#london transport

[vintagepromotions]

'Christmas calling - London Transport - An ever ready help'

Christmas poster by London Transport (1936). Artwork by Tom Eckersley.

[wiiildflowerrr]

@AllOnTheBoard: 5 Seconds of Summer are at The O2 in London with The 5 Seconds of Summer Show. The @5SOS poem by all on the board is at North Greenwich station.

5 October 2023

[not-terezi-pyrope]

I am very much in favour of names for the different London Overground lines, but I do think that some of the ones they've chosen are... a little weird, not especially catchy or descriptive. "Lioness Line" for instance is silly sports mythologization, but I guess in terms of the actual name it is pretty inoffensive?

But really not sure how I feel about them renaming what has historically been the Goblin to the "Suffragette Line". Goblin was already a fucking amazing name, they should have just canonized it. No shade on the suffragettes (except, you know, Some of them) but I can't help but think it's probably the worst pick of the bunch.

[sarahg221b]

Having recently read a fanfic in which Sherlock and John catch trains to various parts of southern England exclusively from London’s Waterloo station, even when this is not the usual/logical route, I’d like to share this for writers who might not be familiar with the whole business of trains in/to/from London.

Let’s start with the history of how and when rail services came to London. This article explains how and why we have so many terminal stations (short version: because when they were built, the railway companies were privately owned and all needed their own terminus in London).

The main terminal stations are Waterloo (south), Paddington (west), Euston (north-west), King’s Cross (north-east), St Pancras (East Midlands and Eurostar), Liverpool Street (east), Fenchurch Street (south-east) and Victoria (south). There are others (see the article linked above and my husband’s comment below).

As we know, within London and the suburbs, these termini are linked by the London Underground (aka The Tube) network. There is also the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) - a driverless system - and other overground rail services. Here is a map of it all from Transport of London (TfL). Baker Street is served by five tube lines: Bakerloo (brown), Metropolitan (maroon), Jubilee (silver), Circle (yellow), and Hammersmith & City (pink). It’s also only a five-minute walk from Marylebone (the nearest terminal) which itself is just behind the Landmark hotel, which we know as the exterior for The Restaurant Scene.

Aside: I think Sherlock is unlikely to catch a bus unless directly related to a case - they’re just too slow for him. But you can find bus maps and all kinds of other TfL mappy delights here.

If you have characters using public transport in the UK, your best bets for accurate research are:

Google Maps (in public transport mode)

National Rail (see the page footer for all the useful stuff)

Transport for London

All these also have apps available.

I’m happy to do Sherlockian Britpicking (my day job is copy-editing) if that’s helpful for you. (Email to [my username]@gmail.com is the best way to reach me.)

If you want to go the full Howard Shilcott, I still very much enjoy reading the rail enthusiasts’ forums posts about the myriad tube-related continuity errors in TEH. I’ll let you Google those for yourself. 😉

———

Ran this past my husband (who is totally the full Howard Shilcott) and he made a few corrections (and a lot of faces!) before I posted: he wishes it to be known that he ‘remains unhappy about [my summary of] Fenchurch Street’ and thinks I should add Charing Cross to the list so people know how to get to Kent. So that’s all clear then. 😂

[lisamarie-vee]

[hazel-of-sodor]

Presenting the Great Western Railway's 57xx pannier tank! Duck has appeared before, but was never quite finished, or given a proper release. Now he is here with 8 of his siblings.

[georgefairbrother]

(Image originally shared on Facebook by the On The Buses Fanclub).

The producers of On The Buses initially approached London Transport for permission to shoot depot scenes at one of their facilities. They declined, worried that it would be bad for their image.

As a result, London Weekend Television negotiated with a depot in East London, which ran services to the Essex coast, hence many of the green buses featured in the series displayed advertising posters for Cliffs Pavilion, Southend.

Some filming took place amongst depot operations. Reg Varney is pictured here with some of the real bus crews.

Stephen Lewis (Blakey) shadowed one of the depot inspectors in preparation for his role. On one occasion, following an altercation with a shop steward, the real inspector uttered, "Ooh, I 'ate 'im. I 'ate im!" As a result, one of the most recognisable catchphrases in British comedy, "I 'ate you, Butler", emerged.

With the success of the television series, London Transport couldn't say yes quick enough when approached about assisting with a feature film, including granting access to the driver training skidpan. Hence the buses in the movie adaptations were red, rather than green as in the TV series. (Continuity was never much of a priority).

On the Buses ran for 74 episodes from 1969-73. There were also three critically derided but enormously profitable feature films made on impossibly small budgets.

In 1990 there were plans for a revival, Back to the Buses, which were sufficiently advanced for the original cast to appear on an episode of Wogan to promote it, and Reg Varney was a guest on This Morning talking about the new series. After all that, the project was shelved prior to the pilot being produced.

(Some background from Rabbit and Snail Films, On the Buses at the Movies)

[mitchika]

1858 is a humanized tram from the London Transport Company, i originally made her in 2017 and promptly abandoned the idea but im bored and like remaking content.

She acts as both a humanization of the vehicle and a conductor/driver of said vehicle, in a similar way to Maitetsu (the visual novel). She is a full size human though, unlike the Maitetsu train girls.

