The last wooden escalator

I wandered up to Greenford in North West London this morning to have a look at one of London Underground’s little novelties. Greenford Station on the Central Line is notable for a couple of reasons – it has the only (working) escalator on the tube network which takes passengers directly from the street level to the platform, which is novel but hardly exciting.

The Last Wooden Escalator - 1What is interesting though is that particular escalator is also the last one remaining on the tube network with wooden slats on the steps.

Following the Kings Cross fire, all the old and rather nice wooden escalators were removed as a fire hazard – except the one at Greenford. I presume that as it is not only above ground but also has two static stairs next to it that the requirement to remove it is not a priority.

So, today I wandered up to have a look at this last relic, and while it lacks any of the charm of the old 1930s underground stations, there is still enough of the original structure to remind us of the old escalators. There is still the bronzed endplates and the old signs at the top indicating that Otis were the manufacturers.

The station itself is also notable for having a split running down the centre of the tube line platforms where an overland train terminates and then returns back down to Paddington Station.

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A few more photos on my Flickr account.