Kings Coss Passenger Loco

[giner]

G'Day Gents

OH DEAR ! What a mess, everyone used to complain that KX was a mess 40 years ago, it was a paradise then, compared with what it looks like today.

Most loco's would have to shunt to get into the 'milk dock' can't say to much about steam days, bit to young to remember every move in the 'Cross' but in diesel days almost all loco's would shunt into Gasworks tunnel, so that they could access the passenger loco.

manna

Just quoting you manna cos you hit the nail on the head

What have they gone and done to the old homestead sad sad sad...

Seconding quote from me, too. That cleaned-up brickwork looks disgusting. What a dog's breakfast. The day the first diesel arrived was the day the music died. Thank God I have the memories. I know I'm living in the past there, but it was so much more comfortable than the present.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Interesting piccies. My first visit to the Cross, circa 1971, had a mixture of blue and green livs, memorable for the trip north which had "Ballymoss" in green with full yellow ends. Reminds me of that - all engines on Loco seemed to be green both out and home.

As good as the DELTICS looked in B.R. two tone green and i remember them running like that i think that they actually looked better in all over British Rail blue with full yellow front ends

The BRUSH TYPE 4s looked better in two tone B.R. green and the BRUSH TYPE 2s looked good in either B.R. two tone green or British Rail all over blue with full yellow front ends

Ay up, Micky!

I reckon you're dead on with the Type 2s - handsome for a diesel and rather purposeful looking in blue or green. Meself, I reckon green has it. The Type 4s never looked right to me in original "coroporate" liv. The Large Logo blue gave them some character back, I always thought.


'Fraid I have to disagree re the Deltics though. Green = long, low looks. Blue made 'em look dumpy

[Mickey]

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[strang steel]

It is strange how one person can see beauty where another only sees a hideous lump of metal, but for me the two-tone green with small yellow warning panel looks good on most of the BR diesels.

I am of the opinion that a full yellow end does nothing for them, and all over blue was a disaster, but that is probably because I grew up with two-tone green in the 1960s.

[Mickey]

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[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

The EE 4s are my fave diesel so I reckon they good in both. Anyone remember the East Lancs running 40145 in Large Logo blue? Worked for me! I ha' me doots aboot 40445 - it carried this number briefly with a dummy ETH socket. That was pushing it a bit too far.

Anyone else think the application of the small panels brightened up the green diesels?

[Mickey]

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[kudu]

Long term, I am thinking off modelling the Passenger Loco but in steam days pre-1950. Can some kind soul point me to a decent side view of the mess room which doesn't have a loco or clouds of smoke/steam obscuring it? Also which roads would have been used for loco movements to and from bottom shed and the station and/or top shed? I can see from the 1943 track layout in GN Engine Sheds how suburban tanks would have moved but would a loco like an A3 have stopped on one of the main lines before setting back? (You can tell I am not a railwayman!)

I can't answer for 1943, but from my memories from the 1950s/60s ALL locos would have reversed from the running lines in the tunnel, usually using the easternpost of the down lines (ie the one adjacent to the up lines). If you are referring to the spur between the up lines, this was never used for engine reversals in my experience, but for stabling tank locos. Apart from anything else, the spur did not give access to the loco. without further reversals. What an inconvenient layout Kings Cross had! Was there any other terminus with 6 approach roads or even 4 where they were grouped by direction, guaranteeing an abundance of conflicting movements?

(I am not a railwayman either.)

Kudu

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Hi Kudu, KX might have been very complex, but it was very cramped, and there was plenty of conflicting movements, but to me that was the essence of KX and made it so interesting, there might have been six roads but there could be four movements going on at any one time, 1, train into York Road, 2, main line arrival (up relief, I think) center tunnel, 3, Light engine movement, sitting in center tunnel (M2 ?) awaiting signal to pass loco, 4, DMU, on down slow (departing)

What an interesting place to work.

manna

[Mickey]

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[thesignalman]

MARYLEBONE was only good for Rolls Royce DMUs for 98% of the time unless you wanted to see the Aylesbury newspaper train hauled by a class 25 depart MARYLEBONE at 4:am?

About half past two, from memory, Micky.

John

[Mickey]

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[Blink Bonny]

Well BB talking about the class 40s i always preferred the 'disc headcode' locos followed by the 'split headcode' locos over the later normal 4 character headcode locos myself

The strange thing about those class 40s or 2000s they looked 'ruddy good' in both B.R. two tone GREEN & British Rail corporate BLUE as well

Ay up!

For me, its the split box, followed by disc, followed by centre panel but lets not split hairs, Micky.

Must get to a working EE4 - I'm starting to suffer from FoDS (FOrty Deficiency Syndrome!)

[Mickey]

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[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Ooooooh, I've gone funny all over just thinking about that! Reminds me of summer afternoons at school dozing off in General Studies until the sound of a type4 lifting 1,000 tons of coal out of Healy Mills yard some 3 miles distant reached my lugholes.

After leaping up, the teacher (Mr Bean is you please!) submitted me to sarcasm that would bring on a disciplinary these days....