Hitchin to Camden Road via Welwyn - Hastings DEMU cab ride - 1 July 2017

Cleethorpes Clipper part 10: Cab view from Hitchin to Camden Road via Welwyn, filmed from our preserved Hastings DEMU on Saturday 1 July 2017, during the return leg of our Cleethorpes Clipper railtour.
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This video comprises 31 miles up the busy East Coast Main Line, and through the Welwyn bottleneck at 75mph, before turning onto the Slow Line at Finsbury Park and over the Holloway flyover to turn right at Copenhagen Junction; this leads us to ascend the North London Incline to reach the North London Line and Camden Road.
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Video and audio footage are from an unattended unmonitored forward-facing cab-camera in motor coach 60118 Tunbridge Wells.
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0:00 - HITCHIN station
7:26 - Stevenage station
8:21 - Langley Junction
9:53 - Knebworth station
10:58 - Woolmer Green Junction
11:42 - Welwyn North Tunnel
12:20 - Welwyn South Tunnel
12:37 - Welwyn North station
12:50 - Welwyn Viaduct (Digswell Viaduct)
13:06 - Digswell Junction
13:58 - Welwyn Garden City station
16:00 - Hatfield station
17:32 - Marshmoor crossover
17:58 - Welham Green station
18:56 - Brookmans Park station
20:25 - Potters Bar station
21:11 - Potters Bar Tunnel
22:07 - Hadley Wood North Tunnel
22:17 - Hadley Wood station
22:26 - Hadley Wood South Tunnel
23:28 - New Barnet station
23:38 - Barnet South Crossovers
24:05 - Oakleigh Park station
24:33 - Barnet Tunnel
25:41 - New Southgate station
26:10 - Wood Green Tunnels
26:42 - Wood Green North Junction
26:54 - Alexandra Palace station
27:02 - Wood Green South Junction
27:42 - Hornsey station
28:29 - Harringay station
28:36 - Harringay Junction
30:18 - Finsbury Park station
31:25 - Finsbury Park Junction
33:10 - Holloway Junction
33:43 - Holloway flyover
35:58 - Copenhagen Tunnel
37:12 - Copenhagen Junction
37:51 - York Way North Junction
39:20 - Camden Road Incline Junction
39:43 - Camden Road Central Junction
40:15 - CAMDEN ROAD station
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Video, soundtrack and captions © Copyright 2017-2018 Hastings Diesels Limited.
www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/
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Equipment: video by GoPro Hero3+ camera with suction-mount and extra batteries; processing by Da Vinci Resolve (free).
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Parts 1 to 9 of this tour (comprising continuous footage from Kensington (Olympia) to Cleethorpes, and back to Hitchin, are already available on this channel. The final part(s) of the return journey back as far as Olympia are expected to be published in due course.
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Here are links to annotated extracts from Network Rail’s Sectional Appendix:
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Outward: www.dropbox.com/s/n5jjmb9uee2...
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Return: www.dropbox.com/s/5fmu0xdqagx...

[@chrislegg3389]

Thank you so much My grandad had an allotment on the north facing embankment just north of Harringay station where he took me when he was babysitting me when I was 2or 3 in 1948 Later I used to train spot on the footpath that led from the allotment to the station. I then moved to Stevenage and spottedat Langley Junction Thr watertroughs were actally closer to Six Hills Way bridge than the spot identified Great watching A4s and all the other Gresly Pacifics picking up water and often soaking the first two coaches when the fireman didnt get the scoop up quick enough Used to catch trains from the Old Stevenage station to Kings Cross In later years I have used Weleyn North station as sister in law lives at Teuwin So many happy memories

[@AquaFonic]

This is one of my favourite VIDEOS :0) and now that THIRD TUNNEL IS OPEN after being disused for soooo long

[@mountainrover]

very interesting - I can't wait to see the others in this set. I really appreciate the 'timetable' and the captions.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you. All 11 parts of this set have long since been published, they're all here: kzbin.info/aero/PLgADDnKtlLMGwHQJroC0X_X1iE_TjJDxk

[@Sam_Green____4114]

