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Post by railtechnician on Aug 14, 2008 22:14:50 GMT
I would have loved to taken a trip on the branch just to ride on the lifts at Aldwych. Those old lifts at Aldwych were great. When I did my initial Lift & Escalator training about 20 years ago we trained to isolate and operate lifts and escalators at several stations and Aldwych was one of those and I believe its lifts were the oldest on the combine being some 80 years old then. Isolating the lifts there was interesting, no modern kit, 600 volt open copper knife switches and open contact circuit breakers too and being 600v dc some nice arcing when taking out or putting lifts back into service! The age of the lifts and the costs of necessary replacement was mooted as the main reason for the closure of the Aldwych branch but I suspect it was just one of several contributory factors.
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metman
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Post by metman on Aug 14, 2008 22:42:34 GMT
Is there any reader here who actually crewed the Aldwych train? I mean did anyone ever do Holborn-Aldwych and back 8 times an hour? I remember reading one poor driver lost his legs coming into Aldwych!!
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Post by abe on Aug 15, 2008 8:08:09 GMT
There were also three lift shafts constructed - although only two were ever used. Only one of the shafts (the westernmost) was ever used; the other two have remained empty for their entire existence. There was a proposal to move the lifts into the centre shaft in the late 1960s, and let King's College take over the western part of the station for their redevelopment.
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Post by ianvisits on Aug 15, 2008 14:47:22 GMT
There are definitely two lifts in two shafts at the station - or at least there were a few months ago when I was able to have a look around the place.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2008 17:05:38 GMT
i may be wrong but i thought that the met was the first line to go opo and not the picc as you stated
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2008 18:09:14 GMT
The Picc was the first tube line - IIRC The H&C (or Met as it was then) was first.
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SE13
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Post by SE13 on Aug 15, 2008 18:43:47 GMT
Good grief! Was it really that long ago...... That shows my age Thanks for the link Rob.
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hobbayne
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Post by hobbayne on Aug 19, 2008 21:10:04 GMT
I've done the Aldwych shuttle A few times, it was a snip turn in the AM and in the PM too. It was boring and was cold and damp and had a musty dank smell about it. I'm sorry to upset all the Aldwych fan club here, but thats how it was. Poorly used and poorly maintained. I remember once taking a filmimg train down there once while I was spare. I got a good guided tour by the station foreman as it was in those days of the abandoned platform etc. I remembered a lot of the new trials of platform tiling were being trialed there. Some where actually used at Oxford Circus I think. The worst part of doing these shuttles was climbing down to put the rail anchor on!!
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Post by JR 15secs on Aug 20, 2008 12:56:17 GMT
Is there any reader here who actually crewed the Aldwych train? I mean did anyone ever do Holborn-Aldwych and back 8 times an hour? I worked at Acton in the 1970's the branch was shared between us and Northfields, they would take the train there in the mornings and we would takeover and stable then the PM we would start up and Northfields would finish either stabling or taking the train back to Northfields via Wood Green. The times I worked it normally the1962 stock I never did all the trips always took a PNR at Aldwych and missed several trips having sat reading a book for 15 mins.
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Post by abe on Aug 20, 2008 19:42:30 GMT
There are definitely two lifts in two shafts at the station - or at least there were a few months ago when I was able to have a look around the place. The two lifts are in one shaft, and have a trapezoid floorplan. Together they form a hexagonal shape, making efficient use of the circular shaft. The centre shaft was floored over in the late 1980s, having never been used, and the UTS ticket office was constructed above it. The eastern shaft remains unused.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 6, 2008 12:09:01 GMT
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hobbayne
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Post by hobbayne on Sept 29, 2008 15:37:30 GMT
Apparantly, according to OTM magazine, on Sunday 12th October, Staff are invited to Aldwych for a look round. Something to do with the filming unit or something along those lines!!
Hobb.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 29, 2008 18:42:35 GMT
Has anyone else heard anything about this?
