Brentford Branch Line

The Brentford branch line, also known as the Brentford Dock Line, is a freight-only branch railway line in west London, England. It runs south-east from the Great Western Main Line at Southall to a goods yard and waste transfer station in Brentford. Opened in 1859, until 1964 it also ran to Brentford Dock, for a total distance of 4 miles (6.4 km).

The line was proposed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) during the 1840s, as a means of reaching the inner London docks via the River Thames. Brentford was chosen as the most suitable location for the terminus of the line, being the point where the Great Western Main Line is nearest to the Thames, and also the point where the Grand Junction Canal meets the river.

In August 1855, an Act of Parliament incorporated the Great Western & Brentford Railway Company, which had been promoted by the GWR. Construction of the line, and the dock at Brentford, began shortly after, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel as chief engineer. The line was built from a down-facing connection with the GWML at Southall, to Brunel's 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge. However, it took three years to complete due to the need to build a three-level bridge at Windmill Lane, Southall, where the line passed underneath both the road and the Grand Junction Canal.

Brunel's famous 'Three Bridges' has the road cross above the Grand Junction Canal, with the railway in a cutting beneath the two. The Three Bridges bridge crossing is a unique transport intersection, and was to be Brunel's last project before he died on 15 September 1859 just two months after its completion. The correct name for it should be Windmill Bridge – named after the Southall Mill, which stood on the south-western side of the original canal bridge which was first built in the 1790s when the canal was cut. J. M. W. Turner painted this windmill in 1806. The Three Bridges has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by English Heritage.

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