That junction at Woolmer Green at 11:00 brought back an awful what if memory -I was a Guard on a Cravens 105 DPU Royal mail train about 1987 ish from Kings Cross to Cambridge and I was sat up the front illegally with the Driver and we came bowling around that curve at Woolmer Green in the Down direction on the two tracks heading towards the junction for the four track section. At the junction a track gang had stood back from working to a safe area on the down side.A bit further on from the junction two men were walking in the four foot on the down slow with their backs towards us, so my driver sounded the horn ,one of them acknowledged,the guy on the right .He turned his head quickly put his arm in the air but looked away again.But neither stepped off the track ,they carried on walking with their backs to us .So the driver sounded the horn again, a short bip.They must have thought this an acknowledgement for the arm raising or for someone else .By this time we were now off the two track section and were entering the down slow and were very close to them so I stuck my hand down on the horn lever on my side of the cab and kept it there,giving a long continuous blast .At last the guy on the right turned his head and saw us now on the down slow bearing down on them both at 75mph .He had about two or three seconds and he pushed the guy to his left and got themselves both off the track. We just missed them by millimeters!..What they had assumed was that we were being routed onto the down fast but we were not! We were signalled onto the down slow where they were walking.I always remember the look of suprise on the younger guys face even to this day .He had long black curly hair and was short and stocky and the guy to his left was older with short grey hair and thin .I always remember it and think what if I hadnt reached out my hand and stuck it down on the horn? what if the younger man hadnt turned and looked at the last second? What if we had killed those two men?

[@davidbarrett1487]

That’s not a nice story, I hope they have improved the safety of permanent way men, with everything going electronic control from miles away, that they can change instantly.

[@chemicalmike646]

Years ago, I took the train home from Bristol, and it was so full that me and another person (to our delight) ended up in the Drivers compartment. It was probably the best train journey I ever had, and because the train was so full I didn't even have to pay for the priviledge of a front row seat! Thanks GWR! :D

[@inspireaspire278]

Thanks Richard Griffin for wonderful 👏 video delightful 😀 indeed. Love you Brittany 😍 💗.

[@markhempleman9217]

Great to watch, thanks. I often wonder if the Driver going in the opposite direction thinks to them self "Hold on, was that a Hastings DEMU I just passed "

[@davehart6034]

Absolutely loved this cab ride, and the captioning was first class - well done.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you!

[@unhban]

Thanks for the captions. They do help a lot.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you, glad they are appreciated :)

[@choirboyfromhell1]

Wonderful video...especially crossing through the double-track bottleneck of Welwyn...

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@michaelgamble296]

Glad to see the Shredded Wheat Factory silos are still there!(13:52) We used to live in WGC during WWII and used to squash 1d's on the 'Luton' (Dunstable) Line! (14:05) This Bridge we used to call the "20mile Bridge" as it was 20 miles from Kings Cross (14:30) When I was 5 yrs old I travelled to Kings Cross with Sir Nigel Gresley - pulled by A4 his names' sake! He sent me an ex-Works photo of 'his' engine - which I still have.

[@chrislegg3389]

Why Mond Lee

[@kangeroobru]

Fantastic, bought back a lot of memories, including seeing where I worked, lived and used to play on the railway lines as a kid... Would love to see some of these shot with a 360 camera.

[@davidcowie2462]

An excellent driver’s eye view of the ECML. Thank you.

[@nutsnproud6932]

It is a great picture. Thanks.

[@davidbarrett1487]

Very interesting, thank you.

[@robertcoleman4861]

Another wonderful journey many many thanks cheers bob.

[@meerkatmusings8450]

As I used to live in Stevenage it’s quite awesome to see the view down to the station!

[@keithseigel5252]

Brilliant, thanks for not editing out the tunnels like some videos..

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thanks. Indeed - I'm trying to show it "as it is", within the bounds of privacy anyway.

[@keithseigel5252]

@@hastingsdiesels I watched cab ride video of the old Gotthard tunnel the other day, the only bit missing was the Gotthard tunnel! What's the point? :)

[@SynchroScore]

Well, according to Wikipedia, they moved the station a bit south so that it would be closer to the center of town as it expanded.

[@wentonmastermind]

Many thanks Richard, for guiding me through the intricacies of the North London railway lines. Thank you, too, for reminding me of the all too sadly disused lines - Welwyn to Hertford North, Highgate to Ally Pally, Hatfield to St Albans Abbey and others - which I walked over more than forty years ago!

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@gb5uq]

Another superb video many thanks.

[@mrbluesky2050]

nice fun run, like the lower parts of the ECML, always something new to see

[@HenrysAdventures]

Great footage!

[@joshuahalla.k.a.controlla6333]

Great video.☺️

[@paullandry5594]

The way is the Holloway Flyover is constructed is amazing and impressive engineering and that line does not go into Kings Cross Station, but joins the North London Line. I love our British Rail network.

