Park Siding. ECML spotting venue

[JASd17]

I am digitising a series of spotting books from the mid 1930s. No location has been given for these, at least for the first 2500 entries! But they include trials of 2001.

However, 'Park Siding' has started to appear as a regular venue, and the originator of the notes came from East Finchley. Any idea as to exactly where 'PS' was? It will be within 8 miles of KX.

If one wants to replicate the southern end of the ECML circa 1934 -and earlier I suspect, one had better be into LNER C1 4-4-2s, lots of them, and K3s, the latter especially on Sundays, why?

Any thoughts would be most welcome,

John

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Park sidings 'IS' still with us, and is in use as the Northern line depot at Highgate, the LNER used to stable there suburban 'Northern Heights' stock there, an old C12 tank was the resident shunter, Hornsey was it's home shed.

I have a few pictures, I'll find them and post them later, there are plenty of pics on the net to.

manna

Here's one of them.

[JASd17]

Thanks Manna.

John

[strang steel]

Excellent. I hope you will be making these spotting notes available to view, John?

My father had similar books of 1930s notes, mainly from spotting between Essendine and Peterborough, but to his horror his mother threw them out while he was serving overseas during WW2. Apparently, she decided that he had grown out of all those boyhood pastimes.

It would be great to get a flavour of what his notes might probably have contained, after all these years.

[StevieG]

I seem to recall reading somewhere/sometime that there were LNER carriage sidings and/or shed here, presumably the same site as the subsequent Underground's Northern line depot, until superseded by Bounds Green sheds, also in the 1930s I think.
I wonder if the site was to be relinquished to London Transport (& Bounds Green constructed to make this possible?) as a precursor to the never-fully realised 1935-1940 New Works Scheme that would've seen LT's ex-GN&CR mainline-size, true-tube underground 'Northern City Line' (Moorgate-Drayton Park[/Finsbury Park] ), and the LNER's ex-GN Finsbury Park-Highgate-Park Junction-East Finchley/Alexandra Palace, and Mill Hill East-Edgware sections of line, become part of an even larger LT Northern Line network, as well as the East Finchley-Mill Hill East/High Barnet stretches that actually were so transferred/converted?

For the record there were also some sidings on the Down side here at Park Junction, opposite the carriage facilities, but I've a feeling that they were for goods traffic.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

You are right, Stevie G, that was Wellington sidings.

manna

[StevieG]

G'Day Gents

You are right, Stevie G, that was Wellington sidings.

manna

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that that was their name.
Thanks v.m. manna.

[JASd17]

The observations are of ECML traffic, so it will not be the Park Sidings, near Highgate.

I wonder if it is a non-railway name? There are a good number of 2-8-0s listed so it is not too far south!

It may be somewhere near the flyover for the Hertford line?

Thanks for the thoughts so far. The Books themselves are in the LNER Society Archive. I have done almost 3 out of 9, so a slow process.

John

[Mickey]

Park Junction s/box didn't close until 1985.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

There could be another explanation, for the name 'Park sidings' if someone had traveled, from Finchley, to Finsbury Park to do a bit of train spotting, they might give the name of Park sidings to the carriage sidings next to the 'real' Park, at Finsbury Park. Phew

Micky, in the picture above, if you look to the far right, you can just see the 'Park Junc signal box.

manna

[Mickey]

Yeah thanks manna.

[StevieG]

G'Day Gents

There could be another explanation, for the name 'Park sidings' if someone had traveled, from Finchley, to Finsbury Park to do a bit of train spotting, they might give the name of Park sidings to the carriage sidings next to the 'real' Park, at Finsbury Park. Phew

Micky, in the picture above, if you look to the far right, you can just see the 'Park Junc signal box.

manna

Good point. Finsbury was often 'the Park' when I worked in the area.

On the other hand, an outsider, if indeed the spotter was such, might record whatever was a favourite Park or park haunt as 'Park'; for example, how about Oakleigh P.(not too many miles from E.Finchley), or Ferme ... , though the latter might be less likely as there was no Ferme Park station, and to an outsider those yards might have just been known or regarded as the multitude of sidings between Harringay and Hornsey.

Or, following the 'park-by-the line' thought, the green area on the Down side of the ECML beside the embankment between New Southgate station and the 'Oakleigh Roads' bridge/Cemetery signal box (with Beaconsfield Road running through it), was I believe part of Bethune Park.

[Josh Hamilton]

I would be interested in seeing a list of traction as I'm modelling 1936/37 if they go that far. Would they not be Bethune Park Sidings, before New Southgate?

Regards,
Josh Hamilton

[JASd17]

Hi Josh,

The Frank Giles books the LNER Society has, end with Book Nine in April 1936. So not quite into your period. I am currently working on Book Six which covers May to August 1935.

Frank also tended to concentrate on the larger locos, so later books do not list the 0-6-2T suburban workings; an unfortunate omission, looking back from our perspective.

The location described as 'Park Siding' has now been identified as Alexandra Park siding, which was located close to Wood Green Tunnel Box on the down side of the main line. It was the closest main line location to Frank's house in East Finchley.

John

[manna]

G'day Gents

At last a real location for 'Park' sidings, IIRC, they were a set of three sidings that went under the Hertford branch 'fly-over', opposite Bounds Green c/s, they've been gone now for many a good year.

manna