On 21 Sep, 01:43, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 20 Sep 2007, MIG wrote:
On Sep 20, 3:37 pm, MIG wrote:

On Sep 20, 8:07 pm, "
wrote:

What lines did this stock run on ?

At various times, Northern, Piccadilly, Bakerloo and East London Line.
Also, refurbished coaches on bits of the Central.

The last line it ran on as part of a large everyday fleet was the
Bakerloo, although I think a few trains ran more recently on the
Northern to cover for shortages or something.

I forgot to mention that they would also have been running from Moorgate
to Drayton Park in 1966, on what is now part of First Capital Connect.

As seen on the strip map in this photo from the tour:

http://flickr.com/photos/nuttyxander/1396357082/

Bigger he

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1415/...86b55a4e_o.jpg

I hadn't realised there was a time when that bit of line only ran to
Drayton Park; it originally terminated in underground platforms at
Finsbury Park (having been planned to go further and then wrecked by
corporate politics, as i'm sure we all know), and those were taken over by
the construction of the Victoria line, but i assumed the line was
re-plumbed into the GN mainline at the same time. I infer that that
happened later on.

Correct.


This seems rather silly - having the line only go to Drayton Park makes it
almost completely useless! How long did that situation last? Crumbs -
according to CULG, from 1964 to 1976! It would only have been useful as a
local service from Essex Road, Highbury & Islington and Drayton Park into
the City, and for people coming on the Victoria line from Finsbury Park or
Blackhorse Road (the other stations have direct connections to Liverpool
Street anyway). Luxury! What was the frequency like? With that kind of
demand, i would guess low enough that people would be better off taking
either a bus or the Northern from King's Cross instead.

I've no idea how well loaded the Northern City line was when it was
evicted from Finsbury Park and just ran Drayton Park to Moorgate.
However I do remember reading a fairly detailed account of the
Moorgate crash in 1975 which happened in the morning rush-hour, and it
certainly gave the impression that the line was well used.

Bear in mind that the line would have found a number of new passengers
who would have started to make use of it from Highbury & Islington
southwards when the Victoria line opened from Walthamstow Central to
High & I in 1968 - I'd suggest the number of pax reaching it via this
interchange may well have been substational.


Did the link from the NLL to the GN not exist before the Moorgate line was
plumbed in? What did the railways round that area look like in, say, 1965?


The link from the NLL to the GN - the Canonbury Curve - has existed
since 1875.
See http://www.nlrhs.org.uk/history.html

It carried a number of suburban trains from the GN down to Broad
Street via the Canonbury Curve (between Finsbury Park and Canonbury)
then down via the closed line (though shortly to be mostly reopened as
part of the ELLX) from Dalston Junction to Broad Street. Some diesel
trains continued on this route until the 1976 GN electrification, from
whence customers could of course use direct GN trains that were routed
through the Northern City tunnels to Moorgate (a stone's throw from
Broad Street).

I understand that the Canonbury Curve was singled at the time of
electrification because the OHLE for two lines wouldn't have fitted in
the tunnel on the curve otherwise, not without major work at least.

Before the 1976 changes, there was nonetheless a single line link
between the LU depot at Drayton Park (adjacent to the station) and the
GN line at Finsbury Park, and this was used for LU rolling stock
transfers.