North London Line in Transition

[TheBottledair]

proper comfortable trains these were, (better than the uncomfortable pieces of Plastic we live with today) I admit that these trains were 'wheelchair unfriendly' however they were reliable and cosy.

[mekydro]

Fascinating. I had forgotten that 313s served Broad St in its dying days.

That Class 31 shown staggering across the screen looks like it is on a special - all first-class and 2 dining cars wouldn't be a normal service train.

[Defn28]

Love the old sinny footage

[NODDINGCAT]

Tip top Film!!!!

[deltic055]

I cannot believe this was all 20years ago! The changes all around Broad St really upset my daily commute - not sure anything has changed for the better now. Live on South Coast now, but these make me want to come back and explore a bit more. I love all railways Then & Now type images. Thanks for sharing, I have subscribed and look forward to viewing more.

[gileragfr125]

class 501s remember them at wembley central confortable fast acceleration yes remember them at wembley before towing away for scrap

as reguards to a comment bout o/head north london had a 3rail dc lines some units looked southern(class 501) but only ever ran on the noth london lines from richmond to broadstreet and watford jct to london euston well after passenger use sonme went to liverpool for dept workings

[duxberry1958]

i always fort that broad street station was in a odd place ,used it a few times in my train spotting day

[BROADTRAIN1979]

Seeing these fantastic comfortable lovely 501,s at wembley, in late 85 to be towed away for scrapping, broke my heart. As these new plastic all look the same trains today ,would never stand up to these and they were reliable right up to the end r.i.p 501,s

[SilsdenCougar]

You have a wonderful selection of videos here. The Photos at Broad Street are excellent. Does look strange seen SR EMU's north of the Thames.

[Glenn1967ful]

The lines out of Broad St were third rail, again an oddity as most lines north of the Thames are 25kv overhead, which explains the SR type EMUs.

[TheMiserablegit]

The 313s were never SR units. They were built in the late 70s for inner suburban services from Kings Cross and Moorgate.

[rorymacve]

Great photo at 0:20 of the 313 and the Modern London skyline with the newly built Tower 42! Some supreme footage and totally priceless. 5***

[ZetanCrisp]

Great clips of film thanks! I didn't know Broad St had been demolished and went to look at it on Google earth!! It's a pity they couldnt have incorporated the station building into the Broadgate centre, but architects dont like doing that sort of thing because they want ALL the credit for their buildings :(

[Glenn1967ful]

It closed in 1986 and was demolished immediately. Also it had become decrepit and badly run down and had become too uneconomic to keep open as too few passengers were using it. Broad St's services were transferred to Liverpool St, which is next door.

[harlingtonstraker]

IIRC BroadSt was demolished around the ears of the commuters, with the end being just a muddy wasteland, wire fencing and roofless platforms. Grief those builders love to make everyone suffer for their personal convenience.

As another said, any half-decent Architect would try and design in the old (or renovated version of) station and make it a glorious centrepiece.

[WrongRoadRailways]

Lovely footage mate!

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks.

Just wish I had filmed even more!!!

Simon

[BROADTRAIN1979]

yes rode on these 501s great line great trains. ive built 'n' gauge model of canonbury station line just wired it to dcc all i have of my childhood memories great vid thanks

[citytransportinfo]

I also often rode on them. Rides were twinged with sadness - because of the way the service was being run down. The Broad Street route should never have closed... the 2010 reopening points to a better way that services could have been managed.

Ditto the northern pair of tracks at Camden Road, which it is now said will be too expensive to reopen.

Simon

[1980robpl]

These videos are amazing...copies should be given to the National Railway Museum in York, and the London Transport Museum- these are real history and need to be preserved.

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks.

I already have some video footage at the British Film Archives. One reason why I started adding films to youtube is a hope that they will end up being preserved for future generations.

I would be adding more, but my films are in S-VHS format and I've been having video player problems, plus being unemployed makes spending money on repairs somewhat difficult.

I am about to uplift more super 8 films, and then will review what to do with my videos.

Simon

[ricksuffolk]

Another great vid.

Remember riding on DMUs out of Broad Street via Dalston Junc to Enfield Chase, sometimes Class 105 Cravens but more often Derby Class 125 Hydraulics.

[citytransportinfo]

Must have been before the Enfield route was electrified...

Simon

[corinthic]

You've done it again and an excellent archive of a well used line but one that was passed over by the rail enthusiasts! The stock evolved from Oerlikon/501/then Cravens units on I think the Camden Road line? EPbs and to the present 313s. Alas of course North Woolwich is no more a used as the "Eastern" terminus!

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks. :-)

btw, soon the 313's will be history too - instead will be 4 car trains designed for a maximun number of standing passengers with relatively few seats - a direct opposite to the older trains which used to serve this line many years ago.

I suppose though it could be worse - at least the line is still open, no thanks to Dr Beeching!

Simon

[BROADTRAIN1979]

great footage' ive built a model layout representing canonbury station in ;n; scale also built class 501 to run on it will try and put it on you tube for all to see.

[bradleyphillips2007]

it was 1985 1986 the 313 unites were used from 1982 alongside ageing class 501 units and the 501 units were replaced in 1985 with 2epb units from the southern region

[SenatorDONUTHOLES]

What year is this?

[railwayperson]

that would have probably been during the early 1980's

[KylieRamone]

I was on the Class 501 farewell tour whcih took 501s onto the SR. They had to saw off the wooden running boards to get into some of the platforms.

Then they didn't withdraw them for ages and the specially cleaned up units which had doen the farewell tour had to be taken out of service because they didn't have the running boards...

[phallick]

that was great, im not that much into trains but it was nice to see the old familar slam doors..next time could you show the year of all the clips. im hungry for more, thanks

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks.

I am not exactly sure of the years... I bought a camcorder in December 1989 so these will have been from the mid to late 1980's, but before I bought the camcorder.

Simon

[railwayperson]

if you think about it the 313's were introduced into service on british rail in 1977 and the 501's were got rid of in 1985 so it must have been about 1983/2/4

[davefbb1982]

I'm not heavily into trains myself, but am fascinated by things like this from the 70s and 80s, just to see how much has changed. Some of the trains had Network Southeast livery (is that the correct term?!), which was created in 1986, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong!

[phallick]

that was great, im not that much into trains but it was nice to see the old familar slam doors..next time could you show the year of all the clips. im hungry for more, thanks

[notional67]

Great stuff. I live next to Canonbury West Jn so it's great to see the way it was. Something NOT in your 'about this video' summary is the class 31-hauled mk 1 train - complete with buffet car! In my sadder moments I dream of those things trundling though the Highbury tunnel on their way to... where? Which destinations did Broad Street serve in this era which were far enough away to merit a buffet?

Great film - thanks a lot.

[citytransportinfo]

Thanks for your info - I have now added this to the 'about this video' text. I do not know where the train was going, but very much doubt that it originated from Broad Street (as I would have seen it on a timetable and tried to travel on it!)

simon

[citytransportinfo]

It *very* nearly did!

.. and some people would say that with the way that domestic passengers have been shunted to a virtual annexe, plus the way in which interchange with the Underground for Thameslink passengers has been turned from a convenient short walk to a long hike, so we have done it here too!!!

Simon

[metadyneman]

We did some awful things to old stations in those days.. thank god it never happened to St Pancras