"right hand running" at Kentish Town

AIUI the line was built under the (now) A400 road which is the Kentish Town West road - changes to Fortress Road above roughly where the platforms end.

This was because there was a stipulation at the time that these new railways could only be built under "public thoroughfares" as the legal papers term the roads. The railways could not deviate outside the boundaries of the road above, so where the road turns there is a need to squash the railways together. This results in a short bit of right-hand running at Kentish Town, because the road above turns both before and after the station.

I've got a picture that will help to explain - I'll web it up in a mo.

Version 1:



I'll tinker with Version 2:



Does that make sense? It's only a quick 'n' nasty diagram, but it should suffice.

Ah k thank you :-)

Back in the early days of tube railways a railway could only pass beneath property with the consent of the owner. Parliament agreed to grant free wayleaves (or easements) to railways beneath the streets, hence most lines followed the street layout.
Where a line wanted to pass beneath private property, there was no legal framework in place; if a wayleave could be negotiated then fine, but otherwise there was no option but to purchase the freehold - often at great expense. As can be imagined, the railways avoided this wherever possible. The thread about the C&SLR tunnels, linked in the first post in this thread, refers to Hibernia Wharf being tunnelled beneath. This would have been a privately arranged wayleave, and the railway would have paid the owners of the freehold for the privilege.