Station Name: COBORN ROAD FOR OLD FORDroad_old11.jpg) Coborn Road station on 2 December 1946 a week before closure day and offering a reasonable view of the gantry signal box which would remain in use until February 1949. The chimney of Messrs. Patent's Rope & Twine works can be seen at far right, this view therefore facing towards Liverpool Street. The arches beneath the platform served several purposes; drainage; weight and materials reduction and were not part of the supporting structure of the viaduct. The origin of the running-in board, left, and wall-mounted nameboard, right is something of a mystery. Examination of a much higher resolution version of the photograph shows the running-in board to consist of raised letters on a, presumably, wooden backboard and this suggests GER origin. The lamp standard on the left appears at first glance to be lampless but this is not the case. Electrically illuminated, the lamps are extended out from the brackets by cranked metal tubing providing downlighting at a roughly 45deg angle. It appears no attempt was made to cast light directly onto the nameboards and thus these would have been largely invisible during the hours of darkness, but as the station would have been used predominantly by local people this would not have presented a problem. Note the bi-directional signal post, providing aspects for both Up and Down slow lines. This would have been done for sighting reasons on the Up slow line and possibly also to avoid any risk of confusion by drivers on the Up fast line.
Copyright photo by HC Casserley road_old10.jpg)
Coborn Road station, apparently soon after closure and with demolition underway. The date is December 1946; soon afterwards evidence of electrification would appear. At far left the incomplete running-in board still stands while at the far end of the platform a crane of some description appears to be in use. The chimney which is seen in a number of photos is in J Patent's Rope and Twine Works whose entrance was in Coborn Road, adjacent to the station entrance.
Copyright photo by HC Casserley
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Looking east along the degraded down platform at Coborn Road station c1966. The up platform was quickly demolished after abolition of the Coborn Road signal box in 1949 but its position is still visible with a widening of the track. A class 301 EMU passes the station site on the down fast line. The rope and twine factory behind the down platform and closed by this date and some of the buildings had been demolished. A sign on the wall indicates the remaining buildings are to let.
Photo by JE Connor road3.jpg)
The site of Coborn Road station seen from a passing eastbound train on the fast line in October 1968. The degraded down platform is clearly seen as is the wall at the back of the platform which supported the canopy.
Photo by Nick Catford road4.jpg) The top of the stairs from the down platform to the station entrance at Coborn Street in 1974
Photo by David Burrows from his Flickr photostream road5.jpg)
Looking west across Coborn Road in December 1982. he station entrance is seen at ground level with the steps up to the down platform. The booking office was through the door and left under the line.
Photo
by Nick Catford
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Looking east along the degraded down platform at Coborn Road station in December 1982. Coborn Road bridge is seen in the middle distance; the first Coborn Road station was on the far side of the bridge.
Photo by Nick Catford road9.jpg) road14.jpg) Looking east along the platform at Coborn Road station in 1995,
Photo by Nick Belton road10.jpg)
As a comparison with the much earlier scene from a similar viewpoint, this was what the camera witnessed in May 1988 with the by-then-three-storey Brown's premises on the right. A newsagent is still present, far left, but not for much longer. The building seen here with fire damage was repaired and the old shop front replaced by brickwork with a door and window, while the dilapidated single storey structure next the bridge was also similarly rebuilt but without a doorway. The concrete lamp standards seen here have since been replaced by gas light style examples. They are quite characterful, if one can call electrically illuminated 'gas' lights characterful. On the railway, the bridge has undergone some alteration while the one-time signal gantry has long gone and overhead wires had been in position for several decades. The alterations to the bridge superstructure had occurred in 1914; Messrs E.C. & J. Keay undertaking the work at a cost to the GER of £438.15.0. Electrification of the line as far as Shenfield had commenced prewar but public electric services did not commence operation until September 1949, originally on the 1500V DC system. Coborn Road station was therefore never to be served by electric trains.
Photo
by Ben Brooksbank
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A blue plaque was fixed above the entrance to Coborn Road station as part of the Bow Heritage Trail. Unfortunately the plaque has now been stolen; or perhaps it was removed to correct the dates and hasn't yet been replaced.
Photo by Raymond Hambleton road12.jpg)
The site of Coborn Road station looking west from the east side of Coborn Road in April 2009. The distinctive wall at the back of the platform was reduced in height in November 2005 following completion of the flats that now stand on the site of the Rope and Twine factory.
Photo by James Allen road13.jpg) Looking west at the site of Coborn Road station in 2017. This view was taken from the cab of a train on the up fast line. The slow lines and the station were to the right at a slightly lower level. The degraded down platform is now heavily overgrown.
Photo by Nick Belton road14.jpg) Coborn Road station entrance in May 2017. The position of the stolen blue plaque is clearly visible above the door. A block of flats built in 2005 now stands on the site of the factory behind the down platform. One of the new electric 'gas' lights described above is seen on the left.road15.jpg)
Looking north along Coborn Road in May 2017' the stone arched entrance is seen on the far side of the bridge. Maps show a wide subway running beneath all four tracks; this is where the booking office was located. It is not know if there was also an entrance on the south side of the bridge.
Photo
by Nick Catford
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