History of the Class 487 ~ London's Strangest Underground Trains (Obscure Offerings Ep. 11)

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The Class 487s were unusual little EMUs that ran on the Waterloo & City Line from 1940 to 1993; that's a service life of 53 years. This line was run as a branch of the mainline rail network from its opening in 1898 right up until April 1994, when it finally became part of the London Underground.
In this video I'll be explaining the history of these unique units, as well as briefly discussing the trains that replaced them in 1993. These were sets of 1992 tube stock (initially designated as Class 482 by British Rail).
(Image Credits):
6089Gardener (Flickr)
74009 (Flickr)
Adrian Nicholls (Flickr)
Aec Southall (Flickr)
Brian Creasey (Flickr)
Bob Hoskins (Flickr)
Daniel Wright (Flickr)
Chairman Pip (Flickr)
Chuck Zeiler
Citytransportinfo
Clive Barker (Flickr)
Gary Benjamin (Flickr)
GFW Rail Photos (Flickr)
J.J. Smith
John Atkinson
John Carter (Flickr)
John C. Earwicker (Flickr)
John H. Meredith (Flickr)
John Upton (Flickr)
Jonathan Francis (Flickr)
Jonathan Hazan (Flickr)
Jonathan Martin (Flickr)
Kris Davies (Flickr)
Mark Bowerbank (Flickr)
Martin Coles (Flickr)
Martyn Hilbert (Flickr)
Matt Taylor (Flickr)
Michael J. Collins (Flickr)
MKT Transport Photography (Flickr)
NL Transport (Flickr)
Ron Fisher (Flickr)
Sparegang (Flickr)
Southern Reg (Flickr)
SV1XV (Flickr)
Tim Abbott (Flickr)
Thameside 287 (Flickr)
Treflyn Lloyd-Roberts (Flickr)
Western SMT (Flickr)
Wimvantklooster (Wikimedia Commons)
(Information sources):
Bloodandcustard.com
Brian Hardy collection
London Transport Museum
Southern Railway E-mail Group
The Railway Centre.com
Wikipedia

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Опубликовано:

3 ноя 2022

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Комментарии : 190

@robertjones8315 Год назад

Can't remember when it was but I have a clear memory of getting on one of these and being blown away by the amazing interior design with lovely old wood trim, dark red seats, interesting lighting etc. I think this must have been in the 2000s

@manzanitakatznellenbogen2870 Год назад

Probably Piccadilly line as I think this was the last line to use this interior. It was like something coming out of the past when one of those rolled up. I also have memories of wooden escalators so I must be remembering prior to the King's Cross fire

@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835 Год назад

One point that many are unaware of is that the 487s were truly unpainted. The side panels were covered in green rexine (a vinyl-like material) when new. The rexine was then painted over at subsequent overhauls. They were also the only "underground" cars ever designed by Bulied and were built at the Dick,Kerr works of English Electric in Preston alongside double-decked trams for Blackpool which ironically have had even longer lives.

@John_259 Год назад

I've heard the Waterloo and City line referred to colloquially as "The Drain", but I don't know how widespread that is.

@grahamsmith9541 Год назад

Amongst those of us that used it quite common. At least is was back in the 1980s before it became part of the Underground.

@surreygoldprospector576 Год назад

Yes, that's what we knew it as during the 1970s.

@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835 Год назад

That is a very widespread name for the line here in the UK

@UKHeritageRailways Год назад

Yes, I've always known it as The Drain. When I rode on it many, many years ago it smelt like one too.😊

@brianfretwell3886 Год назад

Very widespread in London. Also the strange sounding measurements on Length, width and height were probably because the 487s were built to Imperial measurements, not the metric ones quoted.

@Pensyfan19 Год назад

Great episode. I love how some of the photos used look somewhat cursed out of context, such as any LU stock on the main line.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

That's nothing unusual to the folks on the Isle of Wight, where they've currently got ex-District Line trains running the show.

@AmazingAonYT Год назад

🤣🤣 I loved the southern joke it brightened my day.

@Swaggerlot Год назад

I loved the 'drain' and its green rolling stock. I don't know why, but they exuded a quality feel that the LT rolling stock never had IMHO. My grandfather worked on the line for a while as a SR and later BR Southern Region man and even lost one of his crew to the very fatal 600V DC power.

