Metroman62
Member
Strange request perhaps, but has anyone got any pictures of the old departure board at Kings Cross that was in the 1970s concourse building that has been replaced by the new concourse?
Thanks
Thanks
Strange request perhaps, but has anyone got any pictures of the old departure board at Kings Cross that was in the 1970s concourse building that has been replaced by the new concourse?
Thanks
That picture explains something for me.
At Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, there is a ‘fake’ Kings Cross where you can depart (or arrive) on the Hogwarts Express. That has a Solari style indicator, albeit like an airport with individual flaps for each letter. That, too had trains departing for Foxton. I’d forgotten the Cambridge slows were advertised Foxton.
Presumably they've taken details from the time of the first book in the mid-1990s, did it refer to INTERCITY or did they make at least an effort at privitisation?
I suspect that someone did a fact finding trip and simply took a picture back to Orlando. Evidently they did it on a day of Engineering works, or had spent a little too much time in the Euston Flyer, as there are trains with the destination of Cuffley!
I haven't seen it myself, but a few years ago I was told by someone who'd visited Universal Studios that the local departures were still shown as being operated by First Capital Connect, some time after that company had lost the franchise. They made the comment that possibly the least realistic aspect was that all the FCC departures were shown as leaving on time!Presumably they've taken details from the time of the first book in the mid-1990s, did it refer to INTERCITY or did they make at least an effort at privitisation?
I haven't seen it myself, but a few years ago I was told by someone who'd visited Universal Studios that the local departures were still shown as being operated by First Capital Connect, some time after that company had lost the franchise. They made the comment that possibly the least realistic aspect was that all the FCC departures were shown as leaving on time!
I wonder if they've done any better at keeping up with the changes in main line operators?
I haven't seen it myself, but a few years ago I was told by someone who'd visited Universal Studios that the local departures were still shown as being operated by First Capital Connect, some time after that company had lost the franchise. They made the comment that possibly the least realistic aspect was that all the FCC departures were shown as leaving on time!
I wonder if they've done any better at keeping up with the changes in main line operators?
Having looked into it a bit more, the replica station is apparently set in 2010, did King's X still have flapper boards then?
Long gone by then I think !
In which case you wonder why they decided to go for the flip-style, aesthetics perhaps
I think they were better personally !
No photo in my collection, but if you can find a good quality copy it does appear at the end of the video to Rent by Pet Shop Boys.
I wrote a (personal) blog about split-flap boards a few years ago. My conclusion was that they ought to bring back the sound for when screens change; otherwise you just end up with lots of people standing near those screen at the entrance, eyeballs drying out as they wait for the screens to change. The extra sound clue would give you a chance to look away / look at your phone / look after your kids / blink.
Its also has Hull Trains on it as well and at present time it might be the only place they are still appearing on a departure board at the present time.Having looked into it a bit more, the replica station is apparently set in 2010, did King's X still have flapper boards then?
Its also has Hull Trains on it as well and at present time it might be the only place they are still appearing on a departure board at the present time.
Thanks for that. I was hoping for a picture of the electronic board, I spent many an hour waiting for my wife by it!
Passengers looking at a passenger information board at Kings Cross railway Station in London Stock Photo - Alamy
Download this stock image: Passengers looking at a passenger information board at Kings Cross railway Station in London. - C8CPG5 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.www.alamy.com
This one? Takes me back a bit, these days!
There was also an interim stage where one very much like that one (but not actually that one) was on a set of wheeled trolleys in front of the Solari, which was still visible. I think it was one of the later Solaris that remained in service, and platform displays were pieces of card well into privatisation.
Yup. As you walked in, A, B & C were on your right; D, E & F on your left. The queue tiles connected A and F, B and E, C and D. Can't remember if they were white or yellow, but they were a contrasting colour to the rest. Not that many people followed the queue!IIRC Intercity also had fold out manual boards on the pillars to form queues, using letters so as not to be confused with platform numbers. I think the yellow and white tiled floor was laid out to demarcate the different queues.
This one? Takes me back a bit, these days!
Passengers looking at a passenger information board at Kings Cross railway Station in London Stock Photo - Alamy
Download this stock image: Passengers looking at a passenger information board at Kings Cross railway Station in London. - C8CPG5 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.www.alamy.com
This one? Takes me back a bit, these days!
I can recall prominent signage saying words to the effect of "This departure board will probably display complete gibberish. Ignore it and listen to the above-mentioned which are correct."In its final days the old board became quite unreliable, resulting in some strange calling patterns being advertised. Not a problem to regulars but I imagine some occasional travellers got caught out.
Yes it was pretty horrid, with the waiting room in a shack outside. If course it was only ever meant to be temporary, and in fact if you looked up you could see it was largely constructed from scaffold.God flashbacks to waiting for trains in Kings Cross on that old cramped concourse. The new concourse area made such a gargantuan improvement to the passenger experience at Kings Cross. I vividly remember waiting for an East Coast service back north on a hot sticky summer afternoon and it was almost like the concourse was breathing with the way it visibly emptied out as the proceeding trains were announced. You'd go from uncomfortably wedged in to being able to breath and then a few minutes later back to wedged in.