My wife was train crew on the DLR during the 1990s, her job being largely checking tickets and giving advice to passengers. There are driver controls at the front of the train by the left-hand seat which are used for driving the train out of (or into) the depots and as emergency back-up for the automated system. Another part of the train crew duties is to collect lost property which included some 'unusual' objects. My wife once found a suitcase which contained a complete 'dominatrix' outfit with whips (no, she didn't try it on). On another occasion she found a braille book and, having had a boring day, decided to have a bit of fun. She sat next to the manual driving controls (de-activated at the time) opened the braille book, placed her left hand on the manual controls, put on her sun glasses and ran her right hand along the braille script as if 'reading'. Totally freaked out a group of American tourists who got on at the next stop, 'OMG we've got a blind driver!!' 🤣🤣
Don't know if anyone has mentioned it (too many comments to go through) but the 'blue rib things' are known as the sound barrier. The line goes past the flats there quite closely and they were originally put in to disperse noise from the trains. I work on the DLR and on the old technical maps of the system that is what they are referred as. Also we did have little inflatable steering wheels to promote the railway a long time ago, they came with a suction cup so kids could stick them on the control panels at the front.
When the old docks were being demolished (I'm showing my age here), and the A1020 (Royal Albert Way) was brand new, I was a still fit and healthy teenager (about 16 years old). For fun on a Sunday afternoon, I used to ride my bike down from Ilford through places like Cypress and North Woolwich and sometimes even took the Woolwich Ferry over to the south of the river just to have a look around. The A1020 was absolutely a wasteland of nothing at the time. No buildings or DLR out there. Also no traffic, which meant I could zoom along it at more than the speeds one can usually do on regular roads. Remember, I was on my old bike, so 25MPH between roundabouts was the most I could get up to. Going north from the Woolwich Ferry along Albert Road and BEFORE they all got torn down, it was fascinating to see all the old dark, dingy brick warehouses. Had to cross over several old railway tracks and bridges to get back up to the A13 and then through Barking to get back home. All that and the history it had is now all gone. Shame.
Just to show my age, I worked for Ravel shoes in Haunch of Venison Yard ( off New Bond street) and they had a hydraulic lift which covered 3 floors. It would lift a fully loaded 16 ton truck with ease. This would have been in 1967/8, in 1971 the family moved out to Essex, and I would NOT go back there for any money.
A rare glimpse of the elusive jago, even if its a blurry reflection lol. Great video, need more like this of just train views with wonderful, funny and informative commentary. Keep up the good work
@@trevorparker6803 Talking of mirrors, why are there mirrors on some of those early stations when the trains are driverless, or can they be overidden so you can drive them manually if needs be?
@@andyaccount Beats me. AFAIK the DLR trains do have the ability to be operated by a driver so maybe the mirrors are there for just such occasions, to enable a view of the platform, as per your guess.
Those three tower blocks on the right hand side at the beginning are very popular/important broadcast points for very large London pirate radio station(s). Not exactly train stations but still a station. 😂👏🏻
@@jpaulc441 less and less so these days. Majority have switch to online radio which of course is legal, very little hassle. But those particular tower blocks, which are seen in the video, are located on the highway at Wapping - and played a vital part. The good old days as they say.
It's probably a bit weird, but this video is very helpful for my anxiety. I'm going to be going to a major convention at the ExCel at Easter next year. This video helped immensely with my worries about travelling in costume (with reduced vision), as it allowed me to judge the distance between my stations and recognise them, so I won't be going in blind. Thank you!
You could use the Elizabeth Line to Custom House as well Edit: Serves me right for replying to comments while watching the video - of course Jago would mention that.
@@ianhills8980 Other 'Star' franchise! 😆 It's a full set of Mandalorian armour, and I was worried about reduced visibility and steep ramps (stairs are okay, but judging gradients is difficult).
thanks for taking us along :) As we've learned in the Copenhagen (driverless) Metro, the front seat is contested territory; if you sit there it's very likely you'll get overrun by kids who want the premium view - but then our trains have panoramic windows in the ends, which does give a rather grand view of the journey. In our trains they put a big sticker on the windowsill with "controls" for kids who want to "drive" the train.