@ianharrison6597 Год назад

Excellent. I used to travel on the 487’s during school holidays in the Seventies. It was part of the train ‘thing’ that I had in those teenage years. They were strange compared to the usual deep level and cut and cover type stock in use on the Underground. The ‘step’ inside was perhaps the strangest feature.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

The last sentence sounds like something people would say about the Pacer units.

@emjackson2289 Год назад

We've all had "that train thing" 🤣

@AndrewG1989 Год назад

The Class 487 that was used on the Waterloo & City Line in Network Southeast livery were so reliable. Before they were replaced by the 1992 Stock which were also built for the Central Line.

@offrails Год назад

I would be curious to see how much those units had in common with the DM class units that ran on the Wellington suburban network, considered that both types were among the small handful of EMUs built by English Electric during that era

@mattynipps Год назад

What a brilliant video. So informative and packed full of information. I have subscribed and will enjoying viewing your other material.

@gritintheoyster Год назад

Great video, with a great deal of accurate research - well done. I rode on the 487s for many years.

@nsholk Год назад

Most informative. Thanks for making the effort to put this together. Cheers.

@aliendon73 Год назад

I worked a lot on the tracks down on the W&C line a few years back, so this was quite enjoyable video to me personally. The original tunnel running to the Armstrong Hoist is still the, be it sealed approx 10m in. This is still known as the Spur Road as it was first known when it was bored out.

@WilliamDavidKirbyUK Год назад

Man, this is amazing. Great research and very informative.

@StephenWalker42 Год назад

Thanks 'The Trainspotter From Taurange' a great video with loads of interesting information and photos. You are the Southern Railway to my Waterloo and City line.....

@mikemoreno4469 Год назад

Fascinating and very well researched docco, by the way.

@dodgydruid Год назад

I remember the lift and the line so well, 84-85 I was located at the Lamp Arch under Waterloo and my job was to replenish the lamps on the Exeter and the 4SUB's but was a couple times lamps were needed on the W&C when bulbs had gone on the taillights. On lifting day us Lamp Arch denizens had to help out as well dragging chains and shouting "All OK" up and down the shaft lol As for the Southern liveried 4SUB... I did sordid things in the compartments coach of that old beastie... between Lewisham and Gravesend me and me bird certainly rocked the casbah there and back O.o Was always a shame to see the old train lingering at Slades Green til it was scrapped against public outcry.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

That's not a bad story (improved with that subtle reference to The Clash).

@SportyMabamba Год назад

Because the 487 was 3rd rail; they would occasionally go on jollies to the BR Southern Region Works for heavy overhaul under their own power 🙃 - ah you mention this at 05:24

@davidsummer8631 Год назад

Was born in London in the late 70s and also grew up in London so I got memories of traveling on theses trains at an age where I started to travel into central London on my own or with friends

@johnreynolds5103 Год назад

Great video, well researched and really interesting

@cromulence Год назад

Great video, well researched and well presented. I use these pretty much every day and this was fascinating. Since the COVID pandemic, they've stopped the Saturday services now. At least it isn't as bad to get into the city as it used to be, thanks to the Elizabeth Line.

@Polyskill Год назад

Excellence information and worth watching this video. Tremendous work indeed. I highly appreciate.

@michaelgask Год назад

I was lucky enough to ride in these once, on my first visit to London in 1988. With their small windows, I felt they looked really different from the other underground stock and were quite submarine-like! Thanks for the detailed information about these.

@tardismole Год назад

Not often I get to laugh out loud at a railway related video. I'll never be able to hear the word 'southern' again without laughing. Excellent.

@neilstrains Год назад

Absolutely fantastic video, thanks - I rode on these in the early '80s and always thought they'd been like the ones on the Isle Of Wight at the time, so learned masses here! Thanks again and subscribed!

@DC4260Productions Год назад

I can only imagine how bizarre the Island Line would have looked with 487s running on it. Dare say they would've received yellow ends for that route.

