A huge shed packed full of old tube trains, buses, trams, and floors of railway ephemera, this is the Acton depot used by the London Transport Museum to store everything that wont fit into the museum.
It’s open a few days each year, and 22nd and 23rd September is the next open weekend.
In celebration of the Year of Engineering, the event will highlight the inventions, innovations and people behind the story of transport in London. Visitors will discover the amazing feats of engineering that have shaped the capital’s transport network through a programme of talks, tours, demonstrations and fun family activities.
Tickets cost £12 for adults and £10 for concessions and are valid for one day only. Children and young people aged 17 and under go free (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult).
The depot is open from 11am-5pm on both 22nd and 23rd September.
Book tickets in advance here.
Be advised there’s a bag restriction, and only small bags (the size of a shoe-box) can be taken into the depot — there is a cloakroom for larger bags.
At the Moving London Depot Open Weekend visitors can:
Learn about the creation of London’s Underground and the pioneers of civil engineering who built it with author Anthony Badsey-Ellis
Join former Tube Challenge world record holder Geoff Marshall for ‘Tube Station Trivia’ – fun facts about London Underground from the man who has visited every Tube station on the network
Look beyond London’s buses and trains and enjoy fascinating talks about London City Airport and the history of the Woolwich Ferry and Docklands
Sit back and watch a screening of Sherbet Dab – an oral history documentary about the London Hackney Cab
Take a special highlights tour of the Museum’s Poster Store with expert guides, and discover some of the hidden gems in the collections of transport posters.
Step into the shoes of a train driver in a Victoria Line driving cab and learn how the trains on the world’s first automatic railway worked
Explore vintage vehicles out the back of the depot, such as the restored khaki green B2737 ‘Battle Bus’ (an example of the B-type London buses commandeered for use during the First World War in 1914) as well as a Waterloo and City line rail car from 1940 and unusual works vehicles from the 1930s and 50s
Watch demonstrations of original London Underground signalling equipment
Hop on a vintage bus to take a scenic tour of Acton and the surrounding area
Explore the underneath of a vintage bus on a guided bus pit tour
No ‘h’ in Antony…
“…from the man who has visited every Tube station on the network”
Is he the only one to have done this then?
Of course not. He simply holds the speed record for the event.