The alignment of the Gas Light and Coke company's railway line remains as a footpath running from just across the road from Beckton DLR to just across the road from Price Regent DLR. The Chairman of the company was a Mr Beck, and Beckton is named after him.
The "ton" must be the one from the old English. I was going to ask if there's a niff in their air anywhere you alight around Beckton,with all the treatment works around there. Must be super for the local residents.
@@rjjcms1 History doesn't record how familiar Beck was with the fine details of old English place-name suffixes, but yes, it would have come from that. The smell depends on wind direction.
3:39 "Train!" 6:35 "Train!" An awesome video. I need to do more DLR, although my focus for the next 4 months in terms of train riding will be focused on the last 68 underground stops (21 central line, 12 jubilee line, 15 metropolitan line (one of which doubles as jubilee), and 21 piccadilly line), 28 overground stops (14 south of the thames including Battersea Park, 14 on the Watford DC line), and 9 tram stops (new addington branch, plus the 2 on the south side of the loop), plus the last 5 Crossrail stations (3 Heathrow, Maidenhead, and Bond St (obvs not possible yet)), as well as possibly the cablecar. The DLR can wait until next year. Also, I'm only spotting DLR vehicles if I ride them. So not counting passing vehicles, like I would for trains and trams. Simply because there aren't that many of them, and they'll quickly fill my spreadsheet.
You need to try the automated metro lines in Paris - 1 and 14. They have a fake driver layout on the two ends so that kids (like me!) can play at being the driver :-)
Cab view videos with commentary on the history of each section is a really nice format. I have seen videos of cab rides on non-automated routes, including the undergound, but none of them focused on the history. I realize it'd take some lucky networking, but doing it would be interesting to see more of this format of content.
‘Drove’ a DLR train some twenty five years plus years ago with a good friend of mine. Probably did it as obviously as your young fellow traveller. We certainly used the exact same terminus as you did too, so it was a nice long drive. What we weren’t aware of was the fact that somewhere after leaving the city a member of DLR staff got on… and standing by one of the sets of doors the DLR conductor was thoroughly enjoining the entertainment value of grown women having more fun than most have while stone cold sober. In fact they did come to see us… I think checking for boozy shenanigans, but ended up just having a good old laugh with us and passing us a DLR leaflet. I’m not sure even real staff on the train subdued our activities! Honestly… If you can’t get into the front of a ‘proper train’ then I swear the DLR is definitely the next best thing.
You've got to get yourself to Copenhagen and take a ride on the metro there. Those trains have stickers with fake train controls so kids of all ages can drive properly! DLR's missing a trick here.
@@6yjjk I do have legitimate reasons for considering Denmark as a travel destination, but fear it's less than likely to happen.🥺 Their idea does sound superb though, and one the DLR really could have picked up on!🥰
At Poplar, the blue building on the left is the original DLR Maintenance and Operations Centre (OMC), which houses the computer equipment that monitors and manages the railway, including a control room with colour monitors that allow operations personnel to see and communicate via radio with all trains in the system, make sure they stay on schedule, and deal with incidents if/when they happen. The little green diesel in the depot was made by GEC in 1987 and is affectionately called "Sooty", since it is a CT-30 model locomotive; it is used for maintenance along the railway when needed.
I have to visit London just to drive the DLR. Because let's be honest, life wouldn't be complete without sitting up front and pretending you're driving the train. While I know you're only talking to us, it feels as though everyone else on that train can hear you and you are the DLR's unofficial tour guide.
During a very early trip into TG on the DLR, I sat in the driver's seat from Island Gardens. West India Quay, a young man asked if I minded his son sitting next to me. I said no and he duly sat next to me. Twenty seconds later, the boy screamed, "TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" and jumped up and down with excitement. His dad laughed and said his son loved buses and trains but struggled with the concept of being on a train being more exciting than seeing another one coming. The exultation was repeated all the way to TG. :)
ahhh, I haven't ridden at the front of a DLR for quite a few years ! Happy memories 🙂 Of course the danger of getting that seat is you run the risk of getting kicked out of it by the "Train Captain" if they need to do manual operation. I remember that happening to me at least once .
