Photograph by C C B Herbert showing Harringay station on 4th July 1944. Being taken for the tracks makes this an unusual photo. It's also a rare perspective for a Harringay Station photo and shows areas we don't normally get to see
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Albums: Historical Images of Harringay After 1918 | 1 of 3 ( F)
and if it really is1944, probably an illegal shot, due to wartime restrictions on photography.
I seem to recall that a connecting track from the LNER to the LMS Kentish Town line was built during the war. Perhaps these points and the track behind ..lead to that?
Just off to the right of this picture is what we in the 50s knew as The Hogsback (my route to Stationers) from which it was possible (if unwise) to scale the fence and reach the main line (which is I think either the line in front or another behind the platform to the left. Anyway, a big old penny placed in the correct position soon after school turnout time, say 4.05 p.m. would be neatly sliced in two by the Flying Scot, from Kings Cross 4 p.m. and passing Harringay West at a some 60-70 mph at about 4.10 p.m... I say no more.
Ho Ho!
My older brother used to take me on his bike to the alley to the right of the bridge on the Hornsey side. late 50s, early 60s.. we'd wait for the Flying Scotsman too.
Now, I thought the sign next to the King's Cross departures timetable on spotter's platform pronounced that 'trains pass this spot 7 minutes after leaving King's Cross'. When last in Finsbury Park I looked for the platform, but it's now totally overgrown.
Also recall hearing the A4s sounding their 'chimes' when passing Wood Green.
....and I just googled the guy. He seems to have been quite well known. Here he is referenced in the National Archives. (And since the photos are originals, now I feel I ought to give them to the museum).
The note on the back of the photograph gives the clue, I believe, to what this photo and the one of the goods yard are really about.
The ”Length of F.B.Track laid behind crossing on Up Goods” refers to a length of experimental track. During the 1930s the railway companies were concerned about the initial cost and the maintenance costs of the track as trains were getting heavier and faster. The british railways used what was known as ”bullhead” rail (because of its shape) laid in cast iron ”chairs” bolted to the wooden sleepers. The rail was held into the chair by a wooden block ”key” . These keys tended to become loose and had to be checked regularly and hammered back if necessary – hence the quite common site of a platelayer walking along the track swinging a long-handled hammer.
So tests were made using a rail of a different profile – F.B. or ”flat bottomed” - which sat on a plate on the sleeper and originally secured by bolts. Track made in this way could take heavier loads, cost less initially and needed less maintenance.
If you look at the track that stretches away from the crossing in the foreground and is next to the one by the platform you can see the different rail profile and method of fixing.
Similarly the photo of the goods yard (now Jewsons) is not about the goods yard but is showing a length of F.B track.
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