Kings Cross Goods

[StevieG]

You still had walking access to the hotel curve tunnel mouth via a wire gate as there was switchgear in there.

Yes - I took a photo of the old Hotel Curve exit too (1987)... a bit different from the days when the N2's used to storm out of there!

Another good 'un Dave.
Noting the up/down undulations of the join between old and new brickwork on the right, reckon that each place where the joins go low, was where the side windows were in the sloping enclosed way for passengers along the other side of the old brickwork, which led from the west end of the local station circulating area, down to the wooden Down Moorgate line platform 16 (latterly 14).

[manna]

G'Day Gents

'Andy W' has nailed it in one, the wooden platform was where the cars are, I like the picture of the old Hotel tunnel mouth, looks so...desolate,....................just another hole in the wall, to coin a phrase

manna

[JeffB]

Good picture Dave. Fetches back many memories. Can remember coming storming up the incline with N2s, then on D53xx, D61xx and Brush 2s.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

That's an interesting snippet of news, I never knew that the D53xx and D61xx were allowed down the 'drain' 31's and 25's yes, but not the other two

manna

[StevieG]

G'Day Gents

That's an interesting snippet of news, I never knew that the D53xx and D61xx were allowed down the 'drain' 31's and 25's yes, but not the other two

manna

I can just remember, from my youft, during the brief spells that the former two types spent on some KX area suburban services, seeing them on New Barnet evening peak Down terminators, and shunting the stock back into the Down sidings there for the night. Sorry, don't know where those trains had originated though.

[lemmo]

Great pics

On DaveGN's first pic, was the left hand track also a platform road, i.e. the other platform face of the wooden Hotel Curve platform?

And how did passengers access the platform?

[StevieG]

Great pics

On DaveGN's first pic, was the left hand track also a platform road, i.e. the other platform face of the wooden Hotel Curve platform?

And how did passengers access the platform?

Yes lemmo, that was Platform 17 road (not sure that they bothered to alter the platform number at the time of the early 1970s platform renumbering, when the Down Moorgate Platform 16 became 14 : Sometime before that, I remember seeing the normal dark blue enamel "PLATFORM 17" sign(s?) hung under the canopy over No.17 platform).
At the north end, the 16/17 platform island was all-wooden, all at one level and became very narrow, the dividing wall ending well short of the platform end so it was easy to walk round. But in any case, further back towards Hotel Curve Tunnel mouth, there was at least one (quite probably more) gap in the buildings on No. 16, and there were a few steps to get you from the steeply-inclined 16 up to the level(-ish?) 17.
Not sure how much passenger use 17 ever saw, but by 1969 (and I sensed that the change was not very recent then), the last main arrival signal (KC128) on 'E' route, right outside 'Passenger Loco's 'elephant house' shed, whose only route was into 17, had been made a permanent red, with all moves past it into 17 and the Milk Yard sidings made under authority of 132 disc signal below 128.
So whenever that alteration was done (& why?), it effectively removed the proper means of signalling passenger train arrivals into 17.

[JeffB]

Hi Manna, both the D53xxs and D61xxs were allowed down the drain, see Brian Webbs book "Sulzer Diesel Locomotives of British Rail". We had one job way back where we picked up a Sulzer 2 in the yard at Finsbury Park and took it light engine down the drain to work the first train out of Moorgate in the evening. I got my rear end kicked because I did,nt know how to work the Stone,s boiler. I had never been shown how to do it. D5309 was the engine. It was the first time I had been on one. Had the job all the week and they went home cold all the week.
Baby Deltics also went down the drain but they were stopped eventually because of the diesel fumes and smoke they emitted. The tunnels were full of a blue haze.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

The news about Baby Deltics actually going down the drain to Moorgate, is news to, I had heard that the Baby Deltics, were built with the LT trip gear, but that is the first time anybody has confirmed, that they actually did get to Moorgate, I bet the noise was terrific in those tunnels.

manna

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

And the smoke......

[jwealleans]

Not specifically the Goods, but this has been posted on a couple of forums, for anyone who hasn't yet seen it:

http://londonist.com/2010/07/video_king ... _1950s.php

[DaveGN]

Excellent - I had not seen that but very enjoyable.

KX Goods was in it from 13.48 to 15.40!

Thanks