Station Name: CRANLEY GARDENS

Looking east from the footbridge from Lanchester Road towards Cranley Gardens station c1950.The main lines are to the left with the line on the right running into Cranley Gardens goods yard - note the double turnout. The station signal box is seen in the centre. The building on the left is the Fortis Green pumping station. Of note are the London Transport (LT) accoutrements; there is a cable-run either side of the track and some conductor rails (or 'current rails' in LT parlance) have been laid. Close examination of the image shows further conductor rail has been laid beyond the crossover. Odd sections of the route from Finsbury Park had been so treated but only on plain track before worked stopped and conductor rail reached the approaches to Alexandra Palace station but did not extend into the platforms. LT used the Fourth Rail electrification system and, of course, London Underground still does. The positive rail is that outside the running rails and is +420v DC while the negative rail is that inside the running rails and is -210v DC, giving a potential difference of 630v DC. Following abandonment of the uncompleted sections of the Northern Heights Plan, conductor rails were removed and are said to have been reused on the District Line although this claim is open to question. Other equipment installed on the Alexandra Palace branch, such as the cable runs, were simply abandoned in situ and some remains can still be seen to this day.
Photo from John Mann collection

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