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Post by littlejohn on May 15, 2020 17:25:02 GMT
In any case, on the forum we are only considering the implications on London's transport. We are indeed. Nice and simple. I was only considering the implications on London's transport. I just commented that the PM, who was quoted, wasn't restricting himself to London.
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Post by littlejohn on May 15, 2020 14:08:39 GMT
But the PM was addressing the whole country, not just London. It must be implicit that you are only driving to work if there is somewhere to park and there is no additional charge for doing so. In any case, we are in a fast moving and expensive situation and the Treasury has had to stump up £1.6 billion to keep TfL afloat and to return to something approaching normal operation, so is the reintroduction of the CC really unreasonable or shambolic? As an aside, but possibly relevant is today’s news that infection rates in London are falling faster than the rest of the country and are now at R0.4
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Post by littlejohn on May 11, 2020 13:41:35 GMT
Hope you enjoy it!
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Post by littlejohn on May 11, 2020 10:43:08 GMT
A few years ago I thought I'd like to try and photograph the outside of all LU stations - obviously not on the same day. I started at Ealing Broadway, and got as far as St Paul's (using a travel card). I gave up, though, because I found that I couldn't get a decent picture that gave an idea of the character of the station because they were: 1) Obscured by vast amounts of street furniture. 2) Obscured by vast amounts of traffic. 3) Obscured by vast amounts of people. 4) Covered in scaffolding and hoardings. 5) Without any discernible character. Obviously there are many stations that are exceptions, but doing them all seemed to be a somewhat pointless exercise. Possibly a better photographer could do it. Certainly if you were prepared to take your pictures during the summer as the earliest possible time, before the traffic built up. Has anyone else tried this and had better luck (read: were better photographers) than I did? Have a look for 'London Underground Stations' by Stephen Durnin (Capital Transport, 2010). It has exterior shots of all UndergrounD stations (or street entrances for those without surface buildings, eg to Bank).
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Post by littlejohn on May 11, 2020 10:22:25 GMT
I would add 'The Man Who Built London Transport' - a biography of Frank Pick by Christian Barman.
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Post by littlejohn on May 8, 2020 10:48:12 GMT
How did "the trains show “BLUE ROUTE” for a time"? Do you mean on the line diagrams? I have a feeling they were also shown on line destination indicators, or were they on separate boards? The train destination indicators used to alternative, so there would be a few seconds showing “BLUE ROUTE” and a few seasons displaying “BECKTON”. I don’t remember it featuring on any maps, nor on the platform indicators. I have managed to disinter my copy of Capital Transport’s ‘Docklands Light Railway Official Handbook 1987’ (which was actually published in 1986). Regarding maps and the line colours it says (p49): ‘although maps from No. 1 onwards were designed for full colour with colour tinting, it was not until Spring 1986 that the No. 6 map was so treated. Future maps will use the green (City) and red (Stratford) line colours’. It goes on to say ‘….. a number of maps will be needed, including line diagrams on DLR vehicles and DLR station signs (where the line colour and individual routes will predominate ….)’. This seems to suggest an initial plan that stations from Stratford to Poplar – or at least their signage - would be largely red and those from Tower Gateway to Westferry would be largely green. Those from West India Quay to Island Gardens would presumably be both. Although I took the opportunity of an early ride on the DLR soon after it opened I don’t recall any significant colour coding. Did this actually happen?
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Post by littlejohn on May 1, 2020 10:27:25 GMT
But will LU (or anyone) be able to cater for both increased usage AND social distancing - or are they mutually exclusive?
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 13, 2020 20:07:32 GMT
Thank you - my apologies.
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 13, 2020 17:54:30 GMT
My apologies if this has already been covered upthread. My excuse is that at the start of the lockdown I was stuck in Mexico with intermittent comms and I had to speed-read when we got back to catch up on everything. What, I wonder, will be the long-term implications of the virus? Quite apart from the damage done to the economy and the tourist industry, with so many people working from home how many commuters, or their employers, will have found out that in fact they don’t need to come in so often, if at all? I suspect that TfL will be paying a heavy price for a long time to come.
