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 |   A series looking at the history of the Tube and discussing its former stations |
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The London Underground The London Underground opened back in 1863 when the Metropolitan Railway opened its first track between the stations that today we call Paddington and Farringdon and comprised seven stations. Today, the London Underground has 11 lines, covering 400km of tracks and 270 stations. Despite the quite common misperception, the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, TfL Rail, and Tramlink are not part of the London Underground. After several previously rejected layouts, the schematic tube map that we are familiar with was originally designed by Harry Beck in 1931. Although he died in 1974, the London Underground continue to use his design and add new lines and modes of transport using his original design principles. The maps are copyrighted protected by TFL, and their use requires a license that can be quite restrictive. The London Transport Roundel that we are so familiar with (that red circle with the word Underground or the name of a station written across the middle) made its very first appearance in 1905 and its first appearance on the London Underground in 1908. The Roundel was trademarked back in 1917. London Transport uses Johnson typeface as its brand font. This was created back in 1916 and was originally covered by copyright until it entered the public domain in 2015. The Roundel and the Johnson typeface are one of the world's longest-lasting examples of corporate branding. What is not in here This is not going to be a book about trains. As much as I like old trains (such as the pictured 1938 Stock), as many of them were still in use when I was a child, I am more interested in the actual history than the trains themselves. There will be some discussions about trains, but it will be in terms of their place in history rather than mechanical specifications. There will also not be a lot of pictures in this book (unless I can find Creative Commons licensed ones), as I am not going to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds to use London Underground copyrighted images. I will include links to maps and other such copyrighted material as relevant. What is in here Primarily, this book will discuss what constitutes a former Tube station, a discussion of what category a potential candidate station falls into, and there will be a gradual build up of a list of all the stations that are discussed (see "Invalid Entry"  ). Some of the entries for former stations (especially those prior to about the 1930s) will be quite short, because there is often little, if any, information available on why the earliest stations closed.There will also be interspersed discussion of major events from the past 157 years, covering some of the highs and lows of the London Underground. Order of discussion of the individual stations The discussion of candidates for former Tube stations can be broken down either chronologically by date they closed or by individual Tube line. Just as is the case today, there were stations that were served by more than one Tube line, so discussing the stations by individual Tube line runs the risk of double or triple counting stations. There will be a couple of times where it becomes necessary to discuss by Tube line. For the most part, the stations will be discussed chronologically by the date they closed. This is particularly helpful as it will allow for easily identifying those former stations from before and after the formation of the Tube. A word on dates As WDC is predominantly American, I will be, much to the consternation of my fellow Brits, using the American dating systems. A word on the rating This book is rated 18+ not for use of language, but due to its content. The history of the Tube includes some of the worst peacetime disasters, and I would like to be able to present them in their fullest detail, without having to omit relevant information. Cover image: London Underground 1938 Stock Preserved in working order and seen here at Amersham station.  by Oxyman is licensed under CC by 2.5 cropped from original.
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| Chapter | 1 | Tower of London | 1.49k |
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. Fun chatting with you today, my friend.
Hubby and I ate at a Chinese restaurant nearby there. I'm sure I've been in most of the stores in that area. Wow, it was like yesterday! Great memories!