You should take a trip to Melbourne Australia, they have 3 trains on the roof, it’s used as bar and Berger cafe in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood 😊
I'm touched to hear that elderly tube trains are put on light duties. I'd like to imagine the very old ones are sent off to frolic in a nice siding in the countryside.
Or, perhaps the ones who get bought and turned into homes... (akin to various houseboats / shipping containers / and the more usual use of narrow boate on canals etc?) or cafés, if suitable sites are located? 💕🤞🏴🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🤔🖖
@@brigidsingleton1596 there are techniques, classical by hand and modern digital by computer to colour old black and white photographs and film. Famous Classical black& white Movies like the longest day were coloured in for re-release.
In the case of the NYC Subway, the MTA turned over 2,500 Redbirds and Brightliners into artificial reefs between 2001 and 2010! They've sent them off of places like NJ, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, and SC! Delaware's Redbird Reef has 714 Redbirds! The Island Line on the Isle of Wight using Tube stock reminds me of the Staten Island Railway in NYC. Like the Island Line, the Staten Island Railway uses subway rolling stock and connects to a ferry terminal! It goes between St. George on the North Shore and Tottenville on the South Shore of Staten Island for 14 miles, connecting with the Staten Island Ferry to South Ferry in Manhattan at St. George terminal which is also a bus hub. The SIR trains are timed to connect with the ferry, and the ferry has been free since 1997! When you transfer from the SIR to the ferry and enter a subway station when you arrive in Manhattan, it counts as a free transfer! It used to have two other branches, the North Shore Branch and the South Beach Branch, which both closed in the 1950s. The railroad was first incorporated in 1851 and was originally financed thanks to Cornelius Vanderbilt. The line was first completed between Stapleton and Tottenville in 1860, it wasn't extended to Tompkinsville until 1884, and finally St. George in 1886. Most of the former North Shore Branch stations opened in 1886 as well, while the South Beach Branch opened in 1888. Erastus Wiman organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company in 1880 and partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to build a large rail and ferry terminal to centralize all the ferry landings. St George got its name from developer George Law, whom Erastus Wiman promised to "canonize" in exchange for relinquishing the land rights for the terminal. The reason the SIR is electrified is because the SIRT did so under the B&O in anticipation of a tunnel to Brooklyn that would connect with the NYC Subway. This tunnel between SI and Brooklyn was never completed, it was only constructed between 1923 and 1925, and lies dormant under Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This ambition to connect the NYC Subway directly with SI is why Bay Ridge has subway stations, served by the R! In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch. Today, CSX freight trains do so. The North Shore Branch closed in 1953 (South Beach Branch also closed that same year) but in 1957, Elizabeth II used the North Shore Branch as part of her journey from DC to NYC and took the Staten Island Ferry! Between 1925 and 1973, the SIRT used ME-1s made exclusively for it, though they were also used on the NYC Subway as the NYCTA (now both are under the MTA) bought 25 of them from Staten Island. In 1973, these were replaced with modified R44s built by the former St. Louis Car Company. The R44 operated on the NYC Subway from 1971 to 2010, but the SIRT has used them up until the 2020s when they're finally replaced by the R211S.
I was on the Bakerloo a few weeks ago for the first time in many years and the trains are seriously horrible. It seems the sections each side of about Waterloo to Paddington aren't used much so the line doesn't generate enough revenue to buy new trains.
@@caw25sha I must admit I don't go to London terribly often, and so haven't been on the tube all that much, but by far my worst tube experience to date has to be getting stuck in a tunnel on the Bakerloo in a sweltering heatwave a few years ago. My then-girlfriend was visiting me in the UK from Missouri that summer, and the day we happened to pick to go and see the sights in London it got up to something like 32°C? And ofc the tube was having technical difficulties, so we got stuck on a sweltering un-air-conditioned train inside a tunnel for about 10-15 minutes at one point due to scheduling delays, and it was _miserable_ . Even my American gf, who'd been teasing me about my very British heat tolerance all summer, had to admit that it was _awful_ in that cramped, overcrowded carriage.
@@Hannah_Emhaha, reminds me of how when a flatmate had her Texan gf over to Glasgow she’d been teasing us about the temps - until she experienced the humidity firsthand! Within a few hours she was splayed on the sofa with every fan in the flat pointed at her, glugging icy drinks with abandon. She actually got it to the point where it was too cold for the rest of us! They really don’t know how good they have it, with air conditioning, until they experience proper life without it (not just a temporary breakdown that gets fixed in a few hours).
I've said this before, but it still surprises me that you can constantly find new topics to make videos about. Apart from the obvious Island Line angle, it had never occurred to me to wonder what happened to old Underground stock - I'd just assumed, because it was so different to any other size/type of train in the world, that it was just broken up. Long may you continue, Jago.
I wrote an email to the folks at the London Transport Museum. Suggesting that once the 1973 Stock Piccadilly trains start being retired, they could use some of the trains to make commemorative plaques out of the trains' outer skin. This way people can purchase a piece of history. It's being done with former commercial aircraft. Both for sale by for profit companies, and as a reward for loyal customers. American Airlines sent me a bag tag for being one of their most frequent fliers that was made from the skin of a former DC10 this airline had flown. They even engraved the tail number of that aircraft on it. In any case, I got a response from the museum, stating that they'll look into this idea. If anyone reading this thinks this is a half decent idea, you could write them with that suggestion, too. Strength in numbers. I will definitely buy this if they sell it.
Trains do indeed have a long life in them. VIA rail in Canada is still running Budd Stainless Cars built in the 1940's and 1950's, in regular service. These cars have been reconditioned and rebuilt multiple times, though their days are numbered with plans underway to replace them. This was possible because of their long lasting Stainless bodies and heavy frames. I expect many to live on for years to come in preservation and tourist railroads. Great video Jago!
Hi Jago. Most interesting as ever. One comment caught my ear that I think needs a little illumination. "Piccadilly trains can only really work on the Piccadilly Line": discuss.
As I understand it, 1973 stock cars are too long to negotiate some of the curves on other lines. The older, 1959 stock that previously ran on the Picc was seven shorter cars and could run on any tube line. (The Northern and Jubilee now use longer cars as well, but those lines are fitted for ATO which the 1973 stock isn't)
The 1973 stock was designed with the Heathrow extension in mind. Those of us who remember the older stock..... such as the 1959 and 1962 trains last used on Northern and Central Lines, would have had a shortcoming the design of the 1973 stock aimed at addressing: When stepping into the cars of earlier tube stock, the platforms were only marginally (10 cm?) wider than the door opening - and it was realized more space would be needed to make room for the luggage passengers for the airport were likely to bring. The engineers tried various approaches, before deciding on trains made up by 6 slightly longer cars - providing larger platforms with extra space for luggage next to the doors. The downside is: problem with cars hitting platforms if they are curved too tight.
