As we know most of our rail infrastructure was built at a loss. But at least it was built. Still upset about today's cancellation news. Total lack of vision. 😢
Aside from the heritage railway, who are always on the earhole, we have no railway service or stations at all in West Somerset. This basic infrastructure is sorely needed here.
Reading Bengali is quite easy, you just look at whatever is written in English above it and that should give you a pretty good idea of what the Bengali writing says. Hope this helps.
For those interested, the poster in Yiddish translates to: East London Railway Cheap Prices Crystal Palace Excursions Third class train return fare Including entrance fee to the Palace. In a day when you pay 1 shilling transport, the ticket will cost just 1 shilling and 6 pence. Shoreditch Brick Lane, Whitechapel E.L. and Shadwell Watney Street. Kids under 12 are ½ price.
Love these ELL ones. I was for a period the Permanent Way Manager on there. The most amazing thing that only track people would know is when you are in the Brunel Tunnel at night when it is really quiet (lines under Engineering possession of course), you can hear the props of boats on the Thames as they pass above you.
Apparently in the most distant galleries of old coastal coal and tin mines you could hear the tide moving rocks around above you. I bet that sounded weird. A lot of those old galleries are probably still there too, if flooded and maybe partly collapsed.
I wonder if say Blackwall or Rotherhive experience that? It would be interesting to find out about the Penn rail tunnel or Holland tunnel etc under the Hudson in NYC. Thank you for this bit of info, I am fascinated by the idea of that. 11:47
@@johnmurray8428 The bores themselves are 93ft below "Mean high water level". the Amtrak tunnels are 100ft and Wikipedia has the depth of the shipping channel as 52ft so 48ft of mud above the tunnel and in some places the solid granite bedrock of Manhattan. I suspect the Hudson tunnels are all pretty deep because the river there is part of NY Harbor so much bigger ships than the Thames in London. challenge of course in the Holland Tunnel as well is even if you could hear a propeller that far under, you would never hear it over the ventilation. if Gateway ever gets built we may yet get to find out about the Amtrak tunnels because Gateway would allow the old Penn tunnels to finally be shut down for either retirement or renovation due to being in constant service for over 100 years. they run 24 trains an hour under the river. There is also two PATH tunnels and the Lincoln Tunnel. NYC has done a lot of digging in its past. Perhaps the most interesting thing then is that the city has more tunnels than bridges to cross that river. PATH is a commuter line "Port Authority Trans-Hudson". The Penn tunnels carry Amtrak and NJ Transit.
The bell foundry no longer exists, it shut a few years ago. Also (and this is pedantic, I do acknowledge that) bells are made from an alloy of copper and tin, i.e. bronze, not brass which is copper and zinc. But it's cool that they acknowledged it in the station design all the same.
I love that you used the verb "smushed". To any US viewers, in the UK this does not mean to have sex, as it does in your country. The two stations may be interconnected, but they don't have intercourse. 😂
If the sex definition is used in the US, it must be a regional thing in some region I've never lived in, because I've only ever heard it in the same sense you claim for the UK. Although we usually spell it "smooshed" to reflect the slightly different vowel pronunciation.
@@ZGryphonYeah, I've never heard it defined that way, either, and spelling doesn't seem to change the meaning on the left side of the Atlantic ... But it's clear that the two stations _were_ smushed together.
Fun Fact: Joseph Merrick the 'Elephant Man' was exhibited for public viewing in a 'freak Shop' more or less directly opposite Whitechapel Station, by a showman, one Tom Norman. It was in this 'Freak Shop' - yes, that's what these establishments were called - that Dr. Frederick Treves ''discovered' Merrick. The rest is, as they say, history. The actual Freak Shop building still survives to this day, in case you are interested. Today it sells sarees rather than exhibiting freaks.
Thanks for the earworm Jago....I'm now... Underground overground, Wombling free....🎶😆 There is a modern option, take the Metropolitan to Barbican and then get a Thameslink ticket to Brighton.
Before the recent rebuild was finished and the Elizabeth line opened, the old metal poles holding up the shelter above the platforms would ring like bells when you hit them. Each one produced a slightly different tone as I walked by striking them with my plastic key fob. I often wondered if this was intended to be an allusion to the bell foundry but never found anything to that effect (though in my opinion, it would have been a far better tribute than what we see in 9:19). Alas, I can’t find them anymore so I think they’ve been removed…
Probably just naturally occurred that way. The tone it would make would depend on the exact length of the pole, the thickness of the metal, probably how well it's anchored, etc. I doubt the quality control was such that they were all exactly identical.
