THE DEVELOPMENT OF LONDON’S UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS

Dennis O. Marsh CONTENTS

PREFACE

TRAVEL IN MID VICTORIAN LONDON

THE TWIN LINES Early Days. This line is opened.

Unforseen difficulties. The “Circle”

completed. Interchange. Travel

on the Metropolitan. Signalling.

Manchester_Paris via the Metropolitan.

Electrification. Early Stock.

Attenda The Twin Lines in literature.

LOCOMOTIVES ON THE MET. AND DISTRICT

MORE TWIN LINES HISTORY

CITY AND SOUTH LONDON RAILWAY

GREAT NORTHERN AND CITY RAILWAY

CENTRAL LONDON RAILWAY Extensions

TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION

LONDON ELECTRIC RAILWAYS WATERLOO AND CITY RAILWAY

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STOCK

APENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MAPS

The Metropolitan Railway

The District Railway

The Northern Line

The Central London Railway and Central Line

Lines incorporated into the London Electric Railway

The Baker Sytreet and Waterloo Railway

The Piccadilly Line

Central Line Extensions.

North East London Works.

The Development of London’s Underground Railways By [Dennis O Marsh] Copyright © G&RM Clayton Ltd, 2017

Published by: G & RM Clayton Ltd, 33 Point Wells Road, R D 6, Warkworth, New Zealand 217]

ISBN 978-0-9951013-0-2 (EPUB) ISBN 978-0-9951013-1-9 (MOBI/Kindle) ISBN 978-0-9951013-2-5 (PDF) \MAPS

PREFACE

In outlining the development of London’s complex system of sub-surface communications I have I believe “broken fresh ground”.

Of necessity my account is sketchy, for within the compass of a few thousand words I can only convey the merest impression of the conditions which created a need for a revolutionary form of infra-metropolis transport to supplement the Hackney carriage and the horse drawn omnibus.

The early days of the Metropolitan Railway have bequeathed a rich legacy of anecdotes with a character of their own. We may indeed dismiss jocularly the story of an elderly lady of ample proportions who found it necessary to alight from a narrow Third Class compartment in reverse. The guard saw her in this position, half in and half out of the compartment, and concluded that she was trying to board the train - so he gave her a helping push. It is said that she travelled the whole Inner Circle, being pushed back into the train at each station before the guard realised his mistake.

An able raconteur in manipulating the above story to the detriment of the Metropolitan and the amusement of his audience can however scarcely exaggerate the engineering achievements which alone have made possible the rapid circulation of London’s ‘traffic throughout twenty-four hours of each day.

Today the London Underground system is an indispensable factor in the life of the Capital. Over a quarter of a million use it daily as a means of getting to work and as many again take advantage of its speed as a convenience when shopping or going to the theatre. To the rustic and foreigner it remains ‘an inexhaustible source of mystery and confusion and there are some among them who will not venture on the Northern alone.

It is perhaps justifiable to claim that the early development of the Metropolitan and the more recent extensions of the Northern, Piccadilly and Central Lines have influenced very considerably the structure of suburban society. For this reason alone London’s Underground Railways merit attention.

St. Pauls, Cheltenham. D.O. Marsh. May l953 TRAVEL IN MID-VICTORIAN LONDON

In the London streets of the eighteen fifties, slow moving horse-drawn traffic jammed the main thoroughfares, impeded the infrequent omnibuses and made a journey from the West to the East End of the City a trying ordeal of an hour or more.

That great authority of Victorian travel G.A. Sekon says, “Many who remember the London streets before the motor era will have unpleasant recollections of their filthy conditions during and after rain, also during the lengthy period of drizzle and humidity. Despite the sweeping of the roads and shovelling up the liquid mud into vans, to cross the road meant getting splashed with mud, perhaps from head to foot, whilst the boots were invariably soiled.” There were no wooden blocks and no asphalt paving and although some of the chief arterias had granite “setts”, the ruling type of road was macadam which, in the absence of steam rollers was not of the best.

For many years the main London termini at Paddington and Euston had been linked only with regular coaching inns which ran services to and from the stations in accordance with train arrivals and departures. However a sudden boon amongst the omnibus companies following the 1851 Exhibition saw the building of a great network of routes across London and by July 1857 there were bus services in operation on ninety-six routes in the Metropolis.

In connection with daily city traffic, the L.G.O.C ran services from Paddington to London Bridge - a journey of an hour and ten minutes. An alternative route ran to London Bridge via Oxford Street. Although these omnibuses were scheduled to run in conjunction with train arrivals they were not nearly numerous enough or sufficiently rapid in transit to make them an-efficient means of conveyance to the commercial centres of London.

In addition to the delays caused by traffic congestion, the horse-drawn omnibuses, which at most held twenty-two seated passengers, were by no means an acme of comfort. On the buses operated by the L.G.O.C. seating accommodation was narrow and cramped. The floor was generally covered with a thick layer of straw - dry and clean every morning, but in wet weather damp, dirty and smelly for the rest of the day. Those travelling on the outside had to climb to the roof by a series of iron rungs on the right of the door and endure the vicissitudes of a London winter without protection. There being but few stopping places, the bus’s progress was further impeded by aged or corpulent prospective passengers who, hailing the bus as it passed, proceeded to stagger heavily towards it with a complete disregard for the stringencies of the timetable.

1 Owing to the taxing nature of the work done the horses required to be changed at frequent intervals and this again involved at least another delay in the journey.

Under these circumstances the growth of West London suburban dormitory towns such as Wembley, Harrow, Ealing and Hounslow in the l84O’s and l85O’s threw an increasingly heavy burden upon the already taxed resources of the numerous but poorly organised omnibus operators.

What had caused this bottleneck at the terminii ? The is manyfold but several factors stand out as having considerable bearing on conditions. Since the Greenwich Railway had blazed the trail in 1836 from London bridge to Deptford, to be followed in l837 by the London and Birmingham from Euston, the Londoner had nurtured a decided taste for setting up house in the then country suburbs around London. On the latter line Harrow was originally the first station out of London but the Directors quickly saw the advantages opening intermediate stations at West London Junction, Willesden and Sudbury. The G.W.R. in 1838 had-opened a line from Paddington to Maidenhead with intermediate stations at West Drayton, Ealing, and Hanwell and later Southall., In the east the Eastern Counties Railway had constructed a terminus at Shoreditch and from thence ran two lines, the first to Cambridge via Lea Bridge, Tottenham, Marsh Lane and Edmonton. The other line ran to Colchester with intermediate stations at Mile End, Stratford and Ilford.

In South London services had by 1840 been extended to Norwood and Croydon and other lines serving New Cross, Forest Hill, Sydenham, West Croydon and Epsom. And so the suburbia of Kipps and Mr Porter and all their kind so admirebly portrayed by Wells and Grossmith. In many parts of the Home Counties lines that were eventually to become predominantly used for the conveyance of suburban traffic were originally built as direct links with provincial towns and the suburban “halts” followed later. It was a case of the population following the railways and not vice versa. Later, as the bus companies extended their route tentacles further into Middlesex, Essex, and Surrey the railways retaliated by opening suburban lines “proper” to places such as Enfield and Ongar, Finchley, Caterham, Uxbridge, etc., etc. With competition maintaining the efficiency of the services provided both by road and rail the City clerk and his family moved into the comparatively open countryside around London and no longer did the legions of workers who quitted their City desks at five o’clock join their friends for the walk home. The pedestrian camaraderie of the 1830’s had vanished for ever and in its place were roads congested by streams of horse vehicles, a large number of which were plying between Terminus and terminus, terminus and City.

2

THE TWIN LINES

Early Days.

For the conception of a sub-surface connection between the main-line terminals and the City, thousands who daily use the Metropolitan and District Lines have to thank one Charles Pearson, a City Solicitor who first put forward this suggestion for “relieving the congestion of London’s Streets”. Previously a number of engineers had formulated a series of impracticable solutions among which were plans to build a great overhead Crystal Way of glass, and another to drain the Regents Park Canal and substitute a railway. These suggestions however included no solution to the necessity for having to remove a considerable amount of property in order to make way for the railway. Most of the proposed routes lay over built-up land and the compensation demanded by land and property owners for the demolishing of buildings was often exhorbitant and altogether prohibitive to the construction of a surface or elevated line.

Fortunately Pearson was a man of outstanding vision and undaunted perseverance and in 1851 he commenced his efforts to persuade both the public and influential concerns that his solution to London’s traffic problems was the only one practicable in the circumstances. From the public itself he had little support and even the 500,000 city clerks and business men who daily endured the acute discomfort of a journey across the Metropolis were loath to commit themselves to a scheme which involved, so they claimed, every risk of asphyxiation in a confined space. The Great Western Railway however saw matters from a different point of view. For many years this railway had conveyed an ever increasing number of daily passengers to Paddington, whence they had set out both for the city business houses and other main-line railway terminals. Here now was an opportunity to extend that coverage into the City an ambition which had occupied the minds of the directors of the Company since 1835. Also interested were the L.C.C. who added £200,000 to the Great Western Railways already promised investment of £l75,000. In 1853 the North Metropolitan Railway was incorporated by Act of Parliament and later in the same year a Bill was passed authorizing them to construct a line between Edgware Road and Battle Bridge (King’s_Cross) and it required four further Acts in order to extend the line to that visualised by Mr. Pearson in his original ‘memorial’ to the Metropolitan Board of Works which spoke of the ‘Fleet Valley Trunk Line’ of 3 1/2 miles to run between Victoria Street (Paddington) and Farringdon Street. Intermediate stations were to be built at Edgware Road, Baker Street, Portland Road, Gower Street and Kings Cross, all of which due for completion before l858. The engine sheds were to be situated at Edgware Road. At Paddington, the Bishops Road site was adopted after tentative proposals for a terminus in Praed Street had been considered and rejected.

4 Actual construction work began in l860 and within 2 1/2 years the first section (Paddington to Farringdon Street) had been completed. Construction of this first section was undertaken on ‘cut and cover principle’ which broadly speaking consisted of excavating a trench to the required level of the track bed, lining’ the walls with brick, arching the roof of the tunnel, and finally buildingup to normal surface level. Although this method of construction made chasms of certain streets and must have curtailed the passage of traffic in their immediate vicinity, it was nevertheless the only solution to a problem created by the fact that the railway was driven through a highly developed commercial area with then the highest rateable value in the country. The line ran beneath Marylebone Road and Euston Road to Kings Cross, where for the time being it terminated in an open space conveniently evacuated by the City Cattle Market which had been transferred from Farringdon Street to Islington. Here ample space was provided for a large station and facilities to cope with the proposed but not yet constructed Smithfield Meat Market.

Despite the great care exercised in its construction the owners of famous business houses situated along the route were undoubtedly perturbed by the hitherto centred constructional operations which were taking place before their eyes. In 1862 an indignant letter was sent to the North Metropolitan Company which complained of the “structural defects indirectly caused by the digging of an enormous ditch”

Nevertheless with the backing of the Corporation of London and the Great Western Railway, the line was pushed further east.

The actual route, gradients and depth of tunnels were determined both by the presence of buildings, the physical features of the ground and the layout of sewer and water main systems. It is here interesting to notice that many travel daily on the Metropolitan system without realizing the extent to which the line undulates within the space of even one mile. Most of this first section of the Met. line was however constructed on a level 60 feet above that of the Thames and most of the difficulties encountered were the outcome of lack of experience in this new form of railway engineering.

The chief hazard encountered was that created by mains and sewers and in this connection the River Fleet was the worst. Once a pleasant stream it had long since been enclosed and utilized as a sewer. In 1862 a section of the sewer was damaged and the Met. tunnel was flooded to a depth of 10 feet as far as King’s Cross. Considerable silt was removed from the Met. Tunnel before work could be re- commenced and in the words of C. Baker “the tunnels lined with eight course bricks were a magnificent example of civil engineering. As the tunnels were constructed but a few feet below surface level no elaborate system of ventilation was required.

5 6 Stations were ventilated by means of brick-lined ducts opening onto the platform. Between stations “blow-holes” were cut at intervals, usually along the roof of the tunnel and ending in a grill-covered orifice neatly arranged to form the basis of a road traffic island between two carriageways. This system of ventilation had precedent, one well-known example being the old L.B. & S.C.R. line outside Dover. Where the line reached insufficient depth to warrant covering, cast iron struts were placed against the retaining walls and spanning track. Today these have largely been replaced by steel girders which are specially protected against the damage caused by oxidization.

