I'm sure some viewers are here for the trains. Some are here for the history. Some may just be here for the soothing ducet tones of Mister Hazzard's velveteen voice. But I, for one, come for those horrid puns that lurk in wait and leap out at passing dialogue and earning a Groan-Out-Loud, which is like a LOL but exponentially rarer. Please, don't ever change.
How true - only this evening was I at Dalry station completely unable to read the platform monitor as the sun was shining on it! Railway managers seem to inhabit offices where the sun never shines, or at least they seem unaware of the sun's existence.
@@Clivestravelandtrains I knew a very senior manager with one of the train operating companies. He was a hairy handed engineer and had a very low opinion of the marketing department (aka "fluffy bunnies" or "pink bow tie brigade") who would insist that certain station features were an absolute must-have, even when grossly impractical due to environmental conditions. He would regularly suggest to them that the sun was only allowed to shine when they stood up from their chairs... (Well that's a polite translation of what he said.)
They have the geometric advantage that once you know them, you don't even need to be close enough to read them to know the destination. (Good for people with old eyes.)
Had I lived in London as a child, I'm sure I would have spent years assuming that "Not In Service" was a mysterious and wonderful actual destination, much as I spent that time thinking that "To Be Announced" in the TV listings was a very intriguing program that I never quite managed to catch and always wanted to.
@@AtheistOrphan At six or seven, I probably would've thought "do not alight here" had something to do with a prohibition on setting fires, which would have seemed like a weird sort of thing to have to tell people not to do at a train station.
I think I rode through Not In Service on the Elizabeth Line a couple of weeks ago (the Bond Street station has platform signs that say something like that).
@@ZGryphon "Alight" is one of those glorious verbs that has largely been made redundant by our obsession with what linguists call "Phrasal Verbs" or "Multi-word verbs" - in this case "Get Off". Personally I think Alight sounds much better than Get Off but young people, who now seem to have the power to shape our language, can mostly only cope with single-syllable words, ideal for texting or WhattsUpp.
Plot twist: Underground trains to Olympia are so rare because they'll only appear for anyone it deems worthy to take them on a journey back in time to Olympia in ancient Greece. And you know it's gonna be a Jago Hazzard classic when Charles Yerkes is mentioned
@@goatgamer001 The railway was certainly open a few years ago. Olympia is the terminus of a line from the port of Katakolon, where cruise ships call, and the station is close to the site of the ancient games. If visiting on a cruise, the train is the easiest, best and almost certainly cheapest way of getting to Olympia, although the service is infrequent. I found the staff friendly and got what amounted to a cab ride in the railcar.
My favorite funsies that stations and airports do is when they decide to keep their Solari board operating instead of switching to a screen. Everyone knows about the big one at Frankfurt Airport, but if you really want to be in Solari board heaven, you gotta go to Secaucus Junction in New Jersey. Because THERE, they have SEVEN specific Solari boards for the different lines that stop there! Meaning instead of the typical black Solari board, they're all different colors like purple for the Pascack Valley Line and green for the Morristown Line. The station's been open since 2003 so the boards are newer than you think.
They're unfortunately gone, but for a long time Ljubljana main station in Slovenia used only solari boards. Unlike the ones at airports that have separate letter by letter cards it had a single card for each possible destination. It was fun to see all the places they thought a train might run to someday. Because we all know that it's only a matter of time before the train between Ljubljana and 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands specifically becomes a natural part of our daily lives. :)
I well recall the Solari boards in Grand Central Terminal, but there is a small one (6 rows) in a brew pub here in Toronto that is used to announce what beers they have on offer.
BR replaced the Solari indicators as spares had to come all the way from Italy and it was taking too long. Perhaps Solari have depots in Germany (closer to Italy anyway).
I like the way the Underground leaves many old features in place, including useable seating, unlike many other railway lines and in particular bus stops, where the modern seating is a cruel joke, especially in bad weather or when you have limited mobility. I miss the flipping noise for mainline station indicator boards.
I was once given a behind-the-scenes look at the equipment that drove these on the District Line in the late 1970s. The movement was powered by weights and a pulley/drum. Apparently when the system failed once the incident report had the reason given as "string broke"!!
@@surreygoldprospector576 That'll be one of the "memory drums". A solenoid would be activated after each train had left the station and the drum would be allowed to rotate (driven by the weight and pulley) to the next position, presenting the next 4 sprung loaded studs. The previous set of studs would be reset.
Wish I could have a day long tour about the tube with Jago, he seems to know everything! It's been quite nice to look at stations and realise as I pass them that I'm privy to knowledge about their history others may be unaware of thanks to Jago
I'd love if on every train you could tune in to a bluetooth channel and get an audio description by Jago, with snippets of information that you never knew you needed to know. Every station of course having a more detailed history, and perhaps even a museum shop where one can buy Charles Yerkes Strap on Mustaches?
When I worked for BR I lived just behind Olympia station and often went off for a drink with the chargehand in the Hand & Flower up on the bridge, he was a long time friend of my father and had just about the cushiest job on BR with no BR trains back then save the post workers shuttle and they all exited other side and the occasional exhibition traffic but LT preferred to put one of their own on the platform. If I missed the last booked train to Olympia from Clapham I had to either hope Stewarts Lane were sending something through or shank's pony and trust me crossing that bridge at 2am during a storm is NO joke. Sometimes when ringing up Clapham box to let them know I was on the line walking through they would tell me a freight was coming through and put a red up for me to clamber aboard, drivers were all OK thx to me father and also my class 33 driving uncle and I would be in uniform as well, quite a few knew me dad and uncle and most offered me a heartfelt welcome brew too :)
Back in BR days I was one of a gaggle of traincrew who'd taken stock to a suburban depot and wanted a ride back to base rather than waiting for the service car an hour or so later, and as usual one of us phoned the 'box and asked the bobby if there was anything about. "Sure!", he said, "Get over to the signal and I'll stop the next one in about 10 minutes". He did, and we got on. Only it was the TPO, and TPOs stopping out of course rang alarm bells... There was quite a bit of management bunfighting for the next couple of weeks, though we got away with nothing more than a bollocking for using an unofficial walking route!