For what it's worth, the ring tone (resonant frequency) of a long pole like that is extremely low, so what you heard was probably the strike tone, which is due to the percussive effect of one hard object against another.
St Mary's curve used to run between Shadwell on the East London Railway and Aldgate East on the District and then Metropolitan (now Hammersmith & City) lines, it once had a regular through service, but latterly was used for empty stock movements. A railtour, using the Cravens 1960 Stock train, was run over the curve before it was decommissioned as part of the Overground conversion.
The curve was problematic, as an incident revealed that in certain circumstances there wasn't actually room to have two trains passing one another. From that point onwards only one train was allowed in the curve at a time.
It seems like only yesterday when at various times I worked or lived in New Cross, Rotherhithe, and Hackney. I was always fascinated by St Mary's Curve which you could see from the train in the dark, and also the architecture visible from Whitechapel platforms (I always thought about Jack The Ripper when looking up at the old brickwork). I figure if I went back now, some 35 years later, I wouldn't recognise any of it.
I made a real fast trip to London last week and had a walk from Whitechapel to Shoreditch. Visited the old Shoreditch station, as I always do when nearby. Such a pity that this is not used for anything...😢
If I understand this correctly, the Overground actually still uses the original Brunel (senior) tunnel that was the very first tunnel under the Thames?
@@geirmyrvagnes8718 Yes it does-it was part of the Metropolitan's East London Line as stated in the video. The station at Wapping has, *perhaps*, the narrowest platforms on the Overground (and possibly the Underground)
@@hoosiersands I think the comma spoilt your bold text! The first asterisk has to follow a space and the second has to be followed by a space for the code to work. _This will be in italic._ _This won't_. *This will be bold.* *This won't*. -This will be crossed out.- -This won't-.
@@hoosiersands Clapham Common and Clapham North also have dangerously narrow platforms. Whether they're narrower than Wapping's platforms, I'm not sure.
As the proud owner of a model railway in the 60's and 70's it always appeared to me that New Cross and New Cross Gate was where the transformer was connected.
During the 1970s, when I made my first visit to London, the ELL to the south of Whitechapel wasn't shown on tube maps in exactly the same way as the rest of the Metropolitan Line, Jago - not least because the short section between Whitechapel and Shoreditch only ran at peak times and on Sunday mornings. Known as the East London Section, the rest of the line to the south of Whitechapel was shown in the same purple colour as the Metropolitan Line, but as an open line that was sometimes shown with a white central stripe, rather than the solid Metropolitan purple line. It was however obvious to anyone that used it that it was operationally part of the Metropolitan, as the trains were four-car A60/62 stock with driving cars at each end; and while a small depot existed at New Cross, the St Mary's Curve remained open for empty stock movements... Off-peak, it ran at an interval of no more than ten minutes, which was achieved using six half-sets, with a seventh that usually sat at Whitechapel as a spare, that was also used when the service to Shoreditch was running. It was as you say largely a forgotten backwater - until Fleet Street started to relocate to Wapping during the 1980s, where the extremely narrow platforms became an immediate issue at peak times.
8:42 Jago, that's a brilliant photo of the Underground going over the Overground, but it still has the construction site on it. If you could see your way clear to capturing this scene as it now is at some point, that would be a superb photo!
I occasionally used the East London line in 'Metropolitan' days, when you could get to travel on some antique items of rolling stock, such as the clerestory roofed G-Stock. Trains were only every minutes which was an irritation. Better than trains in much of south London, though, which - as today - mostly ran half-hourly.
Shortly before it reopened as part of the Overground pedestrians were allowed back into the tunnel to walk it one last time before trains were reintroduced. It was fantastic to walk through and see the details of the building.
The Hammersmith & City Line used to turn around at Whitechapel on what looked like the East-Bound platform. The number of times I sent people to Aldgate East by accident was too bloomin' high. Also, at the London Transport Museum, they had a replica A Stock cab with a drivers-eye video of the St Mary's curve from Shadwell to Aldgate East. Which was pretty neat.
