"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
eb.com...

On 01/07/2013 18:09, Robin9 wrote:

I don't remember the triangular arrangement. That may have been before
my
time. I seem to recall a straightforward junction. If the route towards
Kentish
Town was filled in, can that be reversed or has the land been built
on/put to
other use? Presumably the tunnel was not filled in even though, I
imagine, the
entrances were bricked up.


The line used by the Kentish Town - Barking trains ran across what is now a
builders depot to reach Mortiner Street junction. Reinstating the route
would split the depot in two, leaving half of it rail-locked, and is
probably not feasible. (The depot incorporates some of the former Kentish
Town engine shed.)

I'm somewhat puzzled by what Robin9 wrote. There doesn't seem to have been
any tunnel on the closed section of route. Was he possibly thinking of the
other route to St. Pancras? I don't know if there was a tunnel on that.

The route taken by the Kentish Town - Barking trains can be clearly seen on
Google Earth, though it's clearer on the 2002 images than on the latest
ones. While correct, your description of the area as a 'builders depot'
could be somewhat misleading to somebody who hasn't seen it. It suggests a
small area of land, with something like a couple of JCBs and a concrete
mixer on it. Murphy's yard is huge, and has some very large plant on it.
It would be difficult to find somewhere to re-locate that. Pre-Olympics
Stratford might have been a possibility, but not now.

The missing section of line was very short, but tightly curved. If I
remember correctly it was in shallow cutting, which has now been filled in.
Google Earth shows several strange looking buildings on the East side of the
line, including a large square one which seems to have one corner cut, where
the line would have been. There's also a small square building which I
think may have been built partly on the alignment of the trackbed.

I cannot see Murphy wanting to move; it might be possible to excavate the
cutting to a greater depth (give the contract to Murphy?) and then cover it
over to restore access to the South Eastern part of the site, but it would
be very expensive, and probably very unpopular.

There's also the problem that with today's fragmented railway the Thameslink
and Goblin routes are operated by two completely different companies. I
don't know if there would be enough demand to make say a Southend to
somewhere on the Southern viable, but if the route had remained in a state
where it could have been re-instated, and Network South East still existed
then it might have been worth investigating the possibility. if the South
Tottenham - Tottenham Hale curve was also re-instated then it would have
been possible for Thameslink to serve Stanstead in addition to Luton and
Gatwick. Again, I don't know if the demand would have made it worthwhile.

Incidentally there was a second route from Kentish Town eastwards. It left
the Midland line on its west side and then crossed it on a bridge to reach
a junction east of Gospel Oak. The route may still exist but is useless
for sering Thameslink! (The line was used mainly by St Pancrasd - Tilbury
boat trains.)

I can't remember exactly where this route was; I think it's long gone, but
if it still existed why couldn't it have served Thameslink if it went to
Kentish Town?