In accordance with an early agreement the line was first of all going to be worked with G.W.R. stock and yet while this was being prepared the directors of neither company had appreciated the difficulties of running broad gauge stock in the Met. tunnels. In fact the carriages proved to be of such width that passenger doors could not be opened in an emergency without fowling the tunnel walls. In addition some friction had been aroused between the governing body of the Met. and the G.W.R. over the former’s insistence that the line should have provision for running narrow gauge stock. Eventually the G.W.R. agreed to the adding of a third running rail. Before discussing the opening ceremony and early days of the Met. it is interesting to note that by no means all parties were agreed as to the form of motive power to be adopted and in this connection the proposals of Mr.,later Sir James, Fowler, Consultant Engineer to the North Metropolitan Railway who first proposed that the trains might be run on the atmospheric principle. He proposed the use of compressed air to draw specially adapted stock through the tunnel by means of suction on an attached shield or piston flanged with rubber and fitted snugly to the tunnel walls. This scheme was in fact put into operation for conveying parcels under-ground from the North Western Post Office in Seymour Street to the London Chief Post Office at Mount Pleasant. Success of this enterprise was however short lived because the compressed air leaked continuously through the tunnel joints. It was the failure of this scheme which induced Fowler to abandon the idea.

Fowler then conceived the operation of steam traction employing locomotives constructed without a firebox. “The Railway Magazine” for April 1902 gives an interesting account of the design construction and trials conducted with this locomotive. Construction began in the latter half of 1857 and the first locomotive was completed for a total outlay of £4,518. The constructors, Messrs. Robert Stephenson & Co, of Newcastle-on-Tyne expressed their lack of faith in the design namely of a six wheel, single drive locomotive with a plain cylindrical boiler charged with hot water and steam and gradually raised by means of pre-heated fire bricks to a steam pressure of 120 per sq. in. On trials carried out over G.W.R. metals in 1858 the process of raising pressure required three hours. It is interesting to note an extract from the report of the Met. engineer in charge of proceedings. 7 “On the return journey the dampers were closed and the exhaust brought into the condenser. The vacuum was 7 lbs., but in 12 minutes the steam came out of the delivery pipe of the air pump mixed with boiling water. During this time pressure had fallen from 120 lbs. per sq. in. to 80 lbs. per sq. in. and the fire bricks had assumed an almost black appearance (their heat was maintained by pre-ignited coke)”.

In effect the engineer’s report damned the locomotive utterly, firstly because it was impossible to raise sufficient pressure to haul even a light train through a gradient of l in 100, secondly one charge of bricks was insufficient to maintain working pressure for more than 20 minutes or so, and thirdly because it was unsafe to run a Westinghouse steam pumped vacuum brake off such unreliable pressure. For these and other reasons the project was abandoned. An illustration of this interesting but singularly unsuccessful locomotive appears on page 6.

Eventually the line was ready (Bishop’s Road to Farringdon Street). The official opening of the line took place on Friday, 10th January 1863. On the previous day Farringdon Street was the centre of festivities, both stations were gaily decorated and a banquet was held in honour of Mr. Gladstone who had consented to formally declaring the line open. Previous to the ceremony an inspection was made of the line by Met. Directors, Shareholders and Engineers and the Directors of the contracting Company, Messrs. Smith and Knight.

The Line is opened.

Several interesting accounts of the opening of this first section of line are in existence. The most reliable if a rather matter-of-fact report appeared in the ‘Times’ on Monday, 12th January 1863. “On Saturday morning (the 10th) the Metropolitan (Underground) Railway was opened to the public and many thousands were enabled to indulge their curiosity in reference to this mode of travelling under the streets of the Metropolis. The trains commenced running as early as six o’clock in the morning from Paddington and by nine it was equally evident to the authorities that neither the locomotive power nor the rolling stock at their disposal was at all in proportion to the requirements of the opening day.

From this time and throughout the morning every station became crowded with anxious travellers who were admitted in sections, but poor were the chances of a place to those who ventured to take their tickets at any point below Baker St., the occupants being with very rare exceptions “long distance” or ”Terminus” passengers. This circumstance tended to increase the numbers at every station every minute until they became sufficient to fill any train of empties which might be sent to overflow, and we believe we are correct in stating that ultimately a number of Great Western Railway narrow gauge carriages as well as locomotives were brought into requisition.

8 Possibly the greatest point of attraction, if the collection of numbers may be taken as a criterion, was King’s Cross which is certainly the finest station on the line throwing even the termini into the shade. At this point during the morning the crowds were immense, and the constant cry as the trains arrived of “No Room” appeared to have a very depressing effect on those assembled ...... and many whose destination was the city took tickets for the opposite direction in order to secure places for the return journey. ‘

At 12 o’clock the clerks informed the public who then numbered five or six hundred at King’s Cross that there were enough people at Paddington to fill ourf trains in succession and their instructions were to issue no Farringdon tickets for an hour. This announcement had the effect of getting rid of very large numbers.

The approaches to the trains at Victoria Station can be compared to no other than the crush at the doors of a theatre on the first night of a pantomime. When the outer doors were opened which was only at intervals, the rush was tremendous and on reaching the ticket office the difficulty of exchanging cash for tickets was an equally difficult task. The platform gained, the next grand struggle was for a seat on the incoming and presently outgoing train. Hundreds on each occasion had to be left behind to their chance on the next train in rotation. Once in motion all appeared to be right and the riding easy”

The journey took 33 minutes which owing to the abnormal conditions prevailing was somewhat longer than had been concluded from train trials held on Jan.7th. Of these the ‘Times‘ said, “Trains were dispatched to every quarter from the terminus at Paddington, commencing at 9.am. and continuing until 2.l5.pm. All the trains kept time punctually. These experiments satisfied the officials as to the efficiency of the means provided for the working of the traffic. About twenty one minutes were occupied by each train in performing the whole distance”.

Unforeseen Difficulties.

In direct contrast to the optimism which attended the ceremony just described was the gradual estrangement between the G.W.R. and the North Metropolitan Company. Within a few months the relations between the owning and working companies deteriorated seriously and in the August of 1863 the G.W.R. took the unprecedented step of giving seven days notice to terminate its agreement. The North Metropolitan had undoubtedly courted disaster by allowing the work of tunnelling and station construction to proceed at a leisurely pace, nevertheless it was now faced with the problem of working a railway without trains. Fortunately the Great Northern Railway stepped into the breach with the loan of narrow gauge rolling stock. Six-coupled tender engines of the Surrock type and some O-4-2 T’s 9

were the Great Northern Railway’s contribution of twelve locomotives. The coaches were no doubt inferior to the ones actually designed for the line. A third rail was hurriedly laid and on October 1st trains from the G.N. and G.W.R. stations began working over the mixed gauge system.

Serious difficulties were quickly encountered. The G.N. locomotives lacked condensers and had poor acceleration. The tunnels rapidly became encrusted with soot and objections to the smoke became persistent, both from employees and passengers. An interesting sidelight is that in 1865 guards, policemen and porters were granted permission to wear moustaches as protection against the sulphurous atmosphere. Many suggestions were put forward to combat this nuisance, such as the laying of a continuous tube along the tunnel to collect the smoke which would be drawn along pipe lines and exhausted into a country district by means of powerful vacuum pumps. Nevertheless the problem remained and it is a serious indictment of the Metropolitan when in 1897 a Board of Trade Committee inquired into the matter as a result of some forthright articles in the “Railway Magazine” which complained of the “ .... evils and discomforts of the atmosphere in the tunnels and the nuisances caused by the blow-holes and ventilators provided”. The findings of the Committee were briefly stated in their report which stated “ ..... we are convinced that pure air can best be obtained with certainty in the tunnels of the Metropolitan Railway by means of electric working”.

In the first three weeks that the line was open from Paddington to Farringdon Street, 29,000 passengers were carried. The traffic returns were encouraging and work went ahead with the driving of the line to Moorgate which was reached on 23rd December 1865.

As explained in the preface, it is somewhat difficult to know where to draw the line in discussing the extensions to the Metropolitan Railway, but we feel mention must be made of the Hammersmith extension, which although a surface line is nevertheless an integral part of the original Metropolitan system. By 1865 it is clear that the directors of the “Met.” had formulated the notion of a circular railway to the City and indeed plans had already been drawn up for the extension of westward connections. However relations with the G.W.R. had by now reached breaking point and the parent company now regarded the “Met” as a rival concern rather than an associate company. Consequently the idea of a line beyond Bishops Road was cornered by the G.W.R. and the Hammersmith Branch was opened on 13th June 1864. A month later a branch was extended to Addison Road (Kensington) by way of a junction at the present Latimer Road Station. It is obvious that the G.W.R. extended this line for-two reasons.

11 (a) To bring urban passenger traffic direct to Paddington and establish a inkl for goods traffic between Paddington and Smithfield by way of Uxbridge (West London Railway).

(b) To establish a connection with the L.B. & S.C.R. line by way of Addison Road. This led to through excursions from Paddington to Brighton in 1906 and 1907.

There seems to have been no desire to co-operate with the Metropolitan in a scheme to provide circular passenger service between the Main Line stations and the City and in 1867 the G.W.R. disposed of their shares to various interested parties. The reason for break between the two railways is somewhat obscure but it undoubtedly had some connection with the Met’s failure to allot shares to the G.W.R. in their Moorgate extension. Fortunately the cessation of close relations between the two companies quickly led to harmony, and a close co-operation between them was restored. The culmination of discussions between the two railways was an agreement to form the Hammersmith and City Railway (1867) to be managed by the two companies and operated by the Met.

By 1875 the Met. extended from Hammersmith to Liverpool St. to Bishopsgate later in the year and in 1876 to Aldgate. What had been foreseen at the outset of the Met. was gradually coming into effect, for the G.W.R. operated a through service from Windsor to Farringdon St. and the Midland, Great Northern and Great Eastern railways were each linked by underground junctions at their respective termini. In addition another through connection was made with the L.B. & S.C.R. at Farringdon St.

So far we have confined our attentions to the development of the Metropolitan Railway. The line already built had linked up the North and Western suburbs with the City but astute financiers were not asleep to the fact that the busiest surface routes were across the capital, from east to west. Admittedly the Met. prospectus included a circular line but the withdrawal of the G.W.R. had compelled the directors to proceed with caution. As a result, a group of enterprising financiers under Charles Tyson Yorkes formed the Metropolitan District Railway with the idea of linking up with the Met’s proposed extension at South Kensington and thereby forming a complete circular railway. The district railway was actually opened from Gloucester Road to Westminster on 24th December 1868 and to West Brompton 12th April 1869 being worked by the Metropolitan until 1871. Both companies extended their lines eastward, the District Railway terminating their’s at Mansion House (1871) and the Metropolitan at Aldgate (1876).

12 The “Circle” Completed.

The “Inner Circle” which now seemed a dream realised was destined for a postponement of eight years before a final link was made between Mansion House and Aldgate. Both companies were unwilling to alone shoulder the immense financial burden of constructing even a short extension which involved the temporary closing of streets in the very heart of commercial London such as the Minories, East Cheap, and Canon Street. In addition the constructing railway would be obliged to purchase and demolish property of an extremely high rateable value belonging to business houses of considerable standing. Whilst the District Railway put forward several alternative solutions the Met’s cause was under the guidance of Sir Edward Watkin and the years passed by before he secured terms and conditions which he considered acceptable to his company. The outcome of prolonged discussions was an agreement between the two companies to each construct a section of what was called the City Line and Extension Railway which finally connected the two Railways between Mansion House and Aldgate in October 1884. In the same year the two railways combined to link up with the old East London Railway Line (incorporated with Met. in 1865) at Whitechapel, thereby establishing links with the East London both at Whitechapel and Shadwell (see map on page 3) and also with the London Brighton and South Coast at New Cross and the South Eastern Railway. In 1884 the East London Railway agreed to lease the whole of their line from Shoreditch to New Cross to a holding company composed of the L.B. & S.C.R. the South Eastern, The London Chatham and Dover, the Great Eastern and the Metropolitan and District Railway each of which exercised running powers. The passenger running was placed entirely in the hands of the Metro-District.

