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Post by londonstuff on Oct 1, 2010 14:30:08 GMT
That map is amazing! I love the Northern line branches and the east end of the District. The elongated nature of the Circle makes it clearer to see the stations within it. Also didn't realise that Farringdon used to be called Farringdon Square. Russell Square, not Farringdon Square Hahahh! Maybe the map isn't as good as it looks then
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Post by londonstuff on Oct 1, 2010 12:07:31 GMT
That map is amazing! I love the Northern line branches and the east end of the District. The elongated nature of the Circle makes it clearer to see the stations within it. Also didn't realise that Farringdon used to be called Farringdon Square.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 29, 2010 20:55:46 GMT
The first train of the day (Monday-Saturday) runs non-stop Hammersmith-Farringdon, and the last train runs non-stop King's Cross-Edgware Road. In passenger service?
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 28, 2010 7:08:12 GMT
Still causing severe delays as of 23:40 so unlikely to recover before close of traffic I'd have thought. Another successful day. So is TBTC testing being done during the week now, not just the weekend? Bet that's popular (Did I miss a post explaining this somewhere, it's the first I've heard of it!)
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 26, 2010 20:14:26 GMT
Actually to bring this slightly back on topic the most reliable fleet according to the previous Mayors Question Time on transport was apparently the 1973ts. That confirms what I suspected. Although the signalling is really old, the 73ts whizz along like no one's business and seem in really good nick - there hardly ever seems to be a problem with the trains themselves, although perhaps the drivers of them could comment more on that. I'd have thought the poor old Bakerloo needed new trains before the Picc.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 26, 2010 20:12:28 GMT
That proposal died years ago! At the Aldwych exhibition they suggested such a concept was on the board for the Bakerloo line. Yup (although with the proviso "We are looking at..." New trains for the Bakerloo by londonstuff, on Flickr
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 26, 2010 10:36:23 GMT
I went yesterday and really thought it was very good. Like ianvisits said, not much photography time or any chance at all to photograph the station, you were pretty much let throughout the whole experience and then shepherded out.
One point to note is that I was asked not to take a photograph of the lit tunnel towards Holborn. Not quite sure why - the woman said that taking a photo of the tunnel in the other direction was fine.
Hopefully the sold out nature of the event will convince the LTM that there's a fair amount of money to be made out of subterranean heritage.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 26, 2010 10:29:36 GMT
I remember when coming to London looking for a job I went for a look at a place near Turnham Green. Having no idea of what different areas of London were like, I exited the station and an enormous flower stand was playing one of Mozart's clarinet concertos - I knew then it'd be an okay area to work in! Not having visited any of these locations, I'll almost lay a wager that by "classical" it would be typical Classic FM snippets. /me has a prediliction for C20th classical music that is rarely catered for in such contexts - I'd rather get "The Girl From Ipanema" on a borked Hammond organ than some of the c**p they dole out as "classical". And no, the north end of the Met is mercifully silent, other than the announcements that a good service is running on all other lines. From memory - and bearing in mind I stopped working on stations two and a half years ago, so this is what *was* played then, not necessarily what *is* played now - the pieces that stuck in my mind were the Sleeping Beauty waltz, Jerusalem(!), maybe the Blue Danube Waltz and something from the Nutcracker, possibly the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, although another part of me doubts that one (perhaps I was just thinking too much about Fruit & Nut chocolate while at work.. although I don't like it much!). There were certainly other bits that I recognised and may have been able to name at the time, but they've long since slipped my mind. I want to say Ride of the Valkyries but that's been in my head a lot recently so I may be getting muddled..! We did have some positive comments from passengers, and I remember for a while at Turnpike Lane there being a cutout of a text to thelondonpaper saying something like "Classical music at Turnpike Lane? Great idea!". Reactions from staff were rather more mixed, but then the playlist seemed fixed so it did get repetitive, and was probably worse if you were permanently at a station, rather than a reserve as I was. But I have to admit I did quite like it, it helped to pass the time a bit, and sometimes I'd be a little annoyed if a service announcement interrupted a bit I particularly liked. *g*
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 23, 2010 12:31:00 GMT
The BBC article is hereLook forward to seeing anyone from here there at 9.30am bright and early tomorrow morning. [/yawns]
