A train down memory lane for London

London Underground 1938 Stock Preserved in working order and seen here at Amersham station.

A trip into the time tunnel is on the cards for commuters. The London Transport Museum, one of the capital’s most popular attractions, has just announced it is putting some exhibits back on the rails for the first weekend in September. The highly anticipated event has been cancelled in the past two years due to the pandemic.

The oldest underground railway in the world is dusting off a 1938 vintage train for some nostalgic running. The Art Deco era train trips are set to return to the Metropolitan Line in north west London. The Museum promises the opportunity to travel back in time – for the first time in three years. Tickets are already selling faster than a Doc Brown modified DeLorean going flat out for the future.

Sparks will certainly fly

No one is promising eighty-eight miles an hour. The average speed even today on the Underground is around 35 miles per hour (56 kilometres per hour), but that is still almost three times the average speed of surface transport in central London. Nevertheless, sparks will certainly fly from the vintage train, restored to factory fresh condition, after a hard working half-century underground. Despite being a pre-war design, and entering service in 1938, many present day commuters will remember the “deep-level” underground trains, which were still the mainstay of services as late as 1988.

Period style artwork. “East Finchley”, by Paul Catherall, produced in 2010, not 1938.

The organisers do promise that passengers will be transported to a bygone era on an originally red liveried and beautifully restored electrified train. Many will remember daily service on the four car unit, complete with green and red moquette seating, grab handles and distinctive Art Deco light fittings.

A golden age of commuting?

The technically advanced 1938 Stock was the first kind of underground (Tube) train to have all the electrical equipment underneath the floor. It combined the latest technology of the era with quintessential late 1930s style. These trains served London, on several deep-level Tube lines, for half a century. However, the journeys in September will be on surface level tracks. That’s not out of the ordinary, since more than half of the Underground network is actually out in the open air. So no actual time tunnel experience, then, just a day out at the ends of the Metropolitan Line.

interior of the 1938 stock on the London Underground (WikiCommons)

“Families, transport enthusiasts and vintage fans really enjoy a day out”, said Sam Mullins, Director of the London Transport Museum. “A ride on this beautifully restored ‘design classic’ train is a real step back in time to a golden age of commuting.” Perhaps that latter remark may be met with some concern, by those who would care to never again visit the ‘golden age’ of the rush hour squeeze. However, passenger numbers will be restricted to rather less than crush level. That’s one trip back in time from which most of us would be happy to get back to the future as quickly as possible.

Of note, some examples of the vintage trains were still in service, right up until last year – although they had been transferred to the Isle of Wight. Their low profile was ideal for a restricted tunnel on the line there.

Further reading:

Author: Simon Walton

Simon Walton is UK correspondent for RailTech.com and Railfreight.com

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A train down memory lane for London | RailTech.com

A train down memory lane for London

London Underground 1938 Stock Preserved in working order and seen here at Amersham station.

A trip into the time tunnel is on the cards for commuters. The London Transport Museum, one of the capital’s most popular attractions, has just announced it is putting some exhibits back on the rails for the first weekend in September. The highly anticipated event has been cancelled in the past two years due to the pandemic.

The oldest underground railway in the world is dusting off a 1938 vintage train for some nostalgic running. The Art Deco era train trips are set to return to the Metropolitan Line in north west London. The Museum promises the opportunity to travel back in time – for the first time in three years. Tickets are already selling faster than a Doc Brown modified DeLorean going flat out for the future.

Sparks will certainly fly

No one is promising eighty-eight miles an hour. The average speed even today on the Underground is around 35 miles per hour (56 kilometres per hour), but that is still almost three times the average speed of surface transport in central London. Nevertheless, sparks will certainly fly from the vintage train, restored to factory fresh condition, after a hard working half-century underground. Despite being a pre-war design, and entering service in 1938, many present day commuters will remember the “deep-level” underground trains, which were still the mainstay of services as late as 1988.

Period style artwork. “East Finchley”, by Paul Catherall, produced in 2010, not 1938.

The organisers do promise that passengers will be transported to a bygone era on an originally red liveried and beautifully restored electrified train. Many will remember daily service on the four car unit, complete with green and red moquette seating, grab handles and distinctive Art Deco light fittings.

A golden age of commuting?

The technically advanced 1938 Stock was the first kind of underground (Tube) train to have all the electrical equipment underneath the floor. It combined the latest technology of the era with quintessential late 1930s style. These trains served London, on several deep-level Tube lines, for half a century. However, the journeys in September will be on surface level tracks. That’s not out of the ordinary, since more than half of the Underground network is actually out in the open air. So no actual time tunnel experience, then, just a day out at the ends of the Metropolitan Line.

interior of the 1938 stock on the London Underground (WikiCommons)

“Families, transport enthusiasts and vintage fans really enjoy a day out”, said Sam Mullins, Director of the London Transport Museum. “A ride on this beautifully restored ‘design classic’ train is a real step back in time to a golden age of commuting.” Perhaps that latter remark may be met with some concern, by those who would care to never again visit the ‘golden age’ of the rush hour squeeze. However, passenger numbers will be restricted to rather less than crush level. That’s one trip back in time from which most of us would be happy to get back to the future as quickly as possible.

Of note, some examples of the vintage trains were still in service, right up until last year – although they had been transferred to the Isle of Wight. Their low profile was ideal for a restricted tunnel on the line there.

Further reading:

Author: Simon Walton

Simon Walton is UK correspondent for RailTech.com and Railfreight.com

Add your comment

characters remaining.

Log in through one of the following social media partners to comment.