It’s amazing to see how much the railways in and around Stratford has changed over the years, I still remember the railway yard where the Westfield currently is now
Stratford is now a much busier place than when I was a kid (born 1969) and was just an interchange between local services to shenfield and southend and the central line with north London line coming later
Thank you for showing us another unusual route around North London including some "freight only" tracks. A slow, laborious "slog" out of Stratford and the maze of options at Willesden/Wembley. I hope there will be a continuation of this journey in due course please? Many thanks for the precise junction locations, makes things easier to follow on a map.
You all prolly dont care but does any of you know a trick to log back into an Instagram account? I was dumb forgot my login password. I would love any tips you can give me!
@Weston Wayne thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Interesting to watch and see what a train driver actually see's on a particular route. I think your videos are great. I so want to become a train driver.
But at least it is still used as the continuous service of the railway industry by being the Eurostar depot and orient way carriage sidings and the railway retains a presence in Stratford and the surrounding areas
Thanks for the view driver, it’s been a a few years since I have seen that stretch of line. Seems so strange to most of the signalboxes GONE…. Harringay Park Junction, Junction Road Junction, Gospel Oak, Kensal Green Junction, Willesden PSB and Willesden Brent Sidings.
That brings back memories of the time I spent as drivers assistant at Sratford from 1976 until 1980, looks a little different, a lot more buildings and electrification of the line ,Hampstead tunnel is still as dark 😳
Certainly an unusual route to Gospel Oak junction, not one I did when I was a driver at 5ratford cica 1970s; did it in reverse when picking up freight from Cricklewood yard into Temple Mills; hardly recognised anything till Coppermll Junction!
This is the way to get from the main line to Liverpool Street to the main line to Euston, and passes the Kings Cross and St Pancras lines. A mile further on is the line to Paddington, and continuing you reach Clapham Junction and the lines from Victoria and Waterloo.
Great video, extremely frustrating to see the extent to which routes like this have been wired and yet freight services are still diesel hauled. Also, cannot quite believe they didn’t bother to wire the connection between GOBLIN and the MML.
This was partly because the MML’s freight is all diesel, so nowhere for an electric freight to go, and I believe, it’s not cleared for high cube containers so even if links to the WCML via Nuneaton were cleared it couldn’t be used by long distance container trains.
Completely agree. Japan seems to have replaced diesel locomotives for freight many decades ago now. Perhaps they still use them for shunting, I’m not sure. But that would be it. And even then you could use a battery locomotive for that now pretty easily if companies bothered to innovate.
We travelled that way on a couple of chartered trains (one Ipswich to York, and the other Ipswich to Liverpool). Both trains got to their destinations early.
Some of those neutral section placements, though! That says a lot about either the efficiency of steel wheels on steel rails, or the skill that train drivers have (most likely both!) Interesting the sign at Gospel Oak's NL1302 signal 35:28 though, kinda makes sense why you'd need to stop there, if you don't want that stop to be extended 🤔
I used to commute from Stratford to Green Lanes, watching the freight do that exact journey was really quite frustrating in the mornings, I just wanted to jump on board!
I remember one weekend around 1989, when there were quite major engineering works at Liverpool Street....Enfield Town trains were starting at Stratford, and running via South Tottenham (non--stop, but even then electrified through the platforms), round another chord to Seven Sisters, then normal route. That was the only time I'd experienced electrified passenger services through there, of course now the entire "GOBLIN" Line is wired up.
@@ianmcclavin that chord between south Tottenham and seven sisters is a remnant of the old palace gates - north woolwich service and was used for passenger services (parliamentary) until quite recently (05:00 from Stratford or something like that Saturdays only) but hasn't run since goblin electrification
I note that the final piece of third rail I have found no YT footage for is the line that links Watford Junction to the rest of the LSE network. If there are any train drivers that might cover this route (say from East Croydon) that are willing to make the recording, then the set (and very possibly my life) would be complete. :)
Always interesting the various routes being taken, the various train stations being used. What is very obvious on this video is the lack of controlling intruder bushes in train station areas which can be easily dealt with by a private entity. Nothing more pleasing than a clean area.
