Palace Gates to Seven Sisters – The lost railway line of Bounds Green, 1878 – 1963 - Bowes and Bounds Connected
2024-03-29T14:51:16Z
https://bowesandbounds.org/forum/topics/palace-gates-to-seven-sisters-the-lost-railway-line-of-bounds?commentId=6278630%3AComment%3A102784&feed=yes&xn_auth=no
Geoff Tech's talk on the Pala…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2021-04-17:6278630:Comment:235264
2021-04-17T07:48:56.035Z
Stephen Middleton
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/StephenMiddleton
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvP8q_slKa0&t=7s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Geoff Tech's talk on the Palace Gates line.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvP8q_slKa0&t=7s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Geoff Tech's talk on the Palace Gates line.</a></p>
The crew of Thompson L1 2-6-…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2019-10-05:6278630:Comment:138706
2019-10-05T10:57:50.693Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
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<p><span>The crew of Thompson L1 2-6-4T Tank Locomotive No. 67723 pose at Palace Gates station. Photographer, Dr Ian C Allen, neglected to record the exact date but it will have been between 16th September 1961 & 1962 – the exact year of her last allocation at Stratford before withdrawal and the end of steam on the line. If there was a…</span></p>
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<p><span>The crew of Thompson L1 2-6-4T Tank Locomotive No. 67723 pose at Palace Gates station. Photographer, Dr Ian C Allen, neglected to record the exact date but it will have been between 16th September 1961 & 1962 – the exact year of her last allocation at Stratford before withdrawal and the end of steam on the line. If there was a tear-up in my local, I’d definitely want the fireman in my corner! There's a rare glimpse of the massive Charringtons Coal Distribution Centre that closed in 1984 just left of the engine. . </span></p>
The Palace Gates Link to the…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-09-16:6278630:Comment:132701
2018-09-16T12:49:37.955Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
<p><strong>The Palace Gates Link to the Hertford Loop</strong></p>
<p>I was always curious as to why the Palace Gates branch was so belatedly linked to the adjacent Hertford Loop and the extensive carriage sidings at Bounds Green started by the Great Northern (and later further expanded by the LNER). My research reveals that when the Palace Gates branch opened in 1878, there were already adequate interchanges between the GN & Great Eastern at Canonbury and Stratford, and the Enfield Line…</p>
<p><strong>The Palace Gates Link to the Hertford Loop</strong></p>
<p>I was always curious as to why the Palace Gates branch was so belatedly linked to the adjacent Hertford Loop and the extensive carriage sidings at Bounds Green started by the Great Northern (and later further expanded by the LNER). My research reveals that when the Palace Gates branch opened in 1878, there were already adequate interchanges between the GN & Great Eastern at Canonbury and Stratford, and the Enfield Line was then a short dead-end branch. However, once the Loop was completed, the notion of a connection began to grow and the site was surveyed and photographed in 1922.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Grouping and consolidation of the Big Four must have added further impetus to the idea of a link when the North London Line came under the LMS, and a connection at Bounds Green would have offered movements between the GE & GN sections without leaving LNER rails. Authorisation for a 13 chain link was obtained from Parliament in the LNER Act 1924, but the powers expired without renewal in 1929 with nothing being built. The original Proposal was for a full running connection with a junction to the Enfield line by the Bounds Green Road just short of Bowes Park Station.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In 1930, a cheaper and simpler siding connection was made from the Up Enfield line with just 170 yards of single track being laid over flat ground already owned by the LNER (marked A & B on the 1935 OS map). No further Act of Parliament or even LNER Board approval was required, so the exact operational date is not recorded. The link enabled suburban rolling stock on the GE branch to access the newly installed carriage washer at Bounds Green via a headshunt at the GN end of the connection, and easy access to Stratford shed for GN loco’s requiring major repairs. The Kings X steam crane could also now access the GE section, and ‘Hush-Hush’ experimental Locomotive No. 10000’s journey to the Norwich Exhibition in May 1931 also used the connection (what a helluva spot that would’ve been!). During WWII the connection was used by coal trains destined for Temple Mills via Hertford from New England, the trains being split at Palace Gates due to the gradients on the GE section.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2174588098?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2174588098?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>However, full through running from the Enfield line to the GE section was still not possible with this simple track arrangement. Wartime pressures led to the 1944 addition of two sets of points near the Bounds Green Road that meant the connection became a fully signalled route, both Down & Up, worked by Acceptance Lever between the Bounds Green & Palace Gates signal boxes. After the War, weekly excursion trains were run from Hertford North and Gordon Hill through to Southend Victoria & Central, often stopping at the stations on the Palace Gates Line to pick up additional custom.</p>
<p>Source: ‘The Great Northern Mainline in London – Bounds Green & Bowes Park’ by Peter Kay, British Railways Illustrated Vol 7 April 1998 </p>
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<p></p>
This would have been one of t…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-08-26:6278630:Comment:132299
2018-08-26T19:02:02.872Z
David Guthrie
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<p>This would have been one of the very last Steam workings on the Branch as Stratford Shed closed to Steam in the second week of September 1962 and the N7's and L1's were replaced by the Brush Type 2's - or Class 31 as we later came to know them. The Branch itself was the very last part of the old Great Eastern Suburban Network in North London to use Steam.</p>
<p>This would have been one of the very last Steam workings on the Branch as Stratford Shed closed to Steam in the second week of September 1962 and the N7's and L1's were replaced by the Brush Type 2's - or Class 31 as we later came to know them. The Branch itself was the very last part of the old Great Eastern Suburban Network in North London to use Steam.</p>
Ellesborough Road was changed…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-08-26:6278630:Comment:132296
2018-08-26T18:52:48.303Z
David Guthrie
