Returning home today, after leaving my case at St Pancras station I decided to look at the redevelopment taking place around the area.
The Eastern Coal drops were built in 1851, coal trains approached the sheds on a viaduct, the bottom opening trucks dropped the coal through hoppers to the floor below where it was graded and then shoveled down chutes int sacks or carts at the yard level.
The Western Drops were completed in 1860.
Coal was also transferred to barges for onward transport, the canal is the other side of the viaduct in the lower picture.