Beckton Gasworks belonged to one of several private gas companies nationalised in 1948, with the new name being the North Thames Gas Board. It supplied gas to a huge area, well into Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Surrey.
Jago,thank you for reviving memories of trains traveled! The old Long Island Railroad had a railfans window,and you could read the signals,and if you knew the schedule,coming into Penn Station, you could get the inbound platform!! The same worked outbound!! Chicago has railfan seats,also,and the old IRT cars were great for running on the right of way!! To get some idea of that past operation,see the movie,"The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3",starring the late,great Walter Matthau,as that version is original,and pretty much read as the book!! An irony is that the Blu-Ray version uses a Berlin U- Bahn train on the cover,wierd,but they probably went for a stock photo,however with a little more research,they could have gotten it right!! A definite glitch in the matrix! Lol,and thanks for the excellent front row seat train ride!! Thanks again 👍 ☺️ 😊 😘 🤗 🙂 👍!
Thank you for this - one of the clearest memories I have of my Granda (a former locomotive designer and regular contributor to railway and bus magazines) is of riding the DLR with him as a boy of about 8. This has brought back many happy memories - I miss him constantly.
You, Mr. Hazzard are having way too much fun. And for the record my wife and I tend to do the same "Train, Train" thing when watching trains roll by along the CSX mainline just south of Baltimore. (I have the happy distinction of residing fairly close to both the mainlines of the CSX and Amtrak lines in the area. So much so that I can walk to them if I want. So all the freight and passenger traffic I could wish... Ohh there goes one now. Train!
Loved the way you had shot of a line of double decker buses outside Canning Town and then told us it was a double decker station, with the Jubilee Line platforms underneath us.
Hi Jago. Yes please. Film the rest of the DLR. This video was brilliant. I love Cab Rides. So this video was right up my street. Thank you for this one. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Safe travels.
We have very similar Bombardier trains here in Vancouver, Canada. The first of them went into operation in 1985 with lots of trepidation caused by the driverless wonders that were our first foray into mass rapid transit. The trains have worked very well with only a couple of very minor "fender benders" in the maintenance yards that I suspect were the result of manual operation. Our very small system (by your standards) is often overwhelmed during busy times and there is always a need for expansion. The budget always gets in the way. There was an important expansion to the airport from downtown to accommodate the 2010 Olympic Games, the folly of this expansion is short platforms that, of course, can only accommodate short trains. This line is already overwhelmed during rush hour and has few options for increased capacity. One other foible of the system is the fact that they didn't add the ability to keep snow off the important bits, now when it snows and people are very inclined to leave their cars at home the train often fails them. They try to run trains all night when it snows in an effort to keep the system clear of snow and ice in hopes of having it running during the morning commute. This plan has had limited success. If its snowing furiously,....well,...you need allot of trains to keep the guideways clear. Who knew it might snow now and then in Canada?
October 8th, 1988 - I was at the Royal Victoria Dock (now the site of the Excel Centre) for the Jean-Michel Jarre concert ‘Destination Docklands’. I still have the programme and ticket stub. 🎫
Hi Jago from a slightly cooler Spain. I have had connections with the DLR from before it was built. The DLR line from the old LT&S Stepney East station was the LT&S fast line into Fenchurch Street. In order to give those tracks to the DLR a new junction called Christian Street Jn was created between the then Stepney East and the old Shadwell station.
Loved this! The commentary, brilliant, the humour, dry! I’ve never been to London and i feel i know the DLR and most of the underground well. Thank you!🎉❤❤🎉
The best bit is going to Bank at the front. The lighting is more subtle over the end seat as it’s where the driver would be if they have to take manual control, so you can see out better in the darkness. It’s like a roller coaster as it winds it’s way to Bank
DLR trains are really comfortable, clean, regular, and efficient. IMO they should upgrade the Overground to DLR standards, and adopt the Overground name. Then we can look at extending the new Overground out to Southend (and along the pier), and gradually assimilate all mainline, crossrail, and tube services. Until the Heathrow Podway starts growing into the next generation.
I've never understood why DLR didn't build in some "controls" for kids to play with. Basic psychology would have suggested it would be an absolute winner for kids and grown-ups alike!Edit: Just seen that someone below commented that the Paris Metro has exactly this feature. Once, we used to be known for our imagination .....
