Tag: railway history
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The tube was the first in the UK or Europe to adopt automated train control or Centralised Train Control (CTC) on a passenger line. This was used on the Metropolitan Railway’s new Stanmore branch which opened in 1932. The CTC was fully completed in 1933 when the branch became part of LPTB. In 1939 the…
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A recent video from Our History Underfoot (26th May 2026) covering the former Hayfield branch in Derbyshire was featured, along with the peculiar train operation at New Mills Central. This brought to mind a piece written a few years ago that included a picture of a DMU at rest within the tunnel leading to the…
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When it comes to the history of the London Underground, the Morden-Edgware Line is essentially unknown. It is undoubtedly mentioned in a variety of historical sources, both online and in books, but only briefly. There is absolutely no thorough history of that tube line. In its original presentation, this had been the first in-depth write-up…
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Plateways, characterized by their flat-topped rails or “plates” often laid on stone blocks, were designed to be pulled by horses. These early railways were primarily for private transport of goods – usually for canals, mines or factories. The Surrey Iron Railway was in essence a public railway, being accessible to any individual or company willing…
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Remember the post A Revisionist Surrey Iron Railway? This post goes further that the detail featured in the previous one – and that because its not a revision in any way or form. In fact its a prequel of sorts to the Surrey and Croydon to Merstham iron railways. And that means its both factual…
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2026 is the 180th anniversary of the closure of one of the world’s earliest public railways. It wasn’t a passenger carrying railway however. The Surrey Iron Railway was officially closed on 31st August 1846. Its traffic had been considerably low for at least two decades prior to that date and in the final years there…
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2026 is the Wuppertal Schwebebahn 125th Anniversary! The railway’s first ever test run took place on 5th December 1898, thus the world’s longest surviving monorail system began life much earlier than is often thought. The 125th anniversary is related to the actual opening of the line in 1901 – whilst also not forgetting the Kasier’s…
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This weekend’s March 8th 2026 is International Womens Day. Despite the advent of a number of equality measures the status of women is still affected by numerous obstacles in many areas of society – and that includes the railway. That because railways have always been designed by men. That has changed somewhat in the last…
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A London Inheritance published a post detailing the Tower Subway and also implied the southern end of the subway happened to be a mystery because it could not be ascertained whether the modern structure behind the Unicorn Theatre in Vine Lane was indeed its southern end. Its not its original southern end however the tunnel…
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One might have thought Yup its Pompeii! Celebrating Rail 2000 had been written in jest, for there are no railways to be found two thousands years ago – and yet in that article there were a couple of illustrations depicting steam trains within the Pompeii landscape! There’s every possibility people thought this was a joke…
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Latest Posts
- London’s first CTC project
- New Mill’s mystery ‘DMU’ tunnel
- The Morden-Edgware line
- The Wetterhorn Aufzug
- The Surrey Iron Railway
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