King's Cross Platforms 1964

[Josh Hamilton]

Hello all,

I'm typing up the 1964/65 WTT (Sections A & B) for a project, one thing the WTT does not state is platforming arrangements! I guess there was a general pattern of platform allocations with No.8 being Down Expresses and 16 being the Up Widened Lines. Does anyone have a rough idea of what was used for what around that time?

Many thanks,
Josh Hamilton

[StevieG]

Hello all,

I'm typing up the 1964/65 WTT (Sections A & B) for a project, one thing the WTT does not state is platforming arrangements! I guess there was a general pattern of platform allocations with No.8 being Down Expresses and 16 being the Up Widened Lines. Does anyone have a rough idea of what was used for what around that time?

Many thanks,
Josh Hamilton

I'll kick off potential answers for you Josh by just offering that, by around five years after the period which you are enquiring about and subsequently, and quite probably long before that, details of the scheduled platformings were published in a Kings Cross Platform Workings booklet, revised and reissued when each new WTT was published.
As to use, in very old days the common principle of passenger arrivals in one part of the station and departures from the other was the drill at KX (indeed, initially what became Nos. 1 & 10 were the only platforms); partly demonstrated by the fact that until the 1920s there was still no passenger running line giving Up direction access to platforms 6 - 17, although passenger services even then could depart from every platform.
But once the centre tunnel bore's Up Carriage line was converted to be the Up Relief line, passr. trains could arrive and leave from anywhere (except of course that York Road platform remained Up only, and Up arrivals could not go into the steeply graded No.16, which was only for Down trains rising from the City Widened Lines).

So in "64 /'65, although No.10 probably tended to be used for the top prestige departures when possible, and perhaps No.1 for similar arrivals, and every train would have had a scheduled platform in the 'Workings' book, the amount and mix of traffic, and delays or unexpected events, doubtless necessitated flexibility in practice, and any pattern resembling such as 'trains to X always leave from platform Y' may have been unlikely : Only a copy of the relevant 'Workings' book would show you the definitive answer though.
(Remembering that the platforms of the 'suburban' and 'local stations' were significantly shorter than 1 - 10 of the 'main station', and that No.3 was removed around 1934, and there never was a platform 9 until the 1970s renumbering.)

[Josh Hamilton]

I was rather hoping someone had a PW Book of that time Thank you for that. Back to the photos!

Josh

[Mickey]

I'm typing up the 1964/65 WTT (Sections A & B) for a project, one thing the WTT does not state is platforming arrangements! I guess there was a general pattern of platform allocations with No.8 being Down Expresses and 16 being the Up Widened Lines. Does anyone have a rough idea of what was used for what around that time?

In 1964/65 I presume you mean the old No.10 platform rather than the current No.8 platform which was re-numbered as No.8 platform in 1972. Also the old No.16 platform the 'Hotel Curve' platform that was No.16 platform in 1964/65 and became No.14 platform in 1972 and I mite be wrong but you called it the 'Up Widened line' I would have thought it was the 'Down line' at least from the junction and around the 'Hotel Curve' and on into No.16 platform and beyond into the Down slow line opposite passenger loco.

[65447]

Platform 1 (on the east side) was used for Parcels train unloading (and loading?) c1964-66. I used to work in the Chief Civil Engineer's offices on that side and I walked along the platform to the sight of flying boxes and sound of breaking contents.