@williamradford8817 Год назад

The Waterloo & City line, known as The Drain, class 487s in Network Southeast livery, taken a ride on this line in the past

@AnthonyFurnival Год назад

Very informative and entertaining video! Thank you

@TwoWholeWorms Год назад

For a brief period when I was 18, I lived in Ilford and went to college in Reigate, and this was a daily part of my experience of going to college. I _DO_ not miss them! >.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

I only know of Ilford because of its station on the Great Eastern Mainline (and the nearby depot, of course).

@dodgydruid Год назад

I went to college in Redhill not so far from Reigate, I remember playing football against Ray Mears school but we were the naughty boys school in Redhill so no one paid us much attention like arriving in handcuffs in a prison transit hehe I did the insane commute to Redhill college from Bromley which involved a series of buses to E Croydon, train then long bloody walk to college or unearthly bus from Bromley North on the 410 and another long bloody walk from the station...

@Thornaby37 Год назад

Very interesting video 👍 Certainly one of the most unusual lines in London

@johnshaw5889 Год назад

One comment notes all the twists, turns and bouncing. Overlooked because of that was the unfortunate circumstance that, also being longer and wider, replacement by the current new stock was delayed because it made contact with the tunnel lining if driven at more than walking pace. I remember seeing one of the old stock fitted with a plywood mock-up of the new stock front so that tight spots could be found. The tunnel lining joints were ground down in some places (look at the tunnel entrances at Bank) and the speed is still limited leaving and entering Bank to avoid excessive rolling. That's the reason for the crawling speed at those points. The rush hours are characterised by passengers cramed in like sardines. A good ride at other times.

@hansklaus6860 Год назад

Great video, and such a unique railway line!

@bjoernaltmann Год назад

Yes, they tend to run the trains here until they fall apart. Refurbishments are usually half-hearted, especially on the franchises, one of the worst ideas ever. - With regards to the Victoria Line: I’m wondering if it has ever been cleaned since 2009.

@zerogeewhiz Год назад

Just when you think you know the Waterloo and City line, this 15 minutes of excellence comes along and blows my mind

@michaeltb1358 Год назад

Another unusual feature. Passengers board on one side with marks on the platform to indicate door positions and leave the train the opposite side. Possible as no intermediate stops.

@worldcomicsreview354 Год назад

Oddly enough railways in most of Japan manage to have door position indicators at every station

@Tube-Shots Год назад

Great video buddy, liked and subscribed for more, always loved the class 487's, the WL&C line is surprisingly busy, until you actually think of what its purpose is

@uingaeoc3905 Год назад

The crucial thing about this line is that it crosses the river North - South and should be connected up to the Northern City from Moorfields and then onwards from Waterloo on the alternative Bakerloo Extension via Camberwell. With a platform at Blackfriars, which it underpasses, this would relieve other lines and give simpler changes to other routes eg Central and DLR at Bank, District at Blackfriars and at Moorfields a connection to the Elizabeth Line too.

@johnjephcote7636 Месяц назад

Of all my countless rides on the UndergrounD, I only used the Waterloo and City once...and that was with my father in the 1950s. I do remember the event as the cars were the 1940s ones in (to me) the non-London Transport , at that time, silver.

@zebedep Год назад

Really interesting, thanks.

@KevinSmith-mc8yu Год назад

Was and always will be the drain...units regularly went to Selhurst And Wimbledon for general overhauls etc

@DKS225 Год назад

It was during the 2006 Major upgrades that the third rail was replaced with the LUL 4 rail system with one outer rail and one centre rail as well as the running rails.

@raakone Год назад

Actually, the LU 4 rail system was put in in 1993, but the 1940 steel third rails remained until 2006 when replaced with LU style aluminum ones (at the same time, they replaced the BR era legacy signaling lights)

@hairyairey Год назад

Isn't it still the only line that runs on 600V? Or maybe I am thinking of something else

@daffyduk77 Год назад

I've been on them 🙂 back in the day. Spruced up as pictured, they're remarkably modern-looking for a thirties-designed/manufactured train.

@MervynPartin Год назад

Very detailed and enjoyable history. I'm glad to say that I have actually travelled on the W&C when the trains were in their green livery. They felt very strange inside (almost claustrophobic) compared with the London Underground trains of the time. If I remember correctly, there was an incident with a steam loco partially falling into the Armstrong lift. Kia ora👍

@wossisname4540 Год назад

Quite right -- in the mid '60s an ex-LSWR M7 was the unlucky victim of late or insufficient braking.....you know the rest.

