London St Pancras
On 10th May 1844, instigated by George Hudson, the Midland Counties, Birmingham
& Derby Junction, and North Midland Railways amalgamated to form the ‘’Midland
Railway’’. This brought important lines linking Birmingham, Derby, Rugby, Leeds,
Leicester and Nottingham under a single managing committee, and progression
towards the most important of them all – London – could begin in earnest. The
company already had an
indirect connection with the capital at Rugby, where the
London & Birmingham Railway’s metals were reached. However, increasing train
movements led to the inevitable overcrowding at the junction and naturally,
independent access to London became somewhat more desirable. A southward
extension from Leicester was begun, and on 8th May 1857, Midland Railway services
reached Hitchin, Hertfordshire; thereafter, the company shared the lines of the
Great Northern Railway into London. At this time, the Midland Railway was still
predominantly a freight carrier, coal being the main product it conveyed. Whilst
its passenger services travelled over the GNR lines into Kings Cross, its coal
traffic was hauled from Rugby to Euston by the LNWR, which offered much cheaper
travel tolls on this commodity than the GNR. The use of the GNR’s lines
transpired to be a rather unattractive venture for the Midland Railway; GNR
services were given priority on both train paths and platform space.
Furthermore, this company’s goods yard was not large enough to deal with the
ever-increasing mineral traffic of the Midland and subsequently, the latter
began planning its own goods depot. This was to be sandwiched in-between
Regent’s Canal and the North London Line, feeding off the GNR lines which were
positioned to the east of it. The GNR was only too happy to allow the Midland to
build this complex: the company envisaged further toll revenues over the
long-term, the Midland having no independent line to the capital. In light of
this, the GNR began to throw its weight around. 1862 was the year of the Great
London Exposition and for all those railway lines radiating out of the capital,
there was considerable excursion traffic carried for the event. Line and
platform capacity was already problematic at the Kings Cross end of the GNR
system, not least as a result of sharing with the Midland, and the extra traffic
each company carried for the occasion only made the whole situation worse.
Consequently, additional trains had to be stabled in the GNR goods yard, only
the most basic of facilities being provided for the disembarking passengers -
even platforms were non-existent! Indeed, the policy of the GNR having the
priority came into play, and this company demanded that the Midland used its own
Agar Town goods yard, which was only partially open at this time. The Midland
was not quick to react, it casting doubts over the practicality of doing this.
Therefore, the company waited to be pushed, rather than jump itself, and
subsequently, the GNR began removing Midland rolling stock items from its
sidings. Naturally, this rattled the Midland, but the whole series of events had
provided the needed impetus for the Board of Directors to initiate proceedings
for an independent line and London terminus.
In the face of LNWR and GNR opposition, Royal Assent was received in 1863 for
the Midland Railway to construct a 49¾-mile line from Bedford, down to the
Euston Road. The latter represented the border of the Royal Commission and the
Midland was fortunate enough to purchase some land off resident Lord Somers,
immediately to the west of the GNR’s Kings Cross. In 1865, the Midland completed
its original Agar Town goods depot alongside the GNR lines, but in the following
year, the first earth was turned for the then new terminus. Even by this time,
the area to the north of the Euston Road was heavily built up and the routing of
the extension from Bedford would entail much demolition. With the site of the
terminus confirmed, mass destruction of houses began, their inhabitants being
expelled without compensation and forced to re-settle in surrounding slums.
Woeful this may have been to the residents, the Midland’s actions benefited the
area as a whole, by obliterating a large area of foul and neglected housing.
Demolishing slums was the least of workers’ worries: a large graveyard also
required excavation. Human remains were re-buried in other cemeteries, but soon,
the construction site was amassed with open coffins and bones, workers being
surrounding by decomposing bodies.
Three years after the line’s authorisation, construction work actually began on
the terminus. Whilst the routing of the line from Bedford was the responsibility
of the Midland’s engineer William Barlow, so was the design of the terminus.
Initially, this was to be akin to nearby Kings Cross, comprising of two arched
spans, each 120 foot in width. The platforms were to be elevated some twenty
foot above ground level - unlike the approaches to the GNR’s Kings Cross, which
passed underneath the Regent’s Canal, the Midland line was routed over it. The
terminus platforms could have potentially been built at a greater height above
street level, but the approach lines were laid on a downward slope, thus
reducing this. This elevation had a distinct advantage: it provided a huge area
of storage space underneath the concourse and platform lines. This had
originally been overlooked and considered more of an inconvenience when the
issue first came to light. Initial suggestions proposed infilling the vast
expanse with earth excavated from the construction site, but with unrivalled
access to the area from street level, the storage opportunity was one too good
to miss. The area was to be vaulted in construction, to maximise storage space.
This decision also led to questions being raised over the original twin-span
trainshed roof concept. A central supporting line of columns would be required,
which would penetrate through the floor and negate the usefulness of the
underground vaulted design. This, compounded by the fact that the rebuilding and
re-arranging of platforms would be a future occurrence, gave rise to a new
design. This more expensive idea outlined a single-span arched trainshed, 240-foot in width, which would provide unlimited flexibility for internal track
layout alterations, and maintain spacious cellar space below. The design was
unprecedented, but if successfully engineered, would certainly give the Midland
Railway a significant presence in the capital, more so than the nearby GNR with
its plain Kings Cross. Barlow outlined the fundamental specification of the
trainshed, then delegated the bulk of the framework design to engineer Roland M.
Ordish, whom had a great deal of experience with using cast iron in major
structures. The stage was now set: red brick walls were to line the eastern and
western elevations, and a trainshed roof spanning 240-foot, with a length of 689-foot and a height above the platform lines of 100-foot, was to dominate the
London skyline. The walls would have been far too weak in their present form to
take the weight of the trainshed, thus the ironwork of this awe-inspiring
structure was perpetuated to platform level, where it was secured in place by
three-inch thick iron rods upon brick piers. The latter extended the twenty feet
downwards to street level. Both north and south façades of the trainshed were to
be fully glazed, as was the central longitudinal area of the roof, whilst the
rest of the outer surface area was to be covered with slate tiles. The whole station
weighed a staggering 6894 tons: the trainshed totalled 2894 tons; the floor
plates, beams and girders some 2957 tons; and finally, the 720 cast-iron iron
supporting columns underneath the platforms came to 1043 tons. This cumulative
total equates to
the weight of approximately forty jumbo jets.
Steam is witnessed at St Pancras in April 1963, but not in Midland Region form. Visiting from
the Southern Region, Merchant Navy Class No. 35003 ''Royal Mail Line'' is seen fronting an
excursion to Derby for the ''Home Counties Railway Society''. David Glasspool Collection
At the buffer stops in May 1996 are power cars Nos. 43075 and 43045, sporting the attractive
InterCity ''Swallow'' livery. Note that the former cab road platform is in use for parked vehicles.
Also shown to good effect here are arch-patterned red brick walls. David Glasspool Collection
Also seen in May 1996 are Class 43s Nos. 43055 and 43050, in the company of the catenary masts
erected for the 1982 electrification to Bedford. With the diverting of Bedford services through Snow
Hill Tunnel from May 1988 onwards, these wires became little used, but were maintained for any
terminating services in the event of Snow Hill tunnel closure as a result of engineering works.
David Glasspool Collection
This southward view from 4th July 2001 shows the 25 foot wide cab road, and illustrates the graceful
lines of the trainshed. The glazed arrangement here dates from 1959, when work was completed in the
hope of brightening the area up. David Glasspool
Return to the Kent Rail Homepage or alternatively, check for Updates.
Website & Copyright information - Links - Contact the Webmaster
All content is copyright © David Glasspool