@@markomartenthat was a proposal by Isle of Wight Council but cost and lack of imagination led to the 3rd Rail D-Stock Class 484 The since bankrupt Vivarail wanted to test the 3rd rail stock for if the HSE changed its mind on new third rail on shorter branches from the existing 3rd rail network. Interestingly the 1930's Stock may not have been on the Isle of Wight as there was another plan for ex Merseyside class 503/504's
A very enjoyable albeit short video, that held my attention throughout. In the hinterland of Brisbane, where I live, there are quaint little villages that draw tourists and locals particularly on weekends. In one of these villages a restored carriage is available as accommodation in a lovely forested setting. We have our 58th wedding anniversary coming up in December. Think I might surprise book it.
There’s a couple of old tube carriages (I think 1967 Victoria line stock) at Glastonbury where some artists can actually play inside. Quite a way to go if you’re a tube carriage, I’m sure!
The town where I live had a tram line until 1949, at which point they closed it rather than having to replace the ageing rolling stock and lay double track to accommodate car traffic (many such cases, etc. etc.) The operator decided that rather than send the old trams to the scrappers, they’d bring in a bit of money by taking out all the fittings and traction equipment and selling the shells for use as cheap holiday homes. To this day, there is a cottage on the island of Aspö that, if you know what to look for, is very clearly built around a tram body. (This policy also meant that the tramway museum in Malmköping were eventually able to get a hold of one, and though it’s a low-priority project, they aim to eventually restore it to running order)
Your mention of deicing trains reminded me of taking a trailer load of drums to the London Transport depot at Acton in the 1970s. I can't recall if they had honey or glycerine in them but seemed a strange thing to deliver to a rail yard . Apparently it was mixed with anti freeze and the goey mixture was doubed over the points to stop them freezing and jaming in winter.
Re the recycling of ex-London Underground rolling stock, I remember (well the before Beeching Axe) in early 1950’s travelling on a now long removed branch between Yatton (on mainline between Bristol Temple Meads & Weston-super-Mare) & Clevedon, a seaside town on the Bristol Channel now more famous for it’s Pier. When we arrived at Yatton, via the ‘Up’ line from Weston-super-Mare, we walked across to the adjacent bay platform, for the short branch line to Clevedon, the train we were to travel on was made up of a tank engine issuing steam from every gland, at the head of a couple of ancient ex-London Transport red tube carriages, with not an inkling of electric traction available. I remember the sliding door, wooden floor, green & grey interior paint, bulky seats, below dangling loops for standing passengers. I don’t know how long they remained there, but the line along with the Cheddar branch from Yatton, the ‘Strawberry line’, as with so many others, just disappeared or became cycle tracks…
I do wonder if this was a GWR auto trailer rather than LT stock...although it is within the realms of the possible, I am guessing you didn't have a camera with you on one of your trips? Certainly there was some very odd stock in those parts as per Weston-super-Mare-clevedon and Portishead line
@@SmudgeThomas I can assure you, even then, I knew the difference between a GWR auto trailer & an ex-London Underground carriage, especially when boarding and travelling in the low roofed, creaking apparition in such a strange colour scheme, compared with GWR/BR(W) vehicles. The family outing to Clevedon was to see distant relatives of my parents: so I was looking for distraction. Incidentally the remains of the trackbed of part of Col Stephen’s old ‘Weston, Clevedon & Portishead’ light railway, you mention was part of my walking route from home in WsM, to school in Worle in the late 50’s & early 60’s; before all traces of it were redeveloped & obliterated. There was no track or rolling stock remaining in situ, it having ceased operation in 1940: well before Beeching Axe fell.
My late father was a draughtsman for Metro-Cammel-Weyman in the 1950s and 1960s at Washwood Heath, Birmingham (now being recommissioned as HS2's main maintenance facility) and I well remember him explaining that the usual operational design life of general passenger rolling stock would be 45-50-years but that Underground rolling stock was designed for a 75-year operational lifespan; hence the 1970s rolling stock still being in use!
Great vid! I have always wanted part of a train in my garden but marriage occurred and I can only manage being a nerd on a part time basis with compromises now
My main obstacle is living in a flat on the other hand. I couldn't fit a railway carriage in it, unfortunately. Maybe if i buy a little piece of land for a vegetable garden where i could use it as a shed...
The story depends on what subway/metro/underground you’re talking about. New York, for example, would have a few subway cars that are preserved and can normally find themselves sitting around or doing special trains along the subway lines. But when it comes of disposing in New York, they’re either scrapped normally or they’re dumped into the ocean.
In Belgium, the Colmar buffet restaurant chain bought a few old carriages as an attraction for their patrons, if you're lucky, you get a seat in them. I also saw at least one being used at a B&B. Garden sheds or stables were generally converted tram vehicles rather than train carriages, though.
I remember riding the 1927 stock on the IOW a few times circa 1979. Never did get to ride the 1938 stock, or its recent 'modern replacements. I believe there is now a 38 stock unit in the Isle of Wight Railway Museum at Haven Street. And I also think the Mynydd Mawr Railway at Cynheidre got a single unit or a rake, to complement the Sprinter and the Pacer they also fairly recently got as hand me downs.
Travelled on the 1927 stock on IoW 1979 but only got back there shortly before covid, in order to experience the 1938 stock which were about eighty years old at the time, before replacement by D78 conversions. Incidentally, the 1938 stock were unreliable on the Bakerloo in 1979/80 with trains being taken out of service while full of passengers. Pneumatic doors seemed to be the problem.
We went last weekend to eat a six course tasting menu in an old Victoria Line tube train, the "Supperclub Tube", at Walthamstow Pumphouse museum. Had a great time, good food, nice atmosphere, really unusual experience - go and give it a try! Marion
The old Glasgow underground cars were put up for public sale this year. There will be a few residing in gardens now, but there may be some left :) In Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire there are three houses made from old carriages...... they are in poor condition now, but still a crazy sight to see!
At one time many londoners bought an old carriage and a bit of land on the south coast and boom, holiday cottage. My grandfather holidayed with friends in the 1930s thus. A few survive still.
These steam locomotives worked on the Metropolitan Railway. Most of the Hammersmith & City branch was in open air, and the Met main line was open once trains got to Finchley Road. Therefore fresh air was nothing new to them when semi-retired. It is still great that a loco was kept working in LT ownership until 1948, but probably not too surprising, given that LT bought up ex-GWR steam locos which worked into the 1980s on engineering trains on the District and Metropolitan lines.
I recall the distinctive sound and smell of the District/Circle Line trains in the 70s/early 80s - the ones with the flared bottoms, both in red and unpainted.
The red ones were CO / CP stock (converted from O&P stock) built of steel which needed paint for protection, the unpainted ones were R stock, built of aluminium.
@@thomasburke2683 Actually some of the R stock were steel (R38 - converted Q stock, which was all but six of the driving cars - and the R47 series), but they were all painted silver to match the later aluminium R49 and R59 stocks. Six aluminium driving cars (r49) were built to allow some all-aluminium test trains for evaluation purposes.
I love that on the national network the Gronks are still going, well over 70 years after introduction and based on a design from the 1930s. I doubt anything they get replaced with will be so iconic.
