A thread for mumsnet nerds to talk about the history of the London Underground (aka what's your favourite tube station)

[GetOrfMoiIand]

I spent a happy hour looking at this site www.abandonedstations.org.uk/

The history of the tube is fascinating, and I love travelling on it, it is so atmospheric (apart from when I am commuting within London and then I hate it with a vengeance like any normal person reserving special ire for the wanking Circle line).

Some stations feel really evocative - for instance Lambeth North looks as if it hasn't changed since the second world war.

No - actually I think she was doing it as part of an experiment, there were a couple of guys who got on with her and seemed to be taking notes. Presumably an experiment on how tube travellers react when faced with something unexpected!

What order were they built in?

Something I find strange is having to walk along the northern line platform at elephant and castle to get to the baker loo line.

I think I prefer the busses these days. Live the views over the bridges.

Just spent a happy geeky half hour catching up with this thread. It's brilliant.

I am looking forward to giving out some travel advice to tourists in the next few weeks.

I find the advice I give to tourists most often on the Underground is 'Please stand on the right' said at differing volumes!

IIRC the subsurface lines are the oldest, the Met Line originally running steam. Parts of the Northern, Central Bakerloo and Piccadilly are the oldest tube lines, the Victoria and Jubilee lines were built in the 1960s and 70s. They have all been extended/combined/adjusted though.

Love stories about the underground. That ghost stories documentary is actually quite reassuring, if it's all caused by infrasound rather than the paranormal. (Although maybe it's ghosties making the infrasound... could it be a symptom rather than a cause?)

Anyway, sadly I think it's a myth about the tunnel from Mornington Crescent tube to Greater London House (the big Egyptian-themed building opposite the station). I worked there in the early 90s and again, once it had been refurbished, late 90s throughout the last decade and no-one has ever mentioned a tunnel.

Btw, the building has Egyptian touches because it was originally put up in the 20s when all things Egyptian were deeply fashionable after Tutankhamen's tomb was excavated. It was home to a tobacco company, who made Black Cat cigarettes - hence the black cats either side of the main entrance. The stuff there now is modern - the original ornamentation was stripped out at some point in the 60s or 70s. Building was made non-smoking years before the general ban, which seemed rather an insult to the founders.

On an abandoned places theme, by the way, look at these amazing photos of an abandoned Japanese amusement park.

409 posts. Wonderful.

Who said they love Rotherhithe? Only went there recently and it's wonderful! And Wapping on the other side where you can get out and walk two minutes down the steps onto an actual weird Thames BEACH at low tide. It's very exciting.

Oh god, Alma, I followed your link and then clicked on one of the links at the bottom of the page which had more abandoned theme parks and there is a Korean one where a little girl was killed when the ride derailed and they've just left the cart like that, half off the rails. For some reason that picture has really upset and unsettled me :(

Baker St platform 5 & 6 (Circle / Hammersmith & City) says 1863 on the tunnel which I think was the first section.

In one of our local pubs there were great photos / articles about the growth of metroland. Apparently you used to have to tell the driver at Baker St if you wanted to get off at Pinner or they would go through to Northwood.

Alma
Dh is into photography and found some very interesting abandoned buildings he plans to visit a few, but from what I can gather you have to be nice to the security guards.
About 20 years ago I used to travel from Blackfriers to Tower Hill every day. There was a very self important platform guard who would blow his whistle very loudly then sort of attempt to push the train out the station when it was leaving, he was very odd.

I love the comedy announcements from the drivers, even if it's just 'hold on tight, boys and girls, here we go!'

Once on the Jublilee train the driver went off on a massive rant about people forcing their way on through the closing doors, and the delays and problems it causes, it just went on and on, it was remarkable (if a little embarrassing).

Once on the District line someone got on, blew up some balloons, made a balloon sculpture around one of the poles, just in time to hop off at the next station, get on the next carriage and do the same thing .

Random buskers on the actual trains - this is probably not allowed, but does brighten things up. Was though at the man with the accordion on the Northern line with the little boy collecting money, walking between the carriages while the train was moving.

Haven't read all the thread yet but I love it .

On the theme of abandoned places. There is a video on YouTube of the abandoned disneyworld waterpark river country. It's spooky.

I once had a driver, I think it was on the jubilee line, give a long rant about people leaning over the yellow line and watching trains approaching. He went on for AGES but you couldn't hear anything, as the jubilee line is so noisy, until you got to a station and you'd hear " ... and another thing, I get very upset when people do that as you can see their faces ... [mind the doors] ..." It lasted about 10 minutes. Maybe there's a driver on the jubilee line who just rants all day. Hm.

ElephantsAndMiasmas I'm the Rotherhithe fan! I like Wapping, too.

Even now they've tarted the two stations up a bit, since they became part of the London Overground, it still has this mysterious, damp and slightly sinister atmosphere. I can close my eyes and see men in capes and top hats with a look of the night about them... The Thames Tunnel ended up as a place for deviants and vagabonds.

edam I thought that too about the ghosts maybe causing the infrasound!

I was on a Northern line train once; when it stopped in a tunnel, the driver came on the tannoy and announced that we'd overrun a red signal because he was having problems at home

Oh edam that is disappointing - I'll have to ask my friend what on earth he was on about!

On the Northern Line once in rush hour, train absolutely rammed as usual. Doors weren't shutting properly so driver (clearly having a bad day) came on tannoy to say wearily 'Stand clear of the doors please. You won't listen to me will you? You never do'. Poor bloke . We did move off eventually when the platform announcer got involved.

Scrambled, poor sod, sounds like he needed a holiday.

Had a driver on the district line once who did a cod tourist information commentary - every station he went through he'd tell passengers a little about it. 'Sloane Square, you have to be really rich to live round here, very expensive shops but my Missus likes Peter Jones, which is just a John Lewis, really'. I got off at Hammersmith which he described as having 'a ruddy big roundabout and an even bigger permanent traffic jam' (true).

You know on one line (is it Piccadilly?) they have little poster cartoon maps showing the route of the line? I wonder if they do them for the District Line. Would love one on my wall...

spooky tube stories anyone?

Margery - thanks for jogging my memory about River Country! We went to Florida in 2002 and we tried to go there but it said it was closed 'for the day'. All the Disney blurb still had it as a going concern but obviously it never reopened. I hadn't thought about it again until half an hour ago and now I've had a lovely time watching spooky then and now videos.

Also on YouTube are some videos of abandoned USA theme parks - lovely stuff.

Fantastic thread....I'm a tube driver which is obviously a great job for a Tube fan and I have to keep my fandom quiet at work! I haven't read the whole thread yet but I will! I collect signs (buy them on eBay or at depot open days) and I also like to attend some of the heritage days that the Transport Museum put on....I did Amersham day on a 1938 stock (exciting!) and also Aldwych last year.

Before I was a driver I spent 3 years working on stations - there are some fascinating things to see in disused areas of stations. Moorgate's disused is a particular face as there is a mind-boggling enormous disused lift-shaft (all damp and black and horrid) and a tiny room with little pictures of Jesus on the wall. Holborn used to have an old hostelry with lots of tiny rooms, it was just through an inconspicuous door on the platform! but I believe that has now been turned into switch rooms.

I've read a bit more now, waves at other LU workers, we can definitely sort out days in the train cab but it is best to get a covering letter from management first.