All change at St Pancras. The Midland Mainline terminal in 2004.

In the original Midland Mainline livery 43043 and 170106 line up at St Pancras on 8th April 2004. On the left an ex-Virgin Cross Country 'Project Rio' HST can be seen. 

Just a few months ago nobody could have imagined that the UK and much of the world would be gripped by an international pandemic which would bring dramatic changes to life as we know it. The simple activity of travelling and photographing trains would diminish to virtually zero. However railway interest has certainly not died - many many enthusiasts have turned their attention to their archives and the internet has been awash with historical photos of things we never got the chance to publish at the time, or simply didn't seem that interesting back when these forgotten scenes were common place. My archive dates back to mid-2003 and the early years mostly consist of blurred, poorly composed and poor quality photographs taken on an early digital camera. Fortunately among the dissapointing pictures there are those few that by good fortune have actually turned out alright, especially with a quick once-over from Photoshop!

While the lockdown continues I intend to showcase a few more of my older archive photos (many of which haven't seen the light of day since the bad old days of Fotopic) either in articles here or on my flickr account.

Looking back towards the famou clock 170106 sits under the impressive
WH Barlow trainshed. Rays of light are picked out by the smoke from the
Midland Mainline HST on the right. 08.04.2004.

We shall start this jounrey with a trip back to 2004 and the old Barlow Shed at St Pancras in it's last weeks of use by Midland Mainline.

The station was built by the Midland Railway with the trainshed designed by WH Barlow and opened in 1868 but had been underutilised since the 1960's when the majority of long distance services had transfered to nearby Euston. Further traffic was lost with the opening of the Snow Hill tunnels and completion of the Thameslink route which diverted most services away from the terminal. By 2004 St Pancras was a survivor, having survived serveral attempts to close it completely and demolish the station and its grand attached hotel, which became grade 1 listed in 1967.

The train conductor waits the 'Right Away' in a typical Midland Mainline
scene in the last days of St Pancras. 08.04.2004.

By privatisation the station was used by Midland Mainline for services to Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds initially in the hands of HST's but also seeing class 170 turbostars which were ordered by Midland Mainline for stopping services. Despite its gradeur the station felt dirty and unloved. But all this was about to change. The British government had decided that St Pancras would form the London terminal of the high-speed rail link to Europe and after completion of the high-speed line Eurostar trains would divert from their original terminus at Waterloo and run from St Pancras to Paris and Brusselles. 

By 2004 many of Midland Mainline's HST's has been repainted into the new livery as showcased by 43180. The original livery was is represented by 43043 in the foreground. 08.04.2004.

47355 'Avocet' waits to take the farewell tour back north. Behind the train
the construction work on the new station is in evidence. In a matter of days
Midland Mainline trains would move to this new part of the station. Today
these new platofrms are used by South Eastern High Speed while Eurostars
to the continent occupy site of the excursion train. 08.04.2004

To make St Pancras a station fit for international travel; and to accommodate the 300+ meter Eurostar trains London and Continental Railways were to spend around £800 million totally re-building and extending the station. To complete the work the existing Midland Mainline services would need to be moved out and construction began on an interim station for domestic services to the north-east of the Barlow trainshed. This would eventually become the platforms for the new domestic 'South Eastern High Speed' services with Midland services moving once again to the west of the final station. Only international trains would run under the old roof in the completed station. On April 12th 2004 Midland services were diverted and re-construction work could being on the trainshed and the former Midland Railway Hotel which was also to be refurbished and re-opened.

Re-creating a common BR scene 45112 'The Royal Army Ordinance Corps'
has reached its destination and is the final 'Peak' to sit on the blocks of
St Pancras. 08.04.2004.

I made two visits to St Pancras in early 2004 to capture the original station in its final days. Filled with the coulours of Midland Mainline and smokey Valenta powered HST's the unloved and dingy station was full of atmosphere. At the time additional 'Project Rio' trains were running connecting London with Manchester due to the ongoing upgrade work on the West Coast Mainline- this meant additional HST's which has been transfered from Virgin Cross Country and wore a mix of liveries. 

As a final tribute to the station a farewell railtour was run bringing 'Peak' 45112, then operated by Fragonset Railways to the station on xx April. The class 45 had been synonomous with the route in BR days and was a fitting tribute to fine station which would not see domestic trains under its roof again. After arriving with the 'Peak' class 47355 worked the train out of the London terminal.

Another view of 45112 on the blocks at St Pancras. 08.04.2004

Class 373 power car 3221 stands within the bright and airy refurbished station
on 23rd August 2011.

In November 2007 the work to re-build St Pancras station was complete and Eurostar services could commence. The station was transformed and presented a fitting welcome to international travellers. The sleek Eurostar trains now occupied the electrified platforms under Barlows roof with the Midland services transfered to their final position to the north west of the station. As part of the project a new concourse had been created beneath the platforms in the area of the former 'undercroft' which was opened up to contain shops as well as check in, border controls and the secure passenger lounge for international travellers. The old dingy station full of diesel fumes from just a few years earlier would now only live on in memorys and in photographs.

The original (left) and revised (right) versions of Midland Mainline's livery are shown off on HST's at St Pancras. The difference in lighting and ambience are clear when compared with the picture below after rebuilding. 17.02.2004.

Class 373 Eurostar trainsets occupy their place under the WH Barlow trainshed. The orignial clock is obscured by the Olympic Rings which were positioned in advance of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 23.08.11