Old tube stock found it's way to the Channel islands (Guernsey/Alderney¿ Dunno which) and various MOD ordinance stations for staff transport, where their low floors suited the paved areas of the sites. Needless to say, none of this was electrified but rather lugged about by a shunter, but it was still operational as a train, not sheds or static exhibits
If you drew a Venn diagram of most railway nerds, I suspect you would get large overlaps between the 'railway' set and other nerdy sets like 'pedantry' (just to pick one at random...). This is certainly true in my case - for instance, I get irrationally irritated by people calling the Underground the 'Tube' (because it's clearly NOT the bloody Tube!!). And another of my most frequent irritations is the use of the word 'train' to mean anything that runs on rails - typically just the locomotive! So bad is this particular tic with me, that I instinctively flinched when Jago start talking about 'trains' - even though I know I can trust Jago on this one. But then a thought struck me which I realised should have struck me many years ago - with the coming of multiple units, the 'train/locomotive' distinction disappeared! And now that the standard rolling stock of so many railways around the world is the multiple unit (even high speed expresses are rarely locomotive hauled), the use of the word 'train' to mean anything on rails has sneakily become accurate by accident! We've almost reached the stage where true railway pedants have to visit heritage railways just so they can correct people who refer to locomotives as 'trains'...
If it has two or more vehicles, then it is fair to call it a train, especially if one is pulling the other(s). The problem now is that a growing number of people, including rail operators, politicians and administrators, are using the word "train" in place of railway, locomotive, coach/carriage, wagon, van etc. Train station instead of Railway Station is the worst offence but a typical journalist, informed of a minor wagon derailment, will report a "train crash".
As a variation, "train station", like "bus station" is quite justifiable. You know, it much less oppressive in Linguistburg than in Sticklertown. I highly recommend it. 😉
@@thomasburke2683 just about the top of my list of pet hates is 'train station'!! People justify it by pointing out its accuracy, but I counter by asking what exactly would most people understand if you used the word 'station'? Police station, perhaps, or bus station, or maybe electricity substation? Or, just possibly, RAILWAY station! I rest my case. But at least they've stopped announcing "the next station stop" on UK trains these days. And we are once again passengers, not bloody customers...
Really interesting review, Jago, thank you for your frequent dose of underground nostalgia (and other informative videos). Your comments about other uses for rolling stock (as homes / offices) made me realise that the new "Tiny Homes" aren't really a "new" idea after all! After having lived for several years in a shared London bed-sit in W2, a converted railway carriage seems like a mansion in comparison! Thanks, 73, Ian.
Loading the redundant cars on barges and dump 'm somewhere in the Thames would be quite in the spirit of Charles Yerkes. That and selling tickets to scuba divers to have a look at them.
Excellent. I only asked a question about the Brill section of the Met in the comments underneath the last video and I get the answer seamlessly incorporated into the next one (ie this one)!
Not a Tube Line, But The First Generation DLR Rolling stock was sold to The City of Essen ( Stadt Essen) in NRW Deutschland and repainted in Yellow. I think it’s still in operation to this day.
I have ridden on the Tube many times when I lived in UK. On my three trips back I again boarded the various different lines, but thought I would do the whole Northern line in 2005 and therefore traversed the tunnel from Morden to East Finchley - 17+ miles, and observed how busy it was in the City, but generally not in the suburbs. (Not in the peaks). I wanted to visit Hendon RAF, so got off there! A kindly Londoner advised me Colindale, so when I got there another friendly local showed me the way I should take on foot. Of course, no railway enthusiast would miss the IoW! I travelled on the 483’s on each trip, and managed about twenty rides in total, including Smallbrook Junction for the IoW Steam Railway. Sadly I won’t be back to ride a 484, but can enjoy it on UA-cam. Note: the two friendly Londoners were really just that. Today I might not be so lucky.
It was never viable as a passenger line. Privately built on the cheap, Brill station was 3/4 mile north of the village, and trains took 105 minutes over the 6 miles to the nearest main line junction station. A brickworks near Brill closed only a few years after opening, and a 'luxury spa' in woodland near the village was never successful. That the line was taken over and upgraded by the Metropolitan Railway was a remarkable event in itself, and it never attracted enough business to survive. A visit to the museum at Quainton Road station in Buckinghamshire is well worthwhile.
I think the police and military have a few full length retired underground trains to practice certain situations which might arise on a underground train.
@Jago - Excellent video as always. On a completely different subject, I was thinking about London bus routes. Some have remained relatively similar or cut-down versions of the routes I rode in the 1970s. But I wondered if there's any way of finding out which London bus route has changed the least in living memory. There are several in my old area of town that are slightly shorter versions of their 60s and 70s iterations, 62, 86, 169, 179, 238 etc but I can't help but think there must be a route that's remained curiously consistent for 50-60 years.
My Father bought a 1920's bungalow on the Surrey Sussex border in the mid '60's, paid £99/19s/11d for it as a renovation project. Discovered that it was 2 old railway carriages at its heart. He said it was a money pit to renovate but sold for a substantial profit which he moaned about, as it was the only project we never lived in as the principal property he had to pay Capital Gains tax on the profit.
Similar thing in Chicago. At the Illinois Railway Museum, we have streetcars and rapid transit cars that were used as work motors, inspection cars, a salt spreader, a yard office, and even a chicken coop. That's in addition to two 'steam road' passenger cars that were used in work train service and then restored by us to carry passengers, and a collection of steam and electric railway work equipment like cranes, a dump car, and a snow sweeper.
It's funny, a few years ago, the City of San Francisco bought all the Peter Witt Street Cars it could find for its revitalized tram system. The Peter Witts in Toronto were all in storage, except a couple used for charters. I did not know this until I went to San Francisco and saw them operating. Funny how things like trains and street cars get recycled.
I thought it was funnier that after Toronto retired its line 3 rolling stock because it was too clapped out to maintain, Detroit bought them and trumpeted about how it was getting new trains for its people mover.
At Cranmore (East Somerset Railway) we had what I think was an exIOW coach that was beautifully restored cosmetically, with the aim of it becoming an Airbnb unit
It's nice to see that old tube trains don't die they move on to a more sedate retirement but still have a use. I travelled on the 1938 stock on the Isle of Wight, great experience.
Please forgive a tangential question. One I have had for some time. On the front of steam engines, there typically are two bars that look like handles (e.g. at 1:30 in this video). What do those do? It looks like the larger one tightens something and perhaps the smaller one locks its position similar to a lock nut. TIA if you can solve this mystery for me!
My favorite example of a locomotive converted to departmental use is the GG½, which was a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 that was damaged in a crash. Half of it was salvaged and used for snow clearing at a yard, but officially it had been scrapped and no longer existed.
I have fond memories of the Standard Stock on the Isle of Wight from childhood holidays in the 1970s. (For some reason I had a fascination with the word ‘Esplanade’).
dear sir, when I worked at Wimbledon Park Depot we had deiceing trains that were old 2HAP units and were also fitted for leaf busting or what was known as "Sandite" application. I have no idea what ever happened to them as I left the railway back in the year 2000....
Here in Buenos Aires, we had some Belgian, La Brugeoisie trains from 1913 (!) running in the Line A of the subway until 2013, when they were finally retired from regular service. That being said, every now and then they still run them on special occasions, so that's a 110-year-old train still running and carrying passengers.