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 19, 2010 11:50:59 GMT
Do you get to see lots of people in offices shuffling paper (or looking on the internet)? Apart from the woman on the reception desk I didn't see another person in the whole building. Other than the odd security guard the place was absolutely deserted.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 18, 2010 18:27:18 GMT
I'm surprised they would schedule for this weekend, with the Papal visit also happening. I'm pretty sure that the Open City thing has been pencilled in on this date for not far off a year given the amount of planning it must take for an event of that magnitude. The Pope's visit, I would suggest, was planned more recently than that.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 18, 2010 16:23:53 GMT
Went to 55 Broadway today as part of the Open City weekend. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside, but we had a 45-minute tour of the building, into some of the meeting rooms, saw the postal system, etc. Thanks to Mike Ashworth for helping to make it happen. We could, however, take photos from the roof garden and from the very top of the building, by the flagpole; I've put the photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/londonstuff/sets/72157624981868528/I also went to Village Underground just off Bishopsgate, where the 1983 stock are painted and used as offices - they were cool Lots of photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/londonstuff/sets/72157624857337513/
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 16, 2010 11:18:44 GMT
It's strange that he wants to be seen as a 'man of the people' and yet is happy to come as a 'head of state' (hence us the taxpayers having to fund it)...................... Who thought the idea up (state visit) anyway? Surely not one T Blair as soon as he converted to Catholic. Rumour has it that it was Gordon Brown who invited him over knowing full well that he wouldn't be in office and that it'd cost a fortune to police. As if he hasn't cost London enough already with his PPP botch-up.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 16, 2010 8:29:30 GMT
I think he's staying at Lambeth Palace while he's here.
I live a few streets away from the Westminster Cathedral and it's a right pain. All parking suspended for the whole weekend and on Saturday there'll be police stopping anyone from coming through my road. If I want to get back into my block of flats I've got to show photo ID and a utility bill. How annoying!
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 16, 2010 7:21:49 GMT
Where the track diverges north of Woodford to either take you towards Epping or the loop?
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 7, 2010 19:55:03 GMT
I spoke briefly to the Northern Line General Manager, a nice bloke, on the gateline at St. James's Park this evening. He was quite proud that the Northern line had come out of it quite well.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 7, 2010 16:57:32 GMT
Ticket booked for 9.30am on the Saturday. Took ages to get through and it's not as though you can just leave it ringing, it cuts through to a recorded message after about 6 rings.
Happy though, will be interesting to see if anything much has changed in the past couple of years.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 5, 2010 14:18:13 GMT
Let's hope an appropriate type of rolling stock is on display... The more I think about it, the more I wonder if they'll have a limited Holborn to Aldwych shuttle running available only to the ticket holders of the exhibition. Would it still be able to be used in this limited way I wonder? Aldwych is fairly inaccessible as it's quite a hike down/up a staircase not too dissimilar to the one at Covent Garden. When I was there, they told us that in case of a fire they'd turn off the traction current and lead us along the track to Holborn - I just wonder if they'd get the shuttle going to make it more accessible to people who couldn't physically manage the stairs. I was passing through Holborn yesterday and the lights were on on the disused platform and I managed to get this photo by poking my phone towards a gap in the top of the door. Sounded like something was going on there, whether it was or not, I know not. </speculation> Hopefully all the tickets will go really quickly so that it encourages them that more events like this are in demand and could be a moneyspinner.
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 3, 2010 16:24:36 GMT
Under London: Blitz experience tours of Aldwych Underground station*
Friday 24 to Sunday 26 September
*Tickets for the Under London: Blitz experience tours of Aldwych Underground station will be released for sale on Tuesday 7 September.www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whatson/131.aspx
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Post by londonstuff on Sept 3, 2010 13:45:48 GMT
Damn... I'm back at school So you're in school on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday are you? </thinksbeforeposting>
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 29, 2010 8:17:03 GMT
Somewhere on the Hammersmith branch of the Circle Line - one of those stations whose platforms have that permanent hoarding on them?
