Hermit 109 wrote: Regarding the Northern Heights, I know the GNR built steam railcars for the Edgeware branch & I seem to recall some of the senior drivers at King's Cross, who would have started in GN days, talking about the steam railcars. Does anyone know when they were withdrawn.
and now you're one of the senior hands yourself, Hermit, welcome to the club According to 'From Stirling to Gresley - 1882 to 1922' by FAS Brown, around 1906 the GNR introduced six steam railcars, two by Kitson, two by Avonside and two built at Doncaster. By February of that year, one of the GN cars was working between Finchley and Edgware. They were all scrapped in 1925-26, although their coaches were articulated in pairs and worked until 1959-60 on the Horncastle branch as well as between Stamford and Essendine.
According to Baxter's "British Locomotive Catalogue 1825-1923" Vol 5B the six rail motors were all withdrawn in 1914 but stored until 1924-6 and broken up in May 1927, though only two the Doncaster-built coaches were converted to an artic push-pull unit in 1930. The LNER briefly restored two of the units for the Hertford N - Hitchin service, a detail also given in the "Locomotives" section of this site. But Casserley & Johnston's "Locomotives at the Grouping" No 2 includes the 6 rail motors in the stock acquired by the LNER. So were they withdrawn at the time of the Grouping or not?
Don't know about Cravens Micky, but a six car Met Cam DMU worked a Railtour over the Northern Heights through to Edgware on
1st Oct 1960. Details and photos on Six Bells Junction website (The Railtours Pages).
Before I went to the signal school at Kings Cross in 1969, I was given four weeks up Finsbury Park No 6 box to familiarise myself with signalling procedures. The Drayton Park - Highgate Wood Sidings tube stock transfer ran on a twice weekly basis and Arthur Smith, Finsbury Park Station Supervisor, would act as pilotman. Single Line Working was in use between Finsbury Park No 7 and Park Junction over the Up line due to the Down line being obstructed at Crouch End by a support being placed in the four foot to support a weak road over bridge (Crouch End Hill).
I remember the train was signalled on the block bell as 2-2-1-2 Electric Empty Coaching Stock.
I do remember on a glorious sunny Sunday morning in 1965 as a secondman signing on for duty at Finsbury Park, there were two of us As Req and after a couple of hours we went for walk over the "northern heights to be" line and got to the derelict Stroud Green station we even went into the old waiting room on the down platform and afterwards wandered back to Finsbury Park.
There is a booklet that was printed in 1993 called Northern Wastes and published by the North London Transport Society, it probably has now gone out of print. It was fortune that I was given a copy by a work colleague and is a very interesting read.
Jim Blake's Northern Wastes has gone through several editions over many years, going back to an early one which seemed like home-printed A4 pages stapled in one corner - probably all Jim could manage at the time.
Amazon lists what could be the most recent edition (softcover, 48 pages [glossy IIRC], 1993), but as 'currently unavailable' - ' Not known if / when it will again be in stock' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Northern-Wastes ... ern+wastes
Also possibly of interest, "By Tube Beyond Edgware" by Capital Transport.
Plus, looks very interesting (to me), recently seen at one of the LT Museums' shop counters (might have been Acton);- "The Northern Line Extensions", from the LURS by Brian Hardy & MRFS, 2011, A5 softcover book, 80 pages, £8.95. ISSN 0306-8617.
Lots of photos, including colour, and 8 pages of colour signalling diagrams for how the completed scheme would've been, for all locations Drayton Park to Bushey Heath/Alexandra Palace.
Last edited by StevieG on Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
'Somewhere' I've got some poor photocopies of details of the LNER's early 1930s resignalling between Fins.Pk.7 and Park Junction (including a feint copy of the Signalling Notice's pages) using standard multi-aspect colour-lights, which I'm thinking would've been when Stroud Green, Crouch End and Archway boxes were abolished.
Odd to think that if the 1935-1940 New Works Plan's Northern Line extensions, Drayton Park - High Barnet / Alexandra Palace / Bushey Heath ('Aldenham'), had been fully completed rather than just the Park Jn. - High Barnet/Mill Hill East bit, that this then still modern equipment would probably have been removed in favour of standard LT signalling after as few as around 10-15 years.
According to 'From Stirling to Gresley - 1882 to 1922' by FAS Brown, around 1906 the GNR introduced six steam railcars, two by Kitson, two by Avonside and two built at Doncaster. By February of that year, one of the GN cars was working between Finchley and Edgware. They were all scrapped in 1925-26, although their coaches were articulated in pairs and worked until 1959-60 on the Horncastle branch as well as between Stamford and Essendine.
