IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Holtwhites Hill, ENFIELD, EN2 8BT

The 1S18 service from Kings Cross to Edinburgh passes through Gordon Hill Station on the Hertford Loop line. It is on diversion due to Sunday engineering works which have closed the mainline between Alexandra Palace and Stevenage. The class 91 locomotive (91101) carries promotional livery for the Flying Scotsman express.

The Alexandra Palace-Hertford-Stevenage loop was built mainly as a by-pass for the approaches to King's Cross on the main line from Hatfield and was built to main line standards for much of its length. However, it has never carried regular long-distance passenger services and has always primarily been a suburban branch, apart from when there is engineering work or other disruption on the East Coast Main Line through Hatfield. The line was opened as far as Enfield, which was then the terminus, on 1st April 1871. The line was extended to Cuffley from 4th April 1910 and on to Stevenage for freight on 4th March 1918, but passenger trains only started beyond Cuffley on 2nd June 1924. When Gordon Hill opened on 4th April 1910, it was very much a suburban terminus at the limits of London and it retained a frontier atmosphere until the early 1970s. At Gordon Hill villa and cottage development had begun in the late 1880s. To the south of the station the Great Northern Railway opened an 11 acre sports ground for its staff, issuing special cheap tickets from all its London stations. The sports ground is still there although now private. The Piccadilly line extension to Cockfosters took much of the traffic from the line between Bowes Park and Gordon Hill and the late 1940s and 1950s were described by Alan A Jackson in 'London's Local Railways' as "doldrum years for a line which smelt of decay and declines as grotty 'quad-arts' were trundled to and from Hertford North by filthy and now wheezing N2 tanks." The line was electrified in the 1970s. This view from the up platform looks across to the down platform. The next station in this direction is Crews Hill.

View SE, towards Wood Green and King's Cross; ex-Great Northern Hertford Loop line. That day a collision at New Southgate had forced the diversion of ECML trains onto the Hertford Loop (Wood Green - Hertford North - Langley Junction). Class A4 Pacific No. 60023 'Golden Eagle' is heading the 13.15 King's Cross - Edinburgh. Note the 'somersault' signal, characteristic of the former Great Northern, cleared for the Up line. (See also Image]).

A low-rise block of flats on Holtwhite's Hill in Enfield, in the outer suburbs of north London.

Opened in 1910 by the Great Northern Railway on its line from Enfield to Cuffley, and later Hertford. View north towards Hertford and Stevenage.

View southward, towards Wood Green and King's Cross, ex-Great Northern Hertford Loop line. The ECML had been blocked at New Southgate, by an express running into some wagons - no one seems to have been hurt, but for few hours all ECML trains were diverted onto the Hertford Loop. This is A3 Pacific No. E62 (later 60062) 'Minoru' on the 13.10 King's Cross - Leeds express.

General view of the station with its footbridge at the north end providing access to the platforms from the ticket hall. Whilst an awning has been provided on the London bound platforms none exists on the northbound side, reflecting the flow of commuter traffic with most passengers waiting to board inbound to London whilst the majority northbound will be leaving the station upon arrival. This is true of many of the stations built by the old Great Northern Railway and represents savings made in construction by a cash-strapped company. Passing through the station is a Class 365 electric unit with a fast service to London Kings Cross. Normally this train would not run through here but due to Sunday engineering works between Alexandra Palace and Stevenage, the mainline was closed and all services were diverted via the Hertford Loop adding around 25 minutes to journey times. The local service to Hertford North was reduced to hourly double length trains.

Under the awning on platforms 1 & 2. Despite the anti-pigeon spikes the birds have successfully built a couple of nests in the rafters.