Park Royal & Twyford Abbey/Dawlish footbridge

[Deleted]

...the footbridge was reconstructed in 1937 using serviceable girders that were taken from Park Royal & Twyford Abbey tube Station (a disused station on what is now the Piccadilly Line) after that station had closed in 1931.

www.therailengineer.com/2013/01/22/bridging-dawlish/

Is this true? I've used the old Dawlish footbridge many a time without even considering it was anything other than original. It doesn't even remotely resemble the PR&TA bridge, but it does say re-used girders, so I guess you could interpret that as a complete reconstruction; to me it would make more sense if it had come from the GWR Park Royal station, although I can't find any pictures of that.

[Deleted]

There are some pictures of GWR Park Royal (and Park Royal West) stations in J.E. Connor's book GWR Disused Stations in Greater London.

[castlebar]

This is very interesting

Most of the GWR stations had the old GWR pagoda type hut waiting rooms, and the bridge is similar, if not identical, to the one at Castlebar which is concrete, (but by the time l left the area in the late 1970s had never been painted so had not had the supports "highlighted), so l don't know how girders can be re-used. I feel certain that l have seen a photo of nearby Brentham Halt with a pagoda style hut, (as did South Greenford, Castlebar and Drayton Green). Few people can have ANY comprehension of how rural this area was until about 1930.

The GWR line to Ruislip etc, and the Greenford loop are surprisingly under-documented, partly because of the population being almost negligible 100 years ago. The Middleton Press book Branch Lines series was a disappointment when that was published - the area deserved a volume in its own right with far more info. Although passenger ops in the area ceased with the extension of the Central, freight to/from Park Royal was extensive until the early 60s, and the Greenford loop through Castlebar was saturated with freight workings. block on block in the 50s too. Much of this was destined for Banbury > Woodford Halse etc. Many more photos of this area must have existed and few have been published