We really should find some rich train nerds in Canada and get them to buy old London Underground tube stock and build a railway line in London, Ontario (otherwise known as "Fake London"). The city is full up with names stolen from our London (like The Thames, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Lambeth and Westminster) so why not just have the go all in and licence the London Underground branding from TfL and do the job properly. It would be relatively easy to run a railway line from London International Airport straight along the length of Oxford Street to Kilworth or Kamoka (and maybe onto Mt Brydges if the project did well). Using TfL branding would save them from having to design their own moquette and they could also sell TfL-branded stuff to tourists. Nerds would visit the city just to go on a London Underground line in "Fake London", but it would also work. If they recruited some people who moved to Canada from the UK, they would be able to tap into years of experience and keep the railway running well.
A very nice conclusion indeed. I hadn’t looked at it like that before! Also, did you know that B-Class and T-Class have 12 letters separating them? So much for naming conventions 😅
I was pleased to discover that I am exactly as old as RM1, which has been beautifully restored by he LT Museum staff - if only they could do the same for me. 😁
Not tube stock, but some Pacers were given away to community groups to create meeting spaces (presumably with better doors and no expectation of a useable toilet! I think Northern ran a competition to win a Pacer. I suppose the best kind of Pacer is a stationary one - no screeching or bouncing if it's still.
I think the Pacer class seem very well suited to light railways with a 25mph top speed due to their light weight & low running costs. I think they were disliked as they were used where they were unsuited or never intended...
I had to laugh at 0:30 when you called a 20 year old train a spring chicken BR class 141s, the original Pacers, were so pathetic they only had 16 years of active service (1983-1999) on West Yorkshire's branch lines, and all but one of them were sold to Iran in Iran, they were used as suburban trains in Tehran for 7 years, before being scrapped in favour of more modern stock the last surviving class 141 is at the Midland Railway museum in Butterley (near Ripley, in Derbyshire), and it's every bit as bad as it was when it was in service
I think the open plan tubes trains are much better than the ones from previous years where you were squashed in like sardines. I do think someone like James Dyson should be given the opportunity to help with improving the air quality on the tube, it’s not always pleasant. We are getting there with the tube but it’s taken a long old time. I wonder if you will do some videos of the new Overground lines as they get their identities and the like. Who knows what’s next?
East Beach, just north of Selsey (West Sussex) has a number of beach houses converted from various railway carriages. Bit spooky as it’s if they’ve been absorbed 😮
Coming on a bit of a tangent and i hope you dont mind me posting but i found a wonderful book called UNDERGROUND OVERGROUND A Passengers History of the Tube .written by a chap called Andrew Martin .and i cannot put it down its got Humour and marcarbe stories of people geting there heads chopped off in lifts .getting lost and Victorian murders etc
We had for years an ex Northern line train parked up alongside the Tisbury to Gillingham section of the Salisbury to Exeter route then one day it was gone. I believe it may have been transported by rail then run into garden via some temp tracks from the main line prob on a sunday when the line is less busy but can't say for sure. Be a good video story :D
Anyone with knowledge of this, please let me know.... What model locomotive and cabs were used for the Sherlock Holmes film A GAME OF SHADOWS? The honeymoon train sequence contained a set of cabs that looked awfully realistic. Of course, lots of green screens were used. But I got a feeling that the fleet used was a museum piece.❤
I like the thumbnail of Village Underground. There used be a Underground carriage in the ground floor of Electrowerx. Though I assume that wasn't real.
They go the Isle of Wight or they get turned into hybrid and used on the Transport for Wales lines or even Crosscountry lines around Bletchley and Milton Keynes
Shouldn't the opening question about "Where do trains go at the end of their careers" been "Where do trains go when they reach the end of the line"?
If that were the question the answer would be they'd turn back
Hainault
😂
The Isle of Wight.
You should take a trip to Melbourne Australia, they have 3 trains on the roof, it’s used as bar and Berger cafe in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood 😊
I'm touched to hear that elderly tube trains are put on light duties. I'd like to imagine the very old ones are sent off to frolic in a nice siding in the countryside.
Or, perhaps the ones who get bought and turned into homes... (akin to various houseboats / shipping containers / and the more usual use of narrow boate on canals etc?) or cafés, if suitable sites are located? 💕🤞🏴🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🤔🖖
I am always impresssed that the museums have painted all that old black & white rolling stock.
Its way cheaper then colloring all the films and photograhps of that era 😉
Made back in the old days when the whole world was black and white.
Aren’t we a tad too funny now? 😂
@@obelic71
*Colouring (?🤔)
@@brigidsingleton1596 there are techniques, classical by hand and modern digital by computer to colour old black and white photographs and film.
Famous Classical black& white Movies like the longest day were coloured in for re-release.
In the case of the NYC Subway, the MTA turned over 2,500 Redbirds and Brightliners into artificial reefs between 2001 and 2010! They've sent them off of places like NJ, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, and SC! Delaware's Redbird Reef has 714 Redbirds! The Island Line on the Isle of Wight using Tube stock reminds me of the Staten Island Railway in NYC. Like the Island Line, the Staten Island Railway uses subway rolling stock and connects to a ferry terminal! It goes between St. George on the North Shore and Tottenville on the South Shore of Staten Island for 14 miles, connecting with the Staten Island Ferry to South Ferry in Manhattan at St. George terminal which is also a bus hub. The SIR trains are timed to connect with the ferry, and the ferry has been free since 1997! When you transfer from the SIR to the ferry and enter a subway station when you arrive in Manhattan, it counts as a free transfer! It used to have two other branches, the North Shore Branch and the South Beach Branch, which both closed in the 1950s. The railroad was first incorporated in 1851 and was originally financed thanks to Cornelius Vanderbilt. The line was first completed between Stapleton and Tottenville in 1860, it wasn't extended to Tompkinsville until 1884, and finally St. George in 1886. Most of the former North Shore Branch stations opened in 1886 as well, while the South Beach Branch opened in 1888. Erastus Wiman organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company in 1880 and partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to build a large rail and ferry terminal to centralize all the ferry landings. St George got its name from developer George Law, whom Erastus Wiman promised to "canonize" in exchange for relinquishing the land rights for the terminal.
The reason the SIR is electrified is because the SIRT did so under the B&O in anticipation of a tunnel to Brooklyn that would connect with the NYC Subway. This tunnel between SI and Brooklyn was never completed, it was only constructed between 1923 and 1925, and lies dormant under Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This ambition to connect the NYC Subway directly with SI is why Bay Ridge has subway stations, served by the R! In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch. Today, CSX freight trains do so. The North Shore Branch closed in 1953 (South Beach Branch also closed that same year) but in 1957, Elizabeth II used the North Shore Branch as part of her journey from DC to NYC and took the Staten Island Ferry! Between 1925 and 1973, the SIRT used ME-1s made exclusively for it, though they were also used on the NYC Subway as the NYCTA (now both are under the MTA) bought 25 of them from Staten Island. In 1973, these were replaced with modified R44s built by the former St. Louis Car Company. The R44 operated on the NYC Subway from 1971 to 2010, but the SIRT has used them up until the 2020s when they're finally replaced by the R211S.