After the District Railway had purchased its own stock in 1871 the Inner Circle was operated jointly in a rather curious manner. Trains running in a clockwise direction (i.e. outer rail) were Metropolitan, whilst anti-clockwise trains were operated by the District. An interval service of half an hour was soon reduced to ten minutes and with the addition of the H. & C. trains a three minute service was provided between Edgware Road and Aldgate. Running time round the complete circle was 70 minutes.

Interchange.

As mentioned elsewhere the Metropolitan Railway was ever anxious in its early days to establish connections with the Main Line railways and encouraged them to obtain running rights over Met. track as far as Moorgate. In actual fact this scheme failed to prove as lucrative as imagined and although the Railway constructed extra lines between King’s Cross and Moorgate, linking the G.N. at King’s Cross, the Midland at St. Pancras (1868), London Chatham and Dover (late Southern Eastern and Chatham) at Farringdon Street,

13

none of the arrangements was any too successful and today it is wholly confined to the exchange of goods at Farringdon between the Southern Eastern and Northern Regions of British Railways. Further pursuing the policy already outlined, the Met. decided to establish contact with both the Midland Railway and the London North Western Railway lines in the Finchley Road area. These two lines terminated at St. Pancras and Broad St. respectively but both Boards of Directors quickly appreciated the increase in traffic which would result from a direct link up with the ‘Inner Circle’. Metropolitan extensions were invariably carried out by separate companies floated for the purpose and later absorbed by the parent company and in this case it was the Metropolitan & St. John’s Wood Railway, incorporated in 1864 which was responsible for building the new line. Where this line was constructed sub-surface it differed from the Circle Line in that separate tunnels were used for the up and down lines. The St. John’s Wood line was opened as far as Swiss Cottage on 13th April 1868 and in 1879 pushed on to West Hampstead and Willesden Green. As will be noted from the map on page the tunnels were projected for a short distance towards a connection with the L.N.W.R. at Finchley Rd. but they were never completed and instead a connection was established with the Midland Railway on October 1st 1880 for the transference of freight. Eventually this line was extended to Brill with-branch lines to Stanmore, Uxbridge, Watford; Chesham and Verney Junction, the Met. leasing track beyond Harrow-on-the-Hill and Uxbridge. Before discussing these extensions let us turn our attention to the early working of the Circle Railway.

As mentioned previously the line was worked by 4-4-0 tank engines constructed by Messrs. Beyer, Peacock & Co. for some 34 years. These locomotives, which are described more fully in the appendix, were uncommon for the period, insofar as they were fitted with condensing gear which gave the driver a means of diverting exhaust steam from the chimney outlet into the water tanks, leaving the tunnels relatively clear of smoke and vapour. A stringent time-table between stations however forced drivers to restrict the condensing to station approaches, etc., due to the fact that blast was considerably impared when the condenser was in operation, and hard- pressed drivers often omitted to employ it at all. ”

The original passenger coaches were somewhat Spartan in appearance and were constructed by the Ashbury Carriage and Wagon Co. They were carried on eight wheels in two bogies-type sections suspended from steel underframes through suitable linkage. Baker gives further information to the effect that “No radial movement of any kind was allowed although considerable ‘play’ was permitted between axle boxes and horn blocks”. The bodies of the coaches were longer than the underframes a feature which tended to give them an insecure appearance. The bodies were composed of teak panels bounded by half round mouldings, a characteristic which was retained until some twenty years later when a coach incorporating a turn under to the sides and ends and rounded corners to the panel mouldings

15 was supplied and carried on “bogies”. There were also some twin-carriages (four wheelers) built in 1870 and these were very similar in appearance to those used on the District (see photograph on page 20).

Travel Conditions on the Met.

Before proceeding to discuss the electrification of the Twin Lines it si interesting to note some impressions of the original Met. The traveller in 1880 would, if he was lucky, ride in a coach supplied with gas illumination; if he was less fortunate, in one lit by oil alone. If he brought a newspaper with him he would be advised to bring a candle and add his glow to that of the other candles brought by other regular Met. users. Later the coaches were lit by coal gas carried in long India-rubber bags housed in a clerestory roof. In l878 the District improved on this method of lighting by substituting oil gas compressed into wrought-iron cylinders hung below the carriage. In 1894 the Metropolitan Railway introduced a “next station indicator” fixed in the roof of each compartment and operated by the guard, but it did not become a permanent feature. One cannot attempt to describe the early days of the Met. without continuously mentioning the amount of discomfort caused by the fouling of the air in both tunnels and stations. In this connection it is interesting to note some remarks made by F.L. Adams, M.I. Mech.E. in a Railway Magazine of l924. “In the old days”, states Adams, “the Metropolitan provided a sort of health resort for people who suffered from Asthma, for which the sulphurous and other fumes were supposed to be beneficial, and there were several regular asthmatical customers who daily took one or two turns ‘round the ‘circle’ to enjoy the, to them, invigorating atmosphere. A courageous gentleman who persuaded the authorities to allow him a journey on the footplate between St. James’s Park and-Mansion House has left an account in which he says that “innumerable blacks filled my eyes and in the impenetrable blackness the driver and fireman all vanished from view”. Beyond Baker St. however the passenger seems to have recovered sufficiently to observe that “the ventilation holes in the tunnel roof gave beautiful effects of light striking into darkness”. Incidentally the journey round the complete “Circle” took seventy minutes which, as it included no less than 27 stops and a locomotive change, was good running in the circumstances.

Signalling.

For the first twelve years of the Met.’s existence signalling arrangements were extremely primitive and consisted of a number of “policemen” who were stationed in recesses in various sections of the tunnel and were responsible for giving , the driver a right of way to the line ahead. Naturally mistakes occurred but nevertheless no fatal injuries were sustained during this period. A special difficulty existed on the single- track stretch between Baker St. and Swiss Cottage where some security

16 against head-on collisions was essential. Before 1880 the up and down trains crossed at St. John’s Wood where a passing loop , existed. A guard or “human- token” accompanied each train over this section and the presence of the appropriate guard, usually distinguished by a brightly coloured hat, ensured a safe journey for a train proceeding over this section. Later wooden staffs were employed. Ordinary semaphore signals were always used on open stretches of line.

In 1880 ‘lock-and-block’ signalling was introduced on the Metropolitan and this replaced the interim absolute-block telegraph system introduced by C.E. Spagnoletti. By 1905 there were 49 signal sections between the junctions at Paddington and Aldgate and most of them were controlled by treadle blocking.

With the advent of electrification the number of trains grew rapidly and the manual-blocking system soon showed itself incapable of coping with the extra traffic. Under Mr. William Willox, an all-electric bar and treadle system was put into operation in 1908 from Praed St. to South Kensington. In this way each train automatically closed and later cleared the section of line over which it ran. A D.C. circuit was employed except at points and junctions where the line became under the direct control of the signal man. In 1909 automatic signalling was extended to Aldgate under the direction of McKenzie Halland and Westinghouse and differed somewhat from the Willox design in that it employed A.C. track circuiting which also operated the points and interlocks in direct conjunction with signals. Later the original section from Praed St. to South Kensington was similarly converted. Developments on the District were of similar nature, the only difference being that pneumatic apparatus was employed to operate points and signals. All this circuiting was on D.C.

In 1913 the Metropolitan introduced mechanically-operated train stops working simultaneously with the movement of signal arms and operating a trip cock on passing trains. In the case of electric stock this would apply the brake and switch off current, and in the case of steam trains it would apply the vacuum and steam but not close the regulator. At first this device was confined to the Harrow line but after the War it was universally adopted by all Underground systems.

Manchester to Paris via the Metropolitan.

No account of the pre-electric days of the Metropolitan Railway would be complete without mention of a scheme propounded by Sir Edward Watkin, Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway from 1872 to 1894 in which he envisaged the Metropolitan as part of a great trunk railway to connect Manchester with Paris via the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, the Metropolitan, the South Eastern, the Channel Tunnel, and the Chemin de Fer du Nord.

17 The Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (M.S.L.R.) was also under the chairmanship of Sir Edward Watkin, an eminent Mancunian and far-sighted railway exponent. The M.S.L.R., later the Great Central Railway had already operated over the G.N. to King’s Cross but the hopes of amalgamation failed and the M.S.L.R. quickly agreed to joining up with the Met. at Quainton Road. In 1898 Great Central trains began running over the Metropolitan track from Quainton Road to Harrow- on-the-Hill and from Canfield Place, opposite Finchley Rd. station ot Marylebone the Great Central constructed its own line. The extent of the Metropolitan’s desire to co-operate with the G.C.R. is evidenced by the fact that between Harrow-on- the-Hill and Canfield Place they constructed a double line for the sole use of the Great Central. North of Harrow the railway became virtually a joint undertaking under a committee. The Metropolitan leased the line from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Verney Junction in 1906 at a rental of £44,000 per annum for 999 years. To safeguard the Met.’s suburban traffic it was stipulated that the lessees should have their first station outside London to the west of the River Brent. Harrow-on-the-Hill was chosen by the G.C.R. 9 1/4 miles from Marylebone on the Aylesbury line, and Wembley Hill 6 1/2 miles from Marylebone when the Neasden-High Wycombe route was opened in 1906. Even today Sir Edward Watkin’s project presents a basis for interesting study and no doubt those who make the journey from the Midlands to Dover cannot but regret the failure of his scheme.

Electrification.

Yet while both the Metropolitan and District Railways continued to make further extensions and embark upon ambitious schemes, it is evident that by the turn of the century the finances of both companies were in a low state. The District in particular had suffered much from the opening of the Central London Railway from Shepherd’s Bush to Bank in July 1900. The London public undoubtedly preferred the clean, smoke free atmosphere of what they were already calling “The Tube” to the begrimed coaches and labouring engines of the District. At a meeting of the District’s Board of Directors in April 1902 Sir Edward Fowler, the Rai1way’s chief engineer made no attempt to obscure the seriousness of the situation and said. _”It need hardly be said that the subject (a proposal to electrify the line) is one involving the Board and Management in great anxiety and responsibility and that much caution is requisite to ensure that the proposed remedy may not be worse than the disease”. He went on to add that “the Board did not need to be reminded that no dividends have been paid to ordinary share-holders and few to preference share-holders and that the bankruptcy advocated by a financial expert at the last meeting was rapidly becoming a reality”. *

* Report in Railway Magazine May 1902

18 The Metropolitan remained in a somewhat better position but their yearly dividend on preference shares fell from 3 ¾ % to 2 ½ % on the opening of the Central London Railway. Since the ‘eighties’ the Directors of both companies had toyed with the idea of electrifying sections of their lines but a sudden decline in receipts and a corresponding reduction in, turnover brought about by the success of the Central London Railway undoubtedly precipitated a further consideration of the matter.

In 1882 the Metropolitan had obtained Parliamentary sanction to electrify, but nothing was done until 1898 when the two railways agreed to spend £20,000 on the electrification of a section of line between Earls Court and South Kensington and this was completed on the D.C. system by 1900. The experiment was successful but the Met. waxing enthusiastic about electrification in general quickly singled out an alternative proposition from Ganz & Co. to electrify the line with 3 phase current. Fowler, now of the District who had at the outset remained firm in his opposition to any form of electrification, was supported in his refusal to consider the Ganz method for the Inner Circle by the American Charles Yorkes who had purchased a considerable portion of District shares. The Ganz system which had been successfully operated at Budapest consisted of a high-tension alternating current which was to be generated at 12,000 volts and broken down by static transformers to 3,000 volts at which load it was to be transferred to overhead conductors. This system was undoubtedly more economical than any other under consideration at the time for it dispensed with the necessity for substations. The Metropolitan who advocated the British Thomson Houston Co.’s low tension direct system were at the beginning more financially sound and better able to force the issue, but the intervention of Mr. Yorkes materially altered the District’s position and enabled them in 1901 to force the difference to arbitration in the form of a Board of Trade Tribunal under the chairmanship of the Hon. Alfred Lyttleton. As a result of their deliberations it was decided that a voltage of 600 should be adopted and a four rail system employed. This was a breakaway from the Central London practice of using a coach rail for the negative return. An electric service from Baker St. to the St. John’s Wood line began on 1st of January 1905 and it was completed on the Circle Line by 24th September 1905. .

