Post by camperdown9 on Feb 27, 2015 16:50:56 GMT
Hi All
Just back from a guided tour at London Transport's Acton depot. Have to say that it was well worth it.
When I got to the depot there were a few people waiting. Mainly older people but as it was a Friday morning I guess thats to be expected. I wasn't waiting long before a lady from the Transport museum arrived and directed us to basically a large portacabin. On the walk from the entrance of the depot to the portacabin I couldn't help but notice the pile of metropolitan line luggage racks. There were what looked like hundreds of them!
There then followed a twenty minute talk on the history of London Transport and a few 'elf and safety notices. There were nine visitors and we were split into two groups. My group was a group of four and our guide was a fairly elderly guy who talked and talked and talked. He was great, very enthusiastic and funny. However he was much more interested in buses than trains. Once inside the actual depot its noticeable that they don't have a lot of space. The guide was eager to talk about a number of busses, trolly busses and a tram. That for me was not that interesting and I used the time to take some photos. In the pre tour briefing you do get told that you can take photos in the main depot but not in the small objects room. However I was the only one doing so.
After the buses we did go and spend some time looking at various trains. They are currently painting an old Waterloo and City train (I think 487 stock). Apparently it had been left outside for a number of years. On the tour today you could see the remains of the old network southeast livery, this was being covered by a white primer. The guide said that this car will be repainted back into the network southeast colours. Theres a metropolitan line car that was used to transport milk, there is metropolitan line carriage 1. There is also an A stock car, an old northern line car, 1986 prototype car, a car that was converted to brush snow of the tracks, Q38, A stock and much more. There are also things like piles of old underground seats, modern (ish) & old station signs, there was a pile of fragments of underground line diagrams.
After we had spent time in the main depot we were taken upstairs to the small objects rooms. The room contains model buses, examples of seat coverings, smaller signs, china and cutlery form the board room, old uniforms etc. A lot of this stuff is housed in drawers and you are encouraged to go ahead and open them to have a look.
At the very end of the tour we were taken to a shop on the ground floor. The shop itself is pretty similar to the Covent Garden store but a bit smaller. I don't know if this was luck or if it happens everytime there is a tour, but today various volunteers were setting up tables and bookshelves next to the shop. They were selling line diagrams, old railway magazines, stickers, old underground maps, photos, some smaller metal signs, timetables, used tickets, books, red and green flags (sorry I'm sure there is a technical term) all that sort of stuff. I spent £11 and came away with a bag full of stuff. (much cheaper than eBay!)
I thought that the tour would take maybe 35-40 minutes. We started at 11 and ended at just before 2, so close to 3 hours!
I am sorry this isn't as detailed as I am sure it should be but I just wanted to say that if you get the chance its well worth a visit.
Alex
Just back from a guided tour at London Transport's Acton depot. Have to say that it was well worth it.
When I got to the depot there were a few people waiting. Mainly older people but as it was a Friday morning I guess thats to be expected. I wasn't waiting long before a lady from the Transport museum arrived and directed us to basically a large portacabin. On the walk from the entrance of the depot to the portacabin I couldn't help but notice the pile of metropolitan line luggage racks. There were what looked like hundreds of them!
There then followed a twenty minute talk on the history of London Transport and a few 'elf and safety notices. There were nine visitors and we were split into two groups. My group was a group of four and our guide was a fairly elderly guy who talked and talked and talked. He was great, very enthusiastic and funny. However he was much more interested in buses than trains. Once inside the actual depot its noticeable that they don't have a lot of space. The guide was eager to talk about a number of busses, trolly busses and a tram. That for me was not that interesting and I used the time to take some photos. In the pre tour briefing you do get told that you can take photos in the main depot but not in the small objects room. However I was the only one doing so.
After the buses we did go and spend some time looking at various trains. They are currently painting an old Waterloo and City train (I think 487 stock). Apparently it had been left outside for a number of years. On the tour today you could see the remains of the old network southeast livery, this was being covered by a white primer. The guide said that this car will be repainted back into the network southeast colours. Theres a metropolitan line car that was used to transport milk, there is metropolitan line carriage 1. There is also an A stock car, an old northern line car, 1986 prototype car, a car that was converted to brush snow of the tracks, Q38, A stock and much more. There are also things like piles of old underground seats, modern (ish) & old station signs, there was a pile of fragments of underground line diagrams.
After we had spent time in the main depot we were taken upstairs to the small objects rooms. The room contains model buses, examples of seat coverings, smaller signs, china and cutlery form the board room, old uniforms etc. A lot of this stuff is housed in drawers and you are encouraged to go ahead and open them to have a look.
At the very end of the tour we were taken to a shop on the ground floor. The shop itself is pretty similar to the Covent Garden store but a bit smaller. I don't know if this was luck or if it happens everytime there is a tour, but today various volunteers were setting up tables and bookshelves next to the shop. They were selling line diagrams, old railway magazines, stickers, old underground maps, photos, some smaller metal signs, timetables, used tickets, books, red and green flags (sorry I'm sure there is a technical term) all that sort of stuff. I spent £11 and came away with a bag full of stuff. (much cheaper than eBay!)
I thought that the tour would take maybe 35-40 minutes. We started at 11 and ended at just before 2, so close to 3 hours!
I am sorry this isn't as detailed as I am sure it should be but I just wanted to say that if you get the chance its well worth a visit.
Alex
