Kings Cross

[Mickey]

Hear hear, Mickey. Apart from the two arches and the tunnel mouths, all of which are disgustingly clean now, you'd be pressed to realise it's Kings Cross. We know things 'move on', but . . .

Personally I don't like anything they've done to Kings Cross station in the last 50-55 years and I mean ANYTHING!. It's more like a 'Disneyland theme park' these days. Even the old British Rail 1973 concourse was a lot better than the big open space at the front of the station on Euston Road these days.

[strang steel]

Same here. I don't like that big area with the glass roof, where you have to stand for ages in in front of a departure board in order to find your train has been cancelled.

[Mickey]

Three or four years ago the marketing people were promoting the "new look Kings Cross station" by saying that it was a great shopping experience along with a number of swanky new bars and restaurants and oh yes, there's a 'train station' as well!!. That just about sums it up!.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

I haven't seen KX since 1992, but I have seen the pictures, some good, but mostly bad, the sight of the passenger loco, reminds me of the old GN pics of the large wall that was there in 1900, surprised they haven't reinstalled 'Battlesbridge' road bridge, because it's 'Retro'. I have my memories of the cross 50 years ago, I'll keep them in my head, I don't need to 'See' the new stuff.

manna

[Mickey]

I would really love to hear from anyone that wouldn't mind a chat or being interviewed to talk about Kings Cross and the many characters that were there. the half century that has somehow mysteriously elapsed since those days sometimes blurs the memorie,s so to just get those names back has been an immense help as I put stories together. Ken Grieg bellowing out orders from the mess room door resplendent in his blue dust coat and clipboard in hand is a lingering memory.

I remember being in the Kings Cross BRSA club one day back in the middle 1970s (opposite St Pancras station) when one of the KX loco foreman (not greggy) came rushing into the club which was very unusual to see that happen looking for a driver and secondman to work a train of ECS out of one of the main line platforms to Hornsey carriage sidings (obviously pre 1991 drug & alcohol policy era)

I just read some stuff on Archie Cowlard who during a work to rule once left a loco hauled passenger train with only the loco on platform 12(10) and the rest of the train full of passengers stranded across the station as he "Screwed it down" having run over his time. I observed it from the Passenger Loco foreman's office, where the foreman declared, "They've got him now!" But they didn't.

Back in 1974-75 I obviously knew of and saw Archie Cowlard around the Kings Cross train crews messroom but I never spoke to him being at the time a humble 17-18 year old secondman at Kings Cross (don't ever recall being Archie's secondman either?) anyway I heard the stories of him supposedly always faulting EVERYHING that was wrong with a loco and writing it all down in the 'fault repair book' with it being rumoured that the fitters at Finsbury Park MPD liked Archie for giving them some extra work to do ha ha

[thesignalman]

Archie was all right, he gained a reputation with those that didn't really understand that he chose to work "by the book", which is what we all should have been doing. He was friendly and cheerful with all the signalmen at Kings Cross, although I only actually met him personally in his later years when he was on other duties for health reasons.

John

[60048]

Chaps, sorry to deviate from the current topic, I am sure I have read the answer this question (possibly in this thread) but having searched I cannot find it.

When one of the re-signalling projcets took place, I am guessing in the 1930s, the track diagram in a digital copy of the signalling booklet I have got (not sure where It came from now) shows Platform 3 at KGX being probably half length, and the platform face coming out nearer to the buffer stops to meet the middle road, which was Platform 4. There was Siding 9 but no Platform 9.

When did that change to give eight full length platforms? Can anyone tell me please - or even point me to where the question has been answered before. I have spent a good hour searching for the answer!!

Richie

[StevieG]

" .... When one of the re-signalling projcets took place, I am guessing in the 1930s, the track diagram in a digital copy of the signalling booklet I have got (not sure where It came from now) shows Platform 3 at KGX being probably half length, and the platform face coming out nearer to the buffer stops to meet the middle road, which was Platform 4. There was Siding 9 but no Platform 9.

When did that change to give eight full length platforms? .... "

IIRC Richie, Platform 3 didn't last very long after the 1932 resignalling, going during about 1934 -'36 I think, its trackbed being filled in to make No.4 full length.
Siding 9 didn't last much longer, disappearing I believe around 1938 with the widening of the hitherto narrow Plats.7/8 island to full width.

[60048]

Stevie,
That's great, many thanks. Confirms my thoughts (hopes?) that by the mid-1950s all eight main line platforms were full length.

Cheers
Richie

[Mickey]

I noticed the other week while travelling south on a no.390 bus crossing the bottom of the Caledonian Road and the east/west Pentonville Road that the Kings Cross Thames link station ticket hall and entrance/exit onto the Pentonville Road has now completely disappeared behind a boarded up wall so I presume an 'underground walkway' connection now exists between Kings Cross Thames link platforms and the main line station?.

[60048]

Hi Mickey,
The platforms at KX Thameslink haven't been in use since the new Kings Cross St Pancras Thameslink station opened a few years ago. I suspect the access will be sealed and the building repurposed/sold off.
Richie

[StevieG]

I noticed the other week while travelling south on a no.390 bus crossing the bottom of the Caledonian Road and the east/west Pentonville Road that the Kings Cross Thames link station ticket hall and entrance/exit onto the Pentonville Road has now completely disappeared behind a boarded up wall so I presume an 'underground walkway' connection now exists between Kings Cross Thames link platforms and the main line station?.