Love cab view diesel videos. Wow, East London has changed so much. Does anyone know what the Blue rectangular covers are periodically in between the up down tracks?
i always did wonder about the other freight route and it was nice to see it -- i do sometimes hear the horn from the North London Line when the freight trains go past -- i did get a surprise one morning when i saw DB66 pulling a stream engine in reverse :( but must of been going to the DB work yard near Stratford area and if i recall the it was also known as the nuke line for a few years in the 80's
19:25 signal here indicates a "Left". imagine the white lights, or Fingers, arranged in a circle, the one shown @ 2:13 would be bottom right, the one @ 19:25 would be top left.
What are the spirals of wire around the left-hand OHLE wire at various positions around 18:26? And in a corresponding position on the track in the opposite direction? I notice that there are little circular "targets" hanging from that OHLE. Are both the spirals and the targets something to do with deterring birds which might be flying to/from the two Warwick reservoirs that the railway passes between? I presume that wire is a return or neutral wire, rather than one that the pantograph contacts.
Used to mess about in Stratford shed by means of a workmens' tunnel in the 60s - happy days! No health and safety nonsense then! All long gone of course.
I wonder why only one [down] container train per day goes via the Lea Valley line [used to be an earlier Lawson Street train] Shame that Spitalfields Market isn't rail served- - lorries from all over Europe arrive there. How sensible is that?
That takes me back, I used to live in Tottenham and worked for Freightliner at Cardington Street and Paddington. The Stratford area has changed a lot, the other lines not so much. As a matter of interest, do you still have to have a BR29973 form (although it's probably called something else now) with your route and exclusions? I assume that even today the container trains are out of gauge, they certainly were in my day.
We do have paperwork with routes permitted/restricted, and container restrictions (W8/W10 etc)... all our paperwork has weight, height and loading gauge restrictions which we are very rarely deviated from due to the consist of the train... however, container trains are now able to travel on most lines, subject to container height.... The ECML is one example... From Canonbury / Finsbury Park to Peterborough, my go via Hertford North (Hertford Loop) unless the train is fully W8 gauge.
@@Freightdriver82 Bock in my day, Werrington Junction to Stoke Tinnel was slow lines only, the main line bridge holes were to small. Now it has been electrified it's no longer a problem. We also ran intermodal from Ipswich Griffin Wharf on a daily basis.
May I ask why were you routed that way via South Tottenham? Surely quicker via Hackney / Dalston / Camden Road and Primrose Hill! Or even to Camden Road then North London? Is it traffic? Time of day? Just seems like you had a rather convoluted route! All the best!
Hi. Any chance of getting the routes from Stratford to Wembley via Gospel Oak and via Camden Road? Also an Ipswich to Peterborough and back cab ride would be good 😊? I see you had uploaded Felixstowe to Ipswich but will you be uploading the Ipswich to Felixstowe route?
@@articeddie5494 I don't know. I just know that I normally get the train from Tottenham Hale and now the extra line goes to Meridian Water which now allows 4tph to Stratford, over the previous 2, and as you saw, the 3rd line joins the double track just before lea bridge
They definitely don’t... I didn’t need to look to check, but had a glance anyway to see if I could see what your seeing... No idea where you get any indication of the route diverging left I’m afraid?
If it is the route indications which are causing confusion, off Stratford the indication given is of No6 route (bottom right), which gives the correct indication for the route I was taking. The route indications on a signal can come in up to 6 in that format. The routes are designated 1-6, or as in the rulebook, read as top to bottom, left to right. There may be some pictures or diagrams on Google which will show you the layout of a signal with multiple route indications to help clear up the confusion... But, I can assure you the signalling is correct! 🤣
@@Freightdriver82 - 2.19 in, partway along platform 10, just after the seated guy in dayglow yellow, is a gantry showing a single yellow, and above it a feather indicating left!
Hi. Great videos by the way. Do you go to / from Wembley via primrose hill at all. I’m route learning it and it would be great to see it on here as it’s hard to get that way during the daytime and actually see anything! Thanks
I was a secondman at Kings Cross when God was a boy, well in the 70's at least. It was a regular job collecting trains from Finsbury Park to Temple Mills freight yard. (Now the Eurotunnel Depot). First time I've seen the place since I left the railway.