They used to let you play with one of these at the London Transport museum. God, that was my favourite thing in there and probably a diagnosis of neurodivergence, judging by the amount of time I spent on it... To operate it, you had to turn a brass 360 degree dial with an arrow to the destination, which were engraved on plates arranged in a circle, if you turned it too quickly it sort of overshot the destination and kept turning... Then you pull a small brass lever on the side of the instrument, kind of like a fruit machine in Vegas, but a much smaller arm. And then the arrow on the big board changes. The only thing that seems to have changed on the Earl's Court one is that "Not in Service" used to be "SPECIAL", which I kind of preferred... Brilliant video, thanks.
I remember these indicators well; good to see they are still there. I don't recall 'Gunnersbury' as a destination though, and can't imagine it is often needed (unless line beyond to Richmond temporarily closed). I do have memories of a 'Special' indication (if not at EC then on indicators elsewhere) and am sure it was lit-up for one of the Q-stock Farewell tours in 1971.
I used to visit Earl’s Court a number of times for gigs back when I was a lad and I remember how easy it was to work out which platform I needed thanks to these. Glad they are still there!
What I like about these boards compared to what's available elsewhere in the network is that you can see these from way down the platform. So you can wait in the right place on the platform for your destination station and still see the indicator board.
May I offer my deepest sympathy to the entire UK 🇬🇧 on the loss of Queen Elizabeth II. You have all of America's sympathy. She was much admired by all.
As much as it pains me so to do, and since this is a piece about directions, I feel it necessary to point out that the branches shown on the map are geographically reversed. The branch to High Street is to the east of Earl's Court and that to Addison Road is to the west. Other than the mislabelling an excellent pointer to the vagaries of surviving District Railway equipment.
Seriously uncanny. I was admiring these last week. I hadn’t been to EC for a while and looking at them brought back so many memories for me from decades past. I really appreciated that they were still there. Lovely to see your video on them. Your ‘arrowing quip is just awesome! The indicators and monarchy, oh the comfort of continuity! God save the King 👏🏽
In the early 70's, the District Line trains still had destination indicator lights on the front of the driving cabs. Westbound arriving trains had different indications for Wimbledon, Ealing , Richmond and Hounslow - yes, District ran to Hounslow in those days! Living in Hammersmith, any westbound except Wimbledon would get me home.
Ha ha! “Arrowing experience” I got that! Not an English native speaker. But that was witty! Just love how the London Underground keep so much quirks from days past, like these signs. History is important. Also, my condolences to Great Britain and the common wealth for loosing your queen. The gracious long lasting regent. Loved by so many, even missed by Apple. Look at their website today making tribute to her outstanding legacy.
I have very fond memories of this station, as this was my regular interchange station on my first trip to London, and my lodgings were in the Fulham-Broadway area.... These signs definitely gave the station a distinct charm!
I enjoyed staying in the Earl’s Court area in 2019. Our hotel backed right up to this station. That echo of the trains in the big hall brought back memories 😊
The famouse clocks at Flinders Street Station used to be turned by an employee with a wooden pole. When it was planned to replace them with vacuum tubes there was a big outcry. The old wartime reference "see you under the clocks" was a nostalgic reminder and people were emotionally attached. It was decided to dismantle one to see if the clocks could be electrically driven and so they remain with hands turning to show the next train time. The clock dials are shown at the station entrance and not at the platforms. There were about a dozen of them one for each line.
I miss the wonderful mechanisms That were in use before the advent of dot matrix and video screens. I know, I know; maintenance, power, maintenance. Europe had more than the US. It was fun to watch the indicators flip around to shift everything up for the next train. Solari boards, that's the name.
I was of those who thought they had disappeared for good, i had read somewhere that they had become obsolete as they couldnt be converted to new tech... Glad to see them back working again 😊😊
I'm so glad you finally made a video about these. I have fond memories of these indicators, particularly in 2014 when I was trying to chase down the last remaining C Stock trains and set out after hearing rumours that they'd all been taken out of use, and the indicator lit up for "PARSONS GREEN" and i knew instantly that this was a C Stock. I have noticed they have since removed "Putney Bridge" off the indicators after refurbishment, as now of course the terminus platform/sand drag at Putney Bridge was removed after the C Stock was retired. So glad these still remain as I too assumed they were being removed after they were covered up
Take the arrow,it points toward Harrow! Definitely a farmers friend! Plow on Jago,and there are furrows that follow the District Lines!! Thanks for letting me,get a few bad puns in,and you are,as usual,greatly appreciated 👍! Now for a slight change of pace! The Long Island Railroad had a system at Jamaica for posting the various lines operated,and the used a signage operation,that was then unique! There were boxes mounted near the tracks,which were manually moved by using a hook to show the destination outbound of the approaching train! During rush hour,the platform personnel were doing a real dance,and with trains,operating on 5 minute headways,it was a sight to see! Hopefully,there is on UA-cam,somebody's movies of the 1950's/1960's Jamaica Station rush hour fantastic ballet! Thanks for your time and effort,Jago,there is so much history that remains to be shown,and appreciated! Thank you 😇!!
Do you mean Jamaica, Queens? Or the actual country Jamaica? Because believe it or not Jamaica did actually have a railway system to carry passengers......
@@maryapatterson Yes,ma'am,Jamaica,Queens,the Long Island's hub of traffic! And yes,I know of Jamaica,the island,as there were two operations that were present! One was the regular passenger and freight operator,and there was a bauxite mining operation! Since I,at the present time,have no access to any maps,or books,I can't say,whether or not,any system is still going or not!! Thank you for your attention ☺️! ☺️!
