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Train spotting at Finsbury Square


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Later in the evening rush hour, and another scene of activity. Both station pilots are propelling rakes of stock into the platforms simultaneously! This is the only time that the West (Goods) Pilot gets involved with shunting passenger stock, but it needs to be a vacuum braked loco in order to do so. It has shunt released the Baby Deltic (D5901) from Platform 3, and is propelling the stock into Platform 4. At the same time, the East Pilot has removed the set of coaches from the Middle Road and is propelling them into Platform 3 to make a Peterborough line train. The Baby Deltic looks somewhat marooned on the Down Main! In the background, the set of coaches which were berthed in Platform 1 have already been shunted into Platform 2, and an A1 has come off shed and coupled to them. D5054 in the foreground is in the Loco Spur, awaiting its next turn.

 

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After all that everyone needs a brew, and another procession of departures has been made up, this time all faster services. The A1, 60156, is at the head of a long distance train, and another K3 (61932) has backed on to the Peterborough train in Platform 3. This illustrates the point about how the rostering system works; today the afternoon Peterborough trains are both K3s, whereas in reality these would have been quite rare on these trains. In Platform 4, D5901 has now backed down onto the coaches forming a Cambridge line semi fast. The 204hp Diesel has returned to its usual position, but is hidden behind the signal!

 

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These pictures show that I need to get some ground signals made!

Hours of fun :) that's the best bit about inner city terminus layouts :)

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Damn fine pictures there Steve. As soon as I saw that Brush on those Subs I was suddenly at the X in 1963/4 (or later if my memory is a bit duff; I think steam had finished on many of those in '62).

Also, that Signal Gantry in close up shows a fine bit of work too.

Phil

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Damn fine pictures there Steve. As soon as I saw that Brush on those Subs I was suddenly at the X in 1963/4 (or later if my memory is a bit duff; I think steam had finished on many of those in '62).

Also, that Signal Gantry in close up shows a fine bit of work too.

Phil

 

 

 

Also, that Signal Gantry in close up shows a fine bit of work too.

 

 

Hadn’t noticed the gantry before. Looks good.

Paul.

 

Thanks both - if only I could make it work!  Really I need to make some more levers first (see post 138) but then I'll have to un plant the gantry and sort out its linkages - aarghh!

 

I think steam officially finished on the GN suburban lines in 1959, although some workings remained steam, mainly the longer distance trains to on the main line towards Peterborough (which weren't officially 'suburban' in those days!), and of course the early diesels weren't too reliable at first!

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I think steam officially finished on the GN suburban lines in 1959, although some workings remained steam, mainly the longer distance trains to on the main line towards Peterborough (which weren't officially 'suburban' in those days!), and of course the early diesels weren't too reliable at first!

 

 

Anywhere beyond Hitchin on the main line was considered to be 'in the country'

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I put some stuff about the signal gantry up over here at the time I built it, which people may not have seen:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115667-31a-st/page-2

 

I don't tend to include it in layout pictures at the moment though as the calling on arm on the left hand doll won't stay at 'on', despite the fact that it all worked perfectly well on the bench before I planted it! :ireful:  :ireful:

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G'Day Folks

 

As a kid I used to buy half day return ticket, from Wood Green to Hornsey, just to ride on the steam trains, so if a DMU turned up, I'd wait for the next train, hoping it was a steamer, sometimes I'd wait an hour or more, but eventually, no more steam.......... good enough reason to have a model railway.

 

And Finsbury Sq. is looking better every-time i see it.

 

manna

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Thanks both - if only I could make it work!  Really I need to make some more levers first (see post 138) but then I'll have to un plant the gantry and sort out its linkages - aarghh!

 

I think steam officially finished on the GN suburban lines in 1959, although some workings remained steam, mainly the longer distance trains to on the main line towards Peterborough (which weren't officially 'suburban' in those days!), and of course the early diesels weren't too reliable at first!

 Another quote from Eric Neve in East Coast from Kings Cross states that although Hornsey had 46 diesels to cover 34 diagrams, it was necessary to prepare a steam loco for every duty because of the rate of diesel failures in 1959. When you consider that the three available classes were the  BRCW type 2s, the North British D6100-9 series, which spent a lot of time at New England sheeted down under tarpaulins, and the original Baby Deltics, that isn't surprising. I went down to the Cross several times in 1959, and steam was still very much in evidence. It was only when the Brush type 2s started to appear that things changed, and even then quite slowly, as for every two that arrived, two D53XX were sent off to Scotland. Still a fair bit of steam even in 1960, but by 1961 Brush 2s everywhere.

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Thanks Gilbert!  That gives me licence to do what I do.  The duties are split roughly 50:50 steam / diesel on my layout but as I mentioned, there are also some quite blatant anachronisms.  I remember a former Cambridge loco man friend of mine telling me how he was 'put back' (i.e. lost his seniority) in 1959 when the diesels came in; I can't remember the details but I think he probably went back from 'Passed Fireman' to 'Fireman' (i.e. Second Man).  Anyway, he got to drive Pacifics on the main line about 40 years later when WAGN held their Steam Galas!

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Following on the Suburban theme, towards the end of the day the Finsbury Square 'turn over' locos are dispensed with and two engines make their way back to the depot coupled together. The Accountants don't like this kind of thing, and call it 'Unproductive Mileage', but since they all went home hours ago they don't get to see it.

 

I love your little asides. And the real railway was just like this! Mind you, the operators often got their own back. At one time the DTp mandarins were hot on ECS mileage, and so the Board had targets for reduction. Easy - turn some of the ECS trains into advertised passenger trains! The fact that not many punters actually wanted an 08.34 Charing Cross to New Beckenham with very limited stopping patterns was immaterial - the stock went round the corner to berth at Beckenham Junction just the same!

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Steve,

 

surely now ready to appear in one of the magazines. 

 

Regards,Derek.

 

I tell you what fellow "Finsbury Square" spotters give my post an agree and see if we can persuade this modest guy to agree with my sentiments.

 

 

Thanks for all the kind comments, suggestions, "likes", etc.  One day I'd like to think Finsbury Square might appear in a magazine, bit there's quite a lot I'd like to do before it's ready.  I've been building it for about 20 years - better pull my finger out I suppose!

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