hq1hitchin wrote:An hour or more sat on the platform [Hitchin] waiting for someone gave me the opportunity to watch modern GN working. All very fast, very frequent but bland and characterless.
I agree hq1hitchin a totally accurate observation from you it's all a pretty depressing looking picture these days along that route out of Kings Cross with what has become of a once great railway all that modernisation work that went on back in the early/mid 1970s with all those s/boxes being closed, track rationalisation projects, electrification work and general disruption that went on during that time as well all of it leading up to to a toally bland and characterless railway today.
Talking of Hitchin i was watching that Kings Cross Suburban dvd again the other day and theres some lovely film footage of an Up Cambridge Buffet coming off the Up Cambridge branch and re-joining the GN main line at Cambridge Junction with a nice shot taken from the train of passing Cambridge Junction box also another nice passing shot of Hitchin Yard box and another nice shot of a Up Cambridge being 'turned out' onto the Up fast line at Hitchin South and passing the box all good stuff and some great memories being stirred by watching this dvd.
Mickey a onetime telegraph lad at Welwyn Garden City box.
Last edited by Mickey on Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Good to see you alive'n'kickin', hq1. Keep on keeping on.
Spot on observations on our old stomping grounds, gents. But I'll have to admit to quite liking what they've done to that whole area of the Cross with that spiderweb roof thingy. If only we could peek round the corner and spy a couple of simmering A3's sitting there, though.
I'm with you Mickey. I liked the old 'Cross and my favourite haunt of York Road platform. Not only were you able to see everything going on, but you were just a few steps away from Kings Cross Models and there were often interesting ladies around who would say things that made a young teenager blush. Great times c1970!
notascoobie wrote:I'm with you Mickey. I liked the old 'Cross and my favourite haunt of York Road platform. Not only were you able to see everything going on, but you were just a few steps away from Kings Cross Models and there were often interesting ladies around who would say things that made a young teenager blush. Great times c1970!
Yeah the old model shop at the bottom of York Way Vernon that must have closed back in the early 1980s?.
Kings Cross nowadays is all very trendy and part of the 'cafe culture' but it wasn't like that at onetime back in the 1970s.
I better not make any comment about the "ladies" who frequented 'the cross' back in the 1970s otherwise Richard will nodoubt hit the 'de-activate' button pretty quick!!.
Along with the BRSA club and the Lord Russel pub opposite st Pancras station plus the Duke of York pub just up from the Kings Cross Model shop in York Way and The Queen's and The Scottish Stores pubs both at the bottom of the Caledonian Road and last but not least The Bell pub in Pentonville Road (i'm still in text communication with one of the barmaid's who was 19-20 years old at the time who worked in the pub during the mid 1970s) oh yes and the chip shop in Pentonville Road the 1970s were great days indeed around 'the cross' and it isn't over stating it by saying ''I came of age around the cross back in the 1970s''.
I use to like the British Rail Buffet at the bottom of the footbridge staircase on platform no.10 (to be re-numbered platform no.8 in May 72) the 'chef' in the Buffet called Carlos (i don't think he use to work in the Crossroads Motel with Meg Richardson by the way?) use to cook a good sausage, egg & chips or a battered cod & chips for about £1.20p all washed down with a cup of B.R.tea!. Ah those were the days mind you it was 1972.
Also my late mother worked in The Ridings Bar also on platform no.10 from about 1971-74 before going 'across the road' and working in The Shires Bar in st Pancras station between about 1974-1978.
Scandalous! The unofficial pub of all the KX signalmen has been overlooked - The Lincoln Arms; further up York Way, virtually opposite the old box,
It's odd now to have no public way of leaving/entering the station at that end, straight up onto/down from York Way, thanks to the creation of the track serving the 'new' Platform 0 under the East Side Offices, completely wiping out the old cab road and its cobblered ( ) slope connecting with the said thoroughfare.
I'll say no more here in this vein; conscious that we're in the "LNER People" Forum here.
StevieG wrote:Scandalous! The unofficial pub of all the KX signalmen has been overlooked - The Lincoln Arms; further up York Way, virtually opposite the old box.
I believe i did go in The Lincoln Arms once Stevie when i was doing secondman duties at 'the cross' (1974-75) but that was 'to far to walk' up York Way or platform no.1 for most traincrew's but obviously a lot more convenient a pub for the Kings Cross signalmen, virtually all driver's, secondmen & guards were usually to be found in the BRSA club opposite st Pancras station a few would go 'next door' in the Russel for a change of atmosphere and a smaller number would occasionally take awalk to the Scottish Stores which is nowadays called The Flying Scotsman at the bottom of Caledonian road & Pentonville road.
StevieG wrote:It's odd now to have no public way of leaving/entering the station at that end, straight up onto/down from York Way, thanks to the creation of the track serving the 'new' Platform 0 under the East Side Offices, completely wiping out the old cab road and its cobblered ( ) slope connecting with the said thoroughfare.
