Earlier this year, I along with a group had a rather rare tour of the disused Aldwych tube station. We were actually supposed to go somewhere else as part of a special deal arranged with the Friends of the Transport Museum, but a long story and a lot of problems resulted in our going to the iconic Aldwych station instead.

Of all the disused stations on the London Underground, this is one of the more famous - partly for its construction and its rather odd position on the tube network infrastructure.

I wont go into huge amounts of detail about the history of the station as there are plenty of online sources available, and I am reliably informed that a new book on the station is due for publication before the end of this year - doubtless to be sold in the book store inside the Transport Museum.

As a courtesy, we were asked not to put the photos into the public domain as it only leads to people bugging the museum for permission to visit it themselves - but today I became aware that they are actually auctioning off a tour for the general public to raise funds for the museum, so they can’t really complain now

Also, I thought I would put up a few photos as teasers of what is down there and you might be tempted to bid for the tour yourself. If you want to bid on the auction to go inside yourself - then it is being run on the ebay website.

The full photo set of the photos which came out (damn the blur and useless flash!) are now available to the public on my usual Flickr account.

Weblinks:

Underground-History

Wikipedia

Sub-Brit

Yesterday, I wandered over to Battersea Power Station for a viewing of the exhibition for the latest (of many) plans to redevelop the huge industrial wasteland - and because we could also then go on a tour of the building itself.

The exhibition is quite good, goes into a lot of detail - although there is tons upon tons of hype about the eco-friendliness of proposals, almost as if they are the sole issue at stake here. There is also one of my favourites - a huge scale model of the site.

Most interesting to me was the map of the transport plans - as they expect to extend the Northern Line from Kennington to the development.

Once you fill in a questionnaire about the plans and sign a disclaimer - you can then go on a visit to the iconic building. Alas, the “tour” is basically a walk around the outside with a couple of spots where you can get up close to the entrances. It’s close enough to get a good view of the derelict interior, and includes going round to the riverside frontage, which I have not been to before.

You are warned that it is a very long walk - although I guess it says something about the fitness of the average Brit if half a mile is deemed worthy of a warning notice.

However, as I had been right inside the whole building once before, to be denied that this time was a bit disappointing - but if you have never been near the power station, then this really is a good chance to go. The exhibition closes this weekend though - so you need to be sharpish.

However:

One of the leaflets they handed out mentioned that surplus heat from the power station was pumped under the Thames to a housing estate on the North side - and it got me thinking as such hot water pipes would have to be lain in a tunnel for maintenance and insulation. Ergo - there is a tunnel under the Thames at this point!

I have been digging and found out that indeed the tunnel still exists - is quite large at 10ft internal diameter (Greenwich foot tunnel is 9ft diameter) and still reasonably structurally safe. After inflicting some damage to my credit card to buy some technical documents - I have a fair bit of info about the construction of the tunnel, which doubled up as the electricity conduit to the North of the river as well. Indeed, that seems to have been its primary function on some structural drawings I have - and the surplus heat discharge was an afterthought.

I have found a few contact details of a firm which did some work in the tunnels a few years ago, along obviously with the new owners and shall do some letter writing and beg for a chance to have a look
There is also another tunnel running south from the power station - reported to be 7ftx7ft square - and that was for the electricity cables. There was a cut/cover trench within the grounds, and then through an 8-foot 3-inch diameter subway, 460 feet long, in Kirtling Street.

Finally, two more tunnels run from the Power Station to the riverside and is marked on some drawings as an “intake/outlet culvert”, which is for cooling waters. Under the power station for the river water intake was also a vast 140ft long suction chamber, which could be quite impressive to see.

As you may have read, I went on a trip on a 1938 tube train a few months ago - but today was THE BIG ONE, where the train did a full run along the entire Northern Line from Morden to High Barnet and back again as part of the 70th anniversary year. Woo!

Made my way down to Morden and waited to be let on - and they took us down to a separate platform to wait for the train, which duly pulled in and after a short delay - we were off.

Unlike the previous trip, this train was absolutely packed without a single spare seat. I sat opposite a couple + baby who is probably the youngest “tube anorak” ever.

The train positively hurtled through the tunnels, and actually seemed faster than a modern train. I think that was due to the slightly more bouncy journey though. As the train passed through the stations it slowed down as they have to and then accelerated away - only occasionally stopping to wait for clearance ahead on the track.

We were supposed to go via the Bank branch, but thanks to problems in the morning they decided to route us via the West End which was a double treat as we came back via Bank and hence got to go right round the entire line.

As before though, one of the nicer aspects of the trip is sitting on the train as it goes through stations and seeing the looks of shock, puzzlement and delight on the faces of the people on the platform as this strange old train pulled in. Out came a veritable forest of camera phones as people took snaps to show to their friends. What had been just a normal and probably tedious wait for a train had become a matter of delight and something to talk about.

Many expected to get on the train, but the doors never opened.

There were also a fair number of train spotters taking photos at the ends of the platforms as well.

The train proceeded along towards High Barnet - and in probably a first for London Underground - the train actually arrived early, so we all had plenty of time to stretch legs and take photos before the return trip to Morden.

It was a really enjoyable trip to go on and I had an idea to head back to Clapham Common, which has the famous central platform and try to get photos of the second run of the day - hopefully with both the old and a modern train at the station at the same time.

Alas - this was to prove to be a huge disappointment and the events there really spoilt the day for myself, and quite a few other people.

After a coffee and a wander around Clapham, I went back down to the platform to get ready to take some photos. I really wanted to do it at the top of the steps, but that would have caused a blockage so was not really viable. So I wandered along to the near end of the platform and met up with another chap who had been on the previous heritage run - and there were a small group at the far end of the platform also getting ready to take photos.

I took a few sample photos to make sure everything worked, and then the tanoy bellowed out that photography was banned on the Underground. It kept repeating this - and several staff came down to stop the group at the end of the platform taking photos. They were utterly contemptible in their manner in dealing with people and it really annoys me that hundreds of people were taking photos all along the Northern Line - but here at this station, a bunch of jobworths were spoiling the issue.

In the end, I actually caught another train to the next station along, which is similar to Clapham Common but not quite as good - and there took my photos without any trouble whatsoever, although they didn’t come out too well as I didn’t have time to set myself up properly.

Transport for London naturally requires permission for commercial photography, and students can also get a photo-pass, but there is no explicit ban on photography for personal use. Indeed the policy seems to be based entirely on the mood of the station staff, and in this situation it seemed that a small group of people, causing absolutely no obstruction or problems whatsoever was worthy of four station staff descending on them to prevent our hobby.

To have spent over an hour on a special train full of tube staff allowing people to take photos with gay abandon - to then be told that photography is forbidden is inconsistent and frankly put a really sour end to the day.

I’ll be sending a more thoughtful letter to TfL on this issue later in the week.

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