@@roberthuron9160 Apologies.I should have explained not all Brits know there is a Jamaica, Queens in New York although most will know of Jamaica in the Caribbean. Sorry I should have explained myself better☺️.
@@maryapatterson As the old saw goes,NO PROBLEMA! With the decided lack of geographic knowledge nowadays,it does get,for some,a trifle confusing,and the schooling,or lack thereof,shows! I'll be honest,and say,basically,I still have a ton to learn,and every time,I look at UA-cam,or reread a book,I find out a lot of overlooked items! At heart I'm still 16,and my schooling has never ended,and I was very blessed to have been published,but that's another matter! By the way,your current resume,is pretty impressive,may you prosper,and grow in your passions and pursuits! Every one,at some stage,or another has to do an apprenticeship,so you're on your way,and you'll be a journeyman before you know it!! Thanks for your attention and diligence!! Thank you! 😇
Earls Court without the blue destination boards would be like Tower Bridge without HMS Belfast, Greenwich without the Cutty Sark, Wimbledon without posh conceited tw@ts, or Wembley without the Twin Tow…ummm…big round bendy thing. So I am delighted to see them back there. And yes, like most children of a certain age and disposition, I found them fascinating and still do. Simple idea but brilliantly executed and thus, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 🤷🏻♂️ Splendid stuff 😎👍🍀🍻
Many a times as a youngster visiting my relatives in London I waited at earls court waiting for a seemingly never arriving Wimbledon bound train, great video Jago as ever!
Especially when the D Stock trains still had silver unpainted aluminium bodies, as well as the C Stock. However, the atmosphere was even better in the 70's when CO/CP and R Stock trains were in service, along with the unpainted aluminium C Stock
Or in the 50s and 60s when there were mixed 1923/27/35 stock with the odd Q38 carriage included. I can even remember going through Earls Court on an F stock train with their oval end windows before they were transferred to the Uxbridge branch of the Metropolitan line. Happy days!!
I always took note of those signs at Earl's Court. I'm glad to hear they're listed and won't be replace with a screen that alternately tells me which Spiderman movie is on Netflix.
Brilliant, thank you very much. I have been seeing these since I used to travel via EC sometimes at rush hours and often waited for the rolling out of the rush hours stock (from Parsons Green) towards Putney Bridge and Wimbledon. From memory, pre-way clerestory roof examples, now in the TfL Museum at Acton. Another world. So good to see them being returned to active usage and connected into the new signalling system.
As a Chelsea fan, many hours on the platform waiting for the indicator to point to Wimbledon to get to Fulham Broadway. It's weird symmetry the indicators date back to 1905, the same year Chelsea was founded :)
I visited London some years back, and had to change at Earl's Court to get to my hotel. I was floored by the complexity of those signs, and since it was the first station I saw outside Heathrow, it definitely coloured my impression of the network.
My last trip to London was around 1990. I vaguely remember one of the stations, which I believe was on the District Line had these types of indicators, but instead of backlit arrow pointing to the destination, the destination was itself backlit. I am not sure which station it was. I really liked seeing a lot of this "old fashioned" station signage at the time. If you watch the music video for the Paul McCartney song "Press", you can see a lot of old Tube station stuff from around that era. I watch that video when I want some good memories of the time when I was there.
Normally the easiest way to find out where a train is going is to ask the driver. At Earls Court (mostly Westbound) the answer is not a clue. Any delay to service for whatever reasons (and there are many) , and the destination can change from Richmond to Ealing Broadway , Wimbledon To Olympia , and any hope that a Wimbledon Service wont actually terminate at Parsons Green ( and used to be Putney Bridge Too ), would soon be lost once you arrived at said places, the probablility of such short terminating inveresly proportional to the inclemency of the weather
I used to travel a lot on the Piccadilly Line and when two trains from the Rayner's Lane and Heathrow branches arrived at Acton Town, it was pot luck as to which train would leave for central London first. Sometimes drivers wouldn't know, and sometimes trains wouldn't leave because they couldn't find a driverto take over. Once, when my and another train arrived, we were told that the other train would depart first. Some people on my train switched to the other, but I couldn't be bothered to move. Then, for some reason, they changed their minds and decided that my train was going to leave first. The doors closed, and those poor buggers who had just switched trains were left behind.
@@pbworld7858 Did you ever travel in South London in Connex days? Trains announced that never appeared. Trains announced as cancelled that turned up anyway. Oh what fun we had (baggy trousers not required).
When Mansion House Station was closed for refurbishment a few years ago, the reversing facilities were still available on the now trackless Platform 2 there, and a couple of trains were still scheduled to turn back there in the peaks. Pasengers could not be taken there though, as the exits were closed, so the plates on the boards at Earl's Court were amended to read "Blackfriars!"
Funnily enough, my wife was talking about these the other day. Wherever we're down seeing relatives, we usually change at Earl's Court, and she was always fascinated by the old style signs.
Another great video Jago. Brings back my many years in Earl's Court. Always loved those signs and am very glad to hear they are grade two listed. An old friend informed me that they had removed the signs and I was quite sad. This video has made my day, especially after yesterday's very sad news.
Aha what a Friday afternoon in the Big Smoke that’s London here is Jago Hazzard giving us a historical in depth analysis of the district line & the worlds famous Earls Court station, yes I said worlds famous !
I remember when the old indicator boards were removed from Barons Court, on the pretext of of cleaning them. When they eventually came back they didn't work! Eventually the westbound one sort of worked. The eastbound one took a while longer to recover from it's ordeal. Unfortunately, I don't know why, the destinations no longer appear as clearly as they once did.
When I visited London in June i thought it was sad tha they were covered up with a message to look at the other indicators. Good to know it was just for a refurb!