Although it is outside the scope of this study to describe in detail the design and functioning of the various power stations erected by the two companies, mention should be made of the Metropolitan’s station sited on the east bank of the River Brent at Neasden. The contract for electrical equipment was awarded to the British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. and work began in 1902. The original generating plant consisted of four 3,500 K.W. alternators, each generating 3-phase current at 11,000 volts 33 l/3 periods. As the demand became heavier additional alternatives were installed the last being in 1937 when three 20,000 K.W. alternators were added bringing the total output up to 87,000 K.W. 19 20 From the outset, sub-stations had been built at Baker St., Neasden itself, Harrow- on-the-Hill, Ruislip, Farringdon, and Gloucester Rd. where rotary convertors provided 600 volts D.C. to sections of the track. The District built their first station at Lots Road.

In all some 26 miles of the Metropolitan was electrified in three years whilst the District took a little longer. All this work was particularly difficult owing to the fact that the line was clear for workmen for only six hours out of every twentyfour. At first a stretch of line between South Harrow and Ealing was electrified for the training of drivers.

A.F. Howson throws interesting light on developments about this time when he says that, “It was as if the authorities wished to wipe the memories of steam trains from the minds of their passengers, for stations and tunnels were given a thorough cleansing of accumulated layers of soot and grime, and there was much re-painting and general brightening up of both lines as soon as possible afterwards”.. The twin lines were eager to make their railways more attractive than those of the competitive tube lines.

Early Stock.

Although specifications of early stock are with others given in the ppendixA it is perhaps essential to give a general description of the first types of electric stock used on the Metropolitan and the District.

The first electric stock to appear on the Twin Lines was that converted from ordinary District bogie stock and operated experimentally by the District and Metropolitan Railways jointly over a section from Earl’s Court to High St. Kensington in 1900. This stock was added to by both railways and was operated together with the first coaches built by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage and Wagon Co. of Birmingham and placed in service in December 1904. Fear of fire risk led the builders to incorporate a large amount of steel into the construction of the bodywork and in the moulding of the external teak panels and the window design American influence was obvious. Entry was by gated platforms but these proved unsatisfactory in service and were early replaced by single sliding doors and later by a central opening door in the centre of each vehicle. The coach was mounted on swivel bogies and a motor drove each axle of the motor bogies through spur gearing between a nose on the bolster frame and suspension bearings on the axle. Although known as “l905 stock” these trains were put into service over a period of three or four years and were of four distinct types. The two companies concerned with the building of the motors were British Westinghouse and British Thomson Houston {B.T.H.) In each case two series-wound traction motors, each of 150 horse-power were mounted in both bogies of each motor car and a total of l,200 horse power was available in a six-car train. 21 20 The first electric cars carried an interesting heraldic device on a raised oval plaque mounted on the lower panels on each side of the coach. Later this device was replaced by a more appropriate emblem consisting of a centre shield, the first quarter bearing the City Arms, and successive quarters the arms of the Home Counties in which the railways operated Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire. Development of District line stock developed along very similar lines and was constructed by the same companies.

ATTENDA

In connection with the Metropolitan extensions through the St. John’s Wood area the following is interesting. The Times, June 1865. “Mr. Alma-Tadema, R.A., leader of a deputation of artists and literary men to the Marylebone Vestry, said that St. John’s Wood was principally inhabited by artists and literary men and scientific men because as a rule they had more and better light, better air, and enjoyed greater tranquillity than they would in any other part of the Metropolis..... All that now endeared the locality to artists would disappear if the railway were made. Artists had built expensive studios which would be ruined by vibration. The Artists of St. John‘s Wood intended to Petition the Royal Academy with a view to inducing them to protest against this railway scheme.

It behoved them in the interests of their successors to preserve St. John’s Wood as a beautiful, open, tranquil place, uncontaminated by railway smoke, and the dust and noise of railway traffic. Major Todd contended that the construction of the railway would reduce the value of property”.

The Twin Lines in Literature.

How did the travelling London view objectively this new subterranean mode of travel. His early qualms are to be found in Punch and are neatly expressed in these two verses.

“I thunder down to work each morn, And some historic shrine Must have its matchless fabric torn To get me there at nine,

And when I gather up my traps, As sundown sets me free, A nation’s monuments collapse, To take me home to tea”.

23 To parody Lord John Manners’ couplet:-

“Let fanes and monuments in ruins lie, But gives us our mobility.”

On July 28th 1900 the following report appeared in the Times re the Ordinary Half Yearly Meeting of Metropolitan Share Holders.

“In acknowledging a vote of thanks the Chairman remarked that the new line which would be opened next Monday - the Central London Railway - might or might not injure this company but it was up to the Directors to see that it did not.”

The Editors of Punch had no doubt in the matter and on Wednesday June 27th 1900 there appeared a cartoon depicting the brilliant fairy “Electra” casting her wand at the snorting and smoke belching ‘Steam Locomotive Underground Demon’ with the words, “Now they’ve seen me, I fancy your days are numbered”.

At best however Punch was a lukewarm supporter of the Underground. The progress of the excavations and the “horrible mess” elicited a growl at the Underground and the delays in the construction of the “Sewer Railway”. It was suggested that Dr. Cumming had found out that the opening of the line would bring on the end of the world before the date he had fixed for that catastrophe; that garrotters had found the excavations a convenient hiding place, and so forth.

And so the Twin Lines continue. Maligned from their very inauguration yet utilised gratefully by many thousands each day, the modern Metadyne stock passes through stations such as Notting Hill Gate which together with so much of the Line are Victorian pieces - still redolent of many yesterdays.

LOCOMOTIVES ON THE METROPOLITAN AND DISTRICT

Mention has already been made of the G.N. locomotives used by the Metropolitan during its first years. The first locomotive to be designed and built specifically for use on the Met. was produced by Messrs. Beyer and Peacock and was in later years designated class A. A number of these locomotives ran for sixty years on the Metropolitan, and all retained their original frames without any repairs being necessary beyond patching in the vicinity of firebox and cylinders, a rare tribute to the engineering skill of the constructors. Built to 4-4-0 specification, the first locomotive was delivered in 1864. With axle horn blocks forged as an integral part of the plate, outside cylinders with Allan Link motion and somewhat clumsy condensing apparatus, they weighed no less than 45 tons. Fowler was strongly criticised in the “Engineer” for building locomotives of a weight 24 out of all proportion with their tractive efficiency, a fact which threw a considerable strain on their vacuum braking. For tunnel work exhaust steam was led by condensor pipes to the tanks, and as the water in them became too hot to be handled by the injectors it was discharged through a large valve below the coal bunker.

The original eighteen locomotives were all named after Greek Gods, Jupiter, Apollo, Pluto, Achilles, etc. and afforded only weather-board protection to fireman and driver. Later these and subsequent models were modified to include tank vent pipes and the riveted sides of the tanks were covered with fire sheet metal to give the locomotive a more pleasing appearance. Throughout this period the locomotives were finished in olive green and remained so until l885 when Mr. Hanbury as Chief Mechanical Engineer ordained that “chocolate” was a better choice. The position of the extraordinary copper dome varied from series to series. By 1908 all locomotives had been relegated to shunting and goods haulage and shuttle work on the Chesham line. The copper dome was replaced by a featureless type placed further back on the boiler. With the advent of electric signalling all locomotives were equipped with Trip Cocks to enable them to operate over electrified sections of the line and shortly after the First World War the final metamorphosis of the “A” class locomotives took place when a cab was added and the ornate safety vents replaced by valves. In this form locomotive number 23 of 1866 worked up until 1948 when it was finally withdrawn from service and committed to York Museum.

Sir Edward Watkin was slow to learn from the weaknesses of the Beyer and Peacock design and insisted on even more surplus power for special locomotives to be built by the Worcester Engine Co. for the St. John’s Wood line. Delivered in 1868 they were of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement and proved extravagant for their duties. After a few years they were disposed of to the Taff Vale and Railways. It is outside the scope of these notes to discuss in detail the various types of locomotives used on the Metropolitan throughout the years, and a few remarks must suffice. Extensions to the Met. were mostly surface and it remained the companies’ policy to use steam locomotives for country sections such as the Aylesbury-Verney Junction section, Aylesbury Bickmansworth and Watford extension. The remainder were all equipped with condensing apparatus and used for goods traffic and on the link-ups with main-line terminii.

Attracted by the 0-4-4 tank engines of the old South Eastern Railway of which Sir Edward Watkin was also Chairman, the Metropolitan commissioned Messrs. Neilson & Co. and later Messrs. Sharp and Stewart to build a series of this type of locomotive between the years 1891 and 1901. The First World War saw the need for the speedy movement of raw materials and finished goods and this led to the development of the F,G,H, and K classes of which F and G have 0-6-4 T arrangement and H-K 4-6-4 T arrangement. An indication of the size and power of these locomotives may be gleaned from the ` table of data given in the Appendix. A number of locomotives in the classes H and K remain in service. 25 26

MORE TWIN LINES HISTORY

At the outset the North Metropolitan Railway was proposed as a means of facilitating the rapid passage of mail between the G.P.O. in St. Martin-le-Grand and the various railway termini; passengers were also to be carried. It was only after the opening of the line that it became obvious that the Railway would be heavily patronised by passenger traffic and the original scheme was modified to shift the emphasis to the conveyance of passengers.

The first ”infra-London” * Railway served the northern and Western districts via the G.W.R. and the Northern inner Metropolis, but though plans were laid as early as 1865 it was many years before the Metropolitan penetrated to the City and West End. The early days of the Metropolitan were then none too easy. The cost and time taken in construction exceeded estimates and receipts fell markedly below expectations. Baker states that “the Ordinary stock dividend estimated to reach l5 per cent in 1875, never exceeded 7 per cent (and that was not paid out of earnings)”. In addition there were still the omnibus which that Railway had set out to kill. The Company therefore decided to tap the Termini - Oxford Circus flow of traffic by adopting the seemingly paradoxical practice of inaugurating a number of omnibus services. The main routes were from Portland Road (Gt Portland St.) to Oxford Circus and Piccadilly and from St. John‘s Wood to Piccadilly. In addition a route was opened from Edgeware Rd. along Oxford St. to Gower St.

The Metropolitan buses were outstanding for their day. Drawn by three horses the coaches were divided into First and Second Class compartments and were adorned by a large red umbrella bearing the inscription “Metropolitan Railway”. All these services had been withdrawn by April 1900.

The District Railway encountered similar difficulties until the completion of the Inner Circle but in this case it was from the river steamboats which were still (1870) operating in some number in the Thames. In fact, as late as 1905 the L.C.C placed a fleet of thirty paddle steamers on the Thames, but by that date the District had gained a hold over the public’s affections and they were soon disposed of at scrap prices.

* G.A. Sekon

29

THE CITY AND SOUTH LONDON TUBE

The City and South London Railway, originally known as the City of London and Southwark Subway, was the first practicable tube railway in the world. “This is a distinction not without disadvantage” writes H.F. Howson for in order to be brought into line with the remainder of the tube system the line had to be completely rebuilt. However its promoters could not be expected to foresee that contingency when they conceived the idea of a tube railway nearly 70 years ago.

By 1880 the City’s internal communications were causing embarrassment. In the preceding 25 years the London population had been increased by nearly half as much again and the total number of passengers carried in public conveyances had multiplied seven-fold. Some of the most crowded highways ran south from the City offices and warehouses and the projection of a line through the old Rotherhithe-Wapping tunnel in 1869 by the old East London Railway did little to relieve the congestion.

What eventually became the City and South London Railway was incorporated to help in solving the surface traffic problem in 1884 with Parliamentary sanction to build a “double subway”. The Act forbade the use of steam locomotives and James H Greathead, the Engineer first intended to use a wire cable drawn by a stationary engine. But before he tunnels had been wholly driven he fatefully adopted electricity. In consequence the intended tunnel of 11/2 miles to run from King William Street, near the Monument in the City to the Elephant and Castle in Lambeth, was no longer restricted to the workable length of a cable. The line was therefore planned to Stockwell.

Work on the cast iron tunnels began in 1886 from a shaft near the Old Swan Pier. By carrying the tunnels 50 feet below the surface the buying of property was rendered unnecessary and overall costs ran out at £240,000 a mile compared with the £800,000 a mile for the Inner Circle, completed in 1880.