As you travel west just after you leave Whitechapel on the District/Hammersmith & City line looking left you can see the entrance to St Mary’s curve and then the boarded up platforms of St. Mary’s station
Great video Jago. Whitechapel is one of my favourite underground (and overground) stations, such a rich offering of historic and contemporary railway architecture. Also; the best place to begin a Jack the Ripper walk and explore the culture, history and pubs in the local area.
Just north of Farringdon Station, the tracks serving the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle Lines, pass over the Thameslink tracks. The Hammersmith & City Line crosses (most of) the main line out of Paddington on a high viaduct before dropping down to join it at Royal Oak.
I'm coming to London in late February, and I am going to visit Whitechapel famous sites. You video gave me some excellent talking points in the pubs in the evening 😊
I was at the Overground platforms at Whitechapel the other day and I noticed that on top of the name Whitechapel high on the wall they still got some of the original orange stripes from the east london underground line
The station has improved out of sight from my memory of the Tube back in the eighties. On either Metropolitan/District lines, nobody got on or off, there was an audible drip of water, and the place was literally illuminated by a single, bare pendant light bulb.
My friend who lives in England is closer to the DLR than Whitechapel, but I find Bank tedious, so Whitechapel has become sort of a home station for me in London. So I was excited to see a video about it, and even more excited when it turned out to be one of the most interesting Jago's done. I actually thought the ending was beautiful.
It was my home station for a year and I loved it. So many connections and the recent renovations really make it an enjoyable place to travel to and from. :)
'Underground, Overground...' but without the Wombles, as we're at the east end of the District Line, and to my favourite London Underground quiz question, which you mention is pretty well-known (thanks Jago). You have packed so much info into this video. Maybe some travellers have spotted that if you're on a westbound District or Hammersmith and City train leaving Whitechapel, you can see a tunnel opening as the train you're on travels towards Aldgate East. I guess that's the St. Mary's tunnel curving towards what is now the Overground track. I'm not sure if you can see this tunnel opening oa eastbound train going from Aldgate East to Whitechapel. Interesting to mention the District Railway's connection to the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, given the disused platforms on the current C2C line, which you can see at Bromley-by-Bow, Plaistow, Upton Park, East Ham, Becontree, and one of the Dagenham stations, if I'm correct. Just coincidentally, at which stations does the Overground go over the Overground? I think you can answer, at the Hackney Central / Hackney Downs interchange, and at Willesden Junction. Any other locations?
Whitechapel station has changed a lot since the Elizabeth Line (previously Crossrail) was built and the station was redeveloped. With the London Overground East London Line and London Underground Hammersmith & City and District Lines both serving Whitechapel station. And the East London Line is below the District and H&C Lines.
I think it's the only one where it happens at a station, so you get signs telling pedestrians to go _up_ to the underground and _down_ to the overground. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know. (West Hampstead is a near miss because the stations are separate and not at all "smushed". You have to go out and along the road to get from one to the other.)
When at about 4:08 Jago you showed a map that had a station called Mark Lane, which I've never heard of before. Any chance you could include more details of this in a subsequent video ? 😎
I cannot recall the District Terminating at Whitechapel as a normal thing - did it offically change in the time table ? It was the main terminus for the Hammersmith and City Line ( sometimes extended to Plaistow or Barking )
I was going to point out in the video he says the terminating tracks were removed. In actual fact they removed the main line tracks and the tracks in use today are the terminating tracks where Hammersmith and City Line trains use to stand when terminated. This did not happen during busy times since you use to have a chance to catch the train ahead when they used both platforms at Whitechapel to get the train behind to get into the station and if you was quick run across the platform and catch the train in front. If the driver was not nice they would shut the doors as your trains doors opened or as you got half way across the platform. But if you could do it you could get home a train early. My Nan would most probably say it is most probably a good thing you can't run across the platform anymore to get the train ahead. But I guess with new signals it would not happen now anyway.
In a number of shots like 0:13 ther's a lot of cables on the wall opposite the platforms. I can't imagine TFL needs that many all parallel in one place, so I'm guessing they're leasing space to commercial customers? I don't recall seeing walls of cable like this in your other TFL-operated-station videos so I'm wondering if there's some unique story about this one?
in the 80s and early 90s you could see the old Shoreditch station ( and the old link to Liverpool street - then an empty track bed ) ijust as you were arriving into Liverpool street on the east side and were sat with your back to the engine ! Blink and you would miss it !