"They go to the bakerloo" moment
I was on the Bakerloo a few weeks ago for the first time in many years and the trains are seriously horrible. It seems the sections each side of about Waterloo to Paddington aren't used much so the line doesn't generate enough revenue to buy new trains.
But only if they misbehave!
@@caw25sha I must admit I don't go to London terribly often, and so haven't been on the tube all that much, but by far my worst tube experience to date has to be getting stuck in a tunnel on the Bakerloo in a sweltering heatwave a few years ago. My then-girlfriend was visiting me in the UK from Missouri that summer, and the day we happened to pick to go and see the sights in London it got up to something like 32°C? And ofc the tube was having technical difficulties, so we got stuck on a sweltering un-air-conditioned train inside a tunnel for about 10-15 minutes at one point due to scheduling delays, and it was _miserable_ . Even my American gf, who'd been teasing me about my very British heat tolerance all summer, had to admit that it was _awful_ in that cramped, overcrowded carriage.
@@Hannah_Em if they behave well. they could have a better experiance with the piccadilly line
@@Hannah_Emhaha, reminds me of how when a flatmate had her Texan gf over to Glasgow she’d been teasing us about the temps - until she experienced the humidity firsthand! Within a few hours she was splayed on the sofa with every fan in the flat pointed at her, glugging icy drinks with abandon. She actually got it to the point where it was too cold for the rest of us! They really don’t know how good they have it, with air conditioning, until they experience proper life without it (not just a temporary breakdown that gets fixed in a few hours).
I've said this before, but it still surprises me that you can constantly find new topics to make videos about. Apart from the obvious Island Line angle, it had never occurred to me to wonder what happened to old Underground stock - I'd just assumed, because it was so different to any other size/type of train in the world, that it was just broken up. Long may you continue, Jago.
still patiently waiting for LOR video
everytime a question comes up in my head, a jago video about that topic comes out. this guy's a legend
That’s kinda freaky. Is he following you? 🤣
You do realise that Jago has implanted a microphone in your head!
I wrote an email to the folks at the London Transport Museum. Suggesting that once the 1973 Stock Piccadilly trains start being retired, they could use some of the trains to make commemorative plaques out of the trains' outer skin. This way people can purchase a piece of history. It's being done with former commercial aircraft. Both for sale by for profit companies, and as a reward for loyal customers. American Airlines sent me a bag tag for being one of their most frequent fliers that was made from the skin of a former DC10 this airline had flown. They even engraved the tail number of that aircraft on it. In any case, I got a response from the museum, stating that they'll look into this idea. If anyone reading this thinks this is a half decent idea, you could write them with that suggestion, too. Strength in numbers. I will definitely buy this if they sell it.
Trains do indeed have a long life in them. VIA rail in Canada is still running Budd Stainless Cars built in the 1940's and 1950's, in regular service. These cars have been reconditioned and rebuilt multiple times, though their days are numbered with plans underway to replace them. This was possible because of their long lasting Stainless bodies and heavy frames. I expect many to live on for years to come in preservation and tourist railroads. Great video Jago!
The New York City Subway C Train used rolling stock that was manufactured in 1964 up through 2022.
Hi Jago. Most interesting as ever. One comment caught my ear that I think needs a little illumination. "Piccadilly trains can only really work on the Piccadilly Line": discuss.
Yes Jago, we know you are a busy man, but this issue needs urgent elaboration.
Track gauge? Platform length? Tunnel heights? The ghost of Yerkes? I also need to know
As I understand it, 1973 stock cars are too long to negotiate some of the curves on other lines. The older, 1959 stock that previously ran on the Picc was seven shorter cars and could run on any tube line. (The Northern and Jubilee now use longer cars as well, but those lines are fitted for ATO which the 1973 stock isn't)
@@norbitonflyer5625 Thanks for the info!
The 1973 stock was designed with the Heathrow extension in mind. Those of us who remember the older stock..... such as the 1959 and 1962 trains last used on Northern and Central Lines, would have had a shortcoming the design of the 1973 stock aimed at addressing: When stepping into the cars of earlier tube stock, the platforms were only marginally (10 cm?) wider than the door opening - and it was realized more space would be needed to make room for the luggage passengers for the airport were likely to bring. The engineers tried various approaches, before deciding on trains made up by 6 slightly longer cars - providing larger platforms with extra space for luggage next to the doors. The downside is: problem with cars hitting platforms if they are curved too tight.
The old LU trains in the isle of Wight are good fun.
That was the first fianl destinatuin I thought of for them!!!!
I think the Isle of Wight should have trams like Blackpool.
Sadly just the Vivarail D stock 484 the 1920's stock lasted 20 years thr 1930's stock over 30 years
I wonder how long the D-stock will last?
@@markomartenthat was a proposal by Isle of Wight Council but cost and lack of imagination led to the 3rd Rail D-Stock Class 484 The since bankrupt Vivarail wanted to test the 3rd rail stock for if the HSE changed its mind on new third rail on shorter branches from the existing 3rd rail network.
Interestingly the 1930's Stock may not have been on the Isle of Wight as there was another plan for ex Merseyside class 503/504's
I remember riding the line in about 1988 and being able to watch the sleepers go by through the holes in the floor.
JH never out of date. Not to be retired. 😊
Did any electrical/electronic engineers pick up on the joke "Battery trains-a potential solution"😂. Nice one Jago.
A very enjoyable albeit short video, that held my attention throughout. In the hinterland of Brisbane, where I live, there are quaint little
villages that draw tourists and locals particularly on weekends. In one of these villages a restored carriage is available as accommodation
in a lovely forested setting. We have our 58th wedding anniversary coming up in December. Think I might surprise book it.
There’s a couple of old tube carriages (I think 1967 Victoria line stock) at Glastonbury where some artists can actually play inside. Quite a way to go if you’re a tube carriage, I’m sure!
Hey, I still want to go to Shoreditch to have a look at those 1983 stock above the streets, may do that next week as on holiday from tomorrow.
The town where I live had a tram line until 1949, at which point they closed it rather than having to replace the ageing rolling stock and lay double track to accommodate car traffic (many such cases, etc. etc.) The operator decided that rather than send the old trams to the scrappers, they’d bring in a bit of money by taking out all the fittings and traction equipment and selling the shells for use as cheap holiday homes. To this day, there is a cottage on the island of Aspö that, if you know what to look for, is very clearly built around a tram body.
(This policy also meant that the tramway museum in Malmköping were eventually able to get a hold of one, and though it’s a low-priority project, they aim to eventually restore it to running order)
Your mention of deicing trains reminded me of taking a trailer load of drums to the London Transport depot at Acton in the 1970s. I can't recall if they had honey or glycerine in them but seemed a strange thing to deliver to a rail yard . Apparently it was mixed with anti freeze and the goey mixture was doubed over the points to stop them freezing and jaming in winter.
They do build them to last.
Even down to the moquette for the seats which is durable beyond belief.
Re the recycling of ex-London Underground rolling stock, I remember (well the before Beeching Axe) in early 1950’s travelling on a now long removed branch between Yatton (on mainline between Bristol Temple Meads & Weston-super-Mare) & Clevedon, a seaside town on the Bristol Channel now more famous for it’s Pier.