Hi Mickey,
The platforms at KX Thameslink haven't been in use since the new Kings Cross St Pancras Thameslink station opened a few years ago. I suspect the access will be sealed and the building repurposed/sold off.
Richie

Following on from 60048's info Mickey, IIRC the closure as a station served by passenger trains as mentioned above was around Dec. 2007, with the platforms the retained for emergency use only.
But the subway connecting with the Underground's most recently opened main subway access to the Victoria and Piccadilly lines remained open, full or part-time (perhaps 'Peak' hours only) for quite a few years afterwards, for pedestrian access from/to the Pentonville Road via the station's former booking hall.

But not too many years ago, maybe initially owing to COVID and/or as an economy measure, that route was made normally closed to the public, and so the station building was then also retained as an emergency exit only.
I wasn't aware of that latest change until happening to walk by on 21/10/23 en route to the SRS meeting, and finding that the, mostly-glazed, frontage of the station building had been completely boarded up, but included just one pair of (boarded up) doors, for exit purposes : The boarding up must've been very recent as it was free of graffitti at that time; a situation sure not to last !

[Mickey]

Hi Mickey,
The platforms at KX Thameslink haven't been in use since the new Kings Cross St Pancras Thameslink station opened a few years ago. I suspect the access will be sealed and the building repurposed/sold off.
Richie

Thanks Richie, my old dad (since diseased back in 1970) use to come up to Kings Cross once a week to find out what work he was doing the following week on the old Fleet Street newspapers in a building just off the Grays Inn Road anyway one morning he said to me aged 10 at the time in 1967 did I want to have a ride on the train up to London with him from WGC where we was living at the time to Kings Cross and return this was in June of 1967 which of course I did so that was my first time of travelling up to Kings Cross in 1967. The station entrance to and from the main line platforms at that time was the same as shown in the 1955 Ladykillers film with tall narrow archways and with black taxi cabs pulling up right outside the station entrance although that quickly changed not long after my first trip with the building of the then new Victoria line right outside the station entrance during 1968-1969.

Anyway on walking along Pentonville Road away from Kings Cross station still in 1967 and then crossing over the Pentonville Road just before where the Thames link station entrance/exit would be during the 1990s & 2000s there was a small café that my dad took me in for some breakfast which happened on another handful of occasions back then anyway the café is long gone from 1967 but in 2023 there appears to be what looks like a small doorway with it's shutters pulled which maybe have been where that café once was?.

[Mickey]

I noticed the other week while travelling south on a no.390 bus crossing the bottom of the Caledonian Road and the east/west Pentonville Road that the Kings Cross Thames link station ticket hall and entrance/exit onto the Pentonville Road has now completely disappeared behind a boarded up wall so I presume an 'underground walkway' connection now exists between Kings Cross Thames link platforms and the main line station?.

Hi Mickey,
The platforms at KX Thameslink haven't been in use since the new Kings Cross St Pancras Thameslink station opened a few years ago. I suspect the access will be sealed and the building repurposed/sold off.
Richie

Following on from 60048's info Mickey, IIRC the closure as a station served by passenger trains as mentioned above was around Dec. 2007, with the platforms the retained for emergency use only.
But the subway connecting with the Underground's most recently opened main subway access to the Victoria and Piccadilly lines remained open, full or part-time (perhaps 'Peak' hours only) for quite a few years afterwards, for pedestrian access from/to the Pentonville Road via the station's former booking hall.

But not too many years ago, maybe initially owing to COVID and/or as an economy measure, that route was made normally closed to the public, and so the station building was then also retained as an emergency exit only.
I wasn't aware of that latest change until happening to walk by on 21/10/23 en route to the SRS meeting, and finding that the, mostly-glazed, frontage of the station building had been completely boarded up, but included just one pair of (boarded up) doors, for exit purposes : The boarding up must've been very recent as it was free of graffitti at that time; a situation sure not to last !

Thanks Stevie & Ritchie for the info and as far as that Kings Cross Thames link station is concerned the last time that I 'went through it' was on the front of a blue livered class 31 hauling a rake of non-corridor inner suburban stock back in 1975 when I was a secondman at Kings Cross when it was still part of the old 'Widen lines' of the joint Eastern & London Midland Regions of British Rail!.

[StevieG]

Following on from 60048's info Mickey, IIRC the closure as a station served by passenger trains as mentioned above was around Dec. 2007, with the platforms the retained for emergency use only.
But the subway connecting with the Underground's most recently opened main subway access to the Victoria and Piccadilly lines remained open, full or part-time (perhaps 'Peak' hours only) for quite a few years afterwards, for pedestrian access from/to the Pentonville Road via the station's former booking hall.

But not too many years ago, maybe initially owing to COVID and/or as an economy measure, that route was made normally closed to the public, and so the station building was then also retained as an emergency exit only.
I wasn't aware of that latest change until happening to walk by on 21/10/23 en route to the SRS meeting, and finding that the, mostly-glazed, frontage of the station building had been completely boarded up, but included just one pair of (boarded up) doors, for exit purposes : The boarding up must've been very recent as it was free of graffitti at that time; a situation sure not to last !

Thanks Stevie & Ritchie for the info and as far as that Kings Cross Thames link station is concerned the last time that I 'went through it' was on the front of a blue livered class 31 hauling a rake of non-corridor inner suburban stock back in 1975 when I was a secondman at Kings Cross when it was still part of the old 'Widen lines' of the joint Eastern & London Midland Regions of British Rail!.

Mickey, Have been reading up (in the Wicked Pedia ), which says KX Thameslink's last service passenger train called there very late evening on 09th December 2007,
and that the Ticket Office and subway to the Underground, whose normal hours were 07:00 - 20:00 weekdays, was closed for normal use by TfL on 23rd March 2020.

If you can view it, this should include a view of Kings Cross ('Met.') station during its "KX Thameslink" days : -
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=h ... AdAAAAABAJ