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<p>Ellesborough Road was changed to Dorset Road in 1950 due to the postal confusion between it and another road on the other side of Wood Green (just off the Great Cambridge Road) by the name of Ellenborough Road. My parents moved to No.1 Ellesborough Road in 1948 and despite the fact that the GPO had excellent local Postmen at the time, it still caused a lot of wasted time re-posting mail. At the time that we moved away from Dorset Road in late 1968, my parents were still receiving the odd…</p>
<p>Ellesborough Road was changed to Dorset Road in 1950 due to the postal confusion between it and another road on the other side of Wood Green (just off the Great Cambridge Road) by the name of Ellenborough Road. My parents moved to No.1 Ellesborough Road in 1948 and despite the fact that the GPO had excellent local Postmen at the time, it still caused a lot of wasted time re-posting mail. At the time that we moved away from Dorset Road in late 1968, my parents were still receiving the odd piece of mail using the Ellesborough Road title. Browsing Google Maps I see that the street name has the 'formerly' under Dorset Road but the old turn of the 20th Century nameplate "Ellesborough Road" (white letters on blue background) that was below it has gone! </p>
<p></p>
I think this 1920s image mus…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-06-17:6278630:Comment:131718
2018-06-17T12:18:55.407Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
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<p>I think this 1920s image must have been taken close from Dagmar Road as the rail flyover for the Hertford Loop is out of frame. Centre extreme left in the background, the Palace Gates engine shed can be seen (located then at the bottom of Imperial Road) and, moving right on the same plane, is the splendid but rather grandiose foot bridge over the platforms of Palace…</p>
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<p>I think this 1920s image must have been taken close from Dagmar Road as the rail flyover for the Hertford Loop is out of frame. Centre extreme left in the background, the Palace Gates engine shed can be seen (located then at the bottom of Imperial Road) and, moving right on the same plane, is the splendid but rather grandiose foot bridge over the platforms of Palace Gates station.</p>
<p>The edifice in the centre further right is described a crushing mill (for coal probably) on OS maps and later became a Charringtons coal distribution centre in the 1950’s. The carriage sidings shown are now covered by the High Speed Train depot and the road bridge carrying Buckingham Road over the line is centre right. The engine shown is an Atlantic class C1 4-4-2 passenger locomotive originally built by Henry Ivatt for the Great Northern Railway in 1904. <strong>©Rail-Online</strong></p>
N7 class Locomotive No.69621…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-05-20:6278630:Comment:131413
2018-05-20T00:27:26.817Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
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<p><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption"><span class="hasCaption">N7 class Locomotive No.69621 seen at Palace Gates on a local train from North Woolwich in September 1962 just three months before the line's closure. This engine has survived into preservation and is currently undergoing a refit on the North Norfolk Railway. The photo also reveals…</span></span></p>
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<p><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption"><span class="hasCaption">N7 class Locomotive No.69621 seen at Palace Gates on a local train from North Woolwich in September 1962 just three months before the line's closure. This engine has survived into preservation and is currently undergoing a refit on the North Norfolk Railway. The photo also reveals the sheer scale of the footbridge over the platforms. [photo: R. Hobbs]</span></span></p>
A British Rail N7 0-6-2 Tank…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-05-07:6278630:Comment:131313
2018-05-07T09:26:13.674Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
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<p>A British Rail N7 0-6-2 Tank Locomotive No. 69625 at West Green station hauling a suburban service on the down line towards Palace Gates. Date and photographer unknown, but the early BR crest shown on the engine would have been replaced from September 1956. The coaching stock shown were sets of 5 coaches economically articulated on just 6 sets of wheel carriages known…</p>
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<p>A British Rail N7 0-6-2 Tank Locomotive No. 69625 at West Green station hauling a suburban service on the down line towards Palace Gates. Date and photographer unknown, but the early BR crest shown on the engine would have been replaced from September 1956. The coaching stock shown were sets of 5 coaches economically articulated on just 6 sets of wheel carriages known as Quint-Art sets, with two sets constituting a full train at peak times. Accounts from rush-hour travelers from this period suggest that commuting in them was an uncomfortable & unpleasant experience.</p>
<p>More on the history of this long defunct station and the rest of the line on Nick Catford's excellent <em>'Disused Stations'</em> site here:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/west_green/index.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disused Stations</a></p>
<p></p>
On the other side of the tra…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-03-01:6278630:Comment:130480
2018-03-01T14:07:02.930Z
Richard Matz
https://bowesandbounds.org/profile/RichardMatz
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<p>On the other side of the tracks at Palace Gates station was a more functional entrance with courtyard on the corner of Bridge Road and Dorset Road. I can't quite make out what was showing at The Ritz cinema! No date for this picture but The Ritz cinema was <span>re-named </span><i>ABC Turnpike Lane</i><span> from 9 October 1961. </span>Dorset Road was formerly known…</p>
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<p>On the other side of the tracks at Palace Gates station was a more functional entrance with courtyard on the corner of Bridge Road and Dorset Road. I can't quite make out what was showing at The Ritz cinema! No date for this picture but The Ritz cinema was <span>re-named </span><i>ABC Turnpike Lane</i><span> from 9 October 1961. </span>Dorset Road was formerly known as Ellesborough Road and is listed as such on the 1912 OS map, although I don't know when and why it changed.</p>
I think I must have seen that…
tag:bowesandbounds.org,2018-01-28:6278630:Comment:129976
2018-01-28T16:49:18.922Z
Renato B
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<p>I think I must have seen that engine in when I was a boy. Very nice photograph indeed.</p>
<p>I think I must have seen that engine in when I was a boy. Very nice photograph indeed.</p>