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Ghost Stations of the London Underground
Posted by
chrisd
on Sat Dec 07, 2002 08:08 PM
from the they're-just-waiting-for-gaiman dept.
from the they're-just-waiting-for-gaiman dept.
PinchDuck writes "Check out this site to get a tour of London Underground stations that have been abandoned during the century+ history of the commuter system. You can apparently still get to some of them! (though not by taking the Tube, obviously). I wish I had found this site 2 weeks ago, when I went to London, but now my geeky explorations must wait until my next visit (having just flown back in to Detroit today)."
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Mornington Crescent! (Score:4, Funny)
I win!
Re:Mornington Crescent! (Score:4, Funny)
so there...
Parent
Following the errors in understanding... (Score:3, Interesting)
I live on Watling Street, so that amendment stands too. Or indeed the playstation 2 version, considering the media of this discussion...
Re:Mornington Crescent! (Score:4, Funny)
John: My hat! Sir Horace!
Jasmina: (not daring to look) Has he been...
John: Yes - after breakfast. But that doesn't matter now... he's dead.
Jasmina: Oh! Poor daddy...
John: Looks like I shan't be catching the 11.30 now.
Jasmina: Oh no, John, you mustn't miss your train.
John: How could I think of catching a train when I should be here helping you?
Jasmina: Oh, John, thank you... anyway you could always catch the 9.30 tomorrow - it goes via Caterham and Chipstead.
John: Or the 9.45's even better.
Jasmina: Oh, but you'd have to change at Lambs Green.
John: Yes, but there's only a seven-minute wait now.
Jasmina: Oh, yes, of course, I'd forgotten it was Friday. Oh, who could have done this.
(Enter Lady Partridge.)
Lady Partridge: Oh, do hurry Sir Horace, your train leaves in twenty-eight minutes, and if you miss the 10.15 you won't catch the 3.45 which means
John: I'm afraid Sir Horace won't be catching the 10.15, Lady Partridge.
Lady Partridge: Has he been... ?
Jasmina: Yes - after breakfast.
John: Lady Partridge, I'm afraid you can cancel his seat reservation.
Lady Partridge: Oh, and it was back to the engine - fourth coach along so that he could see the gradient signs outside Swanborough.
John: Not any more Lady Partridge... the line's been closed.
Lady Partridge: Closed! Not Swanborough!
John: I'm afraid so.
(Enter Inspector Davis.)
Inspector: All fight, nobody move. I'm Inspector Davis of Scotland Yard.
John: My word, you were here quickly, inspector.
Inspector: Yeah, I got the 8.55 Pullman Express from King's Cross and missed that bit around Hornchurch.
Lady Partridge: It's a very good train.
All: Excellent, very good, delightful.
(Tony runs in through the french windows. He wears white flannels and boater and is jolly upper-class.)
Tony: Hello everyone.
All: Tony!
Tony: Where's daddy? (seeing him) Oh golly! Has he been... ?
John and Jasmina: Yes, after breakfast.
Tony: Then
John: Exactly.
Tony: And I suppose as his eldest son it must go to me.
Inspector: Just a minute, Tony There's a small matter of... murder.
Tony: Oh, but surely he simply shot himself and then hid the gun.
Lady Partridge: How could anyone shoot himself and then hide the gun without first cancelling his reservation.
Tony: Ha, ha! Well, I must dash or I'll be late for the 10.15.
Inspector: I suggest yOu murdered your father for his seat reservation.
Tony: I may have had the motive, inspector, but I could not have done it, for I have only just arrived from Gillingham on the 8.13 and here's my restaurant car ticket to prove it.
Jasmina: The 8. 13 from Gillingham doesn't have a restaurant car.
John: It's a standing buffet only.
Tony: Oh, er... did I say the 8.13, I meant the 7.58 stopping train.
Lady Partridge: But the 7.58 stopping train arrived at Swindon at 8.19 owing to annual point maintenance at Wisborough Junction.
John: So how did you make the connection with the 8. I3 which left six minutes earlier?
Tony: Oh, er, simple! I caught the 7.16 Football Special arriving at Swindon at 8.09.
Jasmina: But the 7.16 Football Special only stops at Swindon on alternate Saturdays.
Lady Partridge: Yes, surely you mean the Holidaymaker Special.
