St.Pancras And Somers Town Goods Yards

[Kirby Uncoupler]

Hi Everyone,

    To the west of St.Pancras station, where we now have the British Library, previously stood the Somers Town high level goods yard from the 1870s, which itself replaced an area of slum dwellings. A mile to the north stood the original St.Pancras goods yard, which the Midland Railway constructed prior to the arrival of the MML from Bedford via Kentish Town, initially the yard was served from the east via the GNR and Hitchin. 

     Both yards were very busy for 100 years, both survived until the mid-to-late 1970s, but why were there two yards so close together, with potential duplication? It has been suggested to me, that one yard was for despatching goods by rail, and the other was for receiving goods from rail, with transfer of empty wagons between the two, but in which direction?

Besides these two large yards, there were also various coal drops on both sides of the passenger lines, including the later extension north of, and over Phoenix Road, which used traversers and pulleys to move the coal wagons. After this high level coal yard closed c.1968-70, in it's disused state was used for the RAF Harrier jump jet race to New York stunt, plus it hosted at least one preserved bus rally. This part was flattened soon after, replaced by modern housing, although the base of the perimeter walls survives in places.

      In their day, all these areas were difficult to access or observe, due to their elevation and security, apart from looking down from the NLR rail or Agar Grove road bridges at the north end. Photos are few in number, although I have found various cine film clips from passing trains, plus the odd aerial view, and i'm told it was covered in an edition of BRILL magazine, which is yet to be discovered?

      St.Pancras yard near Agar Grove was cleared by the 1980s, and became an industrial estate by the main line, and a housing estate on the west side, the pub still stands between the road entrance, and the canal. One long siding was reinstated, for block cement trains, ironically serving a plant in the former GNR yard/Top Shed, via aerial conveyor belt eastwards over the MML. Somer's Town depot fronted on to Euston Road, and had suffered bombing during WW2, half of the brick facade had collapsed, and was covered by ugly advertizing hoardings, until demolished about twenty odd years ago. After the new library was constructed on the southern half of the site, further construction followed on the northern half, the last surviving remnants of the 1870s yard, were the NW corner entrance, and part of the west side curtain wall.

      Does anyone have memories of these yards, and/or know how they operated?

                                                           Cheers, Brian.

     

[anroar53]

I can remember between 1972-74 that the last bit of Somers Town Yard being operational was the former covered 'Milk Depot' at the north end. By this time it was being used to load/unload Box vans with mail. The Post Office would drive onto this Dock and load up/unload. Being only a couple of short sidings there was a regular visit by the station pilot engine to remove loaded ones, and put arrivals in for unloading. I would often watch the shunting going on from the back windows of the Signal Box. I think the vans were 'tripped' to either Churchyard Sidings or St. Pancras Goods Depot for onward movement ? At Christmas time I seem to recall that the centre sidings at St. Pancras were filled up with sealed Box Vans from St. Pancras Goods Depot full of boxes of whisky and spirits so the Transport Police could 'keep an eye on them' more closely when everywhere else was shut down.

I seem to remember that at the front of Somers Town fronting the Euston Road the old BR Maroon Enamel signs used to proclaim it to be 'Somers Town - Goods Depot & Potato Market', although after all this time I'm not certain as I haven't found any photos of these signs close up.

[RANGERS]

There used to be some photos of Somers Town on display on the South Eastern platforms at St Pancras. Ben for or five years since I was over there so don't know if they're still there.

[BrushVeteran]

I can remember calling in to Somers town with one of my Uncles to pick up two bags of coal, which just about fitted on the fold down luggage rack of his 1933 Austin 10, to transport back to my Grandparents maisonette in West Hampstead. This normally coincided with a visit from another Uncle, my father's brother, from his home in Burtonon Trent and we would run him back to St.Pancras for him to catch a train to Derby. The year would be about 1963 and my Grandfather still got his coal allowance from his former railway employment at Marylebone goods which by then had closed to domestic coal deliveries. I would nip in to St.Pancras and Kings Cross whilst I was there and it was something I always looked forward to on my monthy visits from Oxford. I can't remember much about the coal yard in Somers Town though as obviously had my mind on other things and I never took any pictures...............only of the Austin!

There had been a coal yard by the long closed Finchley Road MR station which we had fetched coal from at times as well and even in 1955 it had a diesel shunter working in there, image attached taken by my Father when I was four!

 

[Compound2632]

Plenty of photos at https://www.midlandrailwaystudycentre.org.uk/catalogue.php.

 

As to why there were two large goods stations so close together, the answer is simply the volume of traffic. How they were worked at various periods is a more challenging question. As you mention, St Pancras Goods was built when the Midland first gained access to London via the Leicester & Hitchin line and the Great Northern and its approaches had to be remodelled when the London Extension was built a decade later. Somers Town was a later development, built 1885.

 

See Midland Railway Study Centre item 20628 [Embedded link]:

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Compound2632

[Kirby Uncoupler]

Many Thanks for the replies, and links provided, i've got some studying to do.

     By bizarre coincidence, I caught a repeat showing of "The Architecture The Railways Built" on Yesterday TV channel last night, which was mostly about St.Pancras station, but mentioned the goods yards in passing, and that initial traffic arrived via the GNR, who apparently charged extortionate rates, and held up Midland traffic.

     The building of a second yard at Somer's Town (Euston Road) makes sense, to cater for expansion, the original St.P {Agar Grove) yard site could not be expanded, but both yards closed around the same time (mid-to late 70s). At the Agar Grove site there was also the curved viaduct link up on to the North London Railway, which was still in use until at least 1975, or perhaps closed at the same time as the two yards, and then demolished. The arches under the NLR show the width of the yard's northern throat, some arches are now garages and storerooms, one has become an access road. In more recent times, the modern concrete HS1 flyovers have restored the link to the NLR. At the south end of the AG yard, the canal bridge and retaining walls are about the only survivors.   BK

[anroar53]

This might be of interest. The Shunting and 'Trip' workings involving Somers Town/Churchyard Sidings/North London Incline and St. Pancras Goods. From 1966/69.

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by anroar53

[C126]

Get a copy of London's railways from the air / Aerofilms. : Hersham : Ian Allan, 2006.  Several good photos there, and it might prompt a visit to Swindon...

[Rugd1022]

I remember attending a fairly large Sunday swapmeet in the Summer of 1980 at what was left of Somerstown Yard, I recall it so well because I can remember walking into St.Pancras station to buy the July issue of 'Model Railway Consctructor' magazine, the station itself was deathly quiet with a solitary Peak ticking over at one of the stop blocks.