[@geoffreyhobbs1548]

Another great video. Many thanks for this and the captions; they really enhance the videos. I've watched this one, and some of the earlier ones in this set, with a large scale road (?) map open beside me. I find that it enhances the information content; and I can always press "pause" if I think I may have missed something.

[@clonking4436]

Excellent production.Most enjoyable.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you!

[@anmolmehta7116]

Excellent ride. Continue to make more such videos and that too for longer durations. 👍👍👍

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you!

[@bobbrooks266]

Most enjoyable ride

[@watermelon7709]

Very nice video ,greetings from Greece

[@wentonmastermind]

Ki' epeesees, Karpouzee (same to you, Water Melon). Regards to the Athens-Paleofarsalos line.

[@phwbooth]

Thanks once again, Richard and the gang. It seems odd that, despite the expense, the Welwyn bottleneck still hasn't been quadrupled.

[@rowellster]

Paul Booth - the main problem is that the Mimram Valley, which the Digswell Viaduct crosses after Welwyn North heading south, is a conservation area. Presumably no new viaduct can be built at this location and widening the existing and beautiful 1850s viaduct to allow a doubling of the track is also not possible (or desirable). One of those problems money can't solve unfortunately.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Enjoyed that... looking forward to part 11 :)

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thank you! Part 11 (the last from the Cleethorpes Clipper) will indeed be published in due course.

[@simonprice8737]

Thank you....

[@annescholey6546]

Fascinating comparison with the 1976 video of the North London Lines tour with old DMUs.

[@AndreiTupolev]

That's a nice effect at 36:45 with a sort of UV-like glow at the end of the tunnel.

[@formidable38]

Im stunned they let you onto the fast at 75 mph maximum.

[@stevewyman2822]

interesting how at Copenhagen tunnels..both the tunnels & all Tracks are at different levels....you most certainly had to do a lot of track changing around this area..

[@AquaFonic]

Now the THIRD TUNNEL IS BACK in use ;)

[@MrDavil43]

At 22.08 is the area to the right of the tunnel portals where I would cycle to after school on a summer evening to watch steam hauled trains in 1961-3. This whole area in Wagon Road (appropriately!) is now surrounded by safety fencing.

[@themightywhoosh123]

As a GN driver, this feels like home to me.

[@Traindude7777]

There's so much history with the ECML. How much history do you know about it?

[@Puckoon2002]

27:16 I wouldn't describe the Ferme Park facility as a "fuel point" since the only trains I've seen stopped there are Intercity 225 sets, returning to Bounds Green Depot. It would seem to be more like a "sanitary station", having passed through a train wash, just south of the station they stop there where the plethora of hoses, I'd guess, are used to pump out the carriage waste tanks. The, now clean sets, travel to the Bowes Park reversing siding, entering Bounds Green depot via the link just south of Bounds Green station.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Ah, ok. I was under the impression that IC125 sets were refuelled there. I agree it may also be where retention toilets are dumped.

[@Puckoon2002]

The sidings on the right after Hornsey station are, I believe, called Ferme Park sidings, there is also a stone terminal there, and a Fuel Point, I have seem one of the 08 class shunters from Bounds Green depot refueling there.

[@Puckoon2002]

If you watch the Finsbury Park to Stevenage episode you pass the two fuel points in Ferme Park sidings at 03:00. I don't think the pump out station would have the name Ferme Park, it would be odd to have two places, not connected, with the same name I would have thought.

[@QwertyScream]

Watch out for the creature just after we pass NL1113!

[@QwertyScream]

38:57

[@kianthetrainspotter7777]

bug lol

[@paul-xt5pp]

what was that beetle at 37.00?

[@michaelgamble296]

How do you pronounce WYMONDLEY?? I know two stations named Wymonham (pron Windham) One is in Norfolk and the other on the Saxby to Little Bytham line (closed)

[@chrislegg3389]

Why Mond Lee

[@stevewyman2822]

....South of Wood Green...6 Track ??

[@NJPurling]

There's not much that can be done about the double-track bottleneck depicted here is there? Not unless they fancy boring 2 new tunnels and providing a new viaduct. As if that's ever going to happen............. I wonder why it was never a quadruple track from the time of it's initial construction?

[@iman2341]

Never was quadtracked but it is a serious consideration after Kings Cross station throat is sorted out. You can see other points on the line where more tunnels were added in the 60s to quad track the line such as Potters Bar.

[@70humdinger94]

Why was the train routed to the up fast line between Hitchin and Finsbury Park? Shouldn't it have stayed on the up slow? It didn't pass any local/stopping trains between those two points.