Tony: Oh, yes! How daft of me. Of course I.came on the Holidaymaker Spedal calling at Bedford, Colmworth, Fen Dinon, Sutton, Wallington and Gillingham.
Inspector:' That's Sundays only!
Tony: Damn. All fight, I confess I did it. I killed him for his reservation, but you won't take me alive! I'm going to throw myself under the 10.12 from Reading.
John: Don't be a fool, Tony, don't do it, the 10.12 has the new narrow traction bogies, you wouldn't stand a chance.
Tony: Exactly.
Parent
Very interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
One step closer to the vision of NYC in AI (the movie by Spielberg)....
Re:Very interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Very interesting (Score:5, Funny)
So, in about 480 years, then?
Parent
Re:Very interesting (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Very interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
[ More pages like this ] (Score:5, Interesting)
I found this [thetube.com] old article on The Tube's Web site that really gives a nice overview of things. I actually read that a few weeks ago, so it's kind of ironic that this
TTC (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:TTC (Score:5, Informative)
As for the station refered to in the parent, it was called Lower Bay (or Bay Lower) station, and was shutdown after 6 months of use. It's now used mainly as a film set, and for training I believe. Since little to no maintenance is performed on it, it's easy to pass it off as a New York subway station
THIS [infiltration.org] page is a good read about exploring the TTC tunnels (and lower bay), and THIS [toronto.com] page gives a little bit of the history of lower bay.
Parent
Re:TTC (Score:5, Informative)
The most commonly known abandoned station is Lower Bay, the lower level of the Bay station. It was used for a few months when the Bloor-Danforth line first opened, to allow the trains to interline with the Yonge-University line.
When the Yonge line was planned, it was thought that a streetcar subway would run under Queen Street (rather than the Bloor-Danforth line we have today). A roughed-in platform was built for the streetcars under Queen Station. At Osgoode (Queen St, University line), there is no second platform, although utlities were moved to accomodate a line (should it be built).
Another abandoned "station" is located at Allen Road, along the cancelled Eglinton line. The station was the first to be built, but the new government at the time cancelled the line and the station was filled in. Work never progressed far enough for it to be called a station though.
Keele and Woodbine stations on the Bloor line were terminal stations when the Bloor-Danforth line first opened. Special tunnels were built [toronto.on.ca] to make it easier for passengers to transfer to/from the streetcars, but were later abandoned.
Parent
Lots of info on these tunnels: (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.thetube.com/content/metro/01/0110/31/ [thetube.com]
http://www.londonrailways.net/ghost.htm [londonrailways.net]
The BBC has a great article here [bbc.co.uk].
Most older cities have a lot of steam tunnels and abandoned stations like these. Does anyone out there have some interesting exploration stories to share?
Re:Lots of info on these tunnels: (Score:5, Interesting)
Seems the tunnels do connect a number of Columbia and buildings, but it also links up to the 116th street train station and a number of other non columbia facilities. Whats really odd is the total lack of security and the equipment being housed.
Most of the power generatos and phone switches for columbia seem to be located down there, and there isnt much keeping one from going from the ny subway system into the tunnels housing Columbia's equipment.
Parent
Visits to these Underground Stations (Score:5, Informative)
urban spelunking (Score:5, Informative)
Another site that has similar information about places you're not supposed to go is www.infiltration.org [infiltration.org]. Ah, running around steam tunnels back when I was an undergrad....
More on Ostbahnhof (Score:3, Interesting)
Ostbahnhof was a station on a line that started in West Berlin, ducked into East Berlin for a little bit, through one station and then went back into West Berlin. The U-Bahn did not stop at Ostbahnhof while the city was divided. However, that did not stop some East Berliners from trying to use that train to escape East Berlin - which resulted in some fatalities until the East German government wised up.
Later, West Berliners taking the train would be able to see a "ghost" station as the train sped by Ostbahnhof with armed guards patrolling the station to prevent East Berliners from trying to escape.
Re:More on Ostbahnhof (Score:3, Informative)
After the war, the U-Bahn and the Buses were run by West Berlin and the S-Bahn + Trams were allocated to East Berlin.
The U in U-Bahn means Underground, although they often run about 30 feet above ground. The U-Bahn runs in the built-up areas.
The S in S-Bahn means Stadt (city), they went way out into tge surrounding areas.
There were 4 U-Bahn lines affected by the wall:
- U1, the station at it's eastern end was Warschauer Brücke and was cut off by the wall and closed.