Didn't know the be Eurostar train depot had moved to Temple Mills in East London!.....thought it was still at North Pole depot in West London (nr.Old Oak Common sidings).
Having not lived in the UK for 20 years now. A few things I've noticed. Everything near to the tracks are covered in scribble. The lack of any public on the trains or on the platforms. The painfully slow ride on many tracks. No wonder people prefer to travel by car.
This is a goods train hence it takes a long and circuitous to avoid passenger trains, it’s not possible to travel this route on a passenger train. Secondly it was Filmed during the covid lockdown which is why all the stations are so quiet. And thirdly this is London, taking the car isn’t a option most of the time and even when it is it is the slower option
Beats me why the scumbags risk lives to spray gibberish or names no one will know or recognize on boxes ,and walls in middle of nowhere these people need help..makes you wonder on the state of their homes..
A great video but when will all this hideous graffiti be treated as the trespass and criminal damage it really is! Almost every structure on this route was daubed in this cr@#p. And don't give me any of that lily liveried tosh that "it's only youth expressing their art"
OMG and they say its grim up north. Hardly a brick or piece of line-side equipment without some waster’s poor attempt at graffiti. What a depressing sight for anyone to have to live or work in.
This is my favoutrite Cab View video, the speed is just right, sound is good (no music), video clear, and just the right amount of annotation.
Nice
And yes, before anyone says... I saw the “insert title here” which I put in by error.. lol!
"Title Text Here" is a fantastic place. I can highly recommend it for your next vacation.
@ep5 Seriously, though. You gotta check out the "Title Text Here" while you're in the area.
Terrific quality. Easy to watch. Thank you.
It’s amazing to see how much the railways in and around Stratford has changed over the years, I still remember the railway yard where the Westfield currently is now
It seemed a desolate place
Stratford is now a much busier place than when I was a kid (born 1969) and was just an interchange between local services to shenfield and southend and the central line with north London line coming later
Thank you for showing us another unusual route around North London including some "freight only" tracks. A slow, laborious "slog" out of Stratford and the maze of options at Willesden/Wembley. I hope there will be a continuation of this journey in due course please? Many thanks for the precise junction locations, makes things easier to follow on a map.
There will be more to follow... Thanks....
You all prolly dont care but does any of you know a trick to log back into an Instagram account?
I was dumb forgot my login password. I would love any tips you can give me!
@Alberto Daniel instablaster =)
@Weston Wayne thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now.
Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Nice journey. Thanks.
Great quality, nice rare video, amazing stuff!!
Absolutely fantastic video! 👍
Interesting to watch and see what a train driver actually see's on a particular route. I think your videos are great. I so want to become a train driver.
Excellent thank you
Thanks for this as well - great to see this way round and able to see some of the more rare options.
Excellent quality of video and sound. Thanks!
Another great video - thanks for uploading and sharing with us.
Several of these lines have been used for passenger services in the past, but its amazing the number of lines there are that see little use
Shame to see Temple Mills yard gone.. had a few laughs and tough days making up ballast trains there.
Used to train spot there as a young boy. Awesome yard!
But at least it is still used as the continuous service of the railway industry by being the Eurostar depot and orient way carriage sidings and the railway retains a presence in Stratford and the surrounding areas
I really really enjoyed this, and I've passed this on to my friend. Very interesting journey. Loved it.
Thanks for the view driver, it’s been a a few years since I have seen that stretch of
line. Seems so strange to most of the signalboxes GONE….
Harringay Park Junction, Junction Road Junction, Gospel Oak, Kensal Green
Junction, Willesden PSB and Willesden Brent Sidings.
That brings back memories of the time I spent as drivers assistant at Sratford from 1976 until 1980, looks a little different, a lot more buildings and electrification of the line ,Hampstead tunnel is still as dark 😳
I was a drivers assistant, secondman at March Depot, 1974 to 1983...
Elite drivers I see that's amazing you guys were enjoying the trains before I even existed
Thanks for posting!Was at Ripple Lane freight depot (traincrew) in early 80's and so much has changed on whole route of video.
Lovely video. Like A Butler says below, good to see some 'not usually seen' tracks.
