Chlorine served to passengers instead of tea and train cleaners chasing trains. London St Pancras 20 years after the final diesel departed beneath the Barlow train shed.
April 2004 saw the end to diesel fumes rising within the magnificent St Pancras Barlow train shed – the original station, dating from 1868, closing until November 2007 for rebuilding in order to accept Eurostar services.
I was lucky enough to be given a press ticket for the 2004 St Pancras farewell run with 45112 “The Royal Army Ordnance Corps” from London to Leicester and return. The driver was Alan Porter and the senior driver manager was Roger Warren – both retiring a few months later. Alan went on to volunteer at the Midland Railway Centre and Roger, sadly, died a few years ago. Both well respected footplate men.
Pictures here: https://tinyurl.com/aj4zktnv , https://tinyurl.com/d7dk9zr9 and https://tinyurl.com/yckd27wm
The train shed, designed by William Barlow, contains 11,000 panes of glass and when built it was the biggest single span roof ever constructed. Before construction could commence, a mass exhumation of bodies had to take place from the nearby St Pancras graveyard. Unfortunately many workers were less than careful and smashed coffins, with bodies spilling out were common place. One observer commenting that one lady looked as perfect as the day she was buried.
A century after it opened, St Pancras almost died itself after the Government decided that the station, by now in need of costly repairs, had become surplus to requirements – it being suggested that services could be diverted to nearby Euston, the West Coast Main Line having just been modernised. A high-profile fight back led by Poet Laurette John Betjeman saw the station not only gain Grad I listing, but plans to close it reversed. A bronze statue of Betjeman now stands near the concourse.
Midland Main Line and HS1 services now use the additional platforms – keeping them separate from Eurostar trains. Trains using these platforms have had their fair share of mishaps in recent years. The most serious of these was the East Midlands Railway 04.42 Leicester to St Pancras on 13 October 2020, on which passengers were served chlorine, instead of tea, resulting in a number having to seek medical attention upon arrival in the capital. A year later a cleaner caused mayhem at the staton after diving out of a cab door as the 00.02 empty train to Cricklewood Sidings departed and then, after realising the the cab door was still open, chased the train along the platform trying to close it – putting herself in danger of falling beneath the train.
Both these incidents pale into insignificance to the tragic events that passengers experienced at a station near St Pancras when a lady jumped in front of a High Speed Train – that had departed London minutes earlier – showering passengers with blood and body parts.
St Pancras and all other major London stations feature in this best selling book – book one in a ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Train’ trilogy: https://www.chimewhistle.co.uk/shop/p/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-train-to-london It pulls no punches and is a mix of history, shocks and ‘secrets’ that the public were not meant to hear about. It also contains over 200 colour pictures – it’s no ordinary railway book. Very few unreserved copies remaining.