"The final day of East Coast as we now know it!

[1H was 2E]

... was the announcement made by the conductor as the train I was on arrived at King's Cross this afternoon.

I'm surprised that this has not been mentioned on the Forum, as DOR East Coast was a successor to the LNER's trunk route.

Earlier today at Peterborough, a man was over-laying the coach letter stopping point signs with new 'Virgin Trains' ones. Presumably, the removal os every vestige of the present East Coast house style and livery will be removed over the next few days.

Queries and doubts are raised on this forum about seat upholstery colours, lettering and so on for stock in the past; has anyone recorded these details for the just-finished period? It seemed very unlikely to me that anyone in the future would be interested in the then-present world when diesels had replaced steam. but this seems to have happened - who's to say the present might not, some day, be the good old days to reminisce and about and even model.

As an aside, I have done a little of this myself. Bet few readers will know what lettering is carried externally on a Mk4 restaurant/kitchen to indicate its purpose for example - but maybe they don't mind not knowing...

The final announcement made by the conductor was "Please make sure you take everything with you when you leave the train" but I was honest, and left the nice crockery.

[giner]

"who's to say the present might not, some day, be the good old days to reminisce and about and even model."

Indeed. Though 'today' being thought of as the 'good old days' might come as a bit of a shocker to old gits like me.



"The final announcement made by the conductor was "Please make sure you take everything with you when you leave the train" but I was honest, and left the nice crockery."

See, in the interests of historical accuracy, you needed to be thinking 'archivally' in that moment.

[Brown Jack]

Hi,

The good old days as you call them, were, for me in the fifties and sixties, when we did not really bother what colour the upholstery was, because it didn't matter, as long as there was a seat to sit on.

[manna]

G'day Gents

Living so far away, I wouldn't know who the operator is/was or who it will be, they seem to change more than I change my underpants

manna

[9001 St Paddy]

I would say that the zenith of the G.N. route out of Kings Cross and the end of the "good old days" was probably sometime between 1963/64/65 after which time the route then went into a 'long and gradual decline' over the the next 10 years of signal box closures, track rationalisation schemes and route modernisation projects and is now virtually un-recognizable to anyone who remembers the route prior to the late 1960s.

Hatfield No.1 box formerly Micky.

[manna]

G'day Gents

Yeah, No Holloway C/S, No East Goods yard, No Finsbury Pk depot.....................I can't go on, the list is to long and depressing

manna

[limitofshunt]

But of course, the East Coast route is more than just the railway south of Watford... it does also extend to the North!

[giner]

Well, let's hear from you norveners, then.

Footnote: Watford? WATFORD!? Erm . . .

[kudu]

Footnote: Watford? WATFORD!? Erm . . .

Given that Kings Cross now has a Plum & Spilt Milk bar, this error is understandable.

Kudu

[giner]

Must've been some subversive yobbo from up the road that got that one in.

[9001 St Paddy]

G'day Gents

Yeah, No Holloway C/S, No East Goods yard, No Finsbury Pk depot.....................I can't go on, the list is to long and depressing.

Holloway (Down) carriage sidings and Finsbury Park diesel depot were built on for housing the former in the 2000s and the latter sometime back in the 1980s i believe?. East Goods yard from vague memory is where the Up Moorgate line desends in a cutting towards Drayton Park although i havan't been around that area for about the last 40 years i remember it better when Finsbury Park No.4 box (situated off the south end of Finsbury Park station on the Up side in the fork of the junction trackwork) was still there along with East Goods yard carriage sidings circa 1969/70.

Also no 'creep up' at Ashburton Grove (now the Emirates stadium i believe?) all gone along with Western sidings & Finsbury Park Up carriage sidings (GB sidings) also all gone.

Hatfield No.1 formerly Micky

[1H was 2E]

Yes, Micky, I do agree about the good old days of the 60's. Working in BR in the mid '70's it seemed the cuts were so severe (and excessive beyond sense) that it wouldn't be long before all that was left was a few trunk lines, or nothing at all.
However, I think there is a bit of a buzz about in the present day, much as I preferred British Rail. When I made that last-day trip all trains were diverted via Lincoln, and I chose a loco hauled service to enjoy (?) diesel loco traction after P'bro'. Leaving KX there's soon signs of widening/reinstatement and the Hitchin flyover, all unbelievable in the cash-strapped days of BR. Similarly, the transformation of Pbo North from the 2 platform slow line cramped station of my youth to multiple long platforms and an intensive service. Leaving the main line and heading for Spalding might soon be eased by another flyover, and, as part of the plan to route freight via the GN/GE the train I caught used the down Sleaford avoiding line - reopened, possibly that morning, after about 30 years of disuse.
So, at the moment, the cuts are over, and I'm trying to make the most of it before it's all reversed again.
It's just a shame that the Lincoln avoiding line can't be re-instated, but maybe the residents of the city appreciate convoys of interesting traction across their High St; or maybe not!