Wood Green/Alexandra Palace Plat 4

[ajax103]

A few years ago, a former BR guard than station supervisor and union rep told me something about back in the day that there was two lines going through Plat 4 at this station.

The platform line serving Platform 4 as well as a non platform face line that ran beside it until there the embankment gave way and they had to reinforce the embankment using the non platform track formation.

Was there any truth to this? Also with regards to the reinforced embankment, how long as the existing steel work been in place?

[Mickey]

Yes I believe at onetime the Down goods line ran parallel to the Down slow no.2 line from about where Wood Green no.1 signal box was located south of Wood Green station on the Down side of the running lines with the Down goods line continuing through the station running parallel to the Down slow no.2 line before the Down goods line parted company north of Wood Green station with the Down slow no.2 line either leading back into the Down slow line towards New Southgate or continuing on as the Down Enfield line towards Hertford North with the Down goods line then leading off to the left to then 'sweep around' to eventually pass though the famous 'Khyber pass' a well known feature north of Wood Green during GNR/LNER & early B.R. days before re-joining the Down slow line at Wood Green Tunnel signal box which closed circa 1964/65?.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Platform 4 was the old 'Up Main' platform , didn't often see a train stopped there.

The metal sheeting, was installed in the late 1960's, completely blocking the 'Up Goods'.

manna

[Mickey]

Yeah I also don't recall any trains stopping in the Up fast line platform at Wood Green between 1969-1975 manna although that isn't to say none ever stopped.

[manna]

Yeah I also don't recall any trains stopping in the Up fast line platform at Wood Green between 1969-1975 manna although that isn't to say none ever stopped.

G'Day Gents

No I can't ever remember any train stopping at Platform 4. I did get stopped at at New Southgates up main platform (again rarely used) when we lost a door in Oakley Park tunnel and the communication cord was pulled, just after Cemetery Box, stopped us right on the platform.

manna

[60526]

I don't know what the original plan was at Wood Green, so slightly confused by reference to platform 4, on the down side was this 6 in the early 60's. To answer a stopper at WG on what was 4 at the time (I think), this is early 60's, D5905.

[Mickey]

A baby Deltic on the Up fast line what looks like being at a stand in the Up fast line platform with a set of quad Arts behind.

Yeah I thought ajax was referring to the Down side of Wood Green in my original post?.

From memory I do recall stopping in the Up fast line platform at Wood Green around 1968-70 on an occasional train because I recall that when New Southgate (box) still had a Up slow to Up fast line ''turn out' outside the box at the south end of the station until about 1969/70 (before the Up slow to Up fast line 'turn out' was removed and plain lined) a few Up slow local all stations 'stopping trains' that I remember riding on from WGC to KIngs Cross that were usually always formed by a x2 car Cravens unit would depart WGC along the Up slow line and a few on arriving at New Southgate were 'turned out' onto the Up fast line at New Southgate and therefore they would have arrived and stopped in the Up fast line platform at Wood Green and also on departing Wood Green still on the Up fast line they would have used the Up fast line platforms at both Hornsey & Harringay (West) stations before the running lines through Harringay were slewed over' in the early summer of 1974 and arrived in the Up fast line platform at Finsbury Park although I suppose Finsbury Park no.6 (box) could have 'turned them back in' onto the Up slow line if needed?.

A onetime relief signalman who was well known around the London area and down the GN main line as far as WGC (box) back in the 1960s & 1970s once told me that the Up slow local passenger trains were 'better off' being routed along the Up fast line heading Up towards Kings Cross I presume possibly either from New Southgate, Wood Green Up Box no.4 & Finsbury Park no.4 boxes so they could run along the Up fast line and down the Holloway bank to Belle Isle and then be 'turned off' the Up fast line in Belle Isle and then access the Up relief or carriage line and then enter into Gasworks tunnel then after exiting Gasworks tunnel run across 'the throat area' and into the 'west side' suburban platforms of the terminus.

Anyway once the approaches to Kings Cross and the 'throat area had been cleared' at Kings Cross in 1977 that particular way of working didn't make any difference after that.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Couple of pictures of the the old Wood Green station, The first is a DMU, either stopped or passing Platform 4 (Down Main) the other is a view of a near new Brush 4, at Platform 6, showing the old retaining wall, before the steel piling , like the signals as well.

manna

[Mickey]

Nice pictures manna although the x4 car Cravens in the top picture and formed by two blue and two B.R. green livered units coupled together is on the UP Main or UP fast line rather than the Down Main line but I assume you know that manna and typed in Down Main by mistake.

