Hertford East-Ware crossing in the 1960s & 70s

[Mickey]

That picture was taken from the footbridge, i always associate Ware and Hertford East with those BR EMUs with the blue livery with the slam doors which i think were fazed out in the early 1980s?. Micky

[Mr Bunt]

G'Day Gents


'IT'S SINGLE LINE'...........Tight B's and judging by the closeness of the buildings it's always been single line
manna

Yep, it's always been single line even though the rest of the branch is double. The level crossing in the foreground really shouldn't be there, because the Act authorising the line specified that the road should be taken over the line on a bridge. The company didn't bother with all that nonsense though so the Duke of Wellington and the Wadesmill Turnpike Trustees sued them, forcing them to build Viaduct Road as an alternative route avoiding the crossing.

There was an epic prang in the station on 31 October 1927 when an N7 and an F4 met head on. You can find the official report at

http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/listin ... event=1391

which makes an interesting read.

[Mr Bunt]

That picture was taken from the footbridge, i always associate Ware and Hertford East with those BR EMUs with the blue livery with the slam doors which i think were fazed out in the early 1980s?. Micky

They would have been the 305s introduced in 1960. By the early to mid 1980s they'd all been replaced by 315s and had gone to either Manchester or Glasgow.

What about this photo though, taken on 17 February this year? It's in Ware (I won't say exactly where in case a collector nips out with a spanner one night and nicks it - which is why I've cropped out any recognisable landmarks too) and it's still in situ more than 60 years after it was first put up. Needless to say those of us with an interest are keeping a sharp eye on it to make sure the owner of the building it's fixed to doesn't take it down.

[third-rail]

That picture was taken from the footbridge, i always associate Ware and Hertford East with those BR EMUs with the blue livery with the slam doors which i think were fazed out in the early 1980s?. Micky

They would have been the 305s introduced in 1960. By the early to mid 1980s they'd all been replaced by 315s and had gone to either Manchester or Glasgow.

What about this photo though, taken on 17 February this year? It's in Ware (I won't say exactly where in case a collector nips out with a spanner one night and nicks it - which is why I've cropped out any recognisable landmarks too) and it's still in situ more than 60 years after it was first put up. Needless to say those of us with an interest are keeping a sharp eye on it to make sure the owner of the building it's fixed to doesn't take it down.

i wonder whether if the owner is still getting rent for it being there

[Mickey]

"Strange how a simple enamel BRITISH RAILWAYS sign from the 1950s/60s can evoke 'happy memories' in me?. It conjures up a 'lost time' when strangely this country was a better place to live in in many ways..." Micky G.N.R/L.N.E.R.

[Mr Bunt]

I wonder whether if the owner is still getting rent for it being there

Probably not, otherwise by now I'd expect Railtrack, Network Rail, WAGN, One or National Express East Anglia would have replaced it with some kind of flimsy, garish, multi-coloured modern thing they'd paid a graphic "designer" a fortune to dream up for them.

Perhaps I've found yet another "missing asset" of the old British Railways Board which now has indeterminate ownership

[Mickey]

That old enamel sign represents the greater glory of this once proud nations nationalized railway system. Long live BRITISH RAILWAYS. Hallelujah!. Micky G.N.R/L.N.E.R.

[Mr Bunt]

That old enamel sign represents the greater glory of this once proud nations nationalized railway system. Long live BRITISH RAILWAYS. Hallelujah!

If I'd photographed the sign which remained outside the overhead line maintenance depot at Cheshunt (OK, not Hertford East - Ware I'll agree, but not too far away) until at least 1986 what would you have said?

Dark blue background with white lettering enamelled on a sheet of metal held in a frame and worded

"BRITISH TRANSPORT COMMISSION
CHESHUNT ELECTRIFICATION DEPOT"

Sadly, I walked past it every day to catch my train to work and smiled, but never had a camera handy.

[NB - The British Transport Commission was replaced by The British Railways Board on 1 January 1963, so the sign outlived the organisation named in its heading by at least 23 years ]

[52D]

Has anyone got pics of the ex NBR petrol shunter from Kelso at Ware/Brentwood?. At Kelso it replaced a MK1 shunting horse.

[BHornsey]

Has anyone got pics of the ex NBR petrol shunter from Kelso at Ware/Brentwood?. At Kelso it replaced a MK1 shunting horse.

There aren't many but a couple have found there way into David Dent's excellent book '150 years of the Ware & Hertford Rly' (ISBN 1-873468-18-0)

[Mr Bunt]

"Strange how a simple enamel BRITISH RAILWAYS sign from the 1950s/60s can evoke 'happy memories' in me?. It conjures up a 'lost time' when strangely this country was a better place to live in in many ways..." Micky G.N.R/L.N.E.R.

You'll probably get another "feelgood factor" out of this photo then. Not only is Ware station a listed building, the town council have put a blue plaque on it too that includes the words "British Rail"

Shame it doesn't show the full opening date though (31 October). Still, it's an indication of how proud people in the town are of their historic and rather unusual station. In fact both East Herts District Council and Ware Town Council fought tooth and nail against BR's plans to demolish the original building in the 1980s and replace it with an ugly Portakabin lookalike CLASP building resembling the one which sprang up at Cheshunt around that time.

[BHornsey]

Yes, I remember the attempt to 'improve' the station here.
I was at both Ware and Cheshunt for a spell in the 80's and always felt Cheshunt was a soulless spot (along with Rye House - another greenhouse monstrosity!) although I enjoyed working the signalbox there.

I was glad that Roydon station buildings also survived, although as a restaurant at the time. Is it still in use? I haven't been there for 15 years now.

Brian

[Mickey]

Thanks again Mr Bunt and BHornsey for the info, yes Ware was a strange but interesting place with it's single line, 1960 signal box, level crossing, (large) goods depot, search light signals with L.N.E.R. ground signals all topped off with the 25000KV overhead electrified line system. In fact it was probably the most interesting place on the whole of the G.E.R. section of the Eastern region!. I liked Hertford East as well i just wished i could have got up into both Hertford East and Ware s/boxes back in the early 1970s to have a look around. I didn't know to much about st Margarets other than the s/box was on the down platform and it use to be the junction for the onetime branch to Buntingford and as for Rye House there was 'nothing there' not even a s/box that i can remember back in the 1970s. Micky L.N.E.R.

[Mr Bunt]

I didn't know to much about st Margarets other than the s/box was on the down platform and it use to be the junction for the onetime branch to Buntingford

St Margaret's box had a 56 lever frame, but by the time it closed in 2003 only 11 of them were still in use. You could see the frame from passing trains and it was a forest of white levers interspersed with the occasional red or yellow one

[Mickey]

I didn't know to much about st Margarets other than the s/box was on the down platform and it use to be the junction for the onetime branch to Buntingford

St Margaret's box had a 56 lever frame, but by the time it closed in 2003 only 11 of them were still in use. You could see the frame from passing trains and it was a forest of white levers interspersed with the occasional red or yellow one

There's an interior picture of st Margarets s/box in the book Branch lines around Hertford and it show the lever frame with a handful of red and black levers amongst the mainly white spare levers. Micky