When we arrived at Yatton, via the ‘Up’ line from Weston-super-Mare, we walked across to the adjacent bay platform, for the short branch line to Clevedon, the train we were to travel on was made up of a tank engine issuing steam from every gland, at the head of a couple of ancient ex-London Transport red tube carriages, with not an inkling of electric traction available.
I remember the sliding door, wooden floor, green & grey interior paint, bulky seats, below dangling loops for standing passengers.
I don’t know how long they remained there, but the line along with the Cheddar branch from Yatton, the ‘Strawberry line’, as with so many others, just disappeared or became cycle tracks…
I do wonder if this was a GWR auto trailer rather than LT stock...although it is within the realms of the possible, I am guessing you didn't have a camera with you on one of your trips? Certainly there was some very odd stock in those parts as per Weston-super-Mare-clevedon and Portishead line
@@SmudgeThomas I can assure you, even then, I knew the difference between a GWR auto trailer & an ex-London Underground carriage, especially when boarding and travelling in the low roofed, creaking apparition in such a strange colour scheme, compared with GWR/BR(W) vehicles. The family outing to Clevedon was to see distant relatives of my parents: so I was looking for distraction.
Incidentally the remains of the trackbed of part of Col Stephen’s old ‘Weston, Clevedon & Portishead’ light railway, you mention was part of my walking route from home in WsM, to school in Worle in the late 50’s & early 60’s; before all traces of it were redeveloped & obliterated. There was no track or rolling stock remaining in situ, it having ceased operation in 1940: well before Beeching Axe fell.
Were they old enough for Cheddar Man to have used them?
@@jackiespeel6343 If he could reach ‘Shute Shelve’ tunnel…
A couple of D78 stock trains ended up in Pennsylvania.
My late father was a draughtsman for Metro-Cammel-Weyman in the 1950s and 1960s at Washwood Heath, Birmingham (now being recommissioned as HS2's main maintenance facility) and I well remember him explaining that the usual operational design life of general passenger rolling stock would be 45-50-years but that Underground rolling stock was designed for a 75-year operational lifespan; hence the 1970s rolling stock still being in use!
Great vid! I have always wanted part of a train in my garden but marriage occurred and I can only manage being a nerd on a part time basis with compromises now
My main obstacle is living in a flat on the other hand. I couldn't fit a railway carriage in it, unfortunately. Maybe if i buy a little piece of land for a vegetable garden where i could use it as a shed...
The story depends on what subway/metro/underground you’re talking about. New York, for example, would have a few subway cars that are preserved and can normally find themselves sitting around or doing special trains along the subway lines. But when it comes of disposing in New York, they’re either scrapped normally or they’re dumped into the ocean.
In Belgium, the Colmar buffet restaurant chain bought a few old carriages as an attraction for their patrons, if you're lucky, you get a seat in them. I also saw at least one being used at a B&B.
Garden sheds or stables were generally converted tram vehicles rather than train carriages, though.
I remember riding the 1927 stock on the IOW a few times circa 1979. Never did get to ride the 1938 stock, or its recent 'modern replacements. I believe there is now a 38 stock unit in the Isle of Wight Railway Museum at Haven Street. And I also think the Mynydd Mawr Railway at Cynheidre got a single unit or a rake, to complement the Sprinter and the Pacer they also fairly recently got as hand me downs.
Same here. I last rode on the IOW railway in 1986 so it would have been Standard Stock back then.
Travelled on the 1927 stock on IoW 1979 but only got back there shortly before covid, in order to experience the 1938 stock which were about eighty years old at the time, before replacement by D78 conversions.
Incidentally, the 1938 stock were unreliable on the Bakerloo in 1979/80 with trains being taken out of service while full of passengers. Pneumatic doors seemed to be the problem.
We went last weekend to eat a six course tasting menu in an old Victoria Line tube train, the "Supperclub Tube", at Walthamstow Pumphouse museum. Had a great time, good food, nice atmosphere, really unusual experience - go and give it a try!
Marion
There’s also an old underground carriage in a primary school playground in Plumstead- ironically a part of London not served by the Tube.
It Plumcroft Primary School ... which is about 500m from where I live.
The old Glasgow underground cars were put up for public sale this year. There will be a few residing in gardens now, but there may be some left :) In Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire there are three houses made from old carriages...... they are in poor condition now, but still a crazy sight to see!
At one time many londoners bought an old carriage and a bit of land on the south coast and boom, holiday cottage. My grandfather holidayed with friends in the 1930s thus. A few survive still.
Not underground carriages as far as I know, but there are still a few cottages converted from railway carriages in Selsey.
Pilot motors , ballast motors and battery motors are to me amongst the most facinating of Underground stock .
Devastated I wasn't able to buy one of the Glasgow Subway cars when they were up for sale. Hope they're all going to some good new homes...
You forgot about the tube trains that went to the Channel Islands. Maybe that's for another video
Was also surprised by the lack of any mention of Alderneys Railways use of old tube stock especially since they have had 2 generations.
@@RandomWombleP Even Geoff Marshall went there and did a video about it
@@MonopodMan 'even' Geoff Marshall?? This is classic Marshall territory!
@@MonopodMan He made a second video about the abandoned part of the Alderney Railway, between Braye Road and the pier.
This is the first I've heard of them. I'm sorry to say that us Brits tend to know very little about the Channel Islands.
It's nice to know that these wonderful locomotives get to have a life outside the tunnels once their time in service is done. :)
These steam locomotives worked on the Metropolitan Railway. Most of the Hammersmith & City branch was in open air, and the Met main line was open once trains got to Finchley Road. Therefore fresh air was nothing new to them when semi-retired.
It is still great that a loco was kept working in LT ownership until 1948, but probably not too surprising, given that LT bought up ex-GWR steam locos which worked into the 1980s on engineering trains on the District and Metropolitan lines.
I recall the distinctive sound and smell of the District/Circle Line trains in the 70s/early 80s - the ones with the flared bottoms, both in red and unpainted.
The red ones were CO / CP stock (converted from O&P stock) built of steel which needed paint for protection, the unpainted ones were R stock, built of aluminium.
@@thomasburke2683 - Thank you for the information.👍
@@thomasburke2683 Actually some of the R stock were steel (R38 - converted Q stock, which was all but six of the driving cars - and the R47 series), but they were all painted silver to match the later aluminium R49 and R59 stocks.
Six aluminium driving cars (r49) were built to allow some all-aluminium test trains for evaluation purposes.
I was born in July 1974, thus can’t remember the distinctive sounds and smells of the flare sided trains; can you please describe these?
@@FART-REPELLENT - Er, not really, I guess you had to be there at the time!😀
I have seen the two tube trains high above the ground in the Shoreditch area of London.
I love that on the national network the Gronks are still going, well over 70 years after introduction and based on a design from the 1930s. I doubt anything they get replaced with will be so iconic.
