Slack signals?

[Mickey]

Hi don"t usually "buy in" to your signalling posts&memories, but read avidly, but noticed your "Down Poplar" line mention, I assume there was an "UP" also,..

Come now jj all my memories are 100% fact, well maybe 99% are?.

With regards to the 'Up & Down Poplar lines' at Victoria Park from my faded memory they weren't shown as such on the Victoria Park track diagram in early 1980 when I was at the box although around 1979 some 'track rationalisation' had taken place at Victoria Park and quite possibly the previous track diagram may have shown those lines as the 'Poplar lines' I don't know?. Anyway as for the changes at the box by about 1979 the old Up Hackney Wick sidings had been lifted. These Hackney Wick sidings were laid on a curve and running parallel to the Up & Down Poplar lines that were also laid on a sweeping curve and contained about 8 'rusty' roads when I recall seeing them for the first time around 1974 but by 1979 they had been lifted. Also the junction for either the Stratford direction or the Poplar direction had been re-modelled with the 'fixed diamond' crossing' being removed and two new facing connections worked by 'motor points' on two separate levers being installed leading from the Up Poplar to Up Poplar docks and another set of motor points a trailing/facing connection leading to the Up/Down Poplar docks line if that makes any sense?. Also the Up Poplar line 2nd home & junction signal(s) that were carried on a bracket post with two individual dolls (posts) was abolished and a medium straight metal tubular post signal that carried the Up Poplar line home signal leading towards the Up 'starter' a colour light no.18 lever from memory that lead towards the Lee junction/Channelsea & Stratford direction and a ground disc signal at the base of the Up home signal that lead on to the Up Poplar docks direction. Also coming off the Down Poplar docks line 'outside the box' by 1979 was a ground disc signal that lead into the Down I.B. section (Intermediate Block Section) and towards the Homerton and Western Junction at Dalton direction.

When I was at Victoria Park from early 1980 to access to 'Poplar docks line' the Up & Down Poplar docks lines had at onetime been a double-track line but was possibly singled around 1979(?) at Victoria Park the same time as the aforementioned 'track rationalisation' had taken place although there was still a number of lengths of double-track still laid in on the Poplar docks line on a 'raised bridge' section over a motorway below from outside the box to as far as a x2 lever ground frame at Old Ford. This few hundred yards of double-track had one road that was just being used as a 'run round road' for a train loco to 'run round it's train before or exiting the Poplar docks single line but to access the Poplar docks single line proper heading towards Poplar docks this ground frame at Old Ford which was possibly located maybe about 400-450 yards from the box had to be operated by the train crew. This Old Ford ground frame held a couple of levers that the train crews operated by themselves and that included a goods guard as well because the Monday to Friday daily goods train from Temple Mills to Poplar docks and the return working was always loco hauled (usually a blue livered class 31) and a 'loose coupled train' with x2 brake vans at either end of the train. This 'Poplar goods' was usually quite a long train consisting of bogie bolsters, mineral wagons and box vans. The x2 lever ground frame that was operated by the train crew at Old Ford was worked by a Annette's key to lock & unlock the Old Ford ground frame and also it doubled-up as the one train working 'single line train staff' as well and when not in the possession of a train crew 'on the Poplar docks line' was kept in Victoria Park box in a glass fronted wooden cabinet mounted on the block shelf.

[rockinjohn]

Hi Mickey the "BUY IN "comment was not one of disbelief,not meant the same as" not buying that" etc, just that I meant, I never comment on things I know little of or nothing of eg. signals/block sections or andersons wires(look that up) etc now those Hackney Wick sidings apart from the coal merchants there,it also had a scrap iron merchant who managed to gain the job of breaking up some Eastern Region locos, I saw three(3)all J15's with tenders most likely ex:Stratford(30A)possibly other classes found their way there also.jj

[Mickey]

That's ok jj no problem I liked how you wrote it.

With regards to the 'Hackney Wick goods yard sidings' located on the Up side of the running lines I thought about them again yesterday and I also thought they had something to do with a 'coal yard' or something like that as well but I couldn't quite remember?. As I previously posted I recall seeing those sidings still laid in around 1974/75 when I was a secondman at Kings Cross anyway at the time Kings Cross loco crews had a number of diagrams maybe 2 or 3 usually in the weekday evenings of going 'light engine' from Finsbury Park MPD between about 8:00-9:00 pm and across the north London line via Canonbury Junction & Western Junction (Dalston) to Stratford FLT (Freightliner Terminal) in east London and then working back a Stratford to Leeds Freightliner back to the GN as far as Finsbury Park where the Kings Cross train crew (including a guard who would be sitting in the back cab of the usually class 47) would be relieved by a 'northern train crew' who took the train forward to Leeds anyway that's when I vaguely recall seeing those Hackney Wick sidings still there with maybe about 7 or 8 roads in the sidings?.

When I did a short spell as a secondman at Stratford MPD during 1979 there was a number of train crew diagrams at Stratford back then that were 'freight diagrams' usually starting from Temple Mills and then going across the north London line and back again either via the South Tottenham route or via Victoria Park and on the latter jobs via Victoria Park I can't recall if those Hackney Wick sidings were still laid in of if they had been 'lifted' by 1979?.

When I went to Victoria Park box as a signalman early in 1980 after going through the Ilford signalling school in January and then passing out the signalling school in mid February of 1980 and then learning the box for several weeks and then being passed out by the signalling district Inspector to work Victoria Park box where I stayed at for the next 18 months until late 1981 those Hackney Wick siding if not 'lifted' were certainly unable to be accessed because there was no actual connection via any set of points that were worked from Victoria Park box because it was 'plain line' where any set of points may have once been to access the sidings. After I became a bit more acquainted with the area I vaguely recall the ground where the sidings once were was just an 'open waste land' by 1980-81 when I was at the Victoria Park box.