Harringay Statdium Station

Comment by Roy aka Smiffy on March 31, 2010 at 11:28

My friends and I used to crawl under the platform and put (old) pennies on the line. When the train ran over them it would elongate the penny - the faster the train the longer the penny - great fun.

Comment by Hugh on March 31, 2010 at 11:34

Great stuff. You've turned a still dead photo into a living tableau. More, more, more..................

Comment by StephenBln on March 31, 2010 at 12:27

The station had definitely been modernised before 1960 - around 1958/59 I think . Modernisation was virtually unheard of on this line, which held more importance as a cross-London freight link, than as a passenger route and I presume that the stations proximity to the Stadium/Arena was the reason for this 'unusual' investment..

oh, just thought - the modernisation and change of name must have occurred at the same time..

Comment by Hugh on March 31, 2010 at 12:43

So you're suggesting this is pre-'58?

Comment by StephenBln on March 31, 2010 at 16:25

Yep, I suppose I am.
Nationalised in 1948, British Railways started it's so-called 'Modernisation Plan' in 1955.. which intended to stop the hemorrhaging of passengers to the private motorcar and saw widescale investment in diesel locomotives and the electrification of suburban lines (i.e. Liverpool St - Enfield, Chingford & Bishops Stortford).. on a railway that hadn't much changed since the 1890s.

The style of building is typical for that period.. see Broxbourne & Harlow stations as other examples..

We moved away from Warwick Gardens in the summer of 1960 and I know the station re-building was completed by that time..

Comment by Hugh on March 31, 2010 at 17:05

.........and so I've changed the picture info.

Comment by StephenBln on March 31, 2010 at 17:28

Hey Hugh, that wasn't a nudge from me.. the shot may well have been taken in the 1960s it is definitely post 1957..!
The passenger services were also converted from steam hauled trains to diesel railcars in 1960. The steam service had worked St Pancras - Barking - (Southend on Summer Sundays), but the new railcars worked Kentish Town - Barking and things remained like that until the 1980s.

This type of locomotive (LMS 4-6-2s) operated the service and those seen in the photo might even be those just withdrawn from service in Harringay in 1960.

Comment by StephenBln on March 31, 2010 at 17:35

sorry - last comment.. any fool can see that they are o-OOO-oo (2-6-4s) and are certainly not oo-000-o 4-6-2s) like I said, can't they ?

Comment by Hugh on March 31, 2010 at 19:32

Don't worry Steve I wasn't taking it as a nudge. The original source was uncertain about the date. You sound more certain - better info by the sounds of it.

Add a Comment