Certainly an unusual route to Gospel Oak junction, not one I did when I was a driver at 5ratford cica 1970s; did it in reverse when picking up freight from Cricklewood yard into Temple Mills; hardly recognised anything till Coppermll Junction!
Great video--very enjoyable thanks.
Thanks for the ride.
This is the way to get from the main line to Liverpool Street to the main line to Euston, and passes the Kings Cross and St Pancras lines. A mile further on is the line to Paddington, and continuing you reach Clapham Junction and the lines from Victoria and Waterloo.
Yes, though there is the more usual route via Hackney Central and Primrose Hill, or Hackney Central and Gospel Oak.
Great stuff!!
Great video very enjoyable. Getting to see parts of London from a driver view is awesome.
My grandfather was a yard inspector at Stratford in the 50s. Dad worked in carriage and wagons as did an uncle. My brother at Temple Mills
Great video, extremely frustrating to see the extent to which routes like this have been wired and yet freight services are still diesel hauled.
Also, cannot quite believe they didn’t bother to wire the connection between GOBLIN and the MML.
This was partly because the MML’s freight is all diesel, so nowhere for an electric freight to go, and I believe, it’s not cleared for high cube containers so even if links to the WCML via Nuneaton were cleared it couldn’t be used by long distance container trains.
Completely agree. Japan seems to have replaced diesel locomotives for freight many decades ago now. Perhaps they still use them for shunting, I’m not sure. But that would be it. And even then you could use a battery locomotive for that now pretty easily if companies bothered to innovate.
We travelled that way on a couple of chartered trains (one Ipswich to York, and the other Ipswich to Liverpool). Both trains got to their destinations early.
Some of those neutral section placements, though! That says a lot about either the efficiency of steel wheels on steel rails, or the skill that train drivers have (most likely both!)
Interesting the sign at Gospel Oak's NL1302 signal 35:28 though, kinda makes sense why you'd need to stop there, if you don't want that stop to be extended 🤔
Great to see that lunar lights are still in use. Mind you, I have nothing against theater boxes.
Great video as always.
Great video many thanks for sharing but intrigued by the positioning of route indicator at 2.21 but your going right across the junction.
Assume there are other “less right” options.
Junction 4 would be to the track to the right, junction 5 to channelsea goods loop and then 6 for channelsea (down or up, not sure which is which)
Great trip, thanks. Interesting to see the GOBLIN electrification in full.
Happy memories, great video
I used to commute from Stratford to Green Lanes, watching the freight do that exact journey was really quite frustrating in the mornings, I just wanted to jump on board!
I remember one weekend around 1989, when there were quite major engineering works at Liverpool Street....Enfield Town trains were starting at Stratford, and running via South Tottenham (non--stop, but even then electrified through the platforms), round another chord to Seven Sisters, then normal route. That was the only time I'd experienced electrified passenger services through there, of course now the entire "GOBLIN" Line is wired up.
@@ianmcclavin that chord between south Tottenham and seven sisters is a remnant of the old palace gates - north woolwich service and was used for passenger services (parliamentary) until quite recently (05:00 from Stratford or something like that Saturdays only) but hasn't run since goblin electrification
@@Keithbarber Keep kicking myself that I didn't "do" it when I had the chance.
I note that the final piece of third rail I have found no YT footage for is the line that links Watford Junction to the rest of the LSE network. If there are any train drivers that might cover this route (say from East Croydon) that are willing to make the recording, then the set (and very possibly my life) would be complete. :)
Brilliant video thanks for uploading
Best of all the Cab Videos!
Another Great video, the captions allow me to track the route in my rail atlas, hope to see more soon👍
Great video, my commute takes me under the bridge at @21:16 twice a day. It's rare for me to catch a train there. Nice to see from this angle.
Muy lindo video.. por la velocidad que lleva es un tren de carga?. Saludos desde Argentina
Always interesting the various routes being taken, the various train stations being used. What is very obvious on this video is the lack of controlling intruder bushes in train station areas which can be easily dealt with by a private entity. Nothing more pleasing than a clean area.
Good video, thank you for sharing!
excellent. thank you
I lived in E16 during the early 1980s. That was before the whole docklands and Canary Island development. I didn't even recognise Stratford.