@TheBritishAce Год назад

Fantastic video!

@mikebartlett6356 Год назад

Any fellow Asia fan deserves a subscription. Great video too. Thanks

@jammin023 Год назад

One of the features of the W&C is that the line is full of twists and turns. Hardly any of it runs in a straight line, but instead keeps bending left and right, left and right, but also with some up and down. This may be why it's colloquially known as the Drain. During the journey the end doors from one carriage to the next jump around relative to each other, rarely actually lining up. I recall this being more extreme on the 487s than the current stock, perhaps because they had looser coupling and more bouncy suspension.

@neiloflongbeck5705 Год назад

Technically it wasn't an Underground line until recently, just a line underground.

@michaeljackson2838 Год назад

The outro looks like the port of Tauranga. And I've only been there once off a cruise from Sydney 8 years ago. Don't know why I know that😂BTW, great video. Thanks

@kevanhubbard9673 Год назад

I don't think that I ever got that under the belt in BR's times,well it would have become NSE by then as Maggie's backdoor privatization:sectorization had begun.I have done it quite a lot under LU's control.I get the impression it's mainly used by commuters but it can be used to connect between other LU lines.

@highpath4776 Год назад

Was useful late nights back from Aunt in Clapton - Train to Liverpool Street then Central Line or Walk to Bank then the W&C and fast from Waterloo to SW London

@jasonl4411. Год назад

Lovely stuff

@nixmixes770 Год назад

I went on them a few times. I recall a similar musty smell to their Southern mainline counterparts of that era (probably from the nice springy seats) and because the windows opened, the damp musty smell from the tunnels added to the overall effect. No wonder it was called the Drain.

@simonwinter8839 Год назад

Could the drain name (poet of the week) be due to the initials of the Waterloo and City, WC.

@worldcomicsreview354 Год назад

Whatever happened to springy seats on British trains and buses? Some of them these days are like carpet on top of plastic.

@ansonchan7323 Год назад

Congrats, you are favored by the algorithm

@thomashughes8618 Год назад

Grat video, music is a little too busy and loud and can be a little distracting. Good content though

@johnjephcote7636 Год назад

I only used this line once, despite being in London for years. It would have been in the later 1950s and these cars were silver overall and very distinctive in their design.

@cyclist3969 Год назад

The grand ambition of the LSWR was to connect the City of London with a river crossing and a substantial mainline terminus to rival or exceed Charing Cross Station, those plans were never realised, Waterloo as a terminus and the minor line of the Waterloo and City were the substitute for their grand scheme

@edwardvincentbriones5062 Год назад

Sliding Doors? I’ve never seen that movie, though I did watch Hudson Hawk, starring Bruce Willis, because they use the London Post Office Railway. Heck, he even ride on one of these. Fun movie with musical segments.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

Incidentally I only saw a few clips of Sliding Doors while Mum was watching it, and thought it strange that they tried passing off Waterloo as Embankment. As for its mention in the video, that wasn't actually part of the original script.

@edwardvincentbriones5062 Год назад

@@DC4260Productions Interesting

@sgthree 6 месяцев назад

Can you re-release this video without the obnoxiously loud music? Please?

@AutoGamerZ_ Год назад

I have no clue what any of the people here complaining about the music are talking about. Perhaps it could've been slightly quieter in places but I had no trouble understanding what you were saying at any point. The well timed music did add to making this an entertaining video. - Please don't remove it next time, but perhaps consider turning it down slightly.

@blackthorne57 Год назад

Why have the 'music' at all? It was not a music video. A silent background is best for people with hearing problems.

@pstonard 2 месяца назад

Is there a version of this WITHOUT the horrible music bed?

@Lancelot_Jago Год назад

Ohhh, it was the heat of the moment! 1982!

@devincant6201 Год назад

3:00 ''Backrooms Transport Service''

@robloxpathe9296 Год назад

Omg it fits

@TheTimmynatoRex 4 месяца назад

14:10 Speaking of OpenBVE, there does exist a download link for a Class 487 train online, complete with exterior and interior.