- U3, there were 2 seperate ones for years, one in the West (3 stations) and one in the East (12 stations). The 4 stations between them (Nollendorfplatz, Bülowstraße and Gleisdreieck in the W, Potsdamer Platz in the E) were closed. The 3 W stations more-or-less duplicated another line, Bülowstraße was a permanent (!) Flea Market.
- (The U5 was entirely in the E and ran normally)
- U6, Runs N to S. 5 Stations in the E (one was called Nordbahnhof) were closed for years, a sixth (Friedrichstraße) was a border crossing. The trains used to slow down a bit in their way through the others and there were armed guards at each one
- U8, parallel to the U6 had 6 stations closed with armed guards.
All stations on all U-Bahn lines have now re-opened.The S-Bahn was more or less boycotted after the wall was built in 1961. When the staff went on strike around 20 years later, the E-Germans reacted by closing most of the existing lines and stations. All (I believe) are open again.
Underground mystery, US version (Score:5, Informative)
http://triggur.org/silo/site.html [triggur.org]
World's weirdest site--exploring an abandoned missile silo.
Re:Underground mystery, US version (Score:3, Interesting)
There was a promoter who claimed to be working up a plan to turn the silos into upscale underground homes for people with off-center tastes in housing, but that never got anywhere. I haven't heard about them in four or five years now, so maybe they've just been filled in.
rj
Detroit is perfect! (Score:5, Informative)
The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit (Score:5, Informative)
Check it out. [detroityes.com]
There are dark and strange things down there... (Score:5, Funny)
... The Government has put a D-notice on the publishers of London Underground maps. There are stations the public aren't supposed to know about out east; they built the Dome to discourage prospective explorers. The Forbidden Line starts near the Thames Barrier then goes 'London Below - Rl'yeh - Pandaemonium'. Another station serves the workers on the underground dragon-breeding project.
They claimed that those raiders who attacked the Dome with a JCB were aiming to steal diamonds. We know the truth now! They were aiming to break into the main shaft and expose the horrors below... Don't let them lie to you!
Re:There are dark and strange things down there... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the third one came along, saw my followup post, and decided to be wilfully perverse :-)
The trailers for RoF all showed dragons wrecking London with great enthusiasm, so I don't think I've given away anything particularly spoilerish...
NYC abandoned stations. (Score:5, Interesting)
Boston, too (Score:3, Interesting)
Speaking of relics, the big dig (multibillion $ replacement of the main artery with tunnels) brought up all sort of oddities, such as hollowed-out tree trunks used as sewers in the 18th century. The mysteries that stir beneath.
Surely the Chicago L, Paris Metro, and so on share these features. And, given the nature of the web where one person's trivia is another's lifelong obsession, I'm sure the info is out there, somewhere.
Thanks for the NYC cite. NYC has all sorts of interesting things buried there.... And I can't help but say there are a lot of public works in the city that are not abandoned -- and should be.
No need to go to London... (Score:5, Informative)
One of them is even a national historic monument [nycsubway.org].
The Secret Is Out (Score:5, Funny)
Oh that's just great. Now where are we going to hide out when the machines take over the planet?? The get-out has always been that mankind would take refuge in the abandoned tunnels and sewers. Now that Google has the archive of all the locations, that plan isn't going to work too well.
Please, be more responsible in the stories that you post on here. Thank You, STF
Neverwhere (Score:5, Interesting)
Very cool book, IMHO
I would (Score:5, Funny)
psychoreactive slime? (Score:3, Funny)
I didn't think so.
Infiltration, it's called... (Score:5, Informative)
Similar site for NYC subway system. (Score:3, Informative)
I went on a tour of the Ghost Boston Stations... (Score:3, Interesting)
Neil Gaimon (Score:3, Informative)
If you've never read it, I recommend it, very reality bending and a good read besides.
Berlin - pre unification (Score:5, Interesting)
It was wierd as hell, the stations looked... well... bombed out and there was debris everywhere. At each station there was a lone bare bulb and a lone polizei with an AK-47. The air was extremly stale too. The train wasn't allowed to stop, it just slowed.
Like a litle tram trip through the Twilight Zone.
I can only assume that all that is a memory and those stations have been re-built now and are operational, no? Any Berliners care to comment?
