in Lillie Road.
Gallery
Tube map 1908-2 showing the variety of railway companies
^Croome, D.; Jackson, A. (1993). Rails Through The Clay — A History Of London's Tube Railways (2nd ed.). Capital Transport. ISBN1-85414-151-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
^Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1996). London Suburban Railways: West London Line - Clapham Jn. to Willesden Jn (commemoration of 50 years of complete electrification of route ed.). Middleton Press: Southern Classics. pp. 45–6. ISBN1 873793 84 7. contains detailed maps and diagrams: West Brompton 25" 1867, West Brompton 25" 1916, Lillie Bridge Depot 25" 1916.
Tube map 1908-2 showing the variety of railway companies
Aerial view of Lillie Bridge Depot in 1928
Steaming towards Lillie Bridge Depot in 1968
Ashfield House, West Kensington
the partially demolished Depot viewed from Lillie Bridge in 2015