Love cab view diesel videos. Wow, East London has changed so much. Does anyone know what the Blue rectangular covers are periodically in between the up down tracks?
They are catchpits, which are part of the drainage system. They ‘catch’ silt and other debris carried along the drainage pipe by water.
i always did wonder about the other freight route and it was nice to see it -- i do sometimes hear the horn from the North London Line when the freight trains go past -- i did get a surprise one morning when i saw DB66 pulling a stream engine in reverse :( but must of been going to the DB work yard near Stratford area and if i recall the it was also known as the nuke line for a few years in the 80's
2:13 white lights seem to be pointing left but the points take the train to the right
19:25 signal here indicates a "Left". imagine the white lights, or Fingers, arranged in a circle, the one shown @ 2:13 would be bottom right, the one @ 19:25 would be top left.
Excellent video
Great and informative video, thanks. Would love to see the reverse move, is it available please?
I didn't realise how large the Temple Mills depot actually is!
It’s huge.
You mean was...
What are the spirals of wire around the left-hand OHLE wire at various positions around 18:26? And in a corresponding position on the track in the opposite direction? I notice that there are little circular "targets" hanging from that OHLE. Are both the spirals and the targets something to do with deterring birds which might be flying to/from the two Warwick reservoirs that the railway passes between? I presume that wire is a return or neutral wire, rather than one that the pantograph contacts.
Used to mess about in Stratford shed by means of a workmens' tunnel in the 60s - happy days! No health and safety nonsense then! All long gone of course.
When this train gathers speed , inside the cab it sounds like my washing machine on spin cycle .
I wonder why only one [down] container train per day goes via the Lea Valley line [used to be an earlier Lawson Street train] Shame that Spitalfields Market isn't rail served- - lorries from all over Europe arrive there. How sensible is that?
West Anglia line is an extremely busy route - a F/L type train would mess up the normal timetable of the route 🙁
That takes me back, I used to live in Tottenham and worked for Freightliner at Cardington Street and Paddington. The Stratford area has changed a lot, the other lines not so much. As a matter of interest, do you still have to have a BR29973 form (although it's probably called something else now) with your route and exclusions? I assume that even today the container trains are out of gauge, they certainly were in my day.
We do have paperwork with routes permitted/restricted, and container restrictions (W8/W10 etc)... all our paperwork has weight, height and loading gauge restrictions which we are very rarely deviated from due to the consist of the train... however, container trains are now able to travel on most lines, subject to container height.... The ECML is one example... From Canonbury / Finsbury Park to Peterborough, my go via Hertford North (Hertford Loop) unless the train is fully W8 gauge.
RT3973...👍
@@Freightdriver82 Bock in my day, Werrington Junction to Stoke Tinnel was slow lines only, the main line bridge holes were to small. Now it has been electrified it's no longer a problem. We also ran intermodal from Ipswich Griffin Wharf on a daily basis.
THIS SHOULD BECOME A PASSENGER ROUTE
IT WOULD BE SO USEFUL
IT is
what train runs it
May I ask why were you routed that way via South Tottenham? Surely quicker via Hackney / Dalston / Camden Road and Primrose Hill! Or even to Camden Road then North London? Is it traffic? Time of day? Just seems like you had a rather convoluted route! All the best!
We have one train that goes that way, mainly for route retention purposes... Always handy as a diversion. 👍
Hi. Any chance of getting the routes from Stratford to Wembley via Gospel Oak and via Camden Road? Also an Ipswich to Peterborough and back cab ride would be good 😊? I see you had uploaded Felixstowe to Ipswich but will you be uploading the Ipswich to Felixstowe route?
Appalling condition of track ballast at High Meads Curve
How long has it been 3 lanes out of Lea Bridge ?
Are the putting the curve back to link Lea Bridge with St James street/chingford branch ?
18 months or so.
@@filecore is the curve back in towards Chingford yet ?
@@articeddie5494 I don't know. I just know that I normally get the train from Tottenham Hale and now the extra line goes to Meridian Water which now allows 4tph to Stratford, over the previous 2, and as you saw, the 3rd line joins the double track just before lea bridge
@@articeddie5494 no plans to rebuild the Hall Farm curve.
