Who needs air con?

Plenty of old used holes in the car floor, under some seats.

Not at all! Compared with the 1992ts they're like spring chickens!

Despite, the strange feeling of cool air on your neck, it was quite a nice feeling.

Being hand built by Cravens coachmakers, featuring good old fashioned mechanical systems which a driver can cut out to keep the train moving (I know all trains have this, but A stock doesn't have all that computerised mumbo jumbo causing problems), having the best seats on the combine.....nothing wrong with the A stock. If some of the gear under the units was replaced, those things would be good for another 20 years. As for A stock and draughts, sit on the tip up seats in the first car......get it all! Especially an overpowering smell when a heavy brake application is made....what trains are all about!!!

It will be a very sad day when the Met is all S stock

soon will be, yes

They are the Underground's longest serving fleet!

What holds the record then?

1938 stock - 1938-88.

Unless you count the 1935 stock as the 38ts family - then the A stock has to last an extra 2 years

Oh I dunno about the 1938 tube stock with that. It wasn't exactly a 'fleet' that survived in proportion. Only 5 trains, was it? Then again you could argue that, relatively speaking, a 38ts fleet is opperating on the IOW even now.

The longest lived of the standards lasted in a very depleted form on LUL metals from 27-84. 57 years? Regrettably I don't think the A's will last till 2017. Not that they wouldn't if given the chance!

'Only four or five trains' is not a fleet. Dreadnoughts were used for longer than the A stock has, but you could still say that A stock are the longest serving fleet of units the underground has had.

Hopefully!
I understand that a lot of people like them for sentimental reasons, but how many of them have to commute on A Stock during the summer heat?

I did every day between 1999 and 2007. The heat was never a problem above ground; and I doubt there much difference between stocks below ground.

At least with the Met if you were patient enough and did a search through the whole train you would find a seat somewhere! Would you be that lucky on a C stock? Also, for ventillation, if it were too hot you could stick your head (slightly!) out of the end car window. You'ld go deaf, but cool down! Wont be able to do that on the S stock

With any luck but unlikely! The D stock also have hopper opening toplights too. This was a modification in the early days to counter poor ventilation and probably gave the R stock an extra year life!

Indeed, very true. The northern needed something though; it was opperationally advantageous to move to a symmetrical formation, and then it was utterly sensible to have one stock for the entire line. Without extending ~50 platforms, you couldnt run 8 cars of 52' stock, and 6 cars of it would decrease capacity. That leaves 8 short cars of ~45' or 6 long cars of ~58'.

Course if the kennington loop werent there a 7car formation wouldnt have been a problem; the centrals 62's could have been transfered to replace the 72ts, whose 4car units could have been cascaded onto the Vic/Bakerloo (3cars too)/W&C, the 92s to the Central, the 59/62 northern fleet totally reengineered and refurbished, and the money saved (if any!) used to reextend the Bakerloo to Watford.

I got slightly carried away there, sorry.

The problem with that is that the 7 car trains were always a little too long for the platforms and middle cabs are being eliminated from LU.

Generally the 95ts is operated as a block unit and only uncouple for maintenance I would expect.