In 1890 the City and South London Railway opened for public traffic. Lets recall how “The Times” recorded that momentous occasion. “The new subway” ran the report on Dec.19th 1890, “might be described as a gigantic iron drain pipe, or rather two drain pipes side by side, thrust by main force for three miles into the solid London clay much in the fashion in which the cheesemonger thrusts a scoop into his Cheddar or Gloucester”. There was a need for familiar analogies for did not the report deal with the opening of the first electric Tube railway in the world. The report went on to say that “the completion of the railway marks an epoch in the development of internal communications of London which may perhaps, hereafter, be found to be of even greater importance than the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in 1863

32 The service as opened on 18th December l890 ran between King William Street, Borough, Elephant and Castle, Kennington, Oval, and Stockwell a distance of 3 1/2 miles. Its trains of three bogie trailer cars were hauled at an average speed of 11 ½ miles per hour by 12 ton locomotives.

The railway innovated boldly in more ways than one. Not only was the method of traction new but also the apparatus of booking clerks and tickets first, second, third, single, return, and season was ruthlessly swept away; the Tube offered a single class and single fare.

Passengers put down 2d, passed through a turnstile and entered a lift that lowered them to the platform. There were other unusual features. The sleepers were laid without ballast, chairs were dispensed with and the rails were little more than half the usual weight. Stock: In all there were 52 locomotives built for the C and-S.L Rly. between 1889 and 1901. Nos. l - 14 were built by Messrs Mather and Platt, Nos. 15 and 16 by Siemens and the remainder by Cromptons in conjunction with C.S.L. Rly. itself and Thames Iron Works. A detailed description and plan of a locomotive typical of the Third series appears in the Appendix .

Londoners travelling on the C and S L Rly 60 years ago travelled in stock which was to remain in service until 1922. The locomotives were designed for a perfectly straight run under known conditions and were therefore both simple in design and sturdy in construction with a minimum of fittings which could give trouble. The vehicle was the absolute embodiment of an electric motor on wheels and this factor no doubt accounted for their long life.

The whole line had been bored at a depth never less than 45 ft below surface level and even reaching 105 ft at the Thames crossing. The workshops and depot were situated above ground and could only be reached by the use of an inclined ramp at Stockwell. This method of enabling cars to reach the surface for servicing was however abandoned when a locomotive broke away from the rope by which it was being hauled to the surface and raced back into the tunnel. As a result a lift was installed similar to the one still in use at Waterloo on the Waterloo and City Railway.

Each line had its separate tunnels, which were only 10 ft 21ns in diameter from the City to Elephant and Castle (a relic of the intended cable traction) and from there to Stockwell they were four inches larger.

All the current for the railway was generated in a power house at the Stockwell depot, where three dynamos were belt driven by steam engines which had a massive of 14 ft in diameter. The current was passed through the tunnels by feeder cable to signal cabins at each station, where other cables led to the conductor rails.

33

The stations and passages were entirely lined with white tiles, except where the space was monopolised by advertisements and the effect was, to quote from an old record “to provide a bright and cheerful gleam under the artificial light”.

It is difficult to re capture the atmosphere of Tube travel in the 1890’s for the Londoner has been forever reticent about committing his impressions to paper. Nevertheless snippets of description do come to light and from them we can build a thumb nail picture of some interest. A contemporary writer, speaking of his first experience on the new electric “tube”, states that he saw his train come out of the tunnel “with a roar, emitting sparks from the region of the wheels”. The train would have been made up of a locomotive and three cars each painted a bright yellow with iron-grilled open platforms at each end. Passengers sat on longitudinal padded benches which reached almost to the roof. Surmounting these were small windows, little more than ventilators. For these cars the quick witted Cockney quickly coined the description of “padded cells”. Electric lighting was provided but the fittings were set high up in the roof of the car and with a 1oft interval between each so that only the fortunate who were able to sit directly beneath the low powered bulbs were able to read their morning newspaper, Each train had one car set apart for smokers, but for men only, and notices were displayed warning passengers that they were not permitted to ride on the roofs “on penalty of 40s”. This stock was replaced shortly after the turn of the century by cars of a more salubrious nature, incorporating much larger windows support straps and better styled upholstery.

There had not been unreserved confidence that the tube would justify its cost, but by the end of the first fortnight of its operation 165,000 passengers had eenb carried, and in the first year, 5,363,000. The electric trains ran at thrice the speed of tramcar or omnibus and rather faster than the steam Metropolitan. That was an attraction. Regular travellers on what was the old C. and S.L. Rly. will view with mixed feelings a statement made in the Times of 60 years ago “We may safely assume that trains into the City between 7 and 10 in the morning and out of the City between 5 and 8 in the evening will be as full as they can hold”. In March 1900 “Mr. Punch” is persuaded to travel on the City and South London and relates his experiences on the “Sardine Box Railway”. His complaints sound strangely familiar to the ears of the contemporary Tube traveller.

“After some fine healthy scrimmages ...... we managed in driblets to reach an iron cage which descended rapidly and deposited us alongside a platform. Then after a cheerful hand-to-hand struggle, the strongest or perhaps the craftiest of the combatants managed to enter the train. Directly we started the electric lights, which are supposed to illuminate the compartments, dimmed to an opalescent red, the ‘sardine boxes’ themselves swayed from side to side, and very, speedily I arrived at Stockwell.

35

The line is advertised as the warmest in London. I can cordially endorse this statement “.

The City and South London railway proved such a popular means of conveyance that its owners were really worried about the increasing number of passengers. To keep them within workable limits it was decided to raise the fare between 8 and 10 .am. After re-signalling however this measure proved unnecessary.

The line continued to attract passengers and very rapidly the original station site at King William St. became insufficient to cope with the ever increasing number of passengers. Consequently another site was chosen at Lombard St and the now famous Bank station was built in 1900 leaving the old station deserted at the end of a short spur. So it remained until the last war when it was once again opened and used as a shelter.

As traffic continued to increase in volume it became obvious that the C and S L R would have to be completely modernised and as this would include the enlarging of existing tunnels and stations and the complete re-signalling of the line, the company very wisely decided to amalgamate with the Underground Electric Railways company whose finances were better calculated to meet the cost of inevitable reconstruction. The First World War prevented the immediate carrying out of these schemes and work was not started until 1922. On completion however the old C and S L line was among the best stretches of Tube line in London.

By 1924 the Underground Electric Railway Company decided to link the C. and S. L . with the old Hampstead and Highgate lines at Camden Town, thereby providing a direct link between the suburbs of Surrey and Middlesex. Later extensions and alterations to the line are more fully dealt with in another chapter.

THE GREAT NORTHERN & CITY RAILWAY

Another and extremely interesting component of the present Northern Line is the line between Moorgate and Finsbury Park.Built by a company incorporated in 1892 as the Great Northern and City Railway it was constructed with the object of linking the G.N.R. main line at Finsbury Park with the City near Finsbury Pavement.

Although the sub-surface sections of this line were constructed in the form of a “tube” a shield was constructed to bore a tunnel of sixteen ft. in diameter in order that the line might accommodate British main-line rolling stock. The whole line is only three miles in length. It starts from a tunnel below the old G.N.R. station at Finsbury Park and runs to Drayton Park, partly in the open, and thence in tunnel through Highbury, Essex Road, and Old Street to its City terminus at Moorgate whence connection is made with the Met. by mean of lifts. 37 An extra-powerful Greathead shield was used to drive the tunnels on this line and in order to overcome the nuisance of excessive noise and vibration the cast iron segments of the tunnel wall were lined with blue brick leaving only the roof uncovered. The stations were built to accommodate full length G.N. trains and are therefore rather larger than is usually associated with sub surface railways. Lifts are provided at all stations. A peculiarity of the Great Northern and City was, and indeed still is, the use of ozonised air for ventilation purposes. This gives the stations a most distinctive smell.

Although conceived as a direct connecting line with the G. N.R. the Railway never operated as such and from the outset all electric stock was used. In this connection it is important to note that the Great Northern and City Railway opened its services in 1904 with trains using the “multiple unit system” as designed by an American, Mr. Spague. To modern rail travellers this mode of traction is the accepted standard but at the time of its inception it was an entirely new idea. In effect the multiple unit system is merely the distribution of relatively compact and low powered motors at intervals throughout the train instead as before concentrating it in an electric locomotive or one or two motor-cars.

The line was intended for intensive traffic, fast running, and short station stops, and measures were introduced to facilitate the rapid clearance of stations by crowded trains.

The Railway was on the whole successful and in carried no less than 5,227,000 passengers. Lack of support from the G.N.R. and the resulting limitations placed upon the amount of traffic carried daily by the Railway led it in 1913 to amalgamate with the Metropolitan Railway who at first made few changes except to introduce first- class coaches and convert the system to their own electricity supply and means of distribution via substations.

On the inception of London Transport in 1932 it was decided to replace the original stock with modern “tube” stock and at the same time incorporated the line into the Northern Line Division for purposes of administration, etc. Whether this was a retrograde step or not depends upon the outcome of the 1949-50 expansion programme, which includes considerable changes on and extensions to the original line.

There remains an interesting story in connection with the removal of the obsolete stock from the Great Northern and City Line to the Metropolitan sidings at Neasden.

38 Being too large to negotiate the tunnels between Baker St. and Finchley Rd., it had to be hauled up to the L.N.E.R. by means of a connecting spur at Finsbury Park, from thence it reached Aldersgate St. via King’s Cross. It was then hauled in the reverse direction over the Metropolitan Railway via King’s Cross to Paddington, thence to Acton Town and out to Rayners Lane junction, and eventually back over the Metropolitan to Neasden.

Before leaving the Great Northern and City altogether we must recall a few lines which appeared in Punch in 1900 and could equally be applied to the present day.

“We wage no far-off conflict with Afridi or with Boer, A present peril we must face, our foes are at the door; Brave must he be of heart, and as a flint must set his face, Who in a train at Finsbury Park would struggle for a place”. THE CENTRAL LONDON RAILWAY

It was in 1892 that a group of business men under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Oakley met to discuss the possibility of constructing a sub-surface line running across central London from West to East. Circumstances rendered it necessary to entertain a “tube” as opposed to any other method of tunnelling and initial surveying was commenced in 1894. From the outset work proceeded satisfactorily and at a meeting of shareholders held at the company’s offices on August 4th 1898 Sir Henry Oakley was able to state that the shareholders now numbered 1,594 and that during the half year there had been an accession of 521. He went on to say that “the progress of work has been most successful during the last six months. From Shepherds Bush to the Post Office (St. Paul’s) both lines of tunnels have been completed and the stations have also been finished with the exception of the one at Davies St. (Bond St.) which is, however, well in hand. The greatest difficulties which have to be faced or perhaps it would be better to say the greatest impediment to rapid progress has been met with at Bank Station, where, owing to the immense number of gas, water and other pipes, it has been necessary for the work to proceed slowly and be carefully and safely done. Already the contractors have achieved the removal of three enormous gas mains which were practically the source of supply to the north of London and have housed them in a subway set apart for them below the public subway. The Station tunnels which could not be commenced until that had been carried out are now in hand. The carriages have been contracted for in this country and should be ready in the near future. Next year, say at the end of June, the Board should be able to say that the undertaking is at work.”*

In point of fact Sir Henry was just a year out in his calculations and it was not until July 1900 that the line was opened. The route was from-Notting Hill Gate eastwards to Bank, a distance of some 5 3/4 miles and with such stations as Davies St. (Bond St.), Oxford Circus, and Holborn on its route, serving London’s most famous shopping centres it was assured of a steady stream of passengers throughout the day.

There were several innovations on the Central London Railway which showed that the Directors had noted the deficiencies on other lines. Thus the island-type platform was not used, the platforms being separated by a wall pierced at intervals by cross passages. Where the streets above were narrow the contractors were chary about burrowing beneath buildings so that the tubes were driven on different levels so that they ran one above the other. In station areas the lines switchbacked into and out of stations.. There is a particularly interesting example of this construction at St. Paul’s.

* Morning Post Aug. 5th 1898

40

From the time of its inception the Central London Railway had caused a feeling of disquiet amongst the Boards of other London railways and this reaction is clearly discernable in a report of the Half Yearly Meeting of the Metropolitan Railway on July 27th 1900. The Times reports the chairman, Mr. John Bell, as saying, “In acknowledging your vote of thanks I must remark that the new line which will be opened next Monday - the Central London - might or might not injure this company, but it is up to us to see it does not.” It was some years before the Directors saw the necessity to follow his advice.

On the other hand the Waterloo and City Railway directors welcomed the new line and were only too ready to co-operate in the construction of a connecting subway between their platforms and the Central London Ra1lway’s booking hall.