Your list of railway companies (1:52 - 2:04) puts me in mind of the spoken introduction to Louis Jordan's wonderful 'Texas and Pacific': "I know you heard of the Chattanooga Choo Choo The Rock Island, the New York Central, the New Haven and Hartford, The Pennsylvania, the Missouri Pacific, the Southern Pacific, The Northern Pacific is terrific - Oh, but Jack, you heard of the IC and the Santa Fe, But you gotta take a ride on the TP!"
Millwall football trains used to run on the District line to and from Surrey Quays, presumably if Fulham or Chelsea were playing there. I was lucky to ride one from Surrey Quays that was not busy, as the game had gone into extra time, but no one had delayed the specials.
I remember Whitechapel metropolitan east london line with district line Q stock, and Whitechapel district line above with metropolitan co cp stock on Hammersmith and city service. And i did see a passenger excursion going through whitechapel east london line pulled by a diesel loco, about 1965! And at wapping, the wooden stair treads up to the booking hall were the original stairs used by those Victorians when it was a foot tunnel. There was also a lift, going up, which was manually operated by a lift operator
I'm dismayed to discover that Mr. Hazard is a "rugged outlaw" type. A respectable citizen like myself can't be associated with such a ruffian I'm afraid.
From his name, I'd always assumed he was a highwayman: the son of a senior East India Company officer, forced into a life of crime after being expelled from school for smuggling women of negotiable affection into the dorm.
Are you sure the East London Line was marked as the Metropolitan Line until 1990? I started in university in Queen Mary College (Mile End) in 1988 and I remember it was the East London Line then, though when I rode on it, it was like stepping back in time, using old Metropolitan Line trains - they still had the Metropolitan Line maps inside the trains.
It was marked in Metropolitan purple with a central white stripe (similar to the Northern City line), but was officially called (and marked on the maps) as the "East London Line". Between 1970 and 1986, it was marked as the "East London Section" and officially called "Metropolitan Line - East London Section". The only change in 1990 was from hollow purple to solid orange, but that was noticeable to most travellers.
Great video, I used to go through Whitechapel daily on the District, occasionally changing trains for the East London there. In those days the latter was a gloomy prospect though it was still using the glorious 1938 stock. When alighting at Wapping I always wondered why there was a continual sound of running water on the platform . . .
Over the East London line. Over the DLR and Jubilee line. Level with the Central line that climbs and falls to meet it. That District line sure likes to forge a path. Isn’t it twice it crosses the DLR?
elizabeth line is under overground trains while overground is under underground trains or underground trains are over overground trains which is over the elizabeth line
The overground goes under the underground 4 times I think. Whitechapel is the only station but it also passes under the district and Piccadilly lines just west of Chiswick Park and two branches pass under the metropolitan line at Northwick Park and west hampstead
We do now have urban beaches in the summer, at various locations as well as travelling fairs, that have been around for years. The nearest seaside resorts to London, are in Essex, Sussex and Kent. As a Londoner, may I recommend Southend and Brighton, both easy and cheap to get to, if you ever decide to come to England.
@@julianaylor4351: until 1971, you could go to the beach below Tower Bridge. It was finally closed on health grounds because of the state of the Thames.
Always enjoy your videos; always interesting. You're clearly passionate about your subject, and the droll and light-hearted touch is entertaining and keeps the viewer engaged. Have you ever done a video about Brixton station? In particular, why it looks so incomplete? And why, oh why, isn't there an Overground stop there? It'd allow changing both for the main line and the Tube, (reducing pressure for a Northern Line extension from Battersea PC to Clapham junction)...Rant over! Keep up the good work! Tim (struggling with N gauge model of Leominster station and 3 branch lines...)
Most of the trains from Hammersmith via Shepherds Bush which reversed at Whitechapel were extended to Barking. When the Metropolitan Railway electrified the East London Line it ran many through trains between Hammersmith and New Cross The Southend Corridor Express through trains were withdrawn in 1939, as a direct consequence of the start of WW2
3:27 I knew that there was originally a connection between the East London and the Metropolitan through the westernmost platforms of Liverpool Street Mainline Station, but this is the first I have heard of a planned link between them via Aldgate. Was it along the same line as that eventually built by the District?
It's fun to walk the Greenwich Foot Tunnel under The Thames. Mudshute DLR station near one end, and Geenwich DLR not too far from the other end (with the Old Royal Naval College as a bonus). I think that there's quite a few people who don't realise you can walk under The Thames. It's not a Brunel build though, it was opened in 1902.
