Station Name: ANGEL ROAD

[Source: Nick Catford]

Sometime in the early 1960s, a Derby Suburban DMU of the type which became Class 125 has just left Angel Road, right background, on a Broxbourne - Liverpool Street service assuming the headcode is correctly set. The train is passing the gasworks of what was originally the Tottenham & Edmonton Gas Light and Coke Co., dating from 1847. The works was usually referred to as Tottenham Gasworks and less commonly Angel Road Gasworks. The original gas company was eventually renamed to Tottenham & District Gas Company and in 1949 came under the jurisdiction of the nationalised Eastern Gas Board. The Tottenham & District company ceased to legally exist in 1959, a date which is sometimes incorrectly taken as meaning the year the gasworks ceased operation; this did not occur until 1972 or thereabouts. Rail access to the gasworks was possible via connections as seen here on the left, behind the brakevan, or from a connection via Angel Road goods yard; this was in effect a loop passing Angel Road station on its west side. The brakevan is of LMS origin and was a variant of a Midland Railway design. The coal train to which is was attached is not destined for the gasworks. The wagon tippler at the gasworks was designed for wagons with end, as opposed to side, doors which latter is evident here. The works was shunted by a Sentinel steam locomotive, w/n 9366/45 and delivered new to the gasworks in 1946 as its No.11. It worked regularly until 1965 when it was demoted to a standby loco for a pair of Ruston & Hornsby diesels. Working occasionally thereafter, the Sentinel was finally withdrawn in 1968 and is today preserved at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. No.11 proved to be the final steam loco at the gasworks, just outliving another, earlier, Sentinel w/n 9166 of 1935 which has not survived. These were of course just two of many steam locomotives to have operated at this gasworks through the years. The DMUs which became Class 125 were externally similar to what became Class 116 but mechanically were similar to the experimental and relatively short lived 2-car unit E50000/E56000. Class 125 was powered by four Rolls-Royce C8NFLH engines each set to develop 238bhp. Transmission was hydraulic but with pneumatic control and it was the latter which made these units unique among the BR fleet, resulting in the 'orange star' coupling code as seen in the photograph. This class of twenty 3-car units was constructed in 1958 - 1959 and entered service during the latter year. They were designed for the Lea Valley Line services which were not fully electrified until 1969, the original scheme of 1960 being via Seven Sisters (the Southbury Loop). Class 125 operated virtually all local services operating via Angel Road and could also be seen on the Buntingford and Southminster branches plus on occasion Cambridge stopping services. Extension of electrification in 1969 saw the class transferred to King's Cross suburban services, usually inner suburban but they could also be seen at Huntingdon and Cambridge - these latter locations being as far from London as they ever worked under normal circumstances. The class nevertheless continued to be maintained at Stratford where, incidentally, unit E50000/E56000 mentioned earlier ended up as source of spare parts. The end came in 1977 with electrification of the suburban lines from King's Cross and Moorgate. Class 125 was not especially trouble-free, relative to standard diesel-mechanical DMU types, and this is often given as the reason for their withdrawal but in truth they were simply surplus to requirements and non standard. Most of the class was dumped at Whitemoor (March) for quite some time with most vehicles doorless, these having been salvaged for reuse on other types. The scrapyard ultimately beckoned and none survived to be preserved. As for Tottenham gasworks, the site stood largely derelict for many years and at the time of writing was finally being cleared for development. The new (2019) Meridian Water station sits more or less at the location seen in the photograph.
Photo from John Turner's Flickr Photostream

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