The Central London Railway was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on July 30th l9OO and an elaborate ceremony took place at Bank Station. From the first day the line proved an immense success and the Company was able to fix a standard fare of 2d for travel over any section of the line and the name “Twopenny Tube” clung to line long after it had been deemed uneconomic to operate such a scheme.

In the matter of light and comfort the Central line trains were roomier than, and far superior, to those of the city and South London but the company followed existing precept in employing electric locomotives to haul their trains . Weighing no less than 43 tons these machines proved efficient but clumsy in service. They occupied considerable platform space unless driven just under the tunnel at the end of each platform, by no means an easy manoeuvre. Their excessive weight caused considerable damage to the track and owners of property above the line complained that vibration caused not only was responsible for breakages of valuable merchandise but in fact was not enhancing safety of the property itself. Whether or not this was an exaggeration was never proved for the locomotives were withdrawn early in 1903. Those who travelled in them however speak of them with something approaching affection. They possessed a stateliness which was lacking in the multiple unit trains.

The first multiple unit trains were undoubtedly based in design on the American built cars in operation on the Waterloo and City, and were in fact trains made up of two motor cars converted from original locomotive trailer stock and converted to take an electric motor together with four trailer cars. Later more trailers were converted to motor installation and distributed along the train to increase speed and acceleration. It is curious that although the switch gear in these cars took up considerable space and for that reason reduced the passenger capacity of each train, the arrangement remained the basis for all subsequent designs until the building of l938 stock for the Northern Line. 42

The Central London Line was extended westward from Shepherd’s Bush to Wood Lane in 1908 in Order to serve the Franco-British Exhibition and eastwards in 1912 from Bank to Liverpool St. In 1920 the line was brought to the surface beyond Wood Lane (White City) to Ealing Broadway

CENTRAL LINE EXTENSIONS (WEST)

When the old Great Eastern Railway constructed its system of branch lines to serve the north and eastern suburbs of London, the company’s planners cannot have visualised the amount traffic with which it would eventually have to deal. Since the first World War the number of office workers coming daily into the City and West End has increased enormously, so much so in fact that in 1920 it was estimated by the L.N.E.R. that 40,000 passengers arrived at Liverpool Street Station between 8 and 9 on each weekday morning. Similar conditions prevailed in West London where the rapidly growing dormitories of Ruislip and Greenford were beginning to tax steam services operated by the G.W.R.

When the London Passenger Transport Board was created by Act of Parliament in 1933 one of its first acts was to set up a Standing Joint Committee with the four main line railway companies. The object of forming this committee was to endeavour to pool the resources, particularly those of a financial nature, of the companies controlling London’s suburban railway system with a view to materially improving the position as quickly and as effectively as possible. Between 1933- 35 the Committee sat frequently and after submitting its plans an agreement was drawn up between the Board, the G.W.R., the L.N.E.R., and the Treasury whereby an “extensive programme of improvements” would be guaranteed by the Treasury to the extent of £40,000,000. This scheme was scheduled to occupy a period of five years and will henceforth be referred to as the 1935/40 scheme.

All extensions, electrifying and re-stocking undertaken by the Board and the L.T.E. since this date is a part of the 1935/40 scheme. The Northern Line extensions to High Barnet, the Bakerloo to Stanmore are both in this scheme and are each discussed in their respective sections.

The necessity for the eastern extensions of the Central Line has already been stressed and indeed if any doubt had existed it must have been dispelled when in 1938 the London County Council announced its intention of creating two substantial satellite dormitories at both Loughton and Hainault, both in South Essex and served by the L.N.E.R. suburban lines. In the west one of the reasons has already been mentioned, namely to cater for the growing populations of Ruislip, Greenford, and to a lesser extent, Acton.

44 Two others which readily presented themselves were firstly to balance the workings in the west with those in the east, and secondly to relieve pressure on the Piccadilly line (see map). Work on this scheme was commenced in 1937 and considerable progress had already been made when hostilities brought work to a standstill.

It is perhaps advisable to deal first with the western extensions principally because it requires no detailed description of tunnelling, etc.

Although the actual extension runs from North Acton to West Ruislip it was decided to dismantle the old Wood Street station which had long served as a terminus for the bulk of the Central London trains and had undergone so many alterations that it was rapidly becoming uneconomical to operate. In its place a new surface station was opened at White City just to the west of the original station. The White City station was in operation long before the dismantling of Wood Street began and passengers passing through on east-bound trains (west-bound trains make a detour of Wood St.) had until a few months ago the eerie experience of seeing the old turntable that was used to turn the electric locomotives of bygone days, the forlorn notices of forgotten excursions, and the old bowshaped timber platforms loom up as vague and misty shapes. At the present time rolling is being housed in the sheds originally built for the Central London Railway rolling stock. .

Beyond North Acton there was until 1938 only a single double track, owned by the G.W.R. and operated jointly by that company and the Board. Already Ealing Broadway trains used its rails and the G.W.R. supplemented this with a considerable amount of steam goods traffic. Obviously this already over-burdened line could not cope, with the additional traffic to West Ruislip and the line was therefore quadrupled in order that the Central line could have the sole use of a pair of tracks. The Ruislip line branches off just west of North Acton and at this point an interesting method is used to speed up train intervals. Instead of the branch off being affected by points, a burrowing junction has been built so that west bound Ruislip trains can diverge from the Ealing line without actually crossing its metals. As far as Greenford the extension runs alongside the main G.W.R. Paddington to Birmingham, main line and it is an almost ironical feature of this line that, although the extension of a tube railway, none of it is in fact underground.

The greatest amount of constructional work carried out on the Central Lines western extension is between Hanger Lane and Perivale where a viaduct has been built over the River Brent. This is followed by three long concrete viaducts and several girder spans to carry the line over the east and west forks of the G.W.R. loop line to West Ealing. Another engineering feature is the plate girder bridge set across West End Lane. 45

Just before Ruislip is the extensive Ruislip Car Depot which houses l6 tracks each with its own 440 yd. long inspection pit.

West Ruislip station is the western terminus of the Central Line and it is from here that the trains set out on their 34 1/2 mile journey to Epping. When the line from Epping to Ongar has been completed this will make the complete line 42 miles in length - a far cry indeed from the original 5 3/4 miles from Notting Hill Gate to Bank.

The Eastern Extension.

The eastern extensions to the Central Line necessarily involved some difficult engineering problems and for this reason alone this section of the line merits particular attention. As in west London the years between the two Great Wars had seen a rapid grouping of population most pronounced in the valleys of the Lea and the Roding. So far (l953) the problem as it affects Lea Valley suburban towns such as Walthamstow, Chingford, Edmonton and Enfield, has not been met by the extension of a London “tube” line although the 1935/40 Working Committee formed to advise on the situation have submitted a new urban line linking the Tottenham-Edmonton area via Finsbury Park and the West End to East Croydon. This line would possibly include a branch from Seven Sisters to Walthamstow. In addition the Committee also recommended the early electrification of suburban lines from Chingford and Enfield. Owing to the War, shortages of raw materials, and administrative indecisions, neither of these schemes has yet materialised. Residents of the Roding Valley area have been more fortunate.

In l933 the Central London Railway and the L.N.E.R. opened discussions about the alleviation of congestion at Liverpool St. by they construction of a Tube directly beneath the L.N.E.R. tracks to Ilford. The competitive conditions then prevailing forced the Central London to abandon the idea and after the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 it was decided that the L.N.B.R. should electrify the existing line. The L.P.T.B. was therefore enabled to turn its attention to operations in the Leytonstone-Woodford-Loughton and Leytonstone-Ilford (Gants Hill) and Hainault area.

Work commenced early in 1937 and the line was scheduled to be opened in 194l .* The Second World War naturally intervened and it was not until December 1946 that the first Central Line train reached Stratford. As will clearly be seen from the map on page the line has since that date been opened in sections until today_(April 1953) the line is fully electrified as far as Epping whence it is linked by L.N.E.R. 2-4-2 steam shuttle with Ongar.

47 From the outset this western extension of the central Line was the subject of much heated controversy. There were many who would have preferred the electrification of the existing L.N.E.R. surface line thereby reducing the bottleneck at Liverpool St. Alternatively the main body of support was for a sub-surface line linking the L.N.E.R. surface line at Leyton with a City and West End route including interchange stations at Stratford and Liverpool St.

The latter plan was adopted and, as already mentioned, work proceeded steadily until the outbreak of war. The first engineering problem to be encountered was at Mile End where the tube rises to sub-surface from deep level through water bearing ground. Owing to the porous nature of the soil it was impracticable to use compressed air and instead the soil was treated chemically in order to consolidate it. Between Mile End and Stratford the line runs through soil rendered water-logged by the numerous tributary steams of the River Lea which abound in this area. To offset this the tunnels were constructed directly beneath the existing L.N.E.R. embankments, the soil only being chemically consolidated where the embankment is broken by bridges. Just west of Stratford where the lines rise to meet the surface railway, the most convenient method of protecting the workings was found in the construction of a Cofferdam or watertight enclosure within which work on constructing the tubes could be proceeded with. `

Work on the Leytonstone-Wanstead section was well under way in 1939 when the imminence of War suddenly created an acute shortage of iron and steel. In order that the line might be proceeded with it was decided to use reinforced concrete segments for lining the tunnels instead of the cast-iron ones generally used. The concrete “substitute” was found to be both lighter and cheaper than iron and less noisy in service and well able to withstand the relatively slight lateral stresses involved.

It was on this stretch of line that the most highly organised schemes ever evolved in the construction of “tubes” were employed for the tunnelling was done with a shield and rotary excavator from forty different points.

With the exception of Loughton, the stations on the Epping branch of the extension were only slightly modified from their previous-form. Approaches and Booking Halls were re-constructed and on the line level crossings were closed but this apart the line remains basically as it was as constructed by the G.E.R. in the 1860s. The Newbury Park extension on the other hand has seen

* I have in fact had sight of 1941 L.P.T.B. printed maps on which the line is indicated as in operation.

48 the construction of several sub-surface stations of an advanced design. The most interesting of these is at Gants Hill where the influence of the Moscow Underground is for the first time seen in this country. It was felt by the L.P.T.B. that more space was needed for passenger circulation at platform level and Gants Hill was selected to be the first example of this new design. The problem of tunnelling such a astv concourse was overcome by driving no less than six small tunnels and eventually dismantling all but the outside linings which now form the walls and roof of the station. (see illustrations in Appendix).

At each of the other stations the surface booking halls are planned to be circular in construction and similar to the one at Arnos Grove. Once again the War has temporarily halted work.

One interesting sidelight remains in connection with this line. I quote from an official L.T.E. report.

“In the Autumn of 1940, when the bombing of London had become severe the Ministry of Aircraft Production approached London Transport with the idea of using underground tunnels as a protection for factory-workers and their machines producing equipment urgently needed by the armed forces. The conversion needed considerable ingenuity. To avoid a long walk for the workers to their machines, new shafts were dug at Cambridge Park and Danehurst Gardens, where lifts were installed. A miniature railway was built to carry raw materials to the machines and to move the finished products. Special lighting and air conditioning had to be installed, cloak rooms and first aid rooms had to be provided. An underground canteen and four mess rooms seating 1,600 were needed. In March 1942,’the new factory was complete and the Plessey Co.Ltd., manufacturers of aircraft components, used it until 1945, turning out wiring sets for Lancasters and Halifaxes, wireless equipment, cartridge starters, gear levers, shell fuses and field telephones. Between January and May 1946, Plesseys took out their plant and installations; between then and the beginning of 1947 London Transport dealt with the concrete floors and cleared the tunnel for its original purpose. Altogether more than 12,000 tons of equipment and concrete had to be removed.”

49 50

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TUNNEL CCNSTRUCTION

No history of the development of London’s Underground could be complete without mention of the construction processes involved in the building of a “tube” tunnel.

It is not always appreciated by those who have studied the construction of modern “tube” sections, that a device basically similar to the indispensable Greathead Shield was first used by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel in the construction of tunnel linking Wapping and Rotherhithe. I quote A.F. Howson who says “Sir Marc’s method of tunnel construction employed a rectangular iron shield, shaped like a huge box with open ends, and furnished with projecting teeth. It was placed at the working face of the tunnel, and as the face was gradually excavated the shield was moved forward, protecting the men within against the great pressure of earth above them. The shield was honeycombed with compartments wherein worked miners and bricklayers, and as it moved forward beneath the river bed, the miner excavated the soil and strengthened the cavity he made, being followed by a bricklayer who lined it with brick”.