I was once with a friends 4 year old riding at the front of our train , he was really enjoying the ride when the train stopped for an unknown reason. We could here the dissatisfaction and curiosity of the passengers behind us. At this point I remembered a trip, when I was a child, on a "bud car" type train that had to stop due to a cow on the tracks?! The conductor disembarked and escorted the offending bovine off the tracks! Our current Bombardier train system is all on elevated guideways (or underground) so stoppages are quite rare. I suggested to my 4 year old friend that he shout out "THERE'S A COW ON THE TRACKS" which he was happy to do,....causing much excitement and debate further back in the train. Some of the debate became heated causing a crowd to come forward in the car for confirmation of a cow on an elevated guideway!!
So I just went and spent my afternoon having a DLR adventure after watching this in the morning. Travelled from Lewisham to King George V via Stratford, had a wander around Royal Victoria Gardens, along to Thames Barrier Park, up the Beckton Corridor and onto this line. I even managed to get front seat on 3 of the 4 trains, and learnt very quickly why it's always best to sit on the right - even if someone did spill coffee all over the floor! Thanks for the inspiration, Jago! p.s. you should totally do videos for the other branches.
The DLR is so much more fun than the tube. With all that shuddering, tight bends and steep gradients, a cross between a roller-coaster and a half transport system. It also weaves between buildings and over water in a style that the tube simply cannot match and also has the most gloriously eccentric station name in London.
Great video. Also the DLR is just such a weird system. Like it was a pioneer for the modern automated light metro systems around the world that would later follow like the Vancouver Skytrain and Copenhagen Metro, but with how close the stops are spaced and how wavy and bendy the allignments are, as well as the lack of any route numbers or letters, the whole thing feels almost more like a reimagining of the traditional subways of older American cities like New York or especially Chicago. It's quite odd, but I assume the DLR does it job really well.
I recall that when the DLR opened, it was set up for 4 car units and that platforms were later extended to take 6 car units, as seen going "the other way" (2:46). The grey brick lift shafts on the earlier stations (e.g. Shadwell at 2:15) mark the original end of the platform, the extensions are at the far end.
Yes, I went on it with friends the first couple of days it opened (have the ticket somewhere), at lunch-time, as we worked near Tower Gateway. I am pretty sure some stations had not yet got all the safety barriers at the ends of platforms and things - I remember thinking you would need your wits about you if you'd been out on the razz after work.
It has three car units now. It was originally one car units, later expanded to two and finally expanded to three, some stations cannot be lengthened so use selective door opening in the front and rear portions. Each car is articulated in the middle, so I can see why it might look like a six car train, but is actually only three.
We ❤️ the DLR! In heavy rail terms this would be a ‘cab eye’ video which from the ones I have watched this would win a BAFTA in every respect. Your insight and knowledge and continual commentary made it super interesting on a most fascinating light railway. More please…
Lovely video Jago, really soothing! As I’m sure you know, ‘Cyprus’ was also the name of one of Waterloo’s component stations, back when it was a dreadful 19th century mess, and that too referred to the acquisition. Stay well.
Brilliant idea to commentate as the video progressed, I loved it! I used to work on the buses in the east London area and, during a period of local building/development ( 10 years ago aprox) some local bus routes and training buses were diverted through the old dock site now owned by London City airport of course. You are correct Jago, there are indeed still plenty of old rail tracks from the old dock railways still there. If only I had thought to use my camera! Ah, life is full of missed opportunities!
Having lived in Greenwich, Woolwich and now Wapping I use the DLR quite regularly but still found this a fascinating watch, your videos on the DLR are always ones to look forward to!. Have a look at some Circular Polarizing filters to fit the filter thread on the end of your lens should you be filming inside carriages again (not sure if you use a dedicated camera as well as a phone. phone attachments exist too), appropriately aligned they'll cut out the majority of the reflections in the glass, cheerio!
