How They Dug the Victoria Line

[Deleted]

Sorry if this should be in the historical bit, but the BBC have just shoved a 40min documentary made in 1969 about the construction of the Victoria Line onto iPlayer - www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00sc29t/How_They_Dug_the_Victoria_Line/

It's quite interesting (and also there are quite a lot of "they were allowed to do that? Where are their hiviz jackets?" shots)

[Deleted]

Great documentary! Very interesting to hear that it was originally intended for the Victoria line to be driverless yet it was feared that passengers wouldn't like it and it was cancelled. Amazing that nearly 50 years on the debate regarding driverless trains continues.

Also fascinating to see how the (presumably, correct me if I'm wrong) Piccadilly line at Finsbury Park was diverted in just 15 hours!

And yes loads of "they were allowed to do that?!", amazing how many workers were smoking whilst moving heavy machinery/parts underground and the lack of organisation that construction sites appear to have today.

[Deleted]

Watched this, a very insightful documentary from a by-gone era, thanks for sharing!

[Deleted]

I'll second that, thank you for the link.

[Deleted]

It's also on YouTube for those of us outside the UK who can't use the BBC's Iplayer.

[barrybahamas]

Thank you Option 7 for the OP and thanks also philh for the youtube link, I couldn't view the BBC link in The Bahamas or the US - why does the BBC lock us out?

Anyway, quite apart from the interesting Underground stuff - check out the ladies fashion and hair styles; and the men's come to that.

ok, ok, I admit it; I'm old enough to have been a participant in the latter.

[domh245]

The BBC "locks out" those from countries who don't pay for it. It is free here in the UK, but we do have to pay tax for it.

[trt]

Dec 24, 2012 18:44:20 GMT domh245 said:

The BBC "locks out" those from countries who don't pay for it. It is free here in the UK, but we do have to pay tax for it.

Tax? License fee.

[barrybahamas]

Dec 24, 2012 19:15:41 GMT trt said:

Dec 24, 2012 18:44:20 GMT domh245 said:

The BBC "locks out" those from countries who don't pay for it. It is free here in the UK, but we do have to pay tax for it.

Tax? License fee.

domh245: Interesting argument.

But presumably access to their iplayer is not withheld if you don't have a TV license; and the BBC world service is available free of charge worldwide.

[trt]

Dec 24, 2012 21:06:45 GMT barrybahamas said:

Dec 24, 2012 19:15:41 GMT trt said:

Tax? License fee.

Interesting argument.

But presumably access to their iplayer is not withheld if you don't have a TV license; and the BBC world service is available free of charge worldwide.

Yes, that's right; you don't need a license to watch iPlayer shows, but the point was that the funding comes from the license fee, which is not a tax.

[metrider]

First - thanks for posting the links to the program - Very interesting..

Dec 24, 2012 21:06:45 GMT barrybahamas said:

Dec 24, 2012 19:15:41 GMT trt said:

Tax? License fee.

Interesting argument.

But presumably access to their iplayer is not withheld if you don't have a TV license; and the BBC world service is available free of charge worldwide.

Most families in the UK have some kind of television and are so liable for a television license... I suppose Geo-IP technology is a close enough match.

However the BBC will have to comply with territorial restrictions for the distribution of content that they buy in. Probably not an issue for the Vic line program, but it will be for other content in iplayer. Indeed the BBC iplayer help cites rights management as the reason for the Geo-restriction ( see iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/outside_the_uk/outsideuk )

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2012 21:43:34 GMT metrider said:

However the BBC will have to comply with territorial restrictions for the distribution of content that they buy in. Probably not an issue for the Vic line program, but it will be for other content in iplayer. Indeed the BBC iplayer help cites rights management as the reason for the Geo-restriction ( see iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/outside_the_uk/outsideuk )

I've done picture licensing for programmes made for the BBC and that's exactly the reason why the iPlayer is UK & Eire only. If footage licenses had to be for global use programme budgets would go up astronomically, not to mention the losses to the BBC for buying programmes they resell! And the Victoria Line programme isn't wholly owned by the BBC (note the end card, "made by British Transport Films in association with BBC TV") so who knows who all that footage belongs to, it'd be a bloody nightmare to clear now.

[class411]

Just watched this.

Fascinating to see such cutting edge technology. (Anyone else spot the dekatron tubes?)

Thanks for the link, Option 7.

[rincew1nd]

I think this is possibly the first time I've seen a Program Machine working. I don't know why but I thought it would be just like a player piano and run continuously rather than step-wise.

[railtechnician]

Jan 1, 2013 19:12:51 GMT rincew1nd said:

I think this is possibly the first time I've seen a Program Machine working. I don't know why but I thought it would be just like a player piano and run continuously rather than step-wise.

A somewhat peculiar thought, considering a roll routed trains for up to 20 hours of a 24 hour period can you imagine just how long a programme roll would need to be, to be running continuously, what the diameter of the roll would be, how long it would take to auto rewind to start of service if it could be fitted onto the carrier?

A pianola roll is the length of a tune in real time, indeed I believe they also came in folded sheets on some pianolas. Tunes tend to be repetitive so the roll could be continuous and similar to a musical box mechanism, the same is not true for a timetable in which all movements are unique in terms of time.

Of course a pianola roll 'plays' silence as well as music but a programme roll does not need to clear routes between trains, only at expected times thus it has no need to run in between.

[rincew1nd]

As I said in my post, I don't know why I thought this; as soon as I think about the practicalities of a Program Machine I realise it can't run continuously.

I grew up in a world of player-pianos, fairground organs and CNC lathes running off paper tape, all of which were fed continuously.

I think I had in mind the system where the card reader was in the centre of a circular carrier which was free to rotate: the card was drawn from one side, through the reader and deposited on the other, as more card was deposited on top gravity made the whole thing rotate such that eventually the card was back where it started and the tune played again. Thus there was no need for a separate man to keep changing the tune.

[superteacher]

Brilliant documentary!