When I was an apprentice electrician / electrician for LUL in the mid 80s to early 90s I worked on a few of the older train describers. Admittedly most of it was "vandalism" , i.e. cutting down the old describers to be replaced by the new dot matrix ones that had only just start to be introduced. Yes, sorry, but I was only following orders from Signal and Electrical Dept management to do it ! I never worked on the old ones at Earls Court, but I did work on the old huge ones at Baker Street Metropolitan line platforms that go out to Wembley Park. They sat in the middle of the platforms. On those I was actually fixing them, rather than just removing them. Yes they used fluorescent tubes. It was "fun" wiring, and quite unlike regular fluorescent tube wiring. The elements at each end of the tube needed to be permanently "pre heated" with a small electrical current all the time. Even when the light was off. This was I believe was to enable quicker switching, and probably to make them work better in cold weather. Fluorescents don't like working when it's cold ! I haven't been to Baker Street in quite a while , I guess they've now been removed . Sigh ! (They weren't removed by ME !) I'm sure I spied the old Metropolitan Baker Street train describers in one of your other videos, in the LT Museum. Finally I'd have thought these days, the Earl's Court ones would have been refurbished with LEDs, but I don't have a clue, they could still be using fluorescents with pre heaters for all I know !
I was happy to see the indicators return to full functionality. The TARDIS is still my favourite part of Earl’s Court though. Apparently it was built by Underground engineers from the nearby Lillie Bridge Depot, although I’m not sure how true that is.
I have been thru that station the last time i was in London, and i was puzzled about why they were still there. So i am glad you did a video. Thanks Jago!
I have commuted through EC for thirty years. Was genuinely upset at TfL for this perceived act of cultural violence. I was wrong. Happy to see them back and that they are protected.
I love those boards and every time I go past I just hope they never update to new! Be nice to keep some old tube stuff down in the tube rather than only in a museum.
I'd love a video on how the power was done for the underground. Where the power stations were, and the building of those. Nowadays they're run from the national grid, but in times of old, there were separate power stations for each line, etc., as you've hinted at before.
We are the Jibber to your Jabber. (Unless we're on a westbound platform, in which case we are your Jabber to your Jib... I'm going to have a lay down. NURSE! Meds please!)
Very nice video, I did spot these indicators at Earls Court on my trip last year when I made a quick change to go towards Wimbledon for the Croydon trams. :)
Great indicators in 1905, and still the best, clear and simple. No doubt in 1905, South Harrow was one of the destinations, so Jago could enjoy an 'arrowing experience to South 'Arrow.
Great topic. Lovely old things those. By the way, it would be interesting to see a video about the Queen's use of the Underground. Obviously she opened various lines. I wonder if she ever went on it for any other reasons?
That's right mate - she opened the Victoria Line and drove the first train. Her army training as a mechanic would have assured the driver had the train broken down!
Are the analogue indicator boards I made for the Sydney rail system in the late 60s and 70s considered antique these days? As far as I know they've been all pulled down by now. Damn those LCD displays.
Say the line, Jago!
"It's time for the obligatory appearance of Charles Yerkes..."
YAAAY!!
Uncredited cohost.
I drink a shot every time Yerkes is mentioned. I’ve gotten quite drunk during some of Jago’s films.
Yerkes and excruciating puns. It's why we're here.
@@thehaprust6312 The Jago and Yerkes show sounds like a TV cartoon show I would eagerly have watched when I was younger 😅
I'm sure some viewers are here for the trains. Some are here for the history. Some may just be here for the soothing ducet tones of Mister Hazzard's velveteen voice. But I, for one, come for those horrid puns that lurk in wait and leap out at passing dialogue and earning a Groan-Out-Loud, which is like a LOL but exponentially rarer.
Please, don't ever change.
Dulcet, I think. It's somewhere in South London with a few stations like East Dulcet for example.
I am here for All Of The Above.
@@Clivestravelandtrains Metropolitan and Dulcet...
Old they may be, but they work and can be read at a distance (unlike so many of their modern route indicators).
How true - only this evening was I at Dalry station completely unable to read the platform monitor as the sun was shining on it! Railway managers seem to inhabit offices where the sun never shines, or at least they seem unaware of the sun's existence.
@@Clivestravelandtrains I knew a very senior manager with one of the train operating companies. He was a hairy handed engineer and had a very low opinion of the marketing department (aka "fluffy bunnies" or "pink bow tie brigade") who would insist that certain station features were an absolute must-have, even when grossly impractical due to environmental conditions. He would regularly suggest to them that the sun was only allowed to shine when they stood up from their chairs... (Well that's a polite translation of what he said.)
@@18robsmith not he from the cure?
They are very useful. So no snide comments.
Don't you dare replace them, Citizen Khan
Finally a Jerkes reference! I have missed him for a while on the Chanel.
They have the geometric advantage that once you know them, you don't even need to be close enough to read them to know the destination. (Good for people with old eyes.)
Had I lived in London as a child, I'm sure I would have spent years assuming that "Not In Service" was a mysterious and wonderful actual destination, much as I spent that time thinking that "To Be Announced" in the TV listings was a very intriguing program that I never quite managed to catch and always wanted to.
Plus of course several stations named ‘Do not alight here’ and the quaint (if seemingly temporary) villages of ‘Loose Chippings’.
@@AtheistOrphan At six or seven, I probably would've thought "do not alight here" had something to do with a prohibition on setting fires, which would have seemed like a weird sort of thing to have to tell people not to do at a train station.
I think I rode through Not In Service on the Elizabeth Line a couple of weeks ago (the Bond Street station has platform signs that say something like that).
@@ZGryphon "Alight" is one of those glorious verbs that has largely been made redundant by our obsession with what linguists call "Phrasal Verbs" or "Multi-word verbs" - in this case "Get Off".
Personally I think Alight sounds much better than Get Off but young people, who now seem to have the power to shape our language, can mostly only cope with single-syllable words, ideal for texting or WhattsUpp.