[vintagepromotions]

‘Country Joys from Ealing Common Station - Route 98‘

London Transport travel poster (c. 1930). Artwork by Herry Perry.

[sumfabula]

The other day, I went to a train station, but it terrified me. The people were washed out and cold, the air was unmoving and heavy, the silence was pregnant. As I walked down the platform, their eyes stared at me hungrily, translucent things looking for a pop of colour.

The first train rushed in, hurrying through and leaving nothing but CANCELLED in orange letters glowing. The people stare at its unlit, empty windows and wonder what happened to all the people. Moments and destinations passing them by. CANCELLED.The platform is still again, the only sound, the flickering of an overhead light. I try not to stare.

The second train came through and a swarm of people came out. They were fresh, their colour had not been dulled by Shadwell yet. Their freshness began to dilute the air and something blossomed upwards. Rushing toward a seat and longing for light, finding one between a red eyed man and a faded woman. The blossoming unveils itself into cigarettes, sadness, slow, and the freshness is poisoned.

Maybe I look terrified as I sit. Are the eyes gaunt as I observe these people? Am I fading myself? The seat is rough beneath my legs and my spine is straight. I try to take up as little space as possible as I try to disappear. There is the squeak of the train traversing tired tracks and the tremors of it's wheels spinning and spurring it onwards. I count the stops until the last screech and the last quiet announcement. This train TERMINATES here. And so does this tale.

[burgerking-official]

London Underground Map but I removed all of the bits that aren’t underground

[penguininmypocket]

my visited stations in 2023 (on the tube map, that is)

if you'll excuse the glare,

a visited station is one where I physically tapped out, had a look around, took photos, etc, not just one where I changed/passed through

line or network | visited/total | increase from 2022 (percentage points)

bakerloo | 13/25 (0.52) | -16pp

central | 17/49 (0.34) | -20.4pp

circle | 23/36 (0.64) | -11.1pp

district | 25/60 (0.42) | -25pp

H&C | 19/29 (0.66) | -6.9pp

jubilee | 12/27 (0.44) | -33.3pp

metropolitan | 9/34 (0.26) | -14.7pp

northern | 19/52 (0.37) | -44.1pp

piccadilly | 17/53 (0.32) | -20.7pp

victoria | 10/16 (0.63) | -37.5pp

W&C | 2/2 (1) | =

London Underground | 100/272 (0.37) | -26.1pp

DLR | 12/45 (0.27) | -31.1pp

elizabeth line | 16/31 (0.52) | +3.2pp

London Overground | 41/113 (0.36) | -10.1pp

trams | 4/39 (0.1) | -33.3pp

dangelway | 0/2 (0) | -100pp

bonus stats:

thameslink | 18/smth | =

entire map | 152 | down by 35% from 234

under the break is the 2022 map. I'm afraid the 2020 and 2021 maps aren't particularly interesting for obvious reasons

tagging @7-takes bc why not

bonus stat: since I've been keeping track (4 years) I've visited 192/272 different tube stations

[millificent]

I don’t usually get political on here, and we all know that climate change is a problem, but extending the ULEZ zone to include Greater London (which is just suburbs, and which many people in the Home Counties regularly have to cross into just to get their Tescos shop, or to get to their closest Tube station) therefore costing people £80 per week to go about their daily life in a cost of living crisis is not a good look

[trainmaniac]

LT tram No. 2045 (ex Walthamstow 54) @ old Town Hall, Greenwich by Frederick McLean Via Flickr: An old photograph of London Transport (LT) E/1 class tram No. 2045 running off conduit and showing '40 - Savoy St Strand via Kennington & Westr' destination blinds. The car is on Greenwich High Road, with the old Greenwich Town Hall (now Meridian House and converted to flats) on the right, just beyond the building is Royal Hill. Modern day google street view:- www.google.com/maps/@51.4784117,-0.0112994,3a,75y,102.69h... Old/new overhead side by side map view:- maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=51.... The photo reverse is stamped with the photographer and/or negative owner name W. J. Haynes. No. 2045 was ex Walthamstow Corporation Tramways (WCT) car No. 54 built in 1927 by Hurst Nelson seating 27/42 and running on Heenan & Froude (LCC class 4A) maximum traction swing-bolster type trucks. It had a truck mounted plough carrier plus two trolley poles from new. In 1933 its ownership transferred to the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) and in Jan 1935 it had driver screens/vestibules fitted. In Feb 1952 it was withdrawn from service and sent to Penhall Road Depot to be disposed of (broken up or sold), the parts of the London tramways system that had not already been withdrawn or transferred to trolleybus/bus operation closing in July of the same year. If there are any errors in the above description please let me know. Thanks. 📷 Any photograph I post on Flickr is an original in my possession, nothing is ever copied/downloaded from another location. 📷 -------------------------------------------------

[leftoverlondoner]

London Transport cover stars, 12

It’s signal linesman’s mate George Smith, 47, buffing up the signals.

[heathrowshuttle]

WINTER SEASON SALE - Get 10% Off on every journey to and from any destination in the UK . Chauffeur driven door to door private airport transfers