In the same year that Brunel’s tunnel was opened, i.e.l869, another engineer, Peter Barlow was commissioned to bore a tunnel between the Tower and Bermondsey. Barlow quickly realised the importance of keeping the diameter of the tunnel to a minimum in order to facilitate rapid progress and to economise in the use of materials both of which measures considerably reduced the cost of construction. The periodic flooding of Brunel’s tunnel also led Barlow to experiment ithw a completely circular tunnel composed of cast iron segments bolted flange to flange. In this way concentrated stress was avoided and the risk of flooding was much reduced. Barlow’s work was successful and a cable car was operated through the tunnel in 1870 (see illustration on Page 53).

It was James Henry Greathead who eventually evolved the most satisfactory method of construction however. In l886 he was engaged by the City and South London Railway to construct a tunnel from King William St. to Stockwell. For this work Greathead designed, and had constructed a shield which was the forerunner of those which today even bear his name. It differed from Barlow’s shield in that it was driven forward by hydraulic rams whereas Barlow was forced to rely upon ordinary levers and jacks. Working at a pressure of l ton per square inch the rams force the l2 ft. diameter shield into the earth enclosing a great cave which is then removed. As each section of-tunnel is, excavated it is sprayed with liquid cement and the iron or steel segments placed in position at once. Subsequently cement is forced through apertures in the plates under pressure to fill the interstices.

52 Naturally, where soft conditions prevail a more rapid rate of progress can be made than is possible with the use of a normal Greathead Shield and it is usual practice to employ a “Price Rotary Excavator”. Similar to the Greathead Shield in construction it contains giant bits which revolve within it cutting and scooping out the earth and passing the soil rearward.

The Greathead Shield is erected in position in a chamber formed by several rings of iron lining, and a short excavationis made in the working face of the running tunnel. If the earth is soft enough, piles are inserted between it and the edge of the shield and a forward thrust of the shield drives the piles into the face and breaks up the earth for easy removal. In theory of course the Greathead Shield should encounter no difficulties and the London sub-soil is particularly amenable to unnelling.t Occasionally however obstacles are encountered such as waterlogged sand and heavy clay. Two main procedures are used to overcome these. When waterlogged soil is encountered air-tight working chambers are constructed and the interior pressure raised. Workmen enter and leave by means of an air-lock. When dealing with quicksand or waterlogged clay it is usually either to force through air under pressure in order to partially solidify the moving mass and allow a shaft lining to be bolted into position.

In Moscow in 1932 extreme difficulty was met with in coping with a considerable depth of quicksand and on this occasion the ground was frozen to the depth of one metre by chemical means.

Surveying for the construction of underground railways is a highly technical matter and mistakes are highly difficult to rectify. In surveying the intended route of the “tube , those responsible must ensure that as far as possible no private property is encroached upon. In due course a series of vertical shafts are sunk, from which headings are driven at right angles to the line of the route. To find the exact line along which to bore the running tunnel, a theodolite is set on the surface over the end a heading and precisely over the subterranean line of the route. Two plumb lines are next hung down the working shaft and exactly aligned with a sight on the instrument. The theodolite thus set, is taken to the bottom of the shaft and its position adjusted until this time it agrees with the plumb lines already adjusted from above. When the correct distance along the heading has been measured and the true right-angle determined, there is the point and direction of the running tunnel’s centre line, and work can begin.*

*A.F. Howson and L.T. E.

53

Anyone who writes about the construction of London’s Underground railways can avoid the question “What happens to the vast amount of soil excavated ?” The answer is not always easy to obtain but at least some of it may be traced. The crowds who weekly watch Chelsea fight to escape relegation at Stamford Bridge are in fact supported by banking composed of soil and debris removed as a result of Piccadilly and Northern Line extensions. A great deal is put to use in building up ballast for making sub-soil firmer and easier to work through.

THE LONDON ELECTRIC RAILWAYS

I have dealt at some length with the early days of both the Metropolitan and District Railways and the Central London Railway because these are examples of the basic trends of Underground railway development. In addition to these there were at the beginning of the century three independent companies each constructing stretches of “tube” line through central London.

The Baker St. and Waterloo Railway was designed to provide access to the West End for suburban and Continental passengers arriving at Waterloo, subsequently this line was extended to Elephant and Castle. The second, the Charing Cross, Euston, and Hampstead Railway was proposed to encourage the development of dormitory areas in fashionable Golders Green and Hampstead. The third railway, the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton, formed the basis of the present Piccadilly line. The L.C.C. however showed little interest in these enterprises and declined to provide financial assistance. Incorporated therefore as limited companies, each railway enjoyed an initial “boom” and a subsequent decline in fortunes as the usual engineering difficulties retarded progress sufficiently induce investors to realisehat w they could on their with the result that they dropped greatly in value. By 1905 work had ceased on all but the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton, but at this stage the American financier, Mr. Charles Yorkes, who had already sunk a considerable amount of capital in the Metropolitan and District Railways, decided to create a finance company with the three tubes under its control. This move quickly restored confidence in the projects and in each case work was resumed. Thus in 1906 the Bakerloo, as it was now called, was opened from Baker St. to Kennington Rd. (now Lambeth North), the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton from Finsbury Park to Hammersmith, and a year later the Hampstead line was opened from Charing Cross to Highgate.

In 1910 the financial controlling interests of these lines were merged into the London Electric Railway Company which continued in control until the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.

56

WATERLO AND CITY RAILWAY

This line which connects the Southern Region terminus at Waterloo with the City is the shortest complete line in London’s Underground system (1 mile 46 chains) and is unique in that it is controlled by a main line railway company, namely the Southern Region of British Railways, and not by the London Transport Executive.

The old London and South Western Railway was continually faced with the problem of conveying the ever growing numbers of city businessmen from the rapidly developing suburbia of Lewisham Streatham and Surbiton to the heart of the city. To this end two schemes were studied. The first, to link Waterloo with the south eastern suburban terminus of London Bridge, and the second to construct a tube from Waterloo to site near the Bank of England The latter plan was readily adopted on the grounds that it was a more favourable economic proposition. Subsequently a surface line was constructed to link up with London Bridge and in addition a spur line was built to link up with the city by means of Cannon Street Stn. That enterprise is however outside the scope of these notes and we will concentrate on the story of the Waterloo and City. Opened in l898 the Waterloo and City line quickly became associated with one of the major problems connected with the running of underground railways - namely that of noise. The weight of the stock coupled with the fact that the tunnel was somewhat larger than required made travel on this railway a somewhat unpleasant experience but it was not until 1902 that any positive measures were taken to improve matters The methods employed were to fill the iron tunnel segments with concrete in order to make a flush wall, thereby reducing echo, and later the running rails were welded into 315 ft lengths.

The Waterloo and City Railway was the first to use multiple unit rolling stock which was incidentally constructed in the United States and assembled at the L. and S.W. R.‘s locomotive works at Eastleigh. Whatever this stock may have lacked in aesthetic beauty it certainly made up for it in strength and efficiency for the trains saw continuous service until finally withdrawn in 1940. The present stock is in modern vogue being similar in construction to London Transport’s 1938 stock. It is however attractively finished in green and aluminium and is complete with modern air-operated doors. Although the Waterloo and City line handles considerable traffic during peak hours (8 until 9 in the morning and 4.30 to 6 in the evening) the motor cars are fitted with a driving cab at each end in order to facilitate single car working during slack hours. Full length trains are made up of five cars two motor cars and three trailers. In order to utilize space in the motor cars the floor is built in two levels, the higher level being placed over the switch gear and traction bogies. Unlike the LTE the Waterloo and City has retained the practice of picking up current from an out rail and returning it through the running rails. This of course conform with Southern Region practice.

59 Maintenance is carried out both at Lancing (coachwork) and at the railway’s own Waterloo depot (running gear and driving equipment).

In 194O the railway was completely re signalled and the line is now track-circuited throughout with light signals, repeaters and electro pneumatic trip train stops and automatic point mechanism (although the points at Waterloo are at the moment worked by a signalman on ground pattern lever frames).

During peak hours fire trains run a three minute service and the journey takes 11 minutes. It is estimated that some 50,000 people travel on the line each day and considerable congestion is caused on the sloping divided ramp which connects the Waterloo and City with the main exit which leads out of the booking hall of the LTE Bank Station. Plans were afoot before the war to construct escalators but they have been shelved in face of more pressing needs on the Southern Region system.

60 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LONDON’S TUBE STOCK

All the tube stock now running on London’s Underground was built subsequent to 1920 and may be classified into three major groups, i.e. the 1920-30 stock originally intended for the reconstructed City and South London Railway and the Hendon and Edgware extensions; the 1931 stock constructed especially for the Piccadilly extensions to Arnos Grove and in 1933 to Cockfosters, and last of all the 1938 stock brought into service for use on the Northern line extensions to High Barnet and Mill Hill East. The three contractors mainly responsible for the construction of all this stock were the Metropolitan-Carmell Carriage Co., the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., and the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. In addition part of the work was sub-contracted to Messrs. Cammell-Laird and the Union Construction and Finance Co. (Feltham). All the motors for the current tube stock are designed and built by the General Electric Company.

Stock built between 1920 and 1938 varies little in basic design and construction and remains by far the most numerous type of stock used by the LTE. It is therefore important to study the design, construction and operation of these trains. The motor cars vary from 49 ft 8 ¼ in to 50 ft 9 ½ in. in length according to year of construction but all are 8 ft 8 ½ in wide and 9 ft 6 ins high from the running rails with an average unladen weight of 31 ½ tons The front four wheel bogie contains the two motors each of 240 hp(one hour rating) each slung across the bogie, driving wheels of 3” 1n diameter through reduction gearing The trailing and un motored bogie has wheels of 2 ft 8 in. in diameter. The car body is pivoted onto a large diameter ball bearing which in turn rests on a strong metal plate known as a “transome” which is slung across the bogie. The motored bogie carries the beam and shoe for positive current, the brake cylinder and the tripcock handle. The negative shoe is attached to the centre of the bogie The front of the motor car is taken up by the driver’s cabin behind which is situated a large compartment containing resistance banks and switch gear and then the passenger compartment The equipment compartment is divided into two sections by a narrow inspection gangway. Immediately behind the driver is situated the air compressor and on the other side the banks of resistance. The compartment is ventilated both by roof scoops and lowered detachable side panels.

The brake cylinder is operated by compressed air and stored in cylinders beneath the motor compartment. The braking force is applied by means of shoes on the driving wheels which are operated electro pneumatically, that is they are controlled by electrical switching gear which ensures a smooth and simultaneous application of the brakes throughout the train. Air pressure is also used to operate the passenger doors.

61 Pressure is maintained by the use of a small reciprocating engine which is controlled electrically and automatically commences working when air pressure falls below normal working level.

Current is collected by the shoes already mentioned and is transmitted to the motors through a complicated piece of mechanism operated by the driver through the medium of a handle known as a “controller”. What happens when the driver operates his “controller” or master regulator is best described by H F Howson

“Contactors connect the motors to the current supply, at first in series through starting resistances, wherein supplies electrical energy which cannot be assimilated is allowed to waste in the form of heat. As the train gathers speed an accelerating relay cuts out the starting resistance in a number of steps by the automatic closing of contacters. When all the resistance has been cut, each motor is working on only half the voltage of the power supply, but is sufficiently accelerated to commence absorbing the full line voltage. The next phase is therefore the re-grouping of the motor circuits in parallel with the starting resistances again in operation. They cut out in steps as before, until finally the motors are in full parallel: that is they are receiving the full voltage, being connected directly across the power supply”. If for some reason the flow of current to the motors is interrupted a “no volt” relay in the circuit is brought into operation to prevent the motors being suddenly fed with full voltage. This “no volt” relay ensures that the equipment is restored to its normal starting position. As far as the driver is concerned, the controller is worked through a series of positional “notches”, each one of which increases acceleration. He can move the handle quite freely through all the notches but the accelerating relay automatically ensures that the proper sequence is traversed.