@@Clivestravelandtrains I know what it means NOW, Professor, I was talking about when I was seven. :)
Plot twist: Underground trains to Olympia are so rare because they'll only appear for anyone it deems worthy to take them on a journey back in time to Olympia in ancient Greece.
And you know it's gonna be a Jago Hazzard classic when Charles Yerkes is mentioned
there is a railway in ancient Olympia and it's open for tourist purpose
there is a railway in ancient Olympia and it's open for tourist purpose
The Earl’s Court rule: the later you’re running, the more likely it is that the next train goes to Olympia.
It's a good thing Yerkes didn't learn how to zap anyone with his electrical contacts.
@@goatgamer001 The railway was certainly open a few years ago. Olympia is the terminus of a line from the port of Katakolon, where cruise ships call, and the station is close to the site of the ancient games. If visiting on a cruise, the train is the easiest, best and almost certainly cheapest way of getting to Olympia, although the service is infrequent. I found the staff friendly and got what amounted to a cab ride in the railcar.
My favorite funsies that stations and airports do is when they decide to keep their Solari board operating instead of switching to a screen. Everyone knows about the big one at Frankfurt Airport, but if you really want to be in Solari board heaven, you gotta go to Secaucus Junction in New Jersey. Because THERE, they have SEVEN specific Solari boards for the different lines that stop there! Meaning instead of the typical black Solari board, they're all different colors like purple for the Pascack Valley Line and green for the Morristown Line. The station's been open since 2003 so the boards are newer than you think.
i enjoy the clacking of a solari board.
They're unfortunately gone, but for a long time Ljubljana main station in Slovenia used only solari boards. Unlike the ones at airports that have separate letter by letter cards it had a single card for each possible destination. It was fun to see all the places they thought a train might run to someday. Because we all know that it's only a matter of time before the train between Ljubljana and 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands specifically becomes a natural part of our daily lives. :)
I well recall the Solari boards in Grand Central Terminal, but there is a small one (6 rows) in a brew pub here in Toronto that is used to announce what beers they have on offer.
Gone also were the clacking departure boards at Euston main line station from c. 1968.
BR replaced the Solari indicators as spares had to come all the way from Italy and it was taking too long. Perhaps Solari have depots in Germany (closer to Italy anyway).
I love when historic details like these signs are kept and even still used. One of the many wonderful things about the Underground.
I like the way the Underground leaves many old features in place, including useable seating, unlike many other railway lines and in particular bus stops, where the modern seating is a cruel joke, especially in bad weather or when you have limited mobility. I miss the flipping noise for mainline station indicator boards.
When God was a boy, I worked with the original mechanical 4 bit memory drums and four way slate relay boards that drove these.
I was once given a behind-the-scenes look at the equipment that drove these on the District Line in the late 1970s. The movement was powered by weights and a pulley/drum. Apparently when the system failed once the incident report had the reason given as "string broke"!!
@@surreygoldprospector576
That'll be one of the "memory drums". A solenoid would be activated after each train had left the station and the drum would be allowed to rotate (driven by the weight and pulley) to the next position, presenting the next 4 sprung loaded studs. The previous set of studs would be reset.
Wish I could have a day long tour about the tube with Jago, he seems to know everything! It's been quite nice to look at stations and realise as I pass them that I'm privy to knowledge about their history others may be unaware of thanks to Jago
@A. Fox pretty sure!
I'd love if on every train you could tune in to a bluetooth channel and get an audio description by Jago, with snippets of information that you never knew you needed to know. Every station of course having a more detailed history, and perhaps even a museum shop where one can buy Charles Yerkes Strap on Mustaches?
Hi Jago - I think this wonderful comment and replies is maybe a massive hint for a podcast(!)
You are the business idea to my multi-million pound media expansion
When I worked for BR I lived just behind Olympia station and often went off for a drink with the chargehand in the Hand & Flower up on the bridge, he was a long time friend of my father and had just about the cushiest job on BR with no BR trains back then save the post workers shuttle and they all exited other side and the occasional exhibition traffic but LT preferred to put one of their own on the platform. If I missed the last booked train to Olympia from Clapham I had to either hope Stewarts Lane were sending something through or shank's pony and trust me crossing that bridge at 2am during a storm is NO joke. Sometimes when ringing up Clapham box to let them know I was on the line walking through they would tell me a freight was coming through and put a red up for me to clamber aboard, drivers were all OK thx to me father and also my class 33 driving uncle and I would be in uniform as well, quite a few knew me dad and uncle and most offered me a heartfelt welcome brew too :)
Back in BR days I was one of a gaggle of traincrew who'd taken stock to a suburban depot and wanted a ride back to base rather than waiting for the service car an hour or so later, and as usual one of us phoned the 'box and asked the bobby if there was anything about. "Sure!", he said, "Get over to the signal and I'll stop the next one in about 10 minutes".
He did, and we got on. Only it was the TPO, and TPOs stopping out of course rang alarm bells...
There was quite a bit of management bunfighting for the next couple of weeks, though we got away with nothing more than a bollocking for using an unofficial walking route!
Seen them many times.... Always regarded them as an expression of "If it aint broken, don't fix it"
Used to live in Earl’s Court in the mid 80s - went back last year and was thrilled to see these boxes still there
Plus there is a Tardis outside 👍
They used to let you play with one of these at the London Transport museum. God, that was my favourite thing in there and probably a diagnosis of neurodivergence, judging by the amount of time I spent on it...
To operate it, you had to turn a brass 360 degree dial with an arrow to the destination, which were engraved on plates arranged in a circle, if you turned it too quickly it sort of overshot the destination and kept turning...
Then you pull a small brass lever on the side of the instrument, kind of like a fruit machine in Vegas, but a much smaller arm.
And then the arrow on the big board changes.
The only thing that seems to have changed on the Earl's Court one is that "Not in Service" used to be "SPECIAL", which I kind of preferred...
Brilliant video, thanks.
