New Barnet Sidings

[TX3]

Hi Everyone, I was wondering if there was anyone that knows of a pic of the siding at New Barnet south on the up side. Like many places it is now gone and tree lined where there were no trees at all in the early 1970's. It's where I used to sit and watch the trains go past in my tea break in a mind numbingly boring job that inspired me to get a job on the footplate. Occasionally, a trip freight with a Paxman type one in charge would drop off or pick up there. Now fifty years on I am compiling a book about my fun times on the railway. I worked on the GN, the Highland Railway and the Southern Central Section most of which dished up some amusing stories. Thanks for your interest.

[Dave Cockle]

There is a photo on page 174 of Peter Coster's book of The Great Northern showing part of New Barnet's South Sidings.

[Mickey]

About 300 yards further to the south of where you mentioned you was was Oakleigh Park Up goods yard & sidings until about 1970 which was controlled by Oakleigh Park s/box which was closed in the autumn of 1970 along with New Barnet South Box at the same time. From memory this Up goods yard & sidings just north of Oakleigh Park station had around 7-8 roads although they weren't to long in length with some of the roads tending to be laid in a curve shape. From memory I recall seeing these Up sidings at the end of there life around 1968-1970 holding occasional trains of huge concrete tunnel lining rings on flat bogie bolster wagons destined for the then new Victoria line of London Underground that was then under construction.

Below a copyrighted photograph of a A3 on a Up express just about to pass through Oakleigh Park station showing the empty Oakleigh Park Up goods yard & sidings behind the express. This Up goods yard & sidings were eventually closed around 1970 and were lifted with the waste ground eventually being transformed into a modern housing estate during the later 1970s.-

https://railphotoprints.uk/img/s/v-10/p2914768574-4.jpg

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Oakleigh Pk goods yard also used to be a loading point for Vauxhall cars.

manna

[Mickey]

Oakleigh Pk goods yard also used to be a loading point for Vauxhall cars.

Yeah you are right manna I recall seeing the occasional trains of Vauxhall 'cartics' around 1968-1969 in the old Oakleigh Park goods yard.

[manna]

G'day Mickey

Weren't they the cars/vans for Export !

manna

[Mickey]

Weren't they the cars/vans for Export !

They may well have been manna but I don't honestly know but I do vaguely recall seeing those Vauxhall 'cartics' in Oakleigh Park goods yard around 1968-1969.

[TX3]

I'm glad I'm writing all this stuff down now as my short term memory is getting a whole lot worse. I can't believe it's a year since I posed the question, but thanks all for your answers.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

My memory, short term is getting worse to, but I can remember stuff from 60 years ago, my Dad has dementia, can't remember much at all, but get him talking about Aircraft carriers that he was on in WW2 !!!!!!!

Sorry, I seem to remember hearing that Quad Arts, used to be stabled in the Up Goods yard many years ago, before my time on the railway, as trains used to start at New Barnet.

manna

[giner]

A very distant memory, but I believe at one time there was a great deal of army surplus parked in wagons shortly after the war, I'm thinking 1946-49 ish. I can remember my dad saying the government were selling off surplus motorbikes still in their shipping crates up there. Maybe someone can elaborate on that.

[Mickey]

From vague memory of seeing these sidings they were still in occasional use circa 1967-1968 also I recall seeing a 'loading gauge' being located near to the exit to these sidings.

[Mickey]

From memory going back to circa 1968-1969...

The exit from the Up sidings at Oakleigh Park was and is a bit complicated to write and explain in a post.

See Stevie's hand drawn track layout below.

[StevieG]

Well you've got me confused Mickey ; and if I am, there's a good chance that TX3 might be as well.
Some of the time I don't know if you're writing about the south end of New Barnet Up sidings, or Oakleigh Park Up sidings.

Unless there were any well inside the sidings at Oakleigh Park, there were no double-slips at OP at all.
The Up Goods there trailed into the Up Slow by a long double-ended connection (No.19 points), but the UG track from their facing end curved left (from a train Driver's perspective) and ran a short distance up onto the cutting top, disappeared under some of the earth in the manner of a sand drag (and I think ended in a buffer stop).
It was there as a run-off only, which I think did happen at least once, as I seem to recall once seeing a tendered steam loco which, presumably thanks to its train that couldn't stop, passed the UG Home (No.22) at Danger and got that far.

Meanwhile the OP Up sidings exit did have a governing disc (24) and double-ended points (21), and crossed that UG run-off halfway along by a simple fixed diamond crossing (no slips) on its way to trailing into the UG points just before they joined the Up Slow.

New Barnet Up sidings exit (51 points / 52 exit disc) did involve a double slip; heading south it was where the last two sidings converged, from which the right-hand route from either siding took you out onto the Up Goods, while taking the L/H route led to and along the medium length Spur that ran in parallel with the UG, almost to Longmore Avenue underbridge.

[Mickey]

My previous post Stevie was in regards to the south end exit from the Up sidings just to the north of Oakleigh Park station controlled by Oakleigh Park box which I thought I made clear?. The mention of New Barnet South Box was in relation to the Up Goods line basically running parallel to the Up slow line from about New Barnet South Box after the Up Goods line had originated at New Barnet North Box and then it ran through New Barnet station to the east of the Up slow line platform passing along side the goods shed after which it converged again towards New Barnet South Box to then run parallel with the Up slow line towards Oakleigh Park station where the Up Goods line converged into the Up slow line just to the north of Oakleigh Park station.

With regards to a ground disc signal at the exit to the Up sidings at Oakleigh Park. Maybe that 'dolly' was still there circa 1969 or early 1970 (from memory the signalling at Oakleigh Park and New Barnet South and North boxes was rationalized early in 1970 when both the Up and Down Goods lines were taken out of use pending removal) but as I said in my previous post I can't remember seeing a 'dolly' after some 53 or 54 years further on from when those Oakleigh Park Up sidings were taken out of use.

Yes I did mention a 'head shunt' of sorts at the south end exit to Oakleigh Park Up sidings as you also mentioned which I stated appeared to rise slightly in a shallow curve before ending, again I am only going on my memory with nothing of this post been documented in drawings.

[StevieG]

Mickey, it was indeed a long time ago.

As far as Oakleigh Park's track layout, discussed in the previous posts is concerned, I think I see the logic of what you say about how it could have been for the PWay department's benefit.
But perhaps the accompanying rough sketch diagram will help as to how it really was, Mickey, TX3 (this does not try to show all the handpoint turnouts that were within the sidings, and in any case these could have been altered whenever the use of the sidings radically changed; e.g. Vauxhall cars/parts versus Victoria Line tunnel lining segments).