Old tube stock found it's way to the Channel islands (Guernsey/Alderney¿ Dunno which) and various MOD ordinance stations for staff transport, where their low floors suited the paved areas of the sites. Needless to say, none of this was electrified but rather lugged about by a shunter, but it was still operational as a train, not sheds or static exhibits
If you drew a Venn diagram of most railway nerds, I suspect you would get large overlaps between the 'railway' set and other nerdy sets like 'pedantry' (just to pick one at random...). This is certainly true in my case - for instance, I get irrationally irritated by people calling the Underground the 'Tube' (because it's clearly NOT the bloody Tube!!). And another of my most frequent irritations is the use of the word 'train' to mean anything that runs on rails - typically just the locomotive! So bad is this particular tic with me, that I instinctively flinched when Jago start talking about 'trains' - even though I know I can trust Jago on this one.
But then a thought struck me which I realised should have struck me many years ago - with the coming of multiple units, the 'train/locomotive' distinction disappeared! And now that the standard rolling stock of so many railways around the world is the multiple unit (even high speed expresses are rarely locomotive hauled), the use of the word 'train' to mean anything on rails has sneakily become accurate by accident! We've almost reached the stage where true railway pedants have to visit heritage railways just so they can correct people who refer to locomotives as 'trains'...
In Wellington NZ 🇳🇿 the suburban-regional Korean electric trainsets are called "units" made up of 1-3 lots of driver-trailer pairs.
If it has two or more vehicles, then it is fair to call it a train, especially if one is pulling the other(s).
The problem now is that a growing number of people, including rail operators, politicians and administrators, are using the word "train" in place of railway, locomotive, coach/carriage, wagon, van etc.
Train station instead of Railway Station is the worst offence but a typical journalist, informed of a minor wagon derailment, will report a "train crash".
@@thomasburke2683 And I thought that a train was a dress which was long enough to drag along the ground intentionally.
As a variation, "train station", like "bus station" is quite justifiable.
You know, it much less oppressive in Linguistburg than in Sticklertown. I highly recommend it. 😉
@@thomasburke2683 just about the top of my list of pet hates is 'train station'!! People justify it by pointing out its accuracy, but I counter by asking what exactly would most people understand if you used the word 'station'?
Police station, perhaps, or bus station, or maybe electricity substation? Or, just possibly, RAILWAY station! I rest my case.
But at least they've stopped announcing "the next station stop" on UK trains these days. And we are once again passengers, not bloody customers...
I remember seeing some lined up at C F Booth in Rotherham where they are disposed of.
Yes seen them there quite often awaiting the cutters torch
Really interesting review, Jago, thank you for your frequent dose of underground nostalgia (and other informative videos). Your comments about other uses for rolling stock (as homes / offices) made me realise that the new "Tiny Homes" aren't really a "new" idea after all! After having lived for several years in a shared London bed-sit in W2, a converted railway carriage seems like a mansion in comparison! Thanks, 73, Ian.
Loading the redundant cars on barges and dump 'm somewhere in the Thames would be quite in the spirit of Charles Yerkes. That and selling tickets to scuba divers to have a look at them.
I hope the trains all have a nice rest :)
That final sentence really makes you think! Thank you for the insights Jago!
Excellent. I only asked a question about the Brill section of the Met in the comments underneath the last video and I get the answer seamlessly incorporated into the next one (ie this one)!
Pagham Harbour in Sussex used to loads of cottages that were made from Tube carriages.
Not a Tube Line, But The First Generation DLR Rolling stock was sold to The City of Essen ( Stadt Essen) in NRW Deutschland and repainted in Yellow. I think it’s still in operation to this day.
I have ridden on the Tube many times when I lived in UK. On my three trips back I again boarded the various different lines, but thought I would do the whole Northern line in 2005 and therefore traversed the tunnel from Morden to East Finchley - 17+ miles, and observed how busy it was in the City, but generally not in the suburbs. (Not in the peaks). I wanted to visit Hendon RAF, so got off there! A kindly Londoner advised me Colindale, so when I got there another friendly local showed me the way I should take on foot.
Of course, no railway enthusiast would miss the IoW! I travelled on the 483’s on each trip, and managed about twenty rides in total, including Smallbrook Junction for the IoW Steam Railway. Sadly I won’t be back to ride a 484, but can enjoy it on UA-cam.
Note: the two friendly Londoners were really just that. Today I might not be so lucky.
Ah, hand-me-downs as they were called in my family. Although not about trains
2:45 "...so in 1935 they closed the Brill branch."
If it was so good, why not keep it open?
It was never viable as a passenger line. Privately built on the cheap, Brill station was 3/4 mile north of the village, and trains took 105 minutes over the 6 miles to the nearest main line junction station. A brickworks near Brill closed only a few years after opening, and a 'luxury spa' in woodland near the village was never successful. That the line was taken over and upgraded by the Metropolitan Railway was a remarkable event in itself, and it never attracted enough business to survive. A visit to the museum at Quainton Road station in Buckinghamshire is well worthwhile.
🤣
I think the police and military have a few full length retired underground trains to practice certain situations which might arise on a underground train.
To re-live Stockwell?
"Tender Engines"?
I prefer mine to be "al dente" myself.
I always thought medium rare was the preferred standard 😂😂😂
Those 4-4-0s could be quite sensitive.
Once again a well stocked video from Jago
@Jago - Excellent video as always.
On a completely different subject, I was thinking about London bus routes. Some have remained relatively similar or cut-down versions of the routes I rode in the 1970s. But I wondered if there's any way of finding out which London bus route has changed the least in living memory. There are several in my old area of town that are slightly shorter versions of their 60s and 70s iterations, 62, 86, 169, 179, 238 etc but I can't help but think there must be a route that's remained curiously consistent for 50-60 years.
That’s a common pub quiz question. The 24 is London’s oldest bus route, remaining completely unchanged since 1912
My Father bought a 1920's bungalow on the Surrey Sussex border in the mid '60's, paid £99/19s/11d for it as a renovation project. Discovered that it was 2 old railway carriages at its heart. He said it was a money pit to renovate but sold for a substantial profit which he moaned about, as it was the only project we never lived in as the principal property he had to pay Capital Gains tax on the profit.
In 2022 there was a 1938 stock train undergoing renovation at East Somerset Railway. It's now and AirBnB.
I bet you could make a great home out of one. I'd love that, and have it on a bit of rail so you could change the view every now and again.
Similar thing in Chicago. At the Illinois Railway Museum, we have streetcars and rapid transit cars that were used as work motors, inspection cars, a salt spreader, a yard office, and even a chicken coop. That's in addition to two 'steam road' passenger cars that were used in work train service and then restored by us to carry passengers, and a collection of steam and electric railway work equipment like cranes, a dump car, and a snow sweeper.
It's funny, a few years ago, the City of San Francisco bought all the Peter Witt Street Cars it could find for its revitalized tram system. The Peter Witts in Toronto were all in storage, except a couple used for charters. I did not know this until I went to San Francisco and saw them operating. Funny how things like trains and street cars get recycled.
I thought it was funnier that after Toronto retired its line 3 rolling stock because it was too clapped out to maintain, Detroit bought them and trumpeted about how it was getting new trains for its people mover.
Good video. Your research is appreciated!