I remember these indicators well; good to see they are still there. I don't recall 'Gunnersbury' as a destination though, and can't imagine it is often needed (unless line beyond to Richmond temporarily closed). I do have memories of a 'Special' indication (if not at EC then on indicators elsewhere) and am sure it was lit-up for one of the Q-stock Farewell tours in 1971.
Distinctly arrowing experience- I get the feeling I sat through that whole video so Jago could make a bad pun.
I think that's an accurate description of all of Jago's videos and one of the main reasons why we all like them!
this always makes me happy when I'm changing at earls court they're so charming
I used to visit Earl’s Court a number of times for gigs back when I was a lad and I remember how easy it was to work out which platform I needed thanks to these. Glad they are still there!
What I like about these boards compared to what's available elsewhere in the network is that you can see these from way down the platform.
So you can wait in the right place on the platform for your destination station and still see the indicator board.
May I offer my deepest sympathy to the entire UK 🇬🇧 on the loss of Queen Elizabeth II. You have all of America's sympathy. She was much admired by all.
As much as it pains me so to do, and since this is a piece about directions, I feel it necessary to point out that the branches shown on the map are geographically reversed. The branch to High Street is to the east of Earl's Court and that to Addison Road is to the west.
Other than the mislabelling an excellent pointer to the vagaries of surviving District Railway equipment.
You beat me to it.
And me…
The Hammersmith and West Brompton branches are also in the wrong positions, relative to each other...
@@davidconnor2458 Shouldn't the WB branch be going south on the map?
@@pbworld7858 Not as a diagram when it's the terminus. If the line to Hammersmith was shown then yes.
I'm convinced Jago made this entire video as a pretext for that one joke at the end.
Used to go through EC on way to Wimbledon back in the 80s. The Next Train indicator was a godsend 👍
Was that another glimpse of the elusive Jago reflected in train windows in the closing shot?
Alfred Hitchcock, Colin Dexter, Jago Hazzard: kings of cameo!
I'm sure there was simply a bearded chap standing next to him who also happened to be filming the same train ;)
Seriously uncanny. I was admiring these last week. I hadn’t been to EC for a while and looking at them brought back so many memories for me from decades past. I really appreciated that they were still there. Lovely to see your video on them. Your ‘arrowing quip is just awesome! The indicators and monarchy, oh the comfort of continuity! God save the King 👏🏽
In the early 70's, the District Line trains still had destination indicator lights on the front of the driving cabs. Westbound arriving trains had different indications for Wimbledon, Ealing , Richmond and Hounslow - yes, District ran to Hounslow in those days! Living in Hammersmith, any westbound except Wimbledon would get me home.
District service to Hounslow (latterly rush-hour only) was discontinued by about 1965.
Ha ha! “Arrowing experience” I got that! Not an English native speaker. But that was witty! Just love how the London Underground keep so much quirks from days past, like these signs. History is important. Also, my condolences to Great Britain and the common wealth for loosing your queen. The gracious long lasting regent. Loved by so many, even missed by Apple. Look at their website today making tribute to her outstanding legacy.
I have very fond memories of this station, as this was my regular interchange station on my first trip to London, and my lodgings were in the Fulham-Broadway area.... These signs definitely gave the station a distinct charm!
I enjoyed staying in the Earl’s Court area in 2019. Our hotel backed right up to this station. That echo of the trains in the big hall brought back memories 😊
One of my memories of visiting Earl's Court in 1971 includes the old lifts, no doubt retired many years ago.
"a truly arrowing experience" :)
The famouse clocks at Flinders Street Station used to be turned by an employee with a wooden pole. When it was planned to replace them with vacuum tubes there was a big outcry. The old wartime reference "see you under the clocks" was a nostalgic reminder and people were emotionally attached. It was decided to dismantle one to see if the clocks could be electrically driven and so they remain with hands turning to show the next train time.
The clock dials are shown at the station entrance and not at the platforms. There were about a dozen of them one for each line.
I miss the wonderful mechanisms That were in use before the advent of dot matrix and video screens. I know, I know; maintenance, power, maintenance. Europe had more than the US. It was fun to watch the indicators flip around to shift everything up for the next train.
Solari boards, that's the name.
In these days of modern technology, it's nice to know that the Earls Court I knew in the 1960s still looks and feels the same today.
I was of those who thought they had disappeared for good, i had read somewhere that they had become obsolete as they couldnt be converted to new tech... Glad to see them back working again 😊😊
I'm so glad you finally made a video about these. I have fond memories of these indicators, particularly in 2014 when I was trying to chase down the last remaining C Stock trains and set out after hearing rumours that they'd all been taken out of use, and the indicator lit up for "PARSONS GREEN" and i knew instantly that this was a C Stock.
I have noticed they have since removed "Putney Bridge" off the indicators after refurbishment, as now of course the terminus platform/sand drag at Putney Bridge was removed after the C Stock was retired. So glad these still remain as I too assumed they were being removed after they were covered up
Take the arrow,it points toward Harrow! Definitely a farmers friend! Plow on Jago,and there are furrows that follow the District Lines!! Thanks for letting me,get a few bad puns in,and you are,as usual,greatly appreciated 👍! Now for a slight change of pace! The Long Island Railroad had a system at Jamaica for posting the various lines operated,and the used a signage operation,that was then unique! There were boxes mounted near the tracks,which were manually moved by using a hook to show the destination outbound of the approaching train! During rush hour,the platform personnel were doing a real dance,and with trains,operating on 5 minute headways,it was a sight to see! Hopefully,there is on UA-cam,somebody's movies of the 1950's/1960's Jamaica Station rush hour fantastic ballet! Thanks for your time and effort,Jago,there is so much history that remains to be shown,and appreciated! Thank you 😇!!
Do you mean Jamaica, Queens? Or the actual country Jamaica? Because believe it or not Jamaica did actually have a railway system to carry passengers......
