Dubai, city of skyscrapers and oil wealth is not quite so wedded to the motor car that it wont consider public transport and is nearing the completion of its own metro railway network.

I saw an advert in this weeks issue of The Economist though - and the Dubai Metro is offering naming rights for the stations, and even the train lines themselves.

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I wonder if that would work in London?

Well, technically it already has - as Surrey Docks was renamed as Surrey Quays when the shopping centre of the same name opened nearby and they apparently paid London Underground £50k for the renaming.

If a corporate sponsor came along, who would be best for which stations- or lines?

In 1938, a new modern tube train was introduced on London Underground - with the radical change in that it abolished the front locomotive which used to pull tube trains.

In 1998, the 1938 stock made its final trip on the Northern Line.

In 2008 - I made a trip on a restored 1938 tube train.

Occasionally, the London Transport museum run special heritage trains, and as this is the 70th anniversary of the 1938 stock being introduced onto London Underground there are a few runs taking place. Today was the first and I managed to get a ticket for the last run of the day. Made my way over to Ealing Common and collected my tickets for the special trip.

They were also handing out a short leaflet about the train and a map/folder which was issued in the run up to the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. Nothing to do with the train itself, but incredibly fascinating to read.

We waited on the platform and as the train finally arrived, we rushed to the platform edge to get a decent view and take photos, then after a short delay, we were off on a trip up to Uxbridge Station and back again.

The trip itself was uneventful - just a normal trip along the line, although without stops. I correct that - there was one stop as someone had got on the train thinking it was a normal trip and had to be evicted!

It was quite nice though to trundle along the line, admiring the interior and as we went through the stations, there were looks of astonishment from some of the waiting passengers as this “odd looking” train went running past the platforms with passengers on board. Was quite a smug feeling to be honest

One thing which I was not aware of was an early experiment in aerodynamics - and the early models of the trains were fitted with a sloping front which would presumably improve airflow when in tunnels. It was shortly found out that they made absolutely no difference whatsoever and were removed - which is a pity as a b&w photo which they give us of one looks quite amazing.

After a while we eventually pulled into Uxbridge station and there was plenty of time to take loads of photos - and as the driver prepared to use the other end to drive back, some of us could play at being a driver by sitting in the (now) rear drivers carriage for a moment.

The cost was quite steep to be honest, for what was just a trip there and back again, but the funds go to the museum so I am quite content with that. It was a nice experience though, and a couple of people turned up in period costume (maybe I will for the next trip!).

In a way, I think the bystanders on the stations we went past got a bit of a special day as well judging by the looks on some of their faces - and as the route times were publicized - there were obvious fans on most of the stations taking photos as well.

More photos on my usual Flicker photostream

As a final note - I got on the tube at Hammersmith at 2:30, and according to my Oyster card, would have got off at Canary Wharf at 5pm. I bet that trip will cause a bit of computer head-scratching

Chatting on another website and quite a few people all over London are commenting on a very strange smell in the air this morning - almost manure like.

I stuck my nose out of the window and sniffed, and yes there is definitely something in the air.

As the smell is being reported all over London, I phoned up the Met Office public helpline, and they haven’t had any reports or complaints from anyone else, but did suggest that there was a strong Easterly wind last night - whereas London usually gets a South-Easterly wind.

The Easterly wind could well have picked up smells from sewerage works out towards the Thames Gateway area - or even smells from the North Sea.

They seem to play his Dance Tonight song every half hour in my local branch. I’ve noticed this trend in the past, but never heard enough of the lyrics to be able to Google and find out what the name of the song was.

I guess they might be doing it so as to dissuade the mad ex-wife from visiting?

It’s getting a bit annoying though.

Was back at the Building Centre in central London this morning for the final of their breakfast talks on subterranean London as part of their current exhibition. This morning’s talk was hosted by Andrew Smith from Subterranea Britannica (sub-brit), an organisation I am also a member of, and was a basic overview of what lies under London.

Despite being aimed at the “layman”, it was still interesting for me to attend, as it reminded me of things I have meant to visit but keep forgetting - especially a bunker in the basement of a block of flats in Crystal Palace. There is a disused tunnel in the vicinity and sold old railway remains I want to look for - so it is planned for a nice day out with the maps.

He spent a fair bit of time talking about the old Royal Observer Corps (ROC) bunkers which are dotted all over the country - and showed some details of one that is inside Heathrow airport itself. These tiny bunkers, just one room in size were designed to house three volunteers who would then report on where nuclear bombs were going off in time of war so that local governments could plan their emergency aid.

There is a fantastic restored central command centre at York - which was recently saved and a team from the ROC carried out one of their test drills and the base is now left exactly as they had it for the test. Unfortunately, as the bunker is not in the town centre, you do need to book to make a visit as they have to send someone down from English Heritage to open it up - but it is worth a visit.

As I said, the lecture was the last in the current series at the Building Centre, and the exhibition itself closes this weekend.

Out of the series of talks, I managed to get to the talk on Crossrail, and an excellent evening talk on methods of Cooling the London Underground.

There will be another few exhibitions this year which have caught my eye - one on how to cram more housing into London - and a very interesting one, on London’s Bridges.

Oh, if you want a 2.6 metre scale model of the cutting head from a TBM - they have one from the exhibition and need to dispose of it. I would have loved to have it - but the spare room is shortly to be sublet to a flatmate. Oh well.