Welcome to unhealthy Hertford East

[Mr Bunt]

Getting back to McMullens, you could always enjoy a pint or four of AK in the beer garden behind the red fence here and contemplate the sad state of Hertford East box.

The Great Eastern Tavern, Railway Street, Hertford on 26 July 2010 (itself listed Grade Ii, directly opposite the old signal box and the appropriately named Holden Close).

[Mickey]

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[Andy W]

Well there you go. Completely missed seeing that the box was still there. I will put it down to a lack of beer!

I saw a few of the old Boxes are still up on the route into Liverpool St, gently mouldering away until someone probably decides they need to come down.

[Mr Bunt]

Well there you go. Completely missed seeing that the box was still there. I will put it down to a lack of beer!

I saw a few of the old Boxes are still up on the route into Liverpool St, gently mouldering away until someone probably decides they need to come down.

The only box that's vanished seems to be Ware; demolished on 17/18 January 2009.

Here's Broxbourne on 8 August 2010, still with "One" branding on the nearest end.

[Mickey]

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[Mr Bunt]

I liked Ware s/box, i vaguely recall seeing it in 1964 then occasionally from about 1967 onwards into the early 1970s cos i have relatives living in Ware.

I recall a x2 road siding at the south end of Ware station with a train of coal/coke wagons and a brake van attached standing on one of the siding roads that would have been around 1969 or 1970.

Also there was the quite large goods depot situated around the back of the station as well still there in 1969-70 although i believe that area has now got houses built on it.

This is the old goods depot Micky, photographed on 15 June 2010. It's been renovated to form a mixed residential/commercial development.

Regarding vanishing signal boxes I forgot Broxbourne Junction. That's gone and so has Essex Road level crossing (replaced by a bridge).

[Mickey]

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[Dave Cockle]

I remember an incident when I was a signalman at Hertford North on Christmas Eve 1970. I pulled off for the 19:30 DMU to Kings Cross
to depart from the Down Bay and got on the omnibus circuit to the platform at 19:33 as there was no movement. I tried several times
to raise the platform staff but got no reply. At 19:36 I left the box, crossed both running lines and made my way to the DMU drivers cab
near the cleared Down Bay starting signal. There was no sign of either driver or guard but there the was a couple of passengers seated in the train waiting for it to depart. I made my way along the platform and looked in both the Snr Railmens Office and Drivers Mess Room but still no sign of rail staff.

My next move was made with some sense of urgency as time was marching on and the train's departure was eight minutes overdue.
I sprinted down the stairs to the subway then down the next flight of stairs to the ticket hall. Crossed the North Road and entered the Selle Arms Public House opposite. In there chatting away at the bar was the traincrew for the 19:30 to Kings Cross and Snr Railman completely oblvious of the time. I will never forget the look of horror on their faces when I told them their train should have departed ten minutes ago. Their drinks were abandoned and they shot out of the pub at break neck speed closely followed by me. I've never seen a traincrew move so fast.

The 19:30 Hertford North - Kings Cross was a twelve late start. I spoke to the Snr R'man on the omnibus circuit shortly afterwards
and said as far as I was concerned I would not say anything about my having to leave the box to find the traincrew but he would have to offer an explanation to control about the late start.

Needless to say Control did come on the blower later on to ascertain the reason for the delayed departure and I relayed the Snr Railmans excuse about removing a (fictitious) drunk passenger off the train!! Well after all it was Christmas Eve there were several
passengers the worse for wear arriving off down trains.

After this incident the driver involved would always give me a friendly wave an cheery grin fom his open driving cab window when ever his train departed from Hertford North.

[Mickey]

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[Mr Bunt]

I use to like it when we were stopped at Ware level crossing (of course) and would have to wait for a 305 EMU to either 'run in' from Hertford East or depart Ware station bound for Hertford East across the level crossing, thats going back to the late 1960s.

The timetables have been pulled about quite a bit since then. Trains now pass each other either between Ware and St Margarets or, at certain times of the day, near Rye House.

Perhaps the best timetable on the branch was the one WAGN used to operate. On that trains passed between Ware and Hertford East, and the station there was only devoid of a train standing in the platform for about 8 minutes in every hour during the peaks.

When they took over National Express then pulled a masterstroke with a timetable containing simultaneous Up and Down departures from Ware. A difficult trick to pull off in a single track station

What I used to enjoy was the 1960s electrification timetable where the trains joined or divided at Broxbourne, one unit going to Stortford and the other to Hertford.

[Mickey]

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[Mr Bunt]

Just out of interest Mr Bunt(ingford) did you know that there was quite a serious 'bang up' in Ware station during fog back in 1926 i believe it was?.

There've been three serious "bang ups" in Ware, all covered in an interesting series of articles on the "Our Hertford and Ware" website:

8 November 1882

http://www.ourhertfordandware.org.uk/pa ... _0p4p.aspx

31 October 1927

http://www.ourhertfordandware.org.uk/pa ... _0p4p.aspx

8 January 1940

http://www.ourhertfordandware.org.uk/pa ... 0p12p.aspx

An interesting selection of reading material for you

[Mickey]

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[Mr Bunt]

I always liked Hertford East station & s/box plus Ware station & s/box back in the 1970s.

This is the probably the Hertford East one you've been waiting for Micky. A Thompson L1 running round its set at Hertford East on 4 April 1959.

(Image Copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence after publication on www.geograph.org.uk)

Notice how much room the run round points took up, making the platform canopies useless for arriving passengers. The set's beyond the end of the platform 2 ones.

Today I went right up to the buffer stops at the front of a 317!

[Mickey]

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