@@maryapatterson Yes,ma'am,Jamaica,Queens,the Long Island's hub of traffic! And yes,I know of Jamaica,the island,as there were two operations that were present! One was the regular passenger and freight operator,and there was a bauxite mining operation! Since I,at the present time,have no access to any maps,or books,I can't say,whether or not,any system is still going or not!! Thank you for your attention ☺️! ☺️!
@@roberthuron9160 Apologies.I should have explained not all Brits know there is a Jamaica, Queens in New York although most will know of Jamaica in the Caribbean. Sorry I should have explained myself better☺️.
@@maryapatterson As the old saw goes,NO PROBLEMA! With the decided lack of geographic knowledge nowadays,it does get,for some,a trifle confusing,and the schooling,or lack thereof,shows! I'll be honest,and say,basically,I still have a ton to learn,and every time,I look at UA-cam,or reread a book,I find out a lot of overlooked items! At heart I'm still 16,and my schooling has never ended,and I was very blessed to have been published,but that's another matter! By the way,your current resume,is pretty impressive,may you prosper,and grow in your passions and pursuits! Every one,at some stage,or another has to do an apprenticeship,so you're on your way,and you'll be a journeyman before you know it!! Thanks for your attention and diligence!! Thank you! 😇
Earls Court without the blue destination boards would be like Tower Bridge without HMS Belfast, Greenwich without the Cutty Sark, Wimbledon without posh conceited tw@ts, or Wembley without the Twin Tow…ummm…big round bendy thing. So I am delighted to see them back there. And yes, like most children of a certain age and disposition, I found them fascinating and still do. Simple idea but brilliantly executed and thus, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 🤷🏻♂️
Splendid stuff 😎👍🍀🍻
Many a times as a youngster visiting my relatives in London I waited at earls court waiting for a seemingly never arriving Wimbledon bound train, great video Jago as ever!
Back in the days of the D stock, it was one of my favourite stations for atmosphere.
Especially when the D Stock trains still had silver unpainted aluminium bodies, as well as the C Stock. However, the atmosphere was even better in the 70's when CO/CP and R Stock trains were in service, along with the unpainted aluminium C Stock
Or in the 50s and 60s when there were mixed 1923/27/35 stock with the odd Q38 carriage included. I can even remember going through Earls Court on an F stock train with their oval end windows before they were transferred to the Uxbridge branch of the Metropolitan line. Happy days!!
I caught the Yerkes once after a weekend in Amsterdam
I always took note of those signs at Earl's Court. I'm glad to hear they're listed and won't be replace with a screen that alternately tells me which Spiderman movie is on Netflix.
It great to see such old kit still doing it's job.
Brilliant, thank you very much. I have been seeing these since I used to travel via EC sometimes at rush hours and often waited for the rolling out of the rush hours stock (from Parsons Green) towards Putney Bridge and Wimbledon. From memory, pre-way clerestory roof examples, now in the TfL Museum at Acton. Another world. So good to see them being returned to active usage and connected into the new signalling system.
As a Chelsea fan, many hours on the platform waiting for the indicator to point to Wimbledon to get to Fulham Broadway. It's weird symmetry the indicators date back to 1905, the same year Chelsea was founded :)
I visited London some years back, and had to change at Earl's Court to get to my hotel. I was floored by the complexity of those signs, and since it was the first station I saw outside Heathrow, it definitely coloured my impression of the network.
My favorite station on the whole tube network, thanks for this Jago !
My last trip to London was around 1990. I vaguely remember one of the stations, which I believe was on the District Line had these types of indicators, but instead of backlit arrow pointing to the destination, the destination was itself backlit. I am not sure which station it was. I really liked seeing a lot of this "old fashioned" station signage at the time. If you watch the music video for the Paul McCartney song "Press", you can see a lot of old Tube station stuff from around that era. I watch that video when I want some good memories of the time when I was there.
5:26 "...a distinctly 'ARROWING experience." I have no words!🤣
Normally the easiest way to find out where a train is going is to ask the driver. At Earls Court (mostly Westbound) the answer is not a clue. Any delay to service for whatever reasons (and there are many) , and the destination can change from Richmond to Ealing Broadway , Wimbledon To Olympia , and any hope that a Wimbledon Service wont actually terminate at Parsons Green ( and used to be Putney Bridge Too ), would soon be lost once you arrived at said places, the probablility of such short terminating inveresly proportional to the inclemency of the weather
I used to travel a lot on the Piccadilly Line and when two trains from the Rayner's Lane and Heathrow branches arrived at Acton Town, it was pot luck as to which train would leave for central London first. Sometimes drivers wouldn't know, and sometimes trains wouldn't leave because they couldn't find a driverto take over. Once, when my and another train arrived, we were told that the other train would depart first. Some people on my train switched to the other, but I couldn't be bothered to move. Then, for some reason, they changed their minds and decided that my train was going to leave first. The doors closed, and those poor buggers who had just switched trains were left behind.
@@pbworld7858 Yes, in my time I’ve played “Train Roulette” at Acton Town too!!
@@pbworld7858 Did you ever travel in South London in Connex days? Trains announced that never appeared. Trains announced as cancelled that turned up anyway. Oh what fun we had (baggy trousers not required).
"...a distinctly arrowing experience."
Back on top form, sir!
Charles Yerkes definitely needs his own theme song. My suggestion is the Dragnet theme.
Or maybe the Darth Vader march!
@@heatherjones6647 it's actually called The Imperial March.😁
"An 'arrowing experience"! Outstanding!
When Mansion House Station was closed for refurbishment a few years ago, the reversing facilities were still available on the now trackless Platform 2 there, and a couple of trains were still scheduled to turn back there in the peaks. Pasengers could not be taken there though, as the exits were closed, so the plates on the boards at Earl's Court were amended to read "Blackfriars!"
Jago at his best again..."Arrowing experience"👍🤣
Funnily enough, my wife was talking about these the other day.