Great video and enjoyed the more “organic” commentary too! I use the DLR a few times a year, mainly to go to Excel, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and LCY airport. It’s a great experience in the front of the train if you can get there first 😊
Loved this video, and brought back great memories of my time at university. I used to travel from Cyprus to canning town and onto the jubilee line to Stratford. I
If you download Google Earth Pro, then you can go back in time, like seeing old satellite imagery going as far back as 1945, which is black and white, and then the next image is usually around 1999, which is now in colour. You can see how Canning Town station changed so much, especially with the DLR junction south of the station...
In the US this is also true for some areas, even with some as recent as the early 1980s, then we usually get a far less useful one to several years of color photos that are low resolution before the modern ones in the late 1990s or 2000s
I enjoyed watching that. Thank you. The DLR has come a long way since I first travelled on it, when the trains were only two cars long and that complicated junction was a simple delta on stilts. I vote in favour of more, but then, I've never been disappointed by any of your videos. I love the history perspective, probably because it's a subject I was obliged to drop, along with geography, early in my school career in order to concentrate on the sciences.
I always like (and "Like") your videos, but this POV format was a particular highlight, and I'd love to see more like it! And, understanding you can't get a seat with a view like this on the Underground, it would be great if a way was found to do something similar for its aboveground sections - drones, anyone?
This was a very enjoyable trip and reminds me of the videos done by Retired Railfan (I think that's how he spells his RU-vid name). I remember when the DLR was being proposed and then built but never "took" a trip over the complete line until now.
Hardly have I had time to wonder what the rectangular red things are on adjacent tracks, than Jago yells out "Train", and then all the tension-from-uncertainty goes out of my body. Thank you Jago! ;^> (Just teasing, I watched to the end, and enjoyed! :^)
i actually checked google maps and yes there train track in the airport. btw there is also and abandoned track inbetween pier road and a112. just behind "The Sidings Apartments" on a112 or John Pye & Sons on pier road . not sure it's worth seeing in real life and you probably know about it 😪
You forgot to mention that alighting at Cyprus will bring you to the Docklands campus of University of East London and alighting at Gallions Reach will drop you off at the halls of residence where I spent 9 months partying hard and failing essays between 2010 and 2011. Before the Olympics that whole area was pretty much wasteland but suddenly new flats started popping up and gentrification truly got its grip on the once industrial land of the Docks. I then moved to East Ham and later Beckton where I lived just behind the Asda you see as you exit the station. To the right there is also a pub which my friend and I would often go in for "a couple of pints" and roll out about 10pm, 8 pints down and in search of an open shop for a bottle of vodka. Luckily the Asda was open 24 hours so it was our go-to shop.
Whenever I and the sister went to MCM Comic Con we'd always take the DLR to the eXcel Centre from Bank. And I always made a land grab for that elusive front seat. Sometimes fruitfully.
For MCM I always used to come down from Stratford on the Jubilee and change at Canning Town for the DLR. I wonder if changing at Whitechapel on the Elizabeth line will be faster when it's fully open.
Hunting is a phenomen.. Railwheels are conical in profile.. To navigate curves A bit like a car's differential The straighter the track The less conical they have to be So the wheel is always seeking! Hunting the best contact with the railhead.. So the wheel set will in the absence of radial acceleration will move back and forth... Not a big deal... In terms of derailment Until you want to go beyond 100mph... A British Engineer came up with a solution A pendulum interacting with the axle to counter the 'hunting'... 125mph....job done! And without it... The Shinkensen would not exist Let alone The HST Without that pendulum No matter how straight the track The less conical the profile of the wheels Above 140mph The wheelsets would by their hunting Shake the bogies/trucks To bits!
I got to ride the DLR IN 1987 and this was when Docklands was still being developed so Canary Wharf was just a few new modern buildings and if you asked the DLR guard they would give you a DLR gift pack of if I remember a map of the DLR a few postcards and a pencil
They were different trains back in 87. If you sat right at the front, as the train went round a tight curve, it briefly felt like you had overshot, then you got whipped around until the track straightened.
The "Jago" is as elusive as, and is the English equivalent of, the "Wild Haggis Beastie" of Scotland. Unlike the haggis, however, the Jago cannot be reared domestically; the plumage doesn't flourish, and it rastes bland. I understand that in the 80s there was an attempt to cross-breed a Jago with the blueprints of the 1973 stock, but the resultant offspring were feral and only worked as a pizza topping when combined with jellied eels and a bay leaf.