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 10, 2020 9:59:36 GMT
Never mind the 86TS, how much would a typical train carriage cost? I'd imagine buying a rolling stock would be the same as buying a bus for preservation - "the buying is the easy part!" Certainly, when I had my preserved coaches I found that buying them was the easy bit. The most difficult was finding somewhere to keep them, given that it needed to be secure, accessible at all sensible times, affordable and within a reasonable distance of home. Rolling stock must be hugely more difficult - possibly more so if you are not going to actually run it on an operating railway?
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 5, 2020 12:14:24 GMT
Disposal dates - L57 25.06.87 L61 21.05.93 L55 07.06.93 L60 07.06.93 L56 27.01.97 L58 11.07.97 L59 18.07.97 Ah, so that tallies with the "fleet of 32 such locomotives" mentioned in the 9th edition of London's Underground, L56/L58/L59 and the 29 locos from the 1965/1969/1973 batches. Quite why this figure is repeated in the following two editions (published in 2003 and 2010) is up for debate! Presumably the Pickerings suffered the same fate as the 1985 batch, stored at Ruislip for a while before being cut up? The booklet I referenced above is dated July 1997, so that ties in nicely with L56 being disposed of in January and the other two during July
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 3, 2020 17:35:22 GMT
Looking at my back numbers of Capital's 'London Underground Rolling Stock'(Hardy), it appears that the last two were L58 and L59, listed but shown as withdrawn in the 1997 volume.
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Post by littlejohn on Apr 2, 2020 11:12:27 GMT
I got it. Roger Bannister is famous for being the first person to run a four-minute mile. I'd expect nothing less from our esteemed quizmaster! Pedantry Alert! Roger Bannister is famous or being the first person to run a mile in UNDER 4 minutes. The first man to run a 4-minute mile was Derek Ibbotson at White City (time: 4.00.00).
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Post by littlejohn on Mar 30, 2020 17:42:48 GMT
Well worth reading is The Man Who Built London Transport: a Biography of Frank Pick. Used copies available online (and possibly in second-hand bookshops when we can go out again).
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Post by littlejohn on Mar 29, 2020 10:41:03 GMT
Got there in the end! Location D: Tooting Bec - southbound platform [Chris M] (click for a larger version) And for our younger readers 'Bec' is named after a monestry in Normandy. The land around Tooting was beqeathed to the Archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman Conquest As an aside, more years ago than I care to admit I was one of the first pupils at St Nicholas, Northwood Hills (now Haydon School). Two of the houses were named 'Abbot's' and 'Bec' so I guess there was some connection.
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Post by littlejohn on Mar 27, 2020 19:40:19 GMT
There is an F Stock photo caption in Steam to Silver that says ‘The elliptical cab windows were unique to this design of stock’. Presumably it is only talking about surface stock. Rails Through the Clay records that the 1920 stock also had a remarkable internal similarity to the F stock. I recall reading somewhere (typically I cannot remember where) of surprise that the oval windows were perpetuated in the 1920 stock as they had already proved unsuccessful on the F stock due to reduced visibility for the driver. To add to norbitonflyer's answer to wanstead’s original query, Rails Through the Clay confirms that the 1920 stock was built to supplement the original fleet.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 29, 2020 10:39:41 GMT
I am rarely able to make even a stab at an intelligent answer, but that is part of the attraction of the quizzes - I learn so much from them. Long may they continue.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 29, 2020 10:31:42 GMT
I am surprised that no-one has yet mentioned Skimbleshanks. In the movie he tap dances along the rails (surely an H&S violation?). However, he was on two feet and kept them off the live rails.
Edit. I have noticed that I have now reached my century of posts. I must open a bottle to celebrate.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 27, 2020 13:29:00 GMT
I once offered 2 solutions to an 'odd one out', both of which I thought were better than the official answer, and I would have welcomed some form of recognition. The only time I have actually submitted a correct answer was when the photo featured a house I had once lived in, so I can't really claim any kudos.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 26, 2020 18:27:17 GMT
They would have to stand on the conductor rails 9 times (or maybe 10?).