Wherever we're down seeing relatives, we usually change at Earl's Court, and she was always fascinated by the old style signs.
Yeah, I remember those from about a million years ago when I bought bucket-shop airline tickets from Trailfinders on the Earls Court Rd.
Love the way at 5.10 the newer digital display is having a hissy fit while the good old analog one just works!
There is also a very nice train indicator at Uxbridge. The whole station is worth a visit anyway.
Another great video Jago. Brings back my many years in Earl's Court. Always loved those signs and am very glad to hear they are grade two listed. An old friend informed me that they had removed the signs and I was quite sad. This video has made my day, especially after yesterday's very sad news.
Aha what a Friday afternoon in the Big Smoke that’s London here is Jago Hazzard giving us a historical in depth analysis of the district line & the worlds famous Earls Court station, yes I said worlds famous !
Love your videos where you point ▶️ out interesting facts about the underground and railways.
brilliant brought back a lot of good memories
as someone who cant see very well i prefer these old boards, i struggle to sea the dot matrix but the old ones are really clear for me
Arrowing experience indeed! You creative wordsmith!
Is seen those tons of times but wondered why they were there, thanks for the fantastic explanation
I really like those indicator boards, they have an ageless elegance to them. Well worth a video!
I remember when the old indicator boards were removed from Barons Court, on the pretext of of cleaning them. When they eventually came back they didn't work! Eventually the westbound one sort of worked. The eastbound one took a while longer to recover from it's ordeal. Unfortunately, I don't know why, the destinations no longer appear as clearly as they once did.
There are also some lovely old platform indicators at Uxbridge
When I visited London in June i thought it was sad tha they were covered up with a message to look at the other indicators. Good to know it was just for a refurb!
When I was an apprentice electrician / electrician for LUL in the mid 80s to early 90s I worked on a few of the older train describers.
Admittedly most of it was "vandalism" , i.e. cutting down the old describers to be replaced by the new dot matrix ones that had only just start to be introduced. Yes, sorry, but I was only following orders from Signal and Electrical Dept management to do it !
I never worked on the old ones at Earls Court, but I did work on the old huge ones at Baker Street Metropolitan line platforms that go out to Wembley Park. They sat in the middle of the platforms.
On those I was actually fixing them, rather than just removing them. Yes they used fluorescent tubes. It was "fun" wiring, and quite unlike regular fluorescent tube wiring. The elements at each end of the tube needed to be permanently "pre heated" with a small electrical current all the time. Even when the light was off. This was I believe was to enable quicker switching, and probably to make them work better in cold weather. Fluorescents don't like working when it's cold !
I haven't been to Baker Street in quite a while , I guess they've now been removed . Sigh ! (They weren't removed by ME !)
I'm sure I spied the old Metropolitan Baker Street train describers in one of your other videos, in the LT Museum.
Finally I'd have thought these days, the Earl's Court ones would have been refurbished with LEDs, but I don't have a clue, they could still be using fluorescents with pre heaters for all I know !
Have a favourite photograph from the 70s of 'The fruit Bowl' kiosk on platform 3&4
Arrowing experience. Thank you!
I really love those indicators
Good morning, at 5:38 a moderately successful reflective reveal of our presenter
I was happy to see the indicators return to full functionality.
The TARDIS is still my favourite part of Earl’s Court though. Apparently it was built by Underground engineers from the nearby Lillie Bridge Depot, although I’m not sure how true that is.
I saw a video of an antique train indicator in my country. Fun to compare it with this.
That's exactly the spot I was standing last night, when the Queen's passing was announced.
I have been thru that station the last time i was in London, and i was puzzled about why they were still there. So i am glad you did a video. Thanks Jago!
Lovely..i would always stare at these when at Earls Court.
I have commuted through EC for thirty years. Was genuinely upset at TfL for this perceived act of cultural violence. I was wrong. Happy to see them back and that they are protected.
At 1:19 you got High Street Ken and Addison Road the wrong way round, no? The HSK branch is to the east of Earl's Court, and Olympia is to the West.
YES Yerkes!!!
I love the arrows at Earl’s Court, long live the arrow boards.
They're just charming. Glad they've survived.
I love those boards and every time I go past I just hope they never update to new! Be nice to keep some old tube stuff down in the tube rather than only in a museum.
That pun at the end, laughing & groaning.
I'd love a video on how the power was done for the underground. Where the power stations were, and the building of those. Nowadays they're run from the national grid, but in times of old, there were separate power stations for each line, etc., as you've hinted at before.
We are the Jibber to your Jabber. (Unless we're on a westbound platform, in which case we are your Jabber to your Jib... I'm going to have a lay down. NURSE! Meds please!)
I love these indicators, I wish they where all over.
Very nice video, I did spot these indicators at Earls Court on my trip last year when I made a quick change to go towards Wimbledon for the Croydon trams. :)
Congrats on making such an interesting video about train indicators; can't have been easy! Enjoyed watching 🙂
Great indicators in 1905, and still the best, clear and simple.
No doubt in 1905, South Harrow was one of the destinations, so Jago could enjoy an 'arrowing experience to South 'Arrow.
Great topic. Lovely old things those. By the way, it would be interesting to see a video about the Queen's use of the Underground. Obviously she opened various lines. I wonder if she ever went on it for any other reasons?
That's right mate - she opened the Victoria Line and drove the first train. Her army training as a mechanic would have assured the driver had the train broken down!
Are the analogue indicator boards I made for the Sydney rail system in the late 60s and 70s considered antique these days? As far as I know they've been all pulled down by now. Damn those LCD displays.
Back in the 1980s some of the destinations were replaced with plain blue panels (can't remember which now). Glad to see them all back again.
Always gives me a little frisson to see my home station on the Earl's Court board...
I used to love the flip-down station signs. Sadly, they're long gone. So I can see why losing the illuminated ones would be an 'arrowing experience.