IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Drayton Park, LONDON, N5 1AN

Taken from the junction with Martineau Road

At the junction with Martineau Road

Looking north from the north end of platform 2, towards the junction with the East Coast Main Line at Finsbury Park. The large "6" sign indicates that six car trains (which presumably only just fit into the platform) must stop there, hence the mirror to enable drivers to see the train doors. On the left, the Emirates Stadium (home of Arsenal Football Club) towers over the railway.

Old and new street signs

Looking south. The map gives the misleading impression that the tunnel mouth seen leads to an exit onto the North London Line in an easterly direction. This is quite false, as the tunnels do not emerge anywhere - they continue to a terminus at Moorgate which is entirely underground.

Prior to its takeover by British Rail in 1976, the Great Northern & City Railway was a self contained operation; I believe its train depot was here, on the west side of Drayton Park station. It is somewhat surprising that the land has not been built on.

Looking north along platform 2 (one side of a narrow island platform) towards Finsbury Park. The white bridge over the station provides access to the Emirates Stadium (home of Arsenal Football Club), which can just be seen between the station canopy and the new block of flats on the left. The greenery next to the railway is, I believe, on the site of the train depot which closed when this line became part of British Rail in 1976. Drayton Park station is the changeover point between the 750V DC third rail and 25kV 50Hz AC overhead electrification systems, hence the presence of the infrastructure for both.

One of London's least-known stations, Drayton Park opened on 14 February 1904 on the Great Northern & City Railway, which passed into operation by the Metropolitan Railway in 1912. The GN&C was operated electrically from the start, using a four-rail insulated DC supply system with positive rail outside the running rails on one side, and negative rail on the other. This unique system survived into London Transport control in 1933, and not until 1939 was it changed to the LT standard 4-rail system, using tube-sized rolling stock. Drayton Park station in 2010 essentially retains the appearance it had when built, although the LT canopy added after 1933 rather spoils it.

Looking north along platform 1 (one side of a narrow island platform) towards Finsbury Park. The white bridge over the station provides access to the Emirates Stadium (home of Arsenal Football Club, out of sight to the left). The freight only link from the East Coast Main Line to the North London Line is above the retaining wall on the right. Drayton Park station is the changeover point between the 750V DC third rail and 25kV 50Hz AC overhead electrification systems, hence the presence of the infrastructure for both.