WTT for District 1950

TP which rolling stock was this? Not R stock in presume? I would guess H stock?

One photo is of H Stock and the other Q Stock.

Interesting! I presume the the H stock was very much reaching the end of its days and was formed into block 6 car units(like some of the Q stock was). There were some control trailers which I don't really understand! (Could someone explain why 6/8 CT were converted from H stock cars?) I can't think why Q stock would be formed like this however!

Ha ha, cheers!

Hmm. Moves into Little Ilford..... *thinks*

Hi
If you are able to get to the National Archives at Kew then they hold copies of a very large number of WTT both pre nationalisation and for LT. Taking a quick look at the online catalogue reveals the following for the District Line for 1950:

RAIL 984/85- WTT No ? Jan 1950
RAIL 984/86- WTT No 63 (W) June 1950
RAIL 984/87- WTT No 64 (S) June 1950

I can whole heartedly recommend a visit to Kew to look at these documents if able. Obviously I have only given details of the WTT they show for 1950 but there is a good variety both before (into MDR days too) and after this date if interested. All Underground/LT files for timetables (both public and service/working) at TNA can be found in:

RAIL 927 -East London Railway 1894-1910
RAIL 959 -Metropolitan Railway 1871-1933
RAIL 960 -Metropolitan District Railway 1876-1907
RAIL 983 -Underground Electric Group 1926-32 (contains Traffic Notices and Service Timetables)
RAIL 984 -LT timetables (mainly WTT) from 1933-63.

Although some dates and lines/railways are better covered than others it is a very useful archive. If I am correct I don't believe that the LT Museum Library/Archive has a significant collection of WTT- they certainly denied it when I enquired last year. Back to TNA, you are able to take photocopies (although limited in pages and not cheap) and best of all can take photos if you have a digital camera.

I often go on a Thursday as it is late night viewing (need to maximise time as travelling from the Midlands) and am quite happy to meet up and 'show you the ropes' so to speak or if you are about the GCR at some point give you some further assistance on how to use TNA (I am assuming here you have never been so apologies if I am patronising you here- not my intention). Depending on how quickly you want the info I am also quite happy to photograph the WTT for you and give you copies of the files but I am not likely to get there in October because of work commitments unless I go on a Saturday (which is a distinct possibility as I seem to have every October weekend off work and reduced GCR signalling turns too.)

Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

East Ham Working (un)coupling WTT 47, 6/5/46

Hope this gives a clue - though as is often the way of such things, more questions are often posed.

Yes; click on the link in my last post in this thread. If you can't read the text, click the 'full size' button at the top left of the image. ;D

Thanks for all this Natterlee. I don't have much time to get to Kew. I didn't even know they had an online catalogue. Now I know, I might make the time to see what's there and see if it's worth my going down for a few days.

mm/TP: I'll have a good look on my next day off - I managed to upload a scan inbetween other stuff. If I can with my meagre collection, I'll attempt some answers.

In theory, an extra compressor would need to be fitted. I thought when test runs were done, 3 car trains carried a portable compressor in the saloon, much like the 1983 stock did (and it needed to!).

Yes; I thought this too. I believe the extension line stopped uncoupling in 1940 but I didn't know the H & C still did it in 1946. OK, this leads us to some questions:

1. When did the extension stop uncoupling? 1939? 1940? Some other time?
2. Did the H & C stop uncoupling at the same time and then resume it after the war? Dates?
3. If so, when it is stop uncoupling completely?

Right then, this post might end up being a little rambly and utterly dull (so I apologise in advance for the dryness of the post); I've spent some time digging around the outer reaches of both the District and Metropolitan parts of the WTT library. I fear, due to gaps in what I can peer into I might not be able to come up with anything definitive.

Looking into the District WTTs, particularly the (un)coupling at East Ham - which in itself leads onto H&C working and <er...> 'things' related to the T stock, I consider this to be the case:

No scheduled uncoupling at all on Sundays; the majority of services being run (unsurprisingly) by Q stock.

After a telephone conversation just now with Roger: all Met. Line stock at Barking and Little Ilford were still shewn as 3 car in WTT 67 - 19/5/52 (reintroduction of uncoupling on the Picc.)

By 1957 - WTT 76 1/4/57 all Met. Line stock were shewn as 6 car in the District and Piccadilly WTTs.

However, the mystery deepens - currently reading through what Met. No 1 section WTTs of the era I can lay my hands on - Met. WTT 127 5/6/50 shews all H&C trains starting and finishing as 6 cars with no provision for divided working, it might well be through historical reasons (of the time) this was not recorded on the Rolling Stock working of the No 1 section, hence the need to look through the WTT in some detail. All H&C at this stage were shewn as O6 - however, there were a few 3 car District workings - D56 6.18 off South Ken to Wimbledon, D54 ety off Triangle to 6.13 to High St, D54 High St - Putney 7.58pm, in its previous working to Putney, the formation is recorded as 5 car, presumably † at Putney as the next working east to High Street is shewn as 3 car.

Looking through all the Met. WTTs I can lay my hands on: the last one I've got before 1939-45 that shews divided working is WTTs 65/66 28/11/38 (which I know you've got a copy of the stock working from me TP) - but I've got a gap in the collection from WTTs 65/66 (1938) until WTTs 80/82 (1941).

Returning back to divided working on the Met. - WTT 197 (No. 2 section, 18/6/62) has it - and the WTT header reads 'Four tracking Northwood Hills to Watford South Junction, Introduction of Uncoupling A60 stock.'

Hope this helps, chaps.

Indeed - however, in the Met. WTTs of the period there is no mention of uncoupling - so what are the Met. 3-car units? Could this be a galley error and should read '6'?