On 8 Jan, 09:08, wrote:
319361 has just pulled very slowly into the the 'new' siding at Herne
Hill. All three rails look unused-rusty at the moment so this must
still be quite an unusual occurrence! (I have a poor quality photo if
anyone's interested)

Is this in the same position as the old siding, i.e. alongside the
track for platform 4? I can't think where else you could fit in a
siding at Herne Hill.

In all the years I lived not far from there, and used the station,
about 40 years, I think I only ever saw anything in the old siding
twice, each time just an old wagon. Oddly enough, both occasions were
within a few months of each other. I remember that the old siding was
electrified at one time; what was the reason for this? Was it used
for stabling passenger units at one time, or did it at one time
provide access to the yard that used to be there for electrically-
hauled freight trains? Whatever the reason was, it must have stopped
being used for that a very long tome ago.