* : [ Read not long ago that once the 'Northern Heights' lines services had been reduced to being only Finsbury Park/Alexandra Palace, the down trains normally started from this platform.]
Just caught up with this thread and on the subject of Western Sidings shed, it was manned 24 hours until closure in 1978. According to posts on the Finsbury Park Depot FB page, for the last three months the regular supervisors were rostered 12 hours, the two being the late John Cole (who came to us from Newton Abbot and had the accent to match) and Graham Start, who was on the last shift and nearly got bowled over by a 313 as he made his way back to the main depot after seeing the very last Cravens off.
To make sure unreliable memories on my part were not kicking in (old age, y'know!), I consulted the YB for 1977/8 and there are a few back and night shift arrivals/departures to/from Western.
Funny you should mention a YB for that period Andy.
After my last post which postulated 'Western's closure on the Feb.'78 introduction of the full EMU 'Outer Suburban' Cambridge line service, I was having a nagging thought: -
- Although that meant that all KX - Royston services went electric, 'were there still any KX - Huntingdon services (e.g. peaks-only?) which remained diesel for any period? - If yes, did they still need a few Cravens &/or B.U.T.s, or were such services (if any) loco-hauled, or did all 'Biggleswick'/Sandy/St.Neots/Hunt. passengers [still no Arlesey at that time] have to change out of EMUs at Hitchin for the Cl.101 Metro-Cammell Hitch.- Hunt. services'?
Steve, it was a change at Hitchin job for those passengers who didn't get on the loco hauled parlys. After Feb 1978 there were no through DMU services to the Cross and the DMU services around Hitchin & Royston-Cambridge were supposed to be in the hands of the refurbished 101 (Met-Cam) units based at Coldham Lane.
Hitchin fitter Alf Sails was retained at Hitchin after the shed "shut" in Feb 1978 for the ODM (DCE cranes, mainly) and got two hours O/T each morning to crank up the Met Cams at Hitchin to make sure they worked and had working heaters.
Andy W wrote:Steve, it was a change at Hitchin job for those passengers who didn't get on the loco hauled parlys. After Feb 1978 there were no through DMU services to the Cross and the DMU services around Hitchin & Royston-Cambridge were supposed to be in the hands of the refurbished 101 (Met-Cam) units based at Coldham Lane.
Hitchin fitter Alf Sails was retained at Hitchin after the shed "shut" in Feb 1978 for the ODM (DCE cranes, mainly) and got two hours O/T each morning to crank up the Met Cams at Hitchin to make sure they worked and had working heaters.
Cheers Andy. Just couldn't recall that stage of the transitions.
I have been doing a bit of digging and my 1953 WTT shows that amongst the suburban stock going in and out of Western Sidings, there was a Pullman - the Queen of Scots.
I have also looked at 1977/8 again and on weekdays there were no departures after 2020 and no arrivals before 0905. The weekday night shift at Western would have only dealt with those units swopped out during the afternoon, any demecs and in service problems at the station - not a lot of work compared to 1976 and probably no cleaners on that shift. The important place in the Division for the morning run out was Hitchin, no units coming off Western.
Thank you Andy W for the correction as regards the opening hours of Western Sidings 1976-78. I now remember that on the introduction of the inner suburban electric service from Moorgate NCL the route from Finsbury Park-Kings Cross was not then electrified and Moorgate was then open until around midnight seven days a week, there was then an hourly night service from Alexandra Palace to both Hertford North and WGC and an hourly dmu service was run from KX to Alley Pally to connect so Western Sidings would have to have remained open at night in case of any problems. Mention of the supervisors at these sidings brings to mind that until the early 1970s these were ex Drivers and because of the continued objection of the then depot manager at Clarence Yard they were removed and replaced with maintenance supervisors. There was no bad feeling between Drivers and maintenance staff down there.
You are not very far wrong Mickey as regards the night services out of the Cross, you mention the 0310 newspapers, there was one that departed at 0350 to Hitchin, it might be that one you are thing of, there was at one time an 0500 newspaper train to Welwyn GC but I think that went in the 60s. There were then two more newspaper trains with a passenger coach in each, one at 0200 to Grantham and the other at 0405 to Leeds that may have stopped at Hitchin.
Stevie G mentions the metro-camell dmu services after 1978 from Royston to Cambridge, hourly I think one fast one slow which meant that Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton got a service every two hours. The service from Hitchin to Peterborough was a messy hotch potch service to say the least with some trains starting at Hertford North or Hitchin to Huntingdon or Peterborough. All was swept away in 1987/88 with further electrification which eventually led to two trains an hour from KX to Peterborough and four from KX to Cambridge and more in the peak hours.
FFwd to '79 Micky, and I can confirm that then, 'the Hitchin papers' definitely unloaded, as booked, on the Upside at Hatfield : If memory serves, it was then 1B51, 02:28 KX-Hitch. (thus leaving 'the Cross' not long after 1B50, 02:15 to Peterborough).
At Hatfield, 1B51 initially ran straight through on the Down Fast, then propelled back through the Main-to-Main (K2198s I think*; now long gone) and the Up 'turn in', to reach the US platform. Then on completion, crossed back to the DF, then into the DS at WGC, as you said.
* - ( This xover, opposite the bus garage, probably wouldn't have been put in as part of the 1970s resignalling layout if it hadn't been for 'the papers' train.)
