of the year to the Salvation Army siding in order to fulfil the contract, and banana trains ran to Butterwick siding when needed. As there was no traffic beyond this point, the rails were lifted from a point near Colney Lane Bridge to the junction with the Watford line. The remaining section of the line closed on 31 December 1968. A contract with a scrap metal dealer at Smallford had meant that trains ran there until the end of 1968. The line today After tracklifting in 1969, the councils of Welwyn Hatfield and St Albans purchased the trackbed for conversion into a footpath and cycletrack. Most overbridges had been removed and the construction of the A1(M) tunnel destroyed a section of the route near Hatfield. The first section of the route between Old Man's Lane and Hill End opened as the Smallford Trail on 8 December 1985, with the remaining part to Hatfield opening in mid-1986. The final section from Hill End to St Albans was officially opened on 17 April 1988, and the footpath is now known as the Alban Way. The platforms at Hill End, Nast Hyde Halt and Lemsford Road Halt have survived, as have the station buildings at Smallford. London Road station is now a listed building. References Sources Further reading Railway lines opened in 1865 Rail transport in Hertfordshire Closed railway lines in South East England