As a safety-measure a control is fitted to the main regulator handle hichw automatically applies brakes and switches off current if the driver‘s hand is removed from the handle. This control is known as the “dead man’s handle” and on the stock we are discussing may be found in two forms. The earlier series of motor cars possessed a “dead man’s“ control which was not brought into operation until the driver’s hand was removed from the top of the handle, for the weight of his hand maintained in a depressed position a subordinate cap which when released brought the train to a rapid halt. On later types the complete handle was so sprung that the motors could only be brought into operation if the handle itself was depressed as well as turned. This improvement was found necessary because drivers often rested their elbow on the original “dead man’s handle” and operated the controller by means of its arm From this it is readily conceivable that a driver could lose consciousness and still have his arm on the cap whereas in the later design any releasing of pressure would bring the emergency braking system into operation.

62 It is interesting to note that when the train is fully coupled it can be controlled from any one of the motor cabins.

The passenger car itself is of all-metal construction and is as far as possible, wholly fire-proof. There is an average seating capacity of 52 and the coach is well ventilated by scoops built into the clerestory and window scoops. Entrance and exit is made by means of double doors on each side of the coach and these are operated by a compressed air engine with a differential piston In order to prevent injury to passengers the edges of the doors are covered with soft rubber and the last 4 inches of each door’s closing movement is made free of the engine. The guard is in full control of door movement but he can only operate them automatically when the train is stationary, and he cannot ring the driver’s starting signal until each door is fully closed. On the Central Line the guard has a control whereby he is able to switch the door actions over to individual control and prevents unnecessary opening and closing of doors in inclement weather. However this arrangement only applies to surface stations in the outer suburban areas. The guard continues to close all doors by automatic control. The guard is in telephone contact with the driver and can communicate by merely depressing a warning button and speaking into a telephone microphone. The reverse also operates from driver to guard.

All coaches are electrically heated by small radiators neatly encased beneath the seat, and each coach carries two emergency lights operated from batteries which come into action immediately the traction current ceases. Passengers arriving at Loughton have an opportunity to witness this system in operation as the train passes over the junction of the Loughton Car Sidings. An oil lamp is also carried in case of emergency. The motor cars have a seating capacity of 30 and the control cars, i.e. those cars which possess a full set of controls but no motor or compartment for the guard.

In 1932 the opening of the Piccadilly Line extension to Arnos Grove was thought to be an opportune moment for introducing new stock which transpired to be the final development of the type we have examined in detail. The following modifications were the chief ones incorporated in the new series, the contract of which was given to Metro-Cammell.

1. Exterior projections smoothed off to facilitate cleaning in washing machines (see page 66 ).

2. The length of both motor cars and trailers was increased to 51 ft. 5 1/8 in. and 51 ft. 9 1/2 in. respectively and additional air-operated doors were fitted at the end of each car to facilitate rapid passenger movement. In addition the main doors were increased in size. Seating capacity increased.

63 3. Metal partition of guards compartment replaced by glass screen and control panel built into end of car.

4. Light alloy used where possible to reduce weight.

5. The 240 hp G.E.C. motors fitted with roller armature bearings which were later standardised on all models

6. Power of lighting raised from 40 to 60 watts

7. Acceleration improved to 1.5 mph per second and a maximum level speed of 50 mph. Braking retardation increased to 2.5 mph per second

These improvements made the Piccadilly line the fastest Underground service in the world.

1938 Stock.

In l938 the London Transport introduced a completely new type of train on the Northern and Bakerloo Lines. The most important improvements were the placing of all motor equipment beneath the floor of the motor car thereby making more space for passengers, the distribution of the motors on a more even scale throughout the train, the addition of a new control device added to the electro-pneumatic brake In addition the cars were again increased in length A complete seven car train is made up as follows: 2 driving motor cars (one at each end of train) 2 driving motor coaches and trailers and 1 non driving motor car; making a total of seven coaches: five having 2 motors each end and only 2 are trailers.

The motors are each slung across a bogie which ensures that the tractive effort is more evenly spread than in the case of the earlier stock where both of the motors were slung across the leading bogie.

Each motor is self-ventilated by a light alloy fan, has, roller bearings to its armature and is characterised by its small diameter and considerable length (Fig 1, Pg 67).

The 1938 stock also sports a vastly improved braking system whereby each wheel is braked by its own separate small braking system. The whole operation is controlled by apparatus known as the Westinghouse electro-pneumatic “self-lapping brake”.*

* S.L. Poole .

64 Before this braking system was brought into operation the LT organised a series of tests which proved conclusively that once a train’s wheels are locked a great proportion of the braking effort is lost and it was with this in mind that the Westinghouse operation was evolved.

The principle is that the movement of mercury in glass tubes actuates a valve which automatically releases the braking pressure by cutting off the air supply, and releasing part of the pressure already applied, so that there is no possibility of locking the wheels at low speed.

There is little to be gained by examining detailed improvements in the design and function of the 1938 G.E.C. motor, sufficient to say that it is fully assembled and wired by the constructors and on delivery requires only to be attached to the car frame and connected. A rotary cam cuts out the resistances smoothly and effectively and passengers accustomed to the series of metalic clicks and slight jerks heard and felt on the earlier stock can easily obtain the false impression that the banks of resistances are under metadyne control (see page 67). The air compressors are of a rotary type and are not reciprocating as in earlier models. The car body as a whole has been smoothed off and ventilators have been cleverly disguised. The lighting is considerably improved by the use of generators to each car instead of direct pick up from the line, and the lamps themselves are enclosed in fluted glass shades in chromium plate frames The upholstery is deep cushioned and the passenger support straps are of greater length than hitherto. The driving motor cars seat 42 and the non-driving and ordinary trailers 40.

In conclusion it is sufficient to state that the 1938 stock is now giving excellent service and that as yet little in the way of modification appears necessary. The ten motors distributed throughout the train give a tractive power of 1,680 hp compared with the l,44O hp on the older stock. All these trains have been fitted with individual compartment door control apparatus but it is not at present in general use .

65 66 67 APPENDIX A

The “Outer Circle”.

In many references to the early history of the District Railway mention is made to the “Outer Circle”. Despite this, comparatively few authorities define the nature of this railway. Opened in 1872 the line belonged to the L.N.W.R. and ran by agreement with the District over the latter’s track from Mansion House to Gloucester Road whence it continued alone, describing a vast arc across North London. Sections of the line from Broad St. to Willesden Junction are still operated by British Railways (Midlands Region) for passenger traffic. The name “Outer Circle” was never used officially to describe this line.

Stations Mansion House and intermediate stations to Gloucester Road, Addison Road (Olympia), Uxbridge Road, St. Quintin Park, Willesden Junction, Kensal Rise, Brondesbury, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead Heath, Gospel Oak, Kentish Town, Campden Town, Barnbury, Highbury, Canonbury, Dalston Junction, Haggerton, Shoreditch, Broad Street.

The Paris Metro.

It is interesting to compare the railways operated by RATP with the Metropolitan and District Railways. The whole of the Metro is constructed on the “cut and cover” principle and full size stock is employed. Except in peak rush hours each train is composed of five coaches, one first class coach invariably placed in the centre of the train and finished in a distinguishing red and four second class compartments finished in green. The seating capacity of the coaches varies and a recent visitor to Paris notes that “In one carriage I saw provision for eight seated and one hundred and twenty standing”.

Mechanically the trains are well up to the Metropolitan “P” class Metadyne standard. The doors are placed four to each side the coach and are passenger opened and closed by compressed air. One important feature of the Metro is that platform entrance gates are automatically closed shortly before the departure of each train in order to prevent platform overcrowding or last minute dashes for the train. It might be illuminating to observe how such a scheme might be operated at Liverpool St.

Another unusual feature of the Metro is that the tunnels are lighted throughout and in places passengers are able to study advertisements as they travel. These are arranged in a manner which, savours of trunk road in the United States, i.e. The first syllable of a word is placed at the entrance of the tunnel and the remainder of the advertisement is built-up through the length of the tunnel e.g. DU------BO------NET

i Written signals for the drivers are also illuminated in the tunnels. As on the Metropolitan, doors and starting signal are under the control of the guard who is positioned in the first compartment. These controls are self locking.

On the whole it must be confessed that the subsurface railways in Paris are tidier and most tastefully kept, a feature being the fact that all advertisements must be displayed in permanently fixed frames. The train pictured is standing at Bastille Stn on the Balard to Charenton-ecoles line.

The General Strike of 1928.

Throughout the Strike of 1928 the railways were kept running by a skeleton staff of employees and numerous volunteers from amongst the general public. Mostly the outsiders were employed as porters and ticket collectors and an Old Chelt of my acquaintance can recall vividly sneaking through the pickets with his temporary uniform securely wrapped in a brown paper parcel and hidden from view

N.B. I have not attempted to give an account of London’s Underground during the War years because that alone would require a lengthy study in order to do it justice.

ii APPENDIX B

Posters.

In the Railway Magazine; May 1915, the following remarks appeared in connection with advertising on the Underground.

“Notwithstanding the high standing of artistic excellence achieved by the leading railways in recent years in respect of posters for exhibition at stations, it is doubtful whether any system can show a more remarkable record than that associated with the Publicity department of the Metropolitan, District, London Electric and allied Underground lines. Neither offending aesthetic taste nor unduly parading the fact that they are really designed as advertisements, some posters combine to form a series while others can be grouped in classes according to their subject matter.”

This delightful state of affairs was due in no small measure to Frank Dick who just before the First World War began to commission distinguished artists to paint posters for the London Underground. In his book “The Shocking History of Advertising” B.S. Turner describes Pick as “the nearest approach to Lorenzo the Magnificent that a modern democracy could achieve”. He goes on to say that after the war the railway companies gave a free hand to leading Academicians and the result was not also as expected. For example, Clive Gardiner’s poster of Windsor Castle was almost unrecognisable as such. However Oleg Zinger’s Hampton Court water lily remained a favourite for many years as did more mundane productions such as John Hassall’s “No need to ask a policeman” and Alfred Leate’s “The roads are never up on the Underground”.

The tradition has continued and today posters on the London Underground are expressive of trends in modern art. For the most part they are attractively designed and give valuable information.

iii C. EXTRACT FROM THE TIMES JULY 1st 1910

The London Underground Railways

Introduction to the Escalator.

“The Committee of the House of Commons on Unopposed Bills, Mr. Emmott presiding, considered yesterday several Bills affecting the London Underground Railways. In the Bill promoted by the Baker St. and Waterloo Railway power was sought to make a subway at Oxford Circus Station. It was explained that it was intended to construct a moving staircase, or escalator, 120 ft. long, from the station platform to the street level, by which passengers will be able to ascend without waiting for the ordinary lifts. The escalator is in operation in America, but this is the first application of the principle to an English Railway. The Speakers Counsel (L. Moon K.C.) stated that the Board of Trade had informed him that the plans for the proposed work would require their approval.”

The Formation of the London Electric Railway Co.

“Mr. Bonner Maurice, Parliamentary Agent, presented a Bill which authorised the amalgamation of the Baker St. and Waterloo, The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton, and the Charing Cross, Hampstead and Euston Underground Electric Railways with a capital of £l2,600,000 and Sir George Gibb, Chairman of the Associated Tube Railways (name changed later to above), explained the adjustments of capital involved”.

THE MORNING POST AUG.8th. 1898.

Advertising Notice by L. & S.W. Rly re Waterloo and City Rly.

The Waterloo and City Railway will be opened for Public Traffic Today MONDAY 8th August Thus giving direct access to and from the City, there being no intermediate stoppage.

iv

BIBLIOGRAPHY

London Underground. F.H. Howson.

The Metropolitan Railway. C. Baker.

An A.B.C. of London Transport Railways. Ian Allan.

Locomotion in Victorian London. G.A. Sekon.

London and Londoners in the Eighteen Fifties and Sixties. Alfred Bennett.

The Character of London Ernest Barker.

The Oxford Junior Encyclopaedia.

“Punch” and various London Transport Publications.

Newspapers and Periodicals.

The Times The Evening Standard The Railway Magazine The Railway Gazette London Illustrated News The Morning Post Film Strip and accompanying literature. “The Story of the Underground”. Issued by The British Transport Film Library.

Acknowledgements.

Assistant Librarian at the British Patents Office, Kingsway, London, and at the British Museum (Newspapers Division), Colindale, London.” .

Mr. Eric Bentley (photographs) and Mr. Keith Honess who helped with useful material.