Great Northern & City Line
Finsbury Park - Drayton Park -
Highbury -
Essex Road - Old Street -
Moorgate
A journey on the old
Underground line.
Drayton Park
A email was sent by a reader of
this site so ill hand over to Paul Hepworth to start the page
Dear Webmaster.
Tripcocks exist at all stop signals on the Drayton
Park to Moorgate tube section plus the southbound approach from Finsbury Park,
for use by the 313 units.
Qualifying signals between Finsbury Park and both
ends of Drayton Park are dual fitted with TPWS. This enables non-313 traction
units to be sent down to Drayton Park from Finsbury Park, for turnback clear
of the ECML tracks.
As a southbound 313 approaches Finsbury Park, its
front and rear tripcocks are tested on test ramps. The front one is checked
for the journey TO Moorgate and the rear one for the subsequent return
journey FROM Moorgate. Track circuits measure the train as being of 3 or 6 car
length, and one of two rear test ramps is driven down clear, the remaining one
being used to test the rear tripcock of the 3 or 6 car train as appropriate.
The tests must be successful before the Finsbury
Park starting signal can be cleared towards Moorgate. If the test is a
failure, a purple fault indicator lights alongside the signal's red aspect,
and the signaller also gets a tripcock fault indication. The train must then
be rerouted towards Kings Cross.
Instructions for visual tripcock checks are
provided if eg a six car train has to be split into two three car sets at
Moorgate.
Speed control tripcocks also exist at the approach
to Moorgate. These were installed during the conversion from LT to BR, after
the horrendous Moorgate crash during LT's stewardship. These will trip any
train which approaches or enters Moorgate at excessive speed.
Paul Hepworth
Associate Member
Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
York.
Drayton Park on a Cold Winters Day Looking towards Finsbury
Park
© Adam Evans
The Stairs to the Platforms
© Adam Evans
Looking up the Stairs
View Towards
Finsbury Park with the new Arsenal Football ground under construction
The old LT Trip cocks are still in place
I believe that the current Class 313's are tripped by these?
Southbound
Ramp looking towards Finsbury Park . Track on the High level is the Connection
to the North London lines
Northbound line
in-between the two running lines the line would have continued in tunnel to
Finsbury Park, also where the Grey switch boxes are would have been were the old
Signal cabin was.
Behind
the brick building is the remains of the old ramp that originally would have
formed the connection to the Great Northern Railway
WAGN (as it was then)
Class 313 in undercoat livery has just put its pantograph up
Class 313
heads towards Moorgate
Drayton Park Station building.
Drayton
Park Views from outside the station the land on the left was the old depot
sidings
The
brick building is a sub station for the Victoria Line
Class
313 in station
A general View of the station Platform
The Unused Crossover at Drayton Park
K358 Signal normally at Danger!
Southbound tunnel
View
towards The City
The Ticket Office
A Reader of this website emailed
the following pictures to me,
so over to Peter Coath for
the next 3 pictures
The Signal Cabin at Drayton Park, in September
1975. Situated above the tunnels mouths at the north end of the station, this
was the replacement Cabin, built as part of the aborted 1935-40 New
Works Programme to link the Great Northern City with the rest of the Northern
Line via the L.N.E.R. line from Finsbury Park to East Finchley.
© Peter Coath 2007
During the last week of LT operation of the line,
provision was made to remove the 1938 tube stock immediately after closure.
Two battery loco's are seen entering Drayton Park Depot, having worked 'light'
via the City Widened Lines and Finsbury Park, in order to begin the removal.
To the left can be seen the original G.N & C. Rly Signal Box, used as a
shunters cabin after the replacement was bought into use in 1939. © Peter Coath 2007
The Westinghouse lever frame and illuminated
diagram in Drayton Park Signal Cabin, September 1975. The left hand end of the
frame and diagram would have catered for the link to Finsbury Park high level
and beyond, but with the post-war cancellation of the Northern Line
extensions, only the original terminal platforms at Finsbury Park remained.
These were closed in 1964 as part of the Victoria Line works, leaving the
frame and diagram rather 'lop-sided' until closure in 1975.© Peter Coath 2007
Old Street
Old Street
Northbound
Simple tiled
decoration at most of the GN&CR stations
Northbound
platform empty
Moorgate
Sign to the Platforms
WAGN Class 313 Waiting in the Platform
at Moorgate
Undercoat livery at
Moorgate
This page was last updated on the
16th
August 2007
© All photos copyright Richard Randall
2003/4 unless marked otherwise
Drayton Park on a Cold Winters Day Looking towards Finsbury
Park
The Stairs to the Platforms
View Towards
Finsbury Park with the new Arsenal Football ground under construction
Southbound
Ramp looking towards Finsbury Park . Track on the High level is the Connection
to the North London lines
Northbound line
in-between the two running lines the line would have continued in tunnel to
Finsbury Park, also where the Grey switch boxes are would have been were the old
Signal cabin was.
Behind
the brick building is the remains of the old ramp that originally would have
formed the connection to the Great Northern Railway
WAGN (as it was then)
Class 313 in undercoat livery has just put its pantograph up
Class 313
heads towards Moorgate
Drayton Park Station building.
Drayton
Park Views from outside the station the land on the left was the old depot
sidings
The
brick building is a sub station for the Victoria Line
Class
313 in station
Southbound tunnel
The Ticket Office
Old Street
Northbound
Simple tiled
decoration at most of the GN&CR stations
Northbound
platform empty
Sign to the Platforms
Undercoat livery at
Moorgate