Hi. :]
I know it's quite a well documented location already but wanted to share my trip down here. Having worked ontop of the Eastern tunnels for a few years now I thought I had a good grip of what was going on underneath street level but didn't know about access to a disused rail tunnel, finally got around to it at the start of this month and had a blast exploring down there.
Not much remains of the Western Horse Tunnels AKA the Camden Catacombs, cut off from the larger Eastern part, they still provide access to two locations worth checking out. One is the Grade II listed Stationary Engine vault, once used to house a pair of Steam Engines which would pull trains above up the steep incline and over the canal. The other is an mostly abandoned rail tunnel, never electrified and used to move empty steam train carriages, the 'Up Empty Carriage Line' also known as the Camden Rat Hole.
Up Empty Carriage Tunnel lit up, this is a level below the Western Horse Tunnels.
Horse stairs.
Crossroads in the Horse Tunnels, at the end were the original horse stairs to the surface but these were destroyed when a warehouse above was expanded.
Looking out towards the southern coal storage vault for a stationary engine room. Not too interesting but it's all I could access for now due to flooding, plan on going back and measuring the depth and perhaps go down there. More info below.
National Rail archive plan for the Stationary Engine Complex. On the image above I'm standing on the bottom left, looking out towards the coal store, the northern coal store platform is partially collapsed, the two wells are still open and if you fell down one of them there's about 20 feet of dirty water directly underneath. The engines once located in this building used to pull cables which in turn pulled the trains running above. Being directly underneath the now electrified tracks meant you could hear the trains running only a number of feet above.
Shaft going down to the old carriage line.
Ladders up to the Horse Tunnels.
Some more modern equipment, plumbing and power cables are all that this tunnel is used for currently.
Lit up with a torch.
Lit up in this fashion highlights the tunnel detail really well.
An exit onto the canal towpath.
I've done a much more extensive write up with high-res photos on my blog page: http://www.unexposed.photography/Visits/Camden-Town-West-Horse-Tunnels. Have linked back to 28DL.
Really enjoyed checking this place out, thanks for reading. :]
I know it's quite a well documented location already but wanted to share my trip down here. Having worked ontop of the Eastern tunnels for a few years now I thought I had a good grip of what was going on underneath street level but didn't know about access to a disused rail tunnel, finally got around to it at the start of this month and had a blast exploring down there.
Not much remains of the Western Horse Tunnels AKA the Camden Catacombs, cut off from the larger Eastern part, they still provide access to two locations worth checking out. One is the Grade II listed Stationary Engine vault, once used to house a pair of Steam Engines which would pull trains above up the steep incline and over the canal. The other is an mostly abandoned rail tunnel, never electrified and used to move empty steam train carriages, the 'Up Empty Carriage Line' also known as the Camden Rat Hole.
Up Empty Carriage Tunnel lit up, this is a level below the Western Horse Tunnels.
Horse stairs.
Crossroads in the Horse Tunnels, at the end were the original horse stairs to the surface but these were destroyed when a warehouse above was expanded.
Looking out towards the southern coal storage vault for a stationary engine room. Not too interesting but it's all I could access for now due to flooding, plan on going back and measuring the depth and perhaps go down there. More info below.
National Rail archive plan for the Stationary Engine Complex. On the image above I'm standing on the bottom left, looking out towards the coal store, the northern coal store platform is partially collapsed, the two wells are still open and if you fell down one of them there's about 20 feet of dirty water directly underneath. The engines once located in this building used to pull cables which in turn pulled the trains running above. Being directly underneath the now electrified tracks meant you could hear the trains running only a number of feet above.
Shaft going down to the old carriage line.
Ladders up to the Horse Tunnels.
Some more modern equipment, plumbing and power cables are all that this tunnel is used for currently.
Lit up with a torch.
Lit up in this fashion highlights the tunnel detail really well.
An exit onto the canal towpath.
I've done a much more extensive write up with high-res photos on my blog page: http://www.unexposed.photography/Visits/Camden-Town-West-Horse-Tunnels. Have linked back to 28DL.
Really enjoyed checking this place out, thanks for reading. :]
