C Stock turning at Mansion House

I noticed there was a suspension between HSK and Edgware at one point today...

Does Mansion House get used much in the normal course of events?

Some Districts' C stocks were diverted to Mansion House because of the High St. Ken to Edgware Road suspension.

Wasn't it also a regular reversing point for Districts coming from the west until the current Tower Hill station opened.

Neither am I, but I believe so! Mansion House used to have 4 platforms. However, Tower Hill became a more useful reversing point for City traffic so it was rebuilt with a bay road. Mansion House was rebuilt too in the 1980s and retained only one of its bay roads.

Wasn't it also a regular reversing point for Districts coming from the west until the current Tower Hill station opened.

I amtooold enough, and distinctly recall Ealing trains to both Mansion House and Tower Hill (CO/CP and R Stock). However we rarely went that far..usually change at Hammersmith from the Picc to get to South Ken for the museums or Victoria, or possibly Westminster.

Even up until the "GLC Law Lords" service cuts in 1982(?) Mansion House was used as the regular off-peak reversing facility for the Ealing service every 20-mins. Tower Hill being used for the Wimbledon off-peaks. The C Stock then did Edgware Road-Putney Bridge every 20-mins. The Richmond's were shared equally Dagenham/Upminster, 20-mins to each.

After the Law Lords "cuts" the services actually got better on the District! With the Putney's extended to Wimbledon, Dagenham's pushed through to Upminster and the Mansion Houses' up to the Tower! I can't remember where the Wimbledon off-peak City service went.

Aha! There's nary one that escaped ye Sir! Actually whn Mum took us to the Science and Natural History Museums we changed at Hammersmith, got on to the lovely red or silver District train with green interiors and lovely seats (initially with the beloved Hounslow branch still on the car maps, but with stickers (ioften peeled-off)) and then get off at South Ken to go via the subway rather than trampse up from the Picc with two kids in tow.

My mother's father was as you know a P/way engineer on the UD from around 1930 to 1942-3, and coincidentally Mum started commuting from Hammersmith during the war to Hounslow West or occasionally Northfields for the wartime emergency exit to get to South Ealing. I must ask if she had a priv season! She thus went to/from school on the District or Picc and so far as I can recall much preferred the green line: perhaps there was more room? Then, post-war she got a job as a Secretary which would be 1948, in Holborn and consequently took the Picc instead both ways. That is until she went to work in Victoria, on the green line again!

Whilst this was happening (as they had not met) my paternal grandfather was walking down from Heston to Hounslow Central, then catching the District if possible to St James's Park or Westminster to get to his job as a Civil Servant in the Admiralty in Whitehall. Sometimes seven days a week during the war.

It thus made no practical difference to my family historically whether the trains went to Mansion House or the Tower as coming from the west, they just wanted to get to & from the West End. A regular (in the end) Ealing-City service got them to and from where they wanted to go.

The only time we ever used the Edgware Road branch was to get to High Street Ken for shopping, and again Picc to Hammersmith, change to District to Earls Court thence by train to High Street Ken (occasionaly if we were lucky by an Olympia shuttle).

which the district controller didnt even notice

Do you know why Mansion House was laid out the way it was - i.e. (from north to south) eastbound terminating bay, eastbound through, eastbound terminating bay, westbound through?

I appreciate that originally it was the terminus of the line from Kensington, but when the line was extended to the east would it not have made more sense to have the two eastbound terminating bays in the middle, flanked by the through lines?

It is highly unlikely that a T/Op would notice locked wheels - since it would only affect one axle out of 24 axles. Thus the effect on the trains performance would be minimal.

How would a locked axle be identified then?

In this case the Driver certainly noticed there was a problem, as large quantities of smoke were obliterating his view of the rear 5 cars !

The controller left it in triangle but didnt do anything about having an extra train in triangle was what I meant