I know it's not part of the Underground, but Southend Pier recently recycled their redundant carriages into attractive shelters.
At Cranmore (East Somerset Railway) we had what I think was an exIOW coach that was beautifully restored cosmetically, with the aim of it becoming an Airbnb unit
I’m glad that the underground has historically been a thrift shop to keep some of these venerable trains alive!
It's nice to see that old tube trains don't die they move on to a more sedate retirement but still have a use.
I travelled on the 1938 stock on the Isle of Wight, great experience.
Please forgive a tangential question. One I have had for some time. On the front of steam engines, there typically are two bars that look like handles (e.g. at 1:30 in this video). What do those do? It looks like the larger one tightens something and perhaps the smaller one locks its position similar to a lock nut. TIA if you can solve this mystery for me!
I believe that is to allow access to the boiler internals for servicing and cleaning.
Exactly right - the circular smokebox door swings open to allow ash to be removed and for the pipes to be washed out.
@@BJWT1047 Many thanks!!
You managed to fit more information in this vdeo about this topic than I had imagined was possible.
My favorite example of a locomotive converted to departmental use is the GG½, which was a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 that was damaged in a crash. Half of it was salvaged and used for snow clearing at a yard, but officially it had been scrapped and no longer existed.
I have fond memories of the Standard Stock on the Isle of Wight from childhood holidays in the 1970s. (For some reason I had a fascination with the word ‘Esplanade’).
Yes Jago - I did enjoy your Tail of retired Tube Trains!!! 😉🚂🚂🚂
Some old train engines end up in harbour tugs.
Very good thanks 👍
I didn't expect to get quite so emotional about trains retiring...
Not forgetting the Alderney Railway, another island line.
Brilliant video sir!
dear sir, when I worked at Wimbledon Park Depot we had deiceing trains that were old 2HAP units and were also fitted for leaf busting or what was known as "Sandite" application. I have no idea what ever happened to them as I left the railway back in the year 2000....
They either a) go to play football in Japan/USA or b) release an acoustic album
Is that old Underground stock on the Marston Vale line? That's me going on a day trip to Bedford, then.
Here in Buenos Aires, we had some Belgian, La Brugeoisie trains from 1913 (!) running in the Line A of the subway until 2013, when they were finally retired from regular service. That being said, every now and then they still run them on special occasions, so that's a 110-year-old train still running and carrying passengers.
We really should find some rich train nerds in Canada and get them to buy old London Underground tube stock and build a railway line in London, Ontario (otherwise known as "Fake London"). The city is full up with names stolen from our London (like The Thames, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Lambeth and Westminster) so why not just have the go all in and licence the London Underground branding from TfL and do the job properly.
It would be relatively easy to run a railway line from London International Airport straight along the length of Oxford Street to Kilworth or Kamoka (and maybe onto Mt Brydges if the project did well). Using TfL branding would save them from having to design their own moquette and they could also sell TfL-branded stuff to tourists.
Nerds would visit the city just to go on a London Underground line in "Fake London", but it would also work. If they recruited some people who moved to Canada from the UK, they would be able to tap into years of experience and keep the railway running well.
well with the retired glasgow 1972 stock, they started selling them to people for £5,000 each to be made into garden ornaments, tea rooms, etc etc.
Some tube units ended up in the Channels Islands, Alderney no less.
A very nice conclusion indeed. I hadn’t looked at it like that before!
Also, did you know that B-Class and T-Class have 12 letters separating them? So much for naming conventions 😅
I am not enamoured of the fact that I can remember the Victoria Line stock when it was brand spanking new !!
I was pleased to discover that I am exactly as old as RM1, which has been beautifully restored by he LT Museum staff - if only they could do the same for me. 😁
@@roderickjoyce6716 So was your radiator relocated for revenue service, then later restored to its original position ? 🤣
Class jago
Not tube stock, but some Pacers were given away to community groups to create meeting spaces (presumably with better doors and no expectation of a useable toilet! I think Northern ran a competition to win a Pacer. I suppose the best kind of Pacer is a stationary one - no screeching or bouncing if it's still.
I think the Pacer class seem very well suited to light railways with a 25mph top speed due to their light weight & low running costs. I think they were disliked as they were used where they were unsuited or never intended...
I had to laugh at 0:30 when you called a 20 year old train a spring chicken
BR class 141s, the original Pacers, were so pathetic they only had 16 years of active service (1983-1999) on West Yorkshire's branch lines, and all but one of them were sold to Iran
in Iran, they were used as suburban trains in Tehran for 7 years, before being scrapped in favour of more modern stock
the last surviving class 141 is at the Midland Railway museum in Butterley (near Ripley, in Derbyshire), and it's every bit as bad as it was when it was in service
No wonder the Iranian government hates the UK.
I think the open plan tubes trains are much better than the ones from previous years where you were squashed in like sardines. I do think someone like James Dyson should be given the opportunity to help with improving the air quality on the tube, it’s not always pleasant. We are getting there with the tube but it’s taken a long old time. I wonder if you will do some videos of the new Overground lines as they get their identities and the like. Who knows what’s next?
East Beach, just north of Selsey (West Sussex) has a number of beach houses converted from various railway carriages. Bit spooky as it’s if they’ve been absorbed 😮
Coming on a bit of a tangent and i hope you dont mind me posting but i found a wonderful book called UNDERGROUND OVERGROUND A Passengers History of the Tube .written by a chap called Andrew Martin .and i cannot put it down its got Humour and marcarbe stories of people geting there heads chopped off in lifts .getting lost and Victorian murders etc
We had for years an ex Northern line train parked up alongside the Tisbury to Gillingham section of the Salisbury to Exeter route then one day it was gone. I believe it may have been transported by rail then run into garden via some temp tracks from the main line prob on a sunday when the line is less busy but can't say for sure. Be a good video story :D
Can you please do a video on the old Northern Line tube train used on Ghost Train ride/ attraction at Thorpe Park
They start reading the Daily Rail to let off steam?
Him: where do trains go after they retire?
Me trying to cover up the entire train in my backyard:😬😶🌫️
Anyone with knowledge of this, please let me know....
What model locomotive and cabs were used for the Sherlock Holmes film A GAME OF SHADOWS?
The honeymoon train sequence contained a set of cabs that looked awfully realistic. Of course, lots of green screens were used. But I got a feeling that the fleet used was a museum piece.❤
Love this side of trains. Weren't some of them converted into buses too at times? Or is that the wrong way round.
I like the thumbnail of Village Underground. There used be a Underground carriage in the ground floor of Electrowerx. Though I assume that wasn't real.
Was lucky enough to make it to east acton depot this summer on my trip to London. Was awesome 😎
They go the Isle of Wight or they get turned into hybrid and used on the Transport for Wales lines or even Crosscountry lines around Bletchley and Milton Keynes
Many tubes go to a large scrapyard near Rotherham. There they get cut up, melted down and recycled.
In the US rolling stock is stripped of its valuable/toxic bits and the carcasses dumped into the Ocean to become artificial reefs.
Wow! Where did you see the new Piccadilly line train mock up? Is that at the LTM?
The Design Museum. Or it was a couple of years ago.