London Rail

Tag: infrastructure

  • Old tube station reveals itself!

    Fifty years ago in February 1959, the last tube trains to served this particular station were withdrawn. The station itself eventually became hidden for good by huge advertising boards and the only proper reminder it ever existed was a footbridge that apparently went nowhere! Recently these advertising hoardings came down and the station once again…

  • Rare mixed track Baker Street #2

    The very unusual mixed rail track at Baker Street is no more. It lasted probably just one day! What we now see is the more traditional kind of bullhead/flat bottom rail interface rather than each type on the same section of track. These pictures were taken this evening (24th January) when the platform was generally…

  • Rare mixed track at Baker Street

    The UK’s railways have one type or another of rail which are flatbottom or the increasingly rarer bullhead. London’s underground still has a fair bit of bullhead although this is gradually being replaced with more modern flat bottom rail. Although sections of flatbottom and bullhead can often be found connected end on with special spacers…

  • King’s Cross Thameslink’s tunnels

    The history and construction of the lines that make up Thameslink are of considerable importance because they are what made the original ‘Thameslink’ network possible. It didn’t really work however as everyone saw London as the place where all their trains went to and any onward journeys were simply a case of using the sub-surface…

  • Tube Viaduct Mystery!

    Remember the Arnos Park viaduct mystery? How many arches did it actually have? Here’s another London Underground Piccadilly line viaduct mystery. And this time the answer is a balls up… Let me explain. Arnos Grove station has an exhibition on its footbridge detailing the history and construction of the station and the Piccadilly’s extension to…

  • The Arnos Park Viaduct Mystery

    Arnos Park Viaduct on the Piccadilly Line is the biggest brick viaduct ever built for London’s underground under the LPTB. 3 million bricks were used in its construction and the viaduct was built in the early 1930s, with the railway upon it to Southgate, Oakwood and Cockfosters opening in 1933. The viaduct is also the…

  • Central Line: beyond Caxton Road

    A minor update of the article posted two years ago featuring the Central Line around Wood Lane/White City showing how the area’s changed. Previous overground sections of the Central Line are now underground. The header image shows the Central Line tracks as they approach Ariel Way. This section was the original route of the Central…

  • Barre’s Sliding Railway

    This is the follow up to the Crystal Palace Gliding Railway feature. Following that demonstration this officially became the Barre Sliding Railway Company. The Sliding Railway Company launched investors’ bonds to show it was a serious contender for inter-urban transit. In order to tempt the US market, a line was proposed in Paris from Place Clichy to La Villette. Four miles long with…

  • Revisiting Meudon

    Meudon is a major icon in the history of photograph and its often used as an example in the evolution of photographic composition. Not only that its a famous railway picture. The scene depicts a subject carrying a wrapped parcel (probably a painting) up Rue du Docteur Vuillieme whilst a steam engine is seen crossing the lofty…

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