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 9, 2020 18:39:25 GMT
theangel, slugabed, you are correct. ‘Hidden London’ (pub Yale, 2019) has a chapter devoted to King William Street. King William Street Station itself was turned into a shelter after negotiations with the owners of the office block above, who had taken a lease on the underground facilities. Page 49 records that Southwark Council proposed a scheme for converting approx. 1 km of disused tunnels south of the Thames into a shelter. It says that approval was given in December 1940 and work began a month later. However, I think 1940 here must be an error for 1939 because later on the same page it says that the shelter opened to the public on 24 June 1940. This agrees with the date postulated by theangel. So as theangel suggests the booklet means the tunnels, not the station.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 9, 2020 18:23:57 GMT
Thank you, Ben. I left Ruislip in 1961 (although I came back later) and my parents left in 1963 so I just missed the closures in 1964.
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Post by littlejohn on Feb 4, 2020 10:33:17 GMT
According to the Ruislip Online website (http://www.ruisliponline.com/tube/ruislip.htm), which credits the LT Museum for the info, ‘A small goods yard was provided to the east of the station on the London-bound side, with facilities for coal and cattle and a dock from which road vehicles could be put on and off trains’. I suppose the coal would have been delivered by rail for onwards distribution - I remember ‘Cade’s Coals’ as one company, with gold on red livery and another with white on black whose name escapes me. Presumably, the freight movements would be by BR?
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Post by littlejohn on Jan 31, 2020 18:32:08 GMT
I notice that at Uxbridge all the lines are free. Is there any particular protocol dictating which line is allocated to which train – are they taken in rotation or what? I first travelled from Ruislip Manor to Uxbridge in the late 40s, although I cannot claim any clear recollection. I do however remember very clearly the coal staithes at Ruislip. Can anyone tell me when they were taken out of use?
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Post by littlejohn on Jan 19, 2020 16:13:13 GMT
2030-2036 seems a long time to deliver a fleet of trains to one line. I've a feeling the contract with Siemens was modified before signing to have only one production line instead of two, but with possibility of further discussions to speed deliveries. I suppose that by spreading the delivery over a number of years, TfL don't have to find the money all at once but can similarly spread the cost.
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Post by littlejohn on Jan 13, 2020 11:41:32 GMT
speculation, but do people tend to buy tickets on the way home? I would think the busy time for ticket offices are morning peak (commuters) and at some point in the day when leisure travellers hit max. It is a long time since I commuted by rail but when I did, the morning peak was the one time I avoided buying a ticket. It was a stressful and busy enough time of the day anyway and for choice I would buy my tickets during the day when there were no queues or failing that on the way home when I had more time and the ticket office was less busy. I would have thought that LO must have enough data about where and when tickets are bought to enable them to target the right opening times pretty accurately.
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Post by littlejohn on Jan 6, 2020 9:15:15 GMT
On first sight, the only element that jarred with me was the treatment of the Thames at the Isle of Dogs. The use of a semi-circle seems to be contrary to all of Beck’s design ethos. That apart, and allowing for the odd errors already noted, I like it.
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Post by littlejohn on Dec 19, 2019 13:37:15 GMT
I think there is a reference to this in the LT Museum (maybe in the current 'Hidden London' exhibition?) together with a '0.o' plate. It also gives the distance from Ongar to Amersham/Chesham.
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Post by littlejohn on Dec 19, 2019 13:33:13 GMT
Merry Christmas to everyone, may 2020 be good to you and a special Thank You to all those who give up their time, in whatever role, to make DD what it is.
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Post by littlejohn on Dec 2, 2019 12:28:05 GMT
A little while ago I caught the last train from Paddington to Newbury (change at Reading). The Paddington train ran late and 2 dozen or so of us got off at Reading to find the Newbury train had already left. Mad rush by Reading station staff to find taxis (at just after midnight on a Saturday night!) to get us all to our destinations. Presumably it was cheaper to pay for taxis than the PPM for delaying the Newbury departure. What made it even more galling was that the last RDG– NBY train is timetabled to set down only, so delaying it for a few minutes would not have resulted in passengers joining down the line being delayed.
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