[@hastingsdiesels]

I'm looking at the detailed timings supplied to us by Network Rail. We were booked to run on the Fast Line from Sandy to Finsbury Park. In actual fact we ran on the slow from Huntingdon all the way to Hitchin and waited there for a train to overtake us. These things aren't set in stone, but depend on what other traffic is around and how late it is. There was no point slowing us down to run on the Up Slow (which has a 55mph limit through Brookmans Park, 65 through Potters Bar Tunnel, and 60 from Ally Pally) if we could continue on the Fast without affecting other traffic.

[@peterbeckett4151]

After Camden road where does the train go to then I am from Melbourne Australia

[@hastingsdiesels]

It went to Kensington Olympia (see part 11), and onward to Hastings. See also the links in the description.

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

Interesting.

[@mikkie444]

Why is the start of the north london line controled from upminster seems rather a long way away

[@hastingsdiesels]

All of the NLL system that we traversed from Camden Road to Mitre Bridge was controlled from Upminster. That's just how it is nowadays. The electrification control room is in Rugby! I'm afraid the original notion of a signal box every mile or two each controlling their own patch of railway is long gone - replaced by a probably-windowless bunker in the next county but one and by staff who (in operational terms if not literally) don't see a train from one month to the next and rely entirely on remote monitoring equipment.

[@glynjones2540]

When the driver shut off power after Stevenage and Potters Bar I could hear a clock ticking in the cab. What was this, please?

[@hastingsdiesels]

Good question. It's not a clock ticking, although it sounds rather like one. It's not regular and it doesn't happen all the time. Bear in mind we're zooming along at 75mph and the Hastings DEMU has relatively primitive suspension (no airbags here!) so the ride quality is not brilliant. I suspect it's something near the camera, or even the USB lead plugged into the camera, swaying back and forth like a pendulum as a result of harmonic resonance with a particular series of lateral 'jolts' or 'lurches' in the track.

[@glynjones2540]

Hastings Diesels Ltd Interesting, thank you. I'm pretty sure I've heard the same thing occasionally on videos of Swiss standard gauge trains when the driver shuts off - and they are 15kv ac, not diesel-electric! I must keep on listening.

[@hastingsdiesels]

Yes, I've noticed the speedometer constantly ticking like that on Swiss railways; I don't know what that's about, but it's not something generally found on English trains.

[@davidpanton3192]

Hypnostising, but no reference to filming location of The Ladykillers at Copenahgen tunnel!

[@hastingsdiesels]

Thanks! No, despite going on a guided walking tour of the King's Cross area a few years ago, I still have no interest in or knowledge of Ladykillers... doesn't sound very pleasant to me.

[@davidpanton3192]

@@hastingsdiesels It is a comedy and no ladies get killed!

[@dr18037]

39:00 hello bug

[@bobparsons77]

I am in Alberta, is this a diesel?

[@hastingsdiesels]

Yes, this is a Diesel. Our train dates from 1957 and was specially built for a route with insufficient width for standard trains and insufficient budget for electrification.

[@thelastpilot4582]

To be correct the railway does not run through Welwyn but goes through Welwyn North and Welwyn Garden City

[@peterallam6494]

? Welwyn North not north of Welwyn - but N of WG City.

[@thelastpilot4582]

@@peterallam6494 From London it is Welwyn Garden City--Welwyn North Station (In High Welwyn) --Welwyn South Tunnel-Welwyn North Tunnel. Welwyn (Also known locally as Old Welwyn) is to the North west of WGC and is bypassed by the railway.

[@peterallam6494]

Thanks! When in Digswell, near Digswell Viaduct, l orientate using Welwyn North Station. When meeting in Codicote l'm advised to travel north of Welwyn. Once familiar with an area confusion disappears. The A1M exit at Stevenage south sometimes referred to as Langley - it was once in the parish of Langley. Whole area is to the north of WelwynHatfield.

[@ChappersTravels]

2 car 313 at Hornsey depot

[@nanuJoe1967]

dangerous bug at 38:59

[@danw1374]

Fare dodging bug.

[@ohmyblindman]

Sad to see the graffiti bug has crossed the pond to you from the US. If I could lay my hands on the New York Times idiot who called it art...I'd gladly spend my remaining years in jail, be they long or short.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Interesting how much things change even in that space of time.Now there'd be fewer of the happy trains (365s) and it'd be infested with the ugly trains (Thameslink class 700s).

[@instinct_yt281]

28:05 TWO CAR CLASS 313