The Railway

The real Kings Cross was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway and has been the London terminus of the East Coast Main Line ever since.

While we don’t have the space to build a full scale replica, there is no doubt when you walk into the clubrooms that it’s Kings Cross that greets you, complete with the York Road platform on the Moorgate lines.

From here, express trains leave for the North, suburban services shuttle to and from Hitchin as well as empty stock moves to Hornsey carriage sidings. Locomotives are also turned and prepared for their next turn in Kings Cross loco yard.  

So, it’s our lucky day and we will board the evening Pullman service to Leeds. As we leave Kings Cross, we quickly enter Gasworks Tunnel.

Ferme Park is the London terminus for goods trains from the North. As well as having a large goods shed, Ferme Park also has a dedicated motorail platform and loading ramp for loading road vehicles.

The locomotive shed houses goods engines for the many and varied goods trains that head north. These include Riddles standard 9f’s and Gresley V2’s for the prestigious ‘Scotch goods’ or the many fish trains that were once a common sight bringing Grimsby fish to the capital.

Back on the mainline, we leave the tunnel and we’re no longer in suburbia, but in the countryside, approaching Hatfield. The village dominates the scene here as we steam through the station. Some local services terminate in the bay platform here, but we carry on and enter another tunnel.

Hitchin is the terminus of suburban services from Kings Cross. As we pass through on the fast lines, we see the Travelling Post Office (TPO) on its way to Ferme Park. The station building is based on the real Hitchin station. On the up lines, the signals are still traditional semaphore signals, whilst the down lines are protected by colour light signals.

On leaving Hitchin station we enter a tunnel and the ‘Werrington loop’ trails in from the left at Hitchin north junction. The ‘loop’ as it is known, is the only continuous circuit on the railway and allows us to regulate traffic in both directions

There is no station here, but the junction is important as it allows us to regulate the timing of trains. Trains taking the level route follow a circular route and will eventually find themselves back at Werrington Junction, where if they then take the route that climbs away to the left, they will carry on their journey north.

There is also a goods loop on the up line at Werrington Junction allowing passenger trains to overtake slower goods trains.

On this part of the railway you can view trains on four different levels. Hatfield sits behind the junction and at a slightly lower level, whilst above Hatfield is the northern exit from Retford and finally on top is the approach to Leeds Central.

Retford’s home signal clears and we draw to a halt in Retford. The station here is a replica of the real station buildings and is the terminus of local services from Leeds and Doncaster.

Off the platform end is a small goods  yard and engine shed. A number of express and mail trains change locomotives here, so the engine shed is always busy.

The operator has a restricted view of trains approaching Retford station, so has to use mirrors to see what’s coming. One is high on the wall in the corner of the room. The other…. it’s set into the back of Retford North signal box. Leaving Retford, we pass under a bridge and back out into the countryside, before entering a short tunnel.

On leaving the tunnel, we’re working hard uphill through a shallow cutting towards Doncaster. Keep an eye out for Doncaster’s down home signal, with working route indicator. Under the girder bridge, the lines to and from Doncaster Decoy yard diverge to the left as we enter the station.

The main station building is another replica of the real thing and still stands today. Local services to Retford and Leeds start and terminate here from the bay platforms. We’re not stopping today, so we carry on through another tunnel and up the final gradient towards Fitzwilliam.

All goods trains from the south terminate here and are remarshalled for their return journeys. Locomotives are turned and await their next duties on the shed and whilst nearly all these will be humble goods locomotives, keep and eye out for a gleaming pacific from time to time, ready to take an express back to London.

We pass over the girder bridge and clatter over the level crossing. Two sets of gates are required here, the second set covering the goods yard entrance. In the goods yard itself the local coal merchant is busy loading his lorry for the day’s deliveries.

On the left is Main Street, with plenty of activity. As we pass through, did you spot the youth with a catapult? The station itself is on a curve with staggered platforms. Semaphore signals are the order of the day here. As we leave Fitzwilliam we begin to slow for our arrival in Leeds.

Whilst Kings Cross station is still very much recognisable today, there is virtually no trace of the real Leeds Central, but it lives on here in Gainsborough. The unusual underslung signals can clearly be see and behind them, eight platforms all teeming with activity. There is a motorail service ready to depart, as well as expresses to the south and local services to Fitzwilliam, Doncaster and Reford.

Adjacent to the station is Copley Hill shed – always a busy place with most locomotives requiring turning for their return journeys south.