The bottom picture shows the old Down goods line running parallel to the Down slow no.2 line which is what I was referring to in my original post. The signals and gantry featured in the lower picture were replaced by a 'bracket post signal' at the end of the Down slow no.2 line just off the platform with the higher left-hand signal arm taking a driver onto the 'Down Enfield line' towards Bounds Green (box) and the lower right-hand signal arm taking a driver from the Down slow no.2 line across onto the 'Down slow line' and towards New Southgate with both semaphore signal arms being worked by Wood Green no.1 (box) along with the 'motorised' point connections just beyond both the signals in the Down slow no.1 and Down slow no.2 lines just off the Down platforms. With regards to Wood Green no.3 (box) which can just be glimpsed in the bottom picture the box closed sometime around 1963 or 1964(?) although the old box remined standing for many years after closure well into the 1970s being used by the Wood Green P.W. blokes as a store room.

[manna]

G'Day Micky

I knew it was the UP Main, but wrote the Down Main, Idiot that I am.

manna

[StevieG]

To possibly clear up confusion on 'what was what' from manna 's OP and the follow-up comments,
on the assumption that, ( like most stations, but not all along this line in those times) the platform numbering started with the easternmost Up side one,
the lines and Plats are likely to have been : -

Up Goods (no plat.)
Up Branch No.1
Up Slow (east side) 2
Up Slow (west side) 3
Up Fast 4
Down Fast (no plat.)
Down Slow 1 5
Down Slow 2 6
Down Goods (no plat.)

The Up Goods was never closed for bankslip, and in fact still exists, but as the southern access line to Bounds Green Depot only.

It sounds like the lines and bankslip that manna first referred to were the Down Slow No.2 Line at Platform 6, and the adjacent parallel Down Goods (no platform), which was the one that ended up Blocked by the bankslip [ I'm not sure when but it was before 1968 ( early 1960s?) when the problem occurred ] : And this meant that the Down Goods from No.3 signal box (on the north end of the Down platforms island) around to W.G.Tunnel box was made completely inaccessible.
So the decision appears to have been taken to, rather than restore the DG through the station, on around the Down Hertford climb to the flyover, and to its termination into the Down Slow at Wood Green Tunnel signal box ), to instead, end the DG at the south end of the station.

[Mickey]

With regards to the station platform numbering when I was at Welwyn Garden City (box) between 1972-1974 the platform numbering was-

no.1 The 'Luton line' platform
no.2 The Down slow line platform
no.3 The Up slow line platform
no.4 The 'Hertford line' platform also known locally as the 'Back platform' by the signalmen and station staff.

On a visit to WGC back around 2013 the platform numbering had been changed to-

no.4 The 'old Luton line' platform
no.3 The Down slow line platform
no.2 The Up slow line platform
no.1 The 'old Hertford line' platform.

With regards to Wood Green something tells me in the back of my mind that the old Up goods line between Wood Green Up Box no.2 & Wood Green Up Box no.4 through the station was possibly 'blocked' for a time when a 'temporary' small shed structure was placed on the Up goods line sometime in the first half of the 1970s but I can't recall if this actually happened or if I imagined it had happened?.

If Dave comes on here he worked Wood Green Up Box no.4 back in the early 1970s so he would know if the Up goods line was blocked back then?.

[silverfox]

Having spent many happy hours at Wood Green before School,lunch hours, after school, and cycling from Edmonton during the School Hols!! 1958-63

SteveG has got it spot on, although we knew them slightly different .
from east to west was
the carriage line ( although the odd loco used to use it, saw Ed Thompson one lunchtime although as we approached the station we from Palce Gates direction we couldnt see it but heard it with that lovely Kylchap blower noise)

Hertford Loco P1
Hatfield localP2/3 single line
Up Main P4
Down Main through line
Down Hatfield P5
Down HertfordP6
Khyber pass
P1/2 and P5/6 were island platforms

IIRC there was also another line to the left of THe Khyber line which joined the Khyber south of the station .I think that this was the location of the picture of 4x A4 and the rebuilt W1 (? ) ;heading north; making lots of smoke