A 1928 Underground selection

[Hutch]

A little New Year selection from over eighty years ago, namely volume 63 of the 1928 Railway Magazine.

With all trace of this section now swept away the story about the installation of the swinging platform section at Wood Lane. Improvements at Wood Lane Station, Central London Railway explains that it was not just the lengthening of the trains that gave rise to this interesting requirement as the platform on the opposite side accommodated the trains well. With the curve of the platforms, the end loading doors were close to the platform edge, but when the change was made to centre doors there was a dangerous gap to negotiate. The centre doors were near to the platform edge on the inner platform but it wasn’t long enough – hence the extension.

In another milestone of the year, The “Hampstead” Tube Railway Comes of Age. Interesting note on the urbanisation of the route.

Finally, in its sixtieth year, the Metropolitan District Railway, 1868-1928 puts on an exhibition train – an eclectic mixture of rolling stock.

Happy New Year all.

[tubeprune]

Thanks for this Hutch.

[Deleted]

Very interesting!

Some observations:
From the Hampstead Tube article - the lack of a name for what we now know as the Northern Line - the two components (the Hampstead Railway (for short - it was then part of the London Electric) and the City and South London Railway)
- and the comment that the extension from Charing Cross (now of course Embankment) cutting through the loop was 'achieved without interfering with passenger traffic' - how many days/months/years of closure would be required now, I wonder?

The District Railway Exhibition train - truly the prototype for (or of?) everything! A great pity it couldn't be recreated - or better still extended with Q/R and D stock cars - but what is left (if anything)?

I presume the 'Southend' loco was there as much for providing an adapter between screw and Ward couplings as much as any intrinsic interest.

[mrfs42]

Indeed, thank you Hutch.

If I can add a comment on the Wood Lane changes and the moveable platform, the white enamelled lever plates control the platform, from memory it was 9 and 10 (which drove the platform normal - reverse (open for the depot) and reverse - normal) and 16 which were the points underneath the moveable platform. Quite why there was a different style of lever plates beats me, but that is one of the attractions of UndergrounD signalling. Doubtless Westinghouse knew what they were doing.

The Wood Lane diagram in the same picture also shows the connection at the bottom which had been Wood Lane Junction, this is shown in outline as the track circuits were not repeated in Wood Lane Box.

[slugabed]

The Wood Lane moveable platform reminded me of the "bite" there used to be (until very recently) out of the platform at South Tottenham on the GOBLIN line.
The reason for this,was that a crossover,to enable westbound traffic to access the curve to Seven Sisters GE,was halfway along the platform,almost opposite the signal cabin,and the "bite" gave clearance for the end-throw of stock taking the curve by this route.
A few years ao it went,I think they moved the platform,rather than the track,around the time they introduced regular (if infrequent) Seven Sisters-Stratford services.
A shame I didn't know it was about to go,I'd have taken a photo of this oddity!

[Geoffram]

Tunnelling on the Hampstead tube commenced September 1903 and finished in December 1905! What an achievment!
And we are suffering now from the accepted wisdom in those days that combining what were two completely separate railway lines into a really complicated pattern of services would serve passengers better than if, say, the money which was spent constructing the really complicated Camden Town flying junctions had been spent making the two sets of platforms at Camden Town truly cross-platform interchange and the lines being kept separate (sorry about the complicated sentence there!).
For example, there's a whole generation growing up not aware of the fact that, twenty years ago, at Piccadilly Circus you could travel by Bakerloo line either to Queen's Park or Wembley Park. And the Southbound Jubilee and Bakerloo platforms at Baker Street were adapted to give an acceptable interchange between the two (although, I grant you, not as ideal as if the two platforms had been side by side). Camden Town could have ended up like that.
And to think that, ten years or so later, there were plans to make the Northern line an even more complex operation by the New Works Programme with its associated Alexandra Palace, Mill Hill (The Hale) and Brockley Hill extensions.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2009 7:31:32 GMT Geoffram said:

And we are suffering now from the accepted wisdom in those days that combining what were two completely separate railway lines into a really complicated pattern of services would serve passengers better than if, say, the money which was spent constructing the really complicated Camden Town flying junctions had been spent making the two sets of platforms at Camden Town truly cross-platform interchange and the lines being kept separate (sorry about the complicated sentence there!).

IIRC there was also a proposal for an equivalent to the Camden Town junctions between Bakerloo and Hampstead tubes in the Waterloo area - which would have been what might be described as fun (but not by line controllers)

[tubeprune]

Jan 5, 2009 10:59:39 GMT etr220 said:

Jan 5, 2009 7:31:32 GMT Geoffram said:

And we are suffering now from the accepted wisdom in those days that combining what were two completely separate railway lines into a really complicated pattern of services would serve passengers better than if, say, the money which was spent constructing the really complicated Camden Town flying junctions had been spent making the two sets of platforms at Camden Town truly cross-platform interchange and the lines being kept separate (sorry about the complicated sentence there!).

IIRC there was also a proposal for an equivalent to the Camden Town junctions between Bakerloo and Hampstead tubes in the Waterloo area - which would have been what might be described as fun (but not by line controllers)

And one at Holborn between Picc and Central!

[Ben]

Could the junctions at Holborn get any more weird in layout? When on earth were both of these proposed? Any track diagrams would be greatly appreciated

I can add a Camden-esque junction at Baker Street between Bakerloo and a proto-Jubilee to Victoria. There is a diagram of this in a book called 'London's Secret Tubes'.