@mikehindson-evans159 Год назад

Thank you.

@alanduffell9191 Год назад

They look shocked and appalled 🤣

@surreygoldprospector576 Год назад

Interesting, thank you! :o)

@laurenceskinnerton73 9 месяцев назад

I remember these.

@eurouc Год назад

Wow…. That’s some hideous rolling stock

@WildWildWeasel Год назад

What was the name of the first two songs? I'm a piano (-ish) player and wanna give those a try haha.

@mikemoreno4469 Год назад

The picture of the green Southern locomotive I believe was taken at Ropley, quite near to where I live. By the way, what simulator was used for the red train at the end? Surely not OpenBVE?

@blackcaesar1441 Год назад

Train simulator classic

@metromodernism Год назад

It's definitely openBVE, I have the line/train stock on my computer

@WidleyWesident Год назад

Yes, definitely the Drain. But before you get to it there’s always a bug queue down the ramp at Waterloo to get to the platform. Nothing special, not a bad line, just an unremarkable one.

@remixdiamond2276 8 месяцев назад

The crazy thing about this is another subway class that wasn’t really known to the public the CTA 2000 series from Illinois Chicago USA It was the high performance class after some cars were designed behind PCC trolley technology and comfort like a passenger car after 6 year the CTA quickly produced the 2200 series which was a boxy stainless steel car to compete with the 1960s new DKR routes in the middle meridians of the highways after the 10 or 15 year. If fade into the background and was quickly rust on too heavy lines and then pushed onto low service lines and it’s later life and retired a year before the 487 class

@emjackson2289 Год назад

The music is worse than train announcements on LNER ECML when trying to have a conversation in the first 10 mins of a trip . . . .

@willhovell9019 Год назад

River Timms . London and South Wistern love it. Priston in Lancash're?

@nickbarber2080 Год назад

....the Waterloo und Sooty Line.....

@cr10001 Год назад

Why a picture of a Dc at Boston Road at 1:55? Just curious.

@DC4260Productions Год назад

Just a random transition screen.

@likklej8 Год назад

In the sixties the rolling stock coaches were painted Southern Region green

@crossleydd42 Год назад

I never realised that the W&C 1938 stock was like The Underground's 1927 stock, yet London Transport 1938 stock had undertrain electrical equipment and was based on their experimental 1935 stock. Old fashioned Southern Railway or what! When you say that the centre rail was moved outside the running rails, I'm confused. Was this rail the live rail or the earth return, or was there no earth return other than the tunnel itself? London Transport's tube system is four rail!

@wilsjane Год назад

The layout of electrification on the underground is something that is little understood. Originally, like the overground lines, it was assumed that DC+ would run through a conductor rail insulated from ground, while DC- would run on the traction rails and like the supply, be bonded to ground. But there was a problem where steel was used in the tunnels. Because the tunnels are larger than the rails, they have lower electrical resistance than the rail and clay combined. Therefore, the current was taking a shortcut along the tunnel walls. While this was not directly a problem, a DC current results in electrolysis, but since rust is an insulator, at the point of contact between the cast sections, the current ran through the bolts. During the process, the electrolysis added metal from one section to the bolts, while the next section subtracted it. This obviously caused the bolts to deform and fail. That was the only reason for the introduction of the 4th rail. Try asking that to the workers on the track. While they are completely i what they are doing, very few will understand the reasons why.

@bostonrailfan2427 Год назад

has to be one of if not the only underground/subway/metro who needs to b removed by crane and never sees the light of day unless being removed by crane then again, the depot actually is open to sunlight on one side: there depot’s Spur Road side is open to the elements

@marcelwiszowaty1751 Год назад

It isn't the case now but, before it's late 70s modernisation, the Glasgow Subway had a similar arrangement, although the open pit was actually over the two running lines and directly under the surface depot. If you're unfamiliar with this still unique system, check it out... there is a number of RU-vid videos covering it in its original form, as well as its current manifestation.

@egcit4708 Год назад

Thumbs Up! at 1:51

@axolotlgamer615 Год назад

Can we have a vid on the 483s

@davidpanton3192 Год назад

I believe is shares drivers with the Central Line. Just as well, really.