@@robertbutlin3708 oh I thought they were going to reinstate it
Train sounds ace.
are 1st 3 videos ive watched a continuation from felixstowe? excellant video
Why the left-hand feather just before Channelsea when turning right?
I don’t recall that (certainly hope not!), but I’ll have a look... 🤣
I put the same question in - three minutes in, the 'feathers' indicate left, but the track goes right!
They definitely don’t... I didn’t need to look to check, but had a glance anyway to see if I could see what your seeing... No idea where you get any indication of the route diverging left I’m afraid?
If it is the route indications which are causing confusion, off Stratford the indication given is of No6 route (bottom right), which gives the correct indication for the route I was taking. The route indications on a signal can come in up to 6 in that format. The routes are designated 1-6, or as in the rulebook, read as top to bottom, left to right. There may be some pictures or diagrams on Google which will show you the layout of a signal with multiple route indications to help clear up the confusion... But, I can assure you the signalling is correct! 🤣
@@Freightdriver82 - 2.19 in, partway along platform 10, just after the seated guy in dayglow yellow, is a gantry showing a single yellow, and above it a feather indicating left!
Hi. Great videos by the way.
Do you go to / from Wembley via primrose hill at all. I’m route learning it and it would be great to see it on here as it’s hard to get that way during the daytime and actually see anything!
Thanks
Yes, that is our main route to Wembley/WCML. I’ll see what I can do. 👍
@@Freightdriver82 That's fantastic, thanks very much 👍🏻
Uploaded just now! 👍🏻
Was this filmed back in Autumn.....?looking at the trees...!
Was your headcode 4M88?
Was this a GBRf 66?
Freightliner I think
Class 66 DB Schencker EWS ?
I assume this is a Diesel driven train or not?
Is this a freight (goods) train or a passenger train?
It sounds like a class 66. So I think a freight train.
100% freight.
Great video and I have to ask what sort of camera is in use? The picture quality is exceptionally good.
Thanks. That was my Go Pro Hero8 4K. Does the job nicely… Get out and about in Midlands/WCML soon with it.
I was a secondman at Kings Cross when God was a boy, well in the 70's at least. It was a regular job collecting trains from Finsbury Park to Temple Mills freight yard. (Now the Eurotunnel Depot). First time I've seen the place since I left the railway.
God was around way long long time before you came on the scene.
@@earljohnson7102 I can see sarcasm and comedy are probably lost on you. Never mind it takes all sorts.
@@earljohnson7102 You don't say!
Didn't know the be Eurostar train depot had moved to Temple Mills in East London!.....thought it was still at North Pole depot in West London (nr.Old Oak Common sidings).
@@robtyman4281 Oh yes it moved way back in 2007 as part of a £402 million upgrade
What class?
66
Sad thing about video I don't think the ex boss of EWS vision of speedy freight has been realised, seemed most of journey at a very pedestrian pace.
What class is this 66
66
If I had a pound for every time I did this route I would be rich now.
Having not lived in the UK for 20 years now. A few things I've noticed. Everything near to the tracks are covered in scribble. The lack of any public on the trains or on the platforms. The painfully slow ride on many tracks. No wonder people prefer to travel by car.
This is a goods train hence it takes a long and circuitous to avoid passenger trains, it’s not possible to travel this route on a passenger train.
Secondly it was Filmed during the covid lockdown which is why all the stations are so quiet.
And thirdly this is London, taking the car isn’t a option most of the time and even when it is it is the slower option
Another great ride. Do you also sign Class 70?
is this a 66?
ye
We are on a class 66 loco
Beats me why the scumbags risk lives to spray gibberish or names no one will know or recognize on boxes ,and walls in middle of nowhere these people need help..makes you wonder on the state of their homes..
52:20 Show off! 😂
Should be from Maryland to wembley
Aren't London's railways fantastic.
A great video but when will all this hideous graffiti be treated as the trespass and criminal damage it really is! Almost every structure on this route was daubed in this cr@#p. And don't give me any of that lily liveried tosh that "it's only youth expressing their art"
OMG and they say its grim up north. Hardly a brick or piece of line-side equipment without some waster’s poor attempt at graffiti. What a depressing sight for anyone to have to live or work in.
My god England how decrepit everything is.