Where has "The Smell" gone from the ELL?

The running water is still audible at one of it's other sations, too (I forget which one), but couldn't smell the smell. I haven't used Wapping yet, so I'll check for the smell when I next do so.

I was down there on Sunday and I have to confess that I noticed a smell. Hard to discribe, I thought it was the 378 braking system as it reminded me of that awful smell you used to get when HST/Mk3 stock was decellerating. It was very noticeable and quite strong. I'm there again this weekend so I'll keep an eye open (or should that be nose!)

Martin

Could be - but I don't recall ever smelling that odd smell on the Metropolitan Line ...

Today at Wapping, around 12.30 -

"Very" distinctive "smell" (north end). Still can't identify what it is though.

Sounds of running water.

Pools of water on track at north end.

The sound of running water has always been a distinctive feature of Wapping (and indeed Rotherhithe) stations.
Those of us who visited Wapping before the present,rather nice,artworks were installed,will recall the frighteningly narrow platforms bounded on the one side by the track,and on the other by brickwork so damp that parts were literally coated with flowing water,plants and mosses grew from the mortar where there was light enough,and a runnel along the back of the platform and the base of the retaining walls,took water steadily away.
I was less familiar with the "old" Rotherhithe,but on the Tunnel open-day recently.the runnel in the centre of the four-foot was quite full of water,and the nice man said that there were THREE pumps at Rotherhithe backing one-another up in case of failure.
Should failure occur,he said,the tunnel would flood,the water would overtop the platforms at Canada Water,a few feet down the line,and the Jubilee line would not only be put out of action,but would convey the waters into Central London,paralysing the tube network......
So three pumps ,then.

Hmmm. This would require an interesting set of random calculations to verify - and that water would have to run uphill for seversl parts of it.

I would (as a first approximate) suggest that all redundancy systems had failed with the pumps, there was a sudden and inexplicable failure of the shotcreting and the elder Brunel's brick arches, giving an opening of about 20' square.......

Perhaps 23 minutes on an ebb tide, before any other lines than the ELL or Jubilly are affected. Further and progressive failure of the brick arch due to flow friction notwithstanding. I wonder what the actual answer is....

Rather than having a ghoulish interest in the 'what would happen if' scenarios, my interest stems from the work of the signalling engineer Robert Dell - the final few pages of 'London Transport Railway Signalling - Papers on the Life and Work of Robert Dell 1900 - 1992' detail the hydrophonic recording room built in the deep level District at South Ken. This 'River Thames Sound Detection Scheme' was designed by Dell.

This was a clever series of recording devices that would sense the sharp wave-front of a bomb landing in the Thames (the chug-chug-chug of a propeller would be automatically discounted by the machinery). The hydrophones were sensitive enough to detect a bullet fired into the river at Embankment!

All designed and installed by the Signalling Department.