@keithparkin6835 Год назад

Those of use that used it in the 1960's always knew it as the DRAIN

@clickrick Год назад

Those who used it during the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s also called it the Drain. I can't speak for anyone since 2020, because of the pandemic.

@butikimbo9595 Год назад

Fantastic explanation and content but unfortunatly backgroud music is over the volume to keep concentrated, thus not great in my opinion. Sadly just ruined the video that aspect. Thank you for sharing anyway.

@ducky_the_helper 11 месяцев назад

The traction motors sound almost identical to the Sydney red rattlers

@azuma892 Год назад

Maybe KR Models should try making these.

@unutenteacaso6791 Год назад

Do you know that the frame at 0:15 it's in real life home of my aunt in Tirano!! you practically trespass my aunt's property in TS XDDDDD

@whyyoulidl Год назад

Yo, how do you know all this stuff? I was hoooooked 😃

@axolotlgamer615 Год назад

Agreed I only know about the modern day lines not the older...

@alistairkewish651 Год назад

It doesn’t rain very often Down the Drain.

@pafawag5b6b5b Год назад

what game is the rhb train in your intro from?

@DC4260Productions Год назад

It's from Train Simulator classic.

@pafawag5b6b5b Год назад

@@DC4260Productions i see, thanks

@jackboid5087 11 месяцев назад

2:18 the music is very fitting for since the trains are old and make strange noises

@simonwinter8839 Год назад

Anybody remember a 1960s BBC programme staring Gerald Harper called Adam Adamant? One episode was about trains disappearing on the W&C (fiction of course). Incidentally WC also stands for,well you know.Could this be why the W&C is called the drain ?

@myozzio5025 Год назад

WTF that sudden vinyl shriek blue my earoles.....plonker.😄

@Great_WesternTVFan Год назад

I thought that the class 482s are the same as the 1992 stocks

@videonut1988 Год назад

They were delivered in the same time as the current Central Line cars.

@Thornaby37 Год назад

They are the same design as the 1992 stock

@fullsteamahead5109 Год назад

They are to look at but are obviously 4 cars shorter and don't have ATO, they are fitted with tripcocks instead. The cab layout is slightly different aswell with no aircon along with a few other things.

@iconicshrubbery Год назад

Sometimes I think my life is all the poorer for not being a trainspotter (without watching the video)

@alistairkewish651 Год назад

By the year 1940, the correct terminology should read Southern Railway, not Region. That didn’t arrive until 01/01/1948.

@supertrains156.66 Год назад

They had the motors the same as class315peps

@vincentbrowne8639 Год назад

Yep, any tube user will know what the 'drain' is

@davidt-rex2062 Год назад

Always love people bring called a Plonker...

@DC4260Productions Год назад

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I learnt the word after watching Only Fools and Horses.

@ccjelley2390 Год назад

did the 487s keep their 2+2 seating to the end?

@DC4260Productions Год назад

As far as I know, they did.

@danieleyre8913 Год назад

LOL you need to get out of Tauranga and get to London... The Waterloo and city line only became part of the Underground in 1994. It isn't really a proper metro line, it was just transferred to the underground for administrative convenience when British rail was being privatised, as it would be too unattractive for potential bidders for the Southern railway francise (its historic, pre-British railways owner) to continue including. It'a really just a shuttle or people mover, to get people who work in the city to/from Waterloo station as quickly as possible (as many of these people live in London's affluent South-West, which Waterloo is the terminus for). It only has 4 cars Over the decades talk of connecting it to the Northern City line (and lengthening the platforms) was continually brought up. But I think that Crossrail has made then now impossible.

@MannyAntipov Год назад

There's very little space around Bank and Moorgate to connect the Northern City and Waterloo & City lines, alongside with 4 cars being a capacity issue to passengers. I believe there's a plan to rebuild the W&C platforms at Bank and extend them at Waterloo, but I haven't heard progress from it right now.

@crabby7668 Год назад

Did he not say most of that in the video? I am pretty sure I heard it

@hairyairey Год назад

@@MannyAntipov actually you should have another look at the axiomatic maps of bank station. There is just enough space to squeeze the tunnels in for an extension. It'll be like Tottenham Court Road - about six inches between the tunnels!