He missed one oddity on the Victoria line (Score:5, Informative)
The Victoria line has a stretch between Victoria and Green Park. The most direct route would go under Buckingham Palace, the Queen's primary residence. However, if you look at 'real' maps of the Underground, a kink is in the line which causes it to skirt the Queen's property.
Supposedly this is related to security, but also to an atomic shelter located under the Palace.
If, however, you keep your eyes peeled while looking out of the train between these two stations, you can actually see a very small platform and some dim lights. I've only seen it once, and I -think- it's out of the left hand side of the train when going northbound, but I'm not 100% sure.
The newsgroup speculation at the time was that this was a way for the Royals to access the Underground in certain 'situations'. Next time you're on that stretch of line, check it out.
Re:He missed one oddity on the Victoria line (Score:5, Interesting)
On other stations there is also a station at parliment as well, that is only for use in war situations, that i've seen from time to time. And when they refurbed Embankment i'm sure i notice a line that is not used today. But this seems the best time to find things, when they have to close stations for varying reasons. Take this year when flooding closed large areas of the network in early september. I got to use stairwells that obviously had not seen the human foot of the normal passenger in some time.
Parent
Picadilly Line (Score:5, Informative)
Of all the deepcut lines, the Picadilly Line is probably the most fascinating for abandoned stations.
There are three notable abandonments; Aldwych, Down Street, and Brompton Road. There are also abandoned sections at Hyde Park Corner (which no longer uses it's original surface building, which is now a Pizza Restaurant), Green Park, South Ken (the lift shafts are empty), Caledonian Road, and no doubt several other stations.
Aldwych is probably the best known of the abandoned stations. It was closed in 1994 as the replacement cost for the lifts was deemed uneconomical, given the usage the station got. Aldwych runs on a branch down from Oldborn, and some tunnel extends further. This is because the Picadilly line was originally two seperate lines, the western section running to Covent Garden, the northern section running to Aldwych. The northern section was intended to run south of the river, hence the extra tunnel. This was never completed though, and the two sections wer joined at Holborn very early on.
Aldwych also has other random tunnel going to it, as the Jubilee line was built all the way to Aldwych, but never used that far. Now the Charring Cross section of the Jubilee line is completely abandoned as the Jubilee extension takes the line through Westminster instead.
Down Street was closed in the 1930s along with Brompton Road to thin down the number of Central London stations on the Picadilly line when the line was extended further east and west. Down Street, due to it's proximity to Green Park, was never a particularly busy station, and hence was an easy target. During the war it was converted into a transport command HQ and government bunker.
Brompton Road was likely chosen for closure due its very high proximity to South Ken - much of the surface building still stands next to the Kensington Oratory, just a few minutes walk away. Brompton Road was also used during the war, although it's uses were entirely military, and somewhat murky. The military still own the shafts, making access from the ground impossible. Several years ago a man died after breaking in and falling down one of the shafts. His remains were not discovered for quite some time!
Both Brompton Road and Down Street can be spotted from passing tube trains - the platforms were bricked up during their war usage, so you can see where the platforms would be by looking where the tube wall turns into a brick wall. Brompton Road is between South Ken and Knightsbridge, Down Street is between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park. Also look out for the cross-over / passing tunnels between Hyde Park Corner and Down Street :-)
Some good urban decay sites (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.nelsap.org
http://www.forgotten-ny.
And exactly on the subject of abandoned subway tunnels, here's an index for New York...
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/
Those are Maps (Score:3, Insightful)
Um. Take a trained geographer's word, that's a map. I guess Polynesian wave and star charts are not maps because they don't show geomorphological features in an easily discernible way to Westerners... We are part of the landscape. Get over it.
Abandoned subways? (Score:4, Funny)
There goes
Man this place is going to the dogs..
Vauxhall Cross Station (Score:5, Informative)
Interesting site.. But doing it is more fun. (Score:3, Interesting)
But while the sites are impressive. (taking a good
I can't believe noone has started a game of "morni (Score:4, Funny)
I'm invoking the 1822 revision of the slave release rule and starting with "Embankment"
.02
cLive ;-)
Re:I can't believe noone has started a game of "mo (Score:3, Funny)
TWW
Re:Place for a rave. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Place for a rave. (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, but the problem is giving out directions to these parties.
"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."
Now just try to get to the drinks without running into a grue.
Parent
Re:Makes me think of Seattle (Score:3, Informative)
-Sean