Many times I have stood at Baker Street or one of the other stations where steam locomotives used to haul and thought, what a smokey horrible place it would be if they still ran. Well...
Steam train back on tube track for 150-year anniversary celebrations
Test run for London Underground's anniversary sees restored locomotive pull Victorian carriage from Earl's Court to Moorgate
Fantastic. I am amazed that today's 'elfin safety' permitted it. Whilst years of acute discomfort associated with the Paddington - Westminster section of the Circle during the rush hour cured me of any affection for the tube I too would love to see it.
According to the article all the tickets for the January runs have been sold but I may just risk a trip to London just to see it.
The Metropolitan/Circle/District line was the first to be built and is sub-surface cut-and-cover rather than bored tunnel underground. Much of it runs in open cuttings.
Bit of a risk if you are coming from afar, Most of it will be Underground after all and it's a fair bet that there will have to be crowd control at stations. Even if you can find a spot where you can peer over a wall or can get access to a building that overlooks an open section it will be dark by the time it runs .
The early ones were shallow, as that was all they could build and operate using steam traction. Then in 1890 or thereabouts they started using the shield method of building the tunnels, and depth became almost irrelevant except for access problems. The needed prior invention to make these lines possible was reliable electric traction, with the coal burning taking place in a power station and reliable transmission of power. See:-
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were others, but this was the most famous. Now, the tube takes its power from the National Grid.
Even the shallow lines with their many open air sections required the steam engines to be fitted with apparatus to "digest" the smoke, often by passing it through the water in the side tanks of the locomotive. This was not very effective.
No. In places it is even the original beams which are holding the roof up and the retaining walls apart. In places, the original tiled wall finish is in place behind the modern decorations
If you go for a ride on the Circle line. you will see an awful lot of daylight as you travel.
No, if you look at the photograph in the Guardian article linked in the OP you can see a light well at the side of the opposite platform. It's now sealed up with a lamp giving the illusion of daylight, but originally that was open to the surface. The Kings Cross to Bakers Str Section is just below Euston Road.
No, I'd have thought that was pretty obvious even to you. It just means there were no deep ones. Dunno why such stupid questions go through your mind when you can find out most things with a few mouse clicks
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early tunnels were dug mainly using the cut-and-cover method. This caused widespread disruption, and required the demolition of many properties on the surface. The first trains were steam-hauled, requiring effective ventilation to the surface. Ventilation shafts at various points on the route allowed the engines to expel steam and bring fresh air into the tunnels. One such vent is at Leinster Gardens, W2.[19] To preserve the visual characteristics in what is still an affluent street, a five-foot thick (1.5 m) concrete fa=E7ade was constructed to resemble a genuine house frontage.
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