D6130
Established Member
Hmmm....hidden away from most arriving passengers, poor range of ales and outrageous (OK, normal for London!) prices.That’s the Betjeman Arms...
Hmmm....hidden away from most arriving passengers, poor range of ales and outrageous (OK, normal for London!) prices.That’s the Betjeman Arms...
Hmmm....hidden away from most arriving passengers, poor range of ales and outrageous (OK, normal for London!) prices.
I seem to be in a minority thinking Eurostar have absolutely ruined the classical atmosphere of St Pancras; it now just seems a shopping mall with a fancy roof and a ludicrous champagne bar that rarely has people in it, with the East Midlands trains treated like they are a pariah.
August 1972 was also my first visit to St Pancras and my overriding memory is how quiet it was; ie not many trains ! Which is why there were actually proposals to close the place. Thankfully that never happened and its transformation into a multi-route international hub is amazing (although I do agree the traipse to the EMR platforms, and the limited capacity there, is disappointing; Not sure how it could have been avoided however).
Paris. Arriving at the Gare du Nord on the Night Ferry in 1979 in bitterly cold weather with deep snow everywhere. Gare d'Austerlitz on a stiflingly hot June evening in 1980 waiting for hours for the sleeper down to the South. Place seemed quite sleepy and hard to believe it was in the middle of one of Europe's great cities. And the metal "pissoir" - not a pleasant experience as the thing was only shoulder high and one had to endure catcalls from various women. And an antiquated ex-PO / Midi electric on ECS.Kings Cross 1979. Arrived on 254023 (43100 & 43101) and my dad has a photo of 4 HST‘s lined up on platforms 3-6. No Deltics from what I recall sadly but 31405 was there with its FP white stripe. We also took in St Pancras, Euston, Marylebone and Paddington that day. Didn’t get to the other terminals until 1980.
My love of London terminals has extended to the Paris terminals too.
Paris. Arriving at the Gare du Nord on the Night Ferry in 1979 in bitterly cold weather with deep snow everywhere. Gare d'Austerlitz on a stiflingly hot June evening in 1980 waiting for hours for the sleeper down to the South. Place seemed quite sleepy and hard to believe it was in the middle of one of Europe's great cities. And the metal "pissoir" - not a pleasant experience as the thing was only shoulder high and one had to endure catcalls from various women. And an antiquated ex-PO / Midi electric on ECS.
As we've slipped across the Channel (and we're unlikely to have a thread "First Memories of a German terminus"), here's my anecdote regarding on-station cinemas:-The "News Cinemas" were on several London stations, and died out in the 1960s. Idea was to go in and out as needed, just to pass the time until your train. The films just cycled round in about an hour, never stopping, though most people didn't stay that long..........
There would have been no point me going inside to sample the entertainment, since my German was very basic and I probably wouldn't be able to follow the plot.
ExactlyI’m not sure the plot, nor the language being spoken, would have been much to worry about.
My own first Continental recollections were from a (non-rail) family holiday in Ostend. Having agitated to see the somewhat remote from us station, it was a notable disappointment on the visit to find not a single train or locomotive around; must have been at a non-ship time. There were some carriages in a couple of the bare, uncovered platforms but that was it. Of the station building, which I now see is a grand Victorian structure, I have no recollection apart from a few shops which were closed.Perhaps we went on a Sunday. Neither do I recall the overhead wiring, which would be the first I had seen.As we've slipped across the Channel (and we're unlikely to have a thread "First Memories of a German terminus"),
Of the station building, which I now see is a grand Victorian structure
Maybe in a Belgian context....Leopoldian?That raises an interesting point - can architecture in a country that wasn’t part of the Empire in Victoria times be described as Victorian?
Sure, it's an architectural epoch. Streamline Moderne from the 1930s is no longer modern. In the USA Victorian and Russian Revival both were current at the same time.That raises an interesting point - can architecture in a country that wasn’t part of the Empire in Victoria times be described as Victorian?
Paddington a few days before my 6th birthday, in 1965, when my parents took me on my first visit to London. My main memory is of a long rake of maroon coaches on an express to Dartmouth(!) at Platform 1, and persuading my dad to let me look round inside one of the coaches and to walk through the gangway into the next. Passengers were settling into their compartments for the long journey to Devon, a name that sounded as exotic as some distant foreign land. I also remember seeing (though I had no idea then what they were) maroon and green Westerns and Warships. And last, but by no means least, the thing that inspired my whole lifelong interest in railways - the fabled Blue Pullman. It was so different in its blue and white livery, so much more exciting than the drab maroon of other rolling stock which always seemed so dingy.I've already posted here but Grumpus63's mention of food smells sparked a powerful memory of the perpetual and delightful smell of fresh doughnuts on the Underground's district line platforms at Victoria.
Electrics E3xxx everywhereThe first time I arrived into a London Terminus was Euston and the year was 1970. Still gave me a real thrill though.
The old Euston, so I'm told, was an enthusiast's delight and an absolute nightmare for staff and passengers.