Anyway, would New Southgate count as the top of the bank out of King's Cross?
Having recently cycled from Kings Cross to New Southgate, the only hills I was really aware of would not have applied to the railway (Alexandra Palace park, Muswell Hill and the climb north of N.Southgate station towards Friern Barnet). I think Kings Cross will be about 25-30mtrs above sea level and reaching 60mtrs by New Southgate with most of that climb being north of Alexandra Palace Stn.
. . . . There also has to be some sort of summit between Northallerton and Durham. Durham is quite high up, and the line runs downhill from there to Newcastle (but is still highish there).
Yes, but I'd hardly call it a summit. One of the reasons for the ECML having so many twists and turns between Darlington and Durham is that it follows natural contours so consistently.
Darlington station must be about 50mtrs above sea level. The line climbs very gently to a high of about 88mtrs between Aycliffe and Ferryhill and then gradually down to Durham station at 70mtrs above sea level. It descends very gradually thereafter to Chester -le-Street at about 50mtrs and then to Newcastle at about 20mtrs.
I think you'd struggle to see anything there that you'd want to call a summit.
Re:
Grantshouse (Berwick-Dunbar). If it wasn't for the cutting, I think the line might reach 120mtrs just north of Grantshouse which is certainly more of a 'highest point' between two opposing ascents, though once again, there is not as noticeable a 'peak' there as in some of the other examples above. Even Stoke only seems to reach 100mtrs! And that is about as much of a climb out of Grantham as it is from the better known climb from the fens to the south!
