Northern Line Spotting

[TheEngineer]

Evening all, I was looking to have an hour and a half on the northern line on Saturday. Where would be the best place to see maximum units? It looks like Camden Town covers both loops etc but is there just 2 platforms there? Any advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[ThameslinkUser]

Kennington would probably be best given the slightly easier cross platform interchange from the Charing X - Bank branch for seeing both branches' trains.

 

[TheEngineer]

Kennington would probably be best given the slightly easier cross platform interchange from the Charing X - Bank branch for seeing both branches' trains.

Thanks. I assume there isn't an 'island' platform at any station to see both branches. Will give it a try and see, I've not seen much on the northern so could do with bulking some out from my list

 

[bluegoblin7]

+1 for Kennington. It’s same direction via cross passages, but they’re relatively short and quite wide so should allow you to see both sides. Camden Town has two platforms per northern branch and is significantly further apart due to the V-shaped layout, so won’t assist you with seeing everything.

As always I would recommend letting station staff know your intentions if you’re going to be there for more than a few minutes. They may, of course, not allow you to ‘loiter’, but equally it is far better that they know about you and your reasons for hanging around, as it can be very easy to mistake such actions for something else on CCTV.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'd also say Kennington - and I'd opt for the northbound platform since the longer journey is to the north; that works out that it'll take less time to cover the bulk of the diagrams than if you were watching from the southbound platform.

 

[TheEngineer]

+1 for Kennington. It’s same direction via cross passages, but they’re relatively short and quite wide so should allow you to see both sides. Camden Town has two platforms per northern branch and is significantly further apart due to the V-shaped layout, so won’t assist you with seeing everything.

As always I would recommend letting station staff know your intentions if you’re going to be there for more than a few minutes. They may, of course, not allow you to ‘loiter’, but equally it is far better that they know about you and your reasons for hanging around, as it can be very easy to mistake such actions for something else on CCTV.

Many thanks, looks like Kennington is the place to go.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Oct 2024 ==

I'd also say Kennington - and I'd opt for the northbound platform since the longer journey is to the north; that works out that it'll take less time to cover the bulk of the diagrams than if you were watching from the southbound platform.

Many thanks Peter, I will give it a try

 

[TheEngineer]

With thanks to all I have had a few trips to London recently and am now down to two sets - one is regularly in service but I keep missing it. 51542 and 51543 is the other set that seems to have not been out as it hasnt appeared on intertube since it's been up and running again.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

With thanks to all I have had a few trips to London recently and am now down to two sets - one is regularly in service but I keep missing it. 51542 and 51543 is the other set that seems to have not been out as it hasnt appeared on intertube since it's been up and running again.

Those two are normally paired with each other... it may be worth asking on the Underground Stock Requests thread to establish if they are currently stopped or not.

 

[TheEngineer]

Thanks for confirming the pairing Peter. Next time I am heading up to London I will ask in the stock requests.