Central
Station
Sat. 28th Oct., 2000

George Stephenson's new fangled railways got off to a flying start in the early 1800s, and by the middle of the century most large towns and cities were connected by rail.

This was a quantum leap from the canals. Journeys that previously took days and possibly up to a week could be completed in hours thanks to the power of steam and the simple idea of flanged wheels running on iron rails.

Photo below is the property of Tyne & Wear Archives Service

Here is a view taken in 1860. It shows the sparse look to the interior at that time.

The little train is waiting at the buffers, beyond which is a paved area for access to the main through platforms to the left.

Follow the line of arched windows along the curved wall on the right. Just behind the engine's funnel you can see a break in the line of arches and two flat topped openings are visible. This is the entrance. There are three doors here but one is obscured by that chimney.

The roof is a masterpiece of Victorian cast iron and glass.

There are over two miles of platform, and the whole building is curved. The rail lines required some massive civil engineering projects to cross steep valley sides and snake past existing buildings.

The same view today reveals that the suburban track in the previous shot was filled in long ago and replaced by the marble surfaced concourse. The line still exists, but does not penetrate this far into the main building.

The new modern ticket office on the left may look efficient and space age, but it is in fact cramped and quite out of place. This design disaster was one of the first things the new privatised company did, after opening franchised shops and coffee bars (note little red and white umbrellas that will never see a spot of rain!).

On that August day the Queen's train  came over the High Level Bridge from the right in this view from the eastern end of the platform. The Castle, whose bailey was sliced in half by the rail builders, gave a royal salute by cannon fire as she passed.

The lines to the left of the castle lead north and east, the continuation in the other direction link Carlisle and the West Coast Line.

This crossing was completed in 1893. When Queen Victoria visited the line ended here. It must have seemed strange to have such a massive building for just one line. The local population thronged the space now occupied by the busy rail lines to welcome the monarch that day.

That booking hall really is a disgrace. It looks like a giant plastic jelly mould with hideous louvered vents sprouting from its roof, and inside its rumbling automatic plate glass doors it is poky for passengers and rail staff alike.

The plastic and anodised aluminium cylindrical motif inside, echoed by the curved edges to the exterior box is not only hideously out of keeping with everything else on this magnificent station, but is denied by the triangular slanting glass frontage. Students of the "Built Environment" please visit this ticket hall to learn how NOT to do it!

The central spine of the building lies beyond the two Edinburgh - London main line tracks, now only two as the two carriage roads between have been removed.

On the other side of this central section containing utility offices and waiting rooms, are two more main lines. These serve the north west destinations and trains starting or terminating here.

There are more platforms to the left of that brick wall. Terminating services to and from Carlisle and Merseyside use buffer lines near the main entrance.

Below, a Virgin train to London waits for the green light at the western end of the station.

The Flying Scotsman, once hauled by Pacific A4s and world speed beating Mallard locos until the late 1960s, is here much delayed by a recent accident at Hatfield. A broken rail caused a dreadful 115 mph (185 Kph) crash. Not only are trains diverted in this section, 30 miles north of London, but also safety checks over the whole railway  have slowed everything down. Here the train gets the all clear to depart; an hour late.

Nobody could possibly have foreseen that selling the railway to profiteers, whose main concern is retail outlets and windfalls from the sale of valuable land and buildings, could lead to safety problems. After all, what can go wrong with a railway? It's been going fine for 150 years without too much trouble.