Grabbing the seat at the front of the train (if you can) is also a fun project on the Tyne and Wear Metro system in Newcastle. Until they get the new trains in and remove this feature 😭
Many years ago, I used to pass the "ruins" which featured in Full Metal Jacket. The whole area had just been bulldozed and it was a veritable wasteland. Only the old factory (where the girl sniper was in the film) still remained.
i'll never forget the moment the DLR had me nonplussed... i was daydreaming whilst waiting for the train to arrive... as the train arrived i looked up and "wtf are those schoolgirls doing in the drivers cab..?" it felt like eternity till it dawned on me there was no driver... LOL :-)
A few things Mr Hazard, the PLA lines YES PLEASE, more DLR? OH YES PLEASE.As an aside my Father bused to own a Steam Road Locomotive (bloody big Traction Engine) that was formerly owned by the Beckton Coke and Gas Light Company. When he owned her she was dressed as a Showman's Engine and named Vanguard, she still exists not far from Canterbury in a private collection. The Hydraulic Company, YES PLEASE! And (sorry for the bad grammar) finally please don't ever change your wonderful dry delivery as it truly makes these missives. A very much enjoyed video Sir, thank you.
This was a lovely format :) I always liked the DLR. It was NEW and SHINY when I was single-digit young, and I would have been about 8 when I first rode it (on the then-new extension to Bank). Maybe it is because of that, or maybe it is because it really is just delightful, that any time I have ridden it since - even when it has been out of necessity - feels more like a fun trip out than it feels like a mode of transportation. Thank you for this video!
I lived in London for a few years when I went to uni. I was studying at UCL but lived out in the east and Prince Regent was my local station. So many memories of taking the DLR... sometimes changing to the Jubilee at Canning Town but often riding it all the way to Tower Gateway if I got a decent seat, just for the view and fresh air.... but dear gods, the hunting oscillation was absolutely bone jarring.... it's definitely even worse than it looks in the video, to the extent it became a running joke with me and my partner about the "commuter wobble".
Despite doing the one sensible thing I've done in my life, (getting the heck out of London, 20 odd years ago) I remain enamoured of the city and its constant evolution. Hence my addiction to this channel. Greetings from Devon, where our idea of "infrastructure" is converting a barn for second home purchasers , and denying planning permission for wind farms...
I got to know a gentleman who had been a steam loco driver on the Beckton Gas and Light Co Railway system. He was a very interesting man to listen too. This was back in the 1990's and he has since passed on. I met him at a heritage railway in New Zealand, to where he had emigrated to. I emigrated to NZ in 1975 but have had a number of visits back to London over the years and have used the DLR and The Tube many times. My father was a booking clerk on the Met for a number of years and my younger brother was a driver on the Met for 34 years, now retired.
You can also see around the old Beckton gasworks in the pre-title sequence of 'For Your Eyes Only'. I don't know about the quality of its gas but it made a really good film set.
Man, seeing you pretend to drive the DLR by being up-front makes me miss the R32s here in NY even more...yeah they were old, but they were a beaut. Though I'm glad they now have a new purpose as an artificial reef for sea life.
I just learned something else that we have in common with New York City; it seems that we have a City Island too. I’ve been to the one in New York, and looked across to the mysterious Hart Island.
I remember driving through the old Docklands area. Acres upon acres of desolution, boardings, hoardings and closed river-side gates. It's all had a decent dose of gentrification, and I am pleased at that, for it was all such a thriving, bustling place which only slumbered for a while before springing back to life. Call it essence of the Phoenix!
My brother and I did the same trip on Friday night. He's never been on the DLR before. Wish this video was out then. I did show him the Shadwell Curve.
On the one and only occaision I travlled on the DLR with my wife we were in the front carriage with a groupf of VIP's being given a guided tour of the DLR by an official of the railway. Amongst the less boring questions she fielded was "Can the trains be driven manually?". The answer was, yes. But the computer control didn't like it and sulked and slowed down all the other trains as a human driver could't keep to the timetable accurately!
