Neasden Power Station was a

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

built by the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

for its electrification project. It was opened in December 1904. It was within the site of the current

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

Neasden Depot Neasden Depot is a London Underground depot located in Neasden in the London Borough of Brent, between Neasden and Wembley Park stations on the Metropolitan line. It is the largest depot on the London Underground, and is currently responsible f ...

. The station was commissioned in 1904 initially with two

British Westinghouse British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company was a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh, US-based Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. British Westinghouse would become a subsidiary of Metropolitan-Vickers in 1919; and after Metr ...

turbo-generators rated at 3,500 kW 11,000 Volts 33 Hertz each and a further two were added shortly after. These were powered by 10 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers evaporating 20,000 Ib/hr. Two 5,000 kW sets were added five years later. The station was further upgraded in 1912 when the original turbines were replaced.'' The Engineer'', 9 February 1912, page 154 Along with Lots Road Power Station and Greenwich power station, Neasden power station supplied the whole

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Londo ...

network from its formation in 1933. Coal for the power station was brought in by trains, initially by the Metropolitan Railway using its fleet of steam locomotives, from June 1935 by the

London & North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At tha ...

, and from 1948

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

. By 1957 the plant comprised eleven boilers, five were chain grate stokers and six were heavy fuel oil. The total evaporative capacity was 880,000 lb/hr (111 kg/s). These supplied 3 × 20 MW, 1 × 16.5 MW and 1 × 13.2 MW generating sets, a total capacity of 89.7 MW. Electricity was generated at 11 kV, 33.33 Hz. Condenser cooling was undertaken in nine wooden cooling towers, their cooling capacity was 2.627 million gallons per hour (0.33 m³/s). The power station ceased generating in 1968.

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External links

Photo - London Transport Museum
{{London Powerstations Coal-fired power stations in England Former power stations in London Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom London Underground infrastructure 1904 establishments in England 1968 disestablishments in England