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hobbayne
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Post by hobbayne on Sept 30, 2008 12:19:08 GMT
It was in the ON THE MOVE magazine which is only given to LUL employees. I got one through the post yesterday. I,m surprised that no one on here has picked up on it! I wont be going though, I'll be in Norfolk on the pi$$ ;D
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Colin
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Post by Colin on Sept 30, 2008 14:09:58 GMT
I,m surprised that no one on here has picked up on it! In what sense? Like you say, there's a day set aside by the LU film office for LU staff to take their family & friends (limited to 4 people) when they book a given time slot. Because of the nature that it's for LU staff & their families, it's only advertised in the internal staff magazine. Whilst it's not a big secret, I don't imagine many LU staff members will want the world & his wife knowing all about their family day out, etc.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 30, 2008 15:14:59 GMT
I'll preface my comment by saying that if it's against the rules, don't do it - but, I'd absolutely love to go, so if I could be anyone's friend on the day, I'd be absolutely made up and terribly grateful. Of course I'd pay for the ticket and give you a 6 pack of beers to boot (Actually, I"m doing the half marathon that morning - the steps down there may be the straw that breaks the camel's back!)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2008 17:15:22 GMT
Oh man that would be so cool.... just saying.....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2008 19:01:19 GMT
My two biggest regrets on the LU System.
1: Not doing the Aldwych branch.
2: Not doing the Ongar branch!
I made sure I did the ELL before that closed but then again I never got around to doing Shorditch.
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Oct 1, 2008 19:40:24 GMT
Done both: 1. because I needed to get to the Law Courts from Hounslow West first thing in the morning one day and 2. because I wanted to get to Ongar Motorcycles...I think they're still there?
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Post by londonboy on Oct 7, 2008 13:10:36 GMT
I,m surprised that no one on here has picked up on it! In what sense? Like you say, there's a day set aside by the LU film office for LU staff to take their family & friends (limited to 4 people) when they book a given time slot. Because of the nature that it's for LU staff & their families, it's only advertised in the internal staff magazine. Whilst it's not a big secret, I don't imagine many LU staff members will want the world & his wife knowing all about their family day out, etc. The ticket allocation has now been reduced to one member of staff and one guest for health and safety reasons. so only one guest now not three
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slugabed
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Post by slugabed on Oct 9, 2008 21:38:27 GMT
In about 1982 I took part in a London Underground Railway Society visit to the Holborn-Aldwych branch.Meeting at Holborn after the last morning train,we looked at the disused stub platform at Holborn,and,accompanied by several LT staff with torches,after ensuring the traction current was off,we walked the running tunnel to Aldwych.We visited the second platform at Aldwych,which was then being used as a mock-up for the upcoming refurbishment of Tottenham Court Road station Central Line,and then we were let loose;I walked the abandoned Eastern tunnel from Aldwych to the crossover (used to store all kinds of junk),brushing aside stalagtites that hung from the crown of the tunnel to head height (I'm not tall!!) and we all went to inspect the end-wall of the tunnel then in use....one of the party wanted to test the idea that a tunnel to Waterloo had,in fact,been built.The result was inconclusive! We then went up by lift to the surface,and I think we then walked back to Holborn along the track. It was by far the best visit I ever went on,and was massively over-subscribed. Slugabed
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Oct 9, 2008 22:05:35 GMT
I seem to recall, having gone on sone LURS trips that it helped if you had been on a trip/visit before. The one that I recall most was the one to Parsons Green works as it was a morning job and I had to literally take a morning off work. Regrettably the Aldwych tour was one I didin't go on. We used to hear grumbles amongst the membership that often by the time UN had published details it was fully-booked.
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Post by londonstuff on Oct 9, 2008 22:17:24 GMT
I'm a member of LURS but don't remember reading in the magazines about visits - do they still occur or has it hit the H&S problem?
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