Until the early part of the 1970s anyone could walk in or out of the station at anytime morning, noon & night and through the early hours of the morning then from about the mid/late 1970s onwards they closed the station entrances off during the early hours of the morning to deter the vagrants from dossing down on the concourse plus also to deter the 'ladies of the night' from doing there nocturnal business.
reading your earlier post about watching the Kings Cross Suburban DVD. It really does capture the GN in transision very well and brings back lots of memories. The shots taken from a DMU running into FInsbury Park down road must have been taken on the 14:03 Kings Cross - Hertford N as I spotted two early turn signalmen going home. Bill Exelby, who used to be a regular man at Finsbury Park No 3 can be seen joining the 14:03 at Finsbury Park. In a shot taken at Enfield Chase on the same train relief signalman Peter Cooper can be seen alighting at Enfield Chase. Peter lived at Enfield and used to cover boxes in the Holloway - Finsbury Park area. He attends the six monthly reunions held at Hatfield and is married to Wilf Stockley's (Former Finsbury Park No 3 Signalman) daughter.
reading your earlier post about watching the Kings Cross Suburban DVD. It really does capture the GN in transision very well and brings back lots of memories. The shots taken from a DMU running into FInsbury Park down road must have been taken on the 14:03 Kings Cross - Hertford N as I spotted two early turn signalmen going home. Bill Exelby, who used to be a regular man at Finsbury Park No 3 can be seen joining the 14:03 at Finsbury Park. In a shot taken at Enfield Chase on the same train relief signalman Peter Cooper can be seen alighting at Enfield Chase. Peter lived at Enfield and used to cover boxes in the Holloway - Finsbury Park area. He attends the six monthly reunions held at Hatfield and is married to Wilf Stockley's (Former Finsbury Park No 3 Signalman) daughter.
Hiya Dave, yes that Kings Cross Suburban dvd is a good archive document most of the film footage was shot between 1973/74 for example the piece of film shot from a Down local train approaching Harringay West station shows one of Finsbury Park no.6 semaphore distant signals on the large gantry over the Up Goods no.1 line is missing (this same gantry also carried at onetime Harringay's Up fast & Up slow lines starting signals towards Finsbury Park no.6 but after August 1973 when Harringay passenger was closed these same signals were then worked by Harringay Up Goods instead) that distant signal disappeared around late 1973 or during 1974 likewise several semaphore stop signal arms are missing from the signal gantries at Finsbury Pak no.4 that were abolished in the early part of 1973.
Another give away of dating this dvd is that on passing through Hornsey station looking towards Hornsey Up Goods Box there is no Hornsey no.2 box which closed in the summer of 1973 which necessitated the abolition of Hornsey no.2s Up fast line outter semaphore distant signal underneath Wood Green Up box no.4s Up fast line semaphore home signal near to the box from about July of 1973.
Yes the fella on one of the Down slow line platforms at Finsbury Park as the train rolls in looks like a railwayman also when the train is about to pass Wood Green no.1 there is a familiar looking P.Way bloke walking in the 4ft and also when the train arrives in the bay platform at Hertford North a railman walks along the bay line platform to meet the arriving train someone who watched the dvd with me several years ago and who worked at Hertford North as a railman back in the 1970s (Dave Phillips) named that bloke.
Personally i like the small sequence of film shot at Stevenage 'old station' around 1972 especially the bit showing the 'run bys' at Stevenage north box with a couple of Deltic hauled Up expresses passing the north box cos i managed to spend an afternoon in the box back in the summer of 1972 about the sametime that this film sequence was shot which brought back happy memories of that afternoon the only disappointing thing about this dvd for me is it doesn't show anything of Welwyn Garden City box or station as the train heads south towards Kings Cross infact it jumps from the Welwyn/Digswell viaduct to passing Hatfield no.2 box, still it's better than nothing at all.
Some of the narration on this dvd is incorrect so i usually watch it without the acompanying narration.
The Railman at Hertford North was Terry Foster. He lived three minutes walk away from the station in Campfield Road. There was an access gate on the London side of Hertford North from the Down Spur which led directly into Campfield Road. Very handy.
Terry was actually one of the three Snr R'men (Former Foreman) there who worked round the clock and were passed out for shunting as well as guards duties. The Snr R'men were allowed to work hauled trains up to Finsbury Park as a contingency if a KX guard was delayed coming down passenger. This arrangement certainly saved a few train cancellations over the years.
Dave you would probably know the answer to this question who was the signalman who worked at Finsbury Park 5 circa 1970-74 i'm fairly sure he was regular at no.5 because whenever i'd pass the box on a Down slow line local train he'd usually be standing at the lever frame & block shelf watching the train pass the box. He was a white guy slightly bulky but not to heavy and had very slightly long hair with a side parting and several months before no.5 closed in late 1974 he went to Wood Green no.1 for a year or so until that box closed.
Going back to the Kings Cross Suburban dvd another tell-tail sign of dating that film footage is of the cab ride sequence from Broad Street to Finsbury Park is when the train comes off the Down no.1 line at Canonbury Junction and is heading for the Canonbury tunnel and Finsbury Park it shows the temporary block hut (a garden shed type building fitted out with temporary B.R. plastic block instruments and a train register book for running trains) situated in the V-of the Junction that was provided after Canonbury Station s/box 'accidently' burnt down on Christmas day night 1974, i believe a piece of hot or burning coal fell out of the coal fire on Christmas night when the box was closed and burnt the box down?.
* * *From a fading memory i thought Canonbury station s/box burnt down around January 1974 rather than on Christmas day night 1974 but after reading on another railway website that the box burnt down on Christmas day night 1974 i went with that date..* * *
from your description I think the Finsbury Park No 5 signalman you mentioned might be Mick Wilson. Mick was one of the "On Loan" signalman from the Sheffield Division brought up to help alleviate the shortage of signalman and given lodgings in Ilford Hostel. To the best of my recollection the only resident signalman at Finsbury Park No 5 at this time was Fred Lachale. Stevie G may be able to comment on this. Geoff Brooks was another relief signalman who spent a lot of time at No 5. Geoff ended up as one of the power box supervisors at Kings Cross and attends the six monthly Hatfied reunions.
) slope connecting with the said thoroughfare.
Blimey! I must've led a sheltered life out in the country. Damn!