Page "Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)" Paragraph 19

During 1846 to 1849 George Turnbull was the resident engineer under William Cubitt for the London District of the Great Northern Railway.

Turnbull oversaw the construction of the first 20 miles of line out of London, including bridges, multiple cuttings and the Copenhagen, Tottenham, South Barnet, North Barnet and South Mimms tunnels ( he was particularly proud of the alignment of the tunnels ).

In December 1848 he was busy with the plans for King's Cross station and passing the line under the Regent's Canal.

On 2 February 1849 the last capstone on Holloway Bridge was set in place.

On 27 March the first brick for Copenhagen Tunnel was laid by Edward Purser.

The first brick of the East Barnet tunnel was laid on 23 April.

There was much trouble with the cement in Tottenham and South Mimms tunnels: Turnbull stopped the use of cement — blue lias was substituted ( this was made by burning the blue clay from the tunnels and grinding it ).

Another of the engineers working under Cubitt was James Moore, who went on to design the first commercial steam railway in Australia for the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company.