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 28, 2010 22:19:57 GMT
I would think it's pretty hard for driver error to put a train to the deck other than gunning it through a tight curve... There was a picture on here a couple of years ago of a derailed, SPADded Met train, I think at Rickmansworth. It wasn't far off going sideways, or over a viaduct or something, if I remember correctly. Can't find the thread now though
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 26, 2010 14:04:57 GMT
Does anyone on this forum have the above camera? If you do, then how do you find it for LU photography? Thanks I've got the Nikon D40 (if that helps) and have always found it fine. The lens is the most important bit - something I learned the hard way. At first I went for two lenses; a zoom one (50-200mm) and a wide-angle (11-16), though found that changing the lenses all the time was a pain in the backside and helped to get dust in the body. To counter that, I sold them and bought a Nikon 18-200mm, which is great, but when using it at the widest angles, from 18-~35mm, I get barrel distortion meaning straight lines are skewed or bent. This is especially annoying when trying to photograph some of Holden's stations which have loads of straight lines. This is especially time consuming when trying to fix them during post-processing. What I'm trying to say is don't just buy something willy-nilly. Don't go for the cheapest place (Camerabox or simplyelectronics are quite good price-wise), but perhaps try to get some advice first. Google 'Ken Rockwell' and he's got loads of good reviews, etc. but do try to try it out first. </ramble>
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Today
Aug 25, 2010 10:58:48 GMT
Post by londonstuff on Aug 25, 2010 10:58:48 GMT
At least with the S-stock there will be a bit more room, so the sardine effect will be a little less likely. WONDERFUL More people STANDING like sardines. Lets make it clear we will soon have LESS SEATS NOT MORE. Here comes Deadman's negativity again Maybe I travel in a different rush hour to you but I can count on my fingers the number of times I've got a seat on certain journeys in the last few years. In that respect, I welcome more standing room. Maybe ask the people at Mile End who have to wait for several trains to go by before even being able to board what they'd prefer - I'd imagine you'd get the same response. Passenger numbers are only going to increase. Short of installing a complete new signalling system, which is, no doubt, probably not far off a decade at the earliest at being in place, I'd chose the lesser of two evils and actually prefer to get on a train and stand. During the rush hour at least, a seat is just a bonus. It shouldn't really be like that, but this is the real world we live in. Try and look at the glass being half full rather than half empty and the reason why we're here is that we have an appreciation of LU and not trying to put it down all of the time.
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 15, 2010 7:53:03 GMT
Woodside Park
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 14, 2010 17:01:47 GMT
At times I've considered approaching LU's security manager in an attempt to get a definitive, published and publicised LU set of guidelines for transport enthusiasts. The trouble is, it might be decided that the best policy is no photos without written pre-permission, even though this couldn't always be enforced, so is it worth risking this response? I understand new by-laws for the Glasgow Subway will ban photography and I wouldn't be surpised if something isn't put in place for transport in London during 2012 too. Judging by your photos over the years you presumably work for LU in some capacity or other. If you still get hassled, what chance do the rest of us have! It is really annoying though and I do agree with you when you politely try to inform them (without sounding like a smartarse) that what they're saying isn't correct, this just gets their backs up more. Mind you, LU employees are just members of the public and the public since 2001, or certainly 2005, have been conditioned to think that photography isn't allowed or that there are various restrictions on what can be photographed in public places; there are certainly too many anecdotes of this washing around on the internet, whether it be hassle from security guards, police, etc. I remember seeing four policeman surrounding an innocent German tourist outside New Scotland Yard. He didn't even know what he'd taken a photo of! Although this is an aside, it just shows how deep-rooted the anti-photography bias has become and hassle off misinformed members of staff who presume, rather than know the rules, seems to be sadly all too commonplace.
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 14, 2010 14:40:21 GMT
Does anyone know what's happening with the Epping to Ongar line? Their website suggests some activity on the website at least (and an open day at Ongar a month ago that I didn't know about ), although it doesn't really make clear what stage they're at with restoration, etc. Someone at the LURS meeting the other day suggested that it had been bought by someone with quite a lot of money and that work was progressing nicely but obviously that would have to be taken with a pinch of salt without corroboration. Not that I'm thinking of doing a track walk or anything but is it still electrified? doubt it
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 14, 2010 14:01:14 GMT
I was at Finchley Road the other day taking a couple of photos while waiting for a Mill Hill East train. ( You'd have time for quite a few pictures before an MHE train turned up at Finchley Road! Doffs cap ;D We'll spotted! Finchley Road Central
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 14, 2010 13:34:43 GMT
As I understood it, blue lights were put in place due to the phased-in nature of the Jubilee upgrade and signified that it was clear to enter the TBTC zone ahead. A green aspect couldn't be used as that essentially means to continue to the next signal, of which, if TBTC is in operation, there shouldn't be.
Aren't the blue aspects just a temporary thing while there is mixed mode signalling going on - once TBTC is fully operational and the legacy signalling equipment is taken out there will be no need for signals, route indicators or even blue lights as the Train Operator will get any information from the driver's console?
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Post by londonstuff on Aug 14, 2010 13:28:44 GMT
Nice, Canary Wharf DLR has double platforms (wrong term probably) which really does help... Although not if you are travelling with wrong children and you go off one way and they go off the other... Well if that happens you've only got yourself to blame.
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