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Post by dave1 on Nov 13, 2016 16:30:59 GMT
Came across this London's Transport some really good photos going back a few years, also check out the other albums.
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Post by Nortube on Nov 14, 2016 11:35:51 GMT
The Morden depot open day (part of the City & South London Railway centenary celebrations) in 1991 was a fun weekend was involved on both days, mainly as one of the 38 stock drivers. A lot of effort was put into the preparations by the various departments concerned. This included building a temporary 4-car wooden platform next to 5 road in the depot.
The 4-car 38 stock was used as a shuttle service between platform 1 and the depot and people could ride on it as much as they wanted. J cab door was left open at both ends and the front cab was usually filled with visitors on each trip with the driver answering any questions.
From an operating point of view, I seem to remember that the train ran, unsignalled, to and from the platform / depot as required with a frequent service, on the basis "We've got enough on, lets go!" If the move from the platform was unsignalled as I think it was, then the shunt signal trainstop from platform 1 (Y6) and that of shunt signal Y28 to platform 1 must have been pegged down. The route to the depot were secured by clip and scotch and I can only assume that spring catch points 19 were secured in reverse.
The open weekend was one of the few times that passenger trains have used platform 1. My only other recollection after that was a later Santa special running trips to and from the depot (no getting off in the depot)
The open weekend was seen as a family occasion and this was proved by the many families with children of all ages that turned up, as well as all the enthusiasts. Given the poor opinion of the Northern line that was still around at that time (still holding on to the "Misery Line" tag, I think that the open weekend was also a great success from a PR point of view. Sadly, after that, the rolling stock maintenance and depots were effectively privatised under PFI when Alstom took over and that was that. It became an "us and them" situation with the Northern line effectively having to deal with a separate company and all that that involved, rather than the simple way of dealing with things when the depots were still part of the LU family.
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Post by dave1 on Nov 14, 2016 14:01:23 GMT
I loved those open days and what about the photo where everyone is walking all over the track, I know that the electric supply would be off but like you said they run the special so there must have been at least one track live.
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Post by Nortube on Nov 14, 2016 15:32:13 GMT
I can't remember the full details now, but I know that there was the red polythene mesh type fence running from roughly the station area to the depot, effectively shielding the live side from the dead area - this can be seen in the distance in some of the photos. The outside roads 1 - 5 would have been live. I think all the rest of the depot had current discharged. Indeed, on photos on the next flicker page (after the Isle of Wight photos), there are two vintage buses between the tracks below the long pedestrian bridge.
Visitors were free to wander all around the tracks in front of the depot without supervision. This is something that would probably be extremely unlikely to happen these days because of the trip hazards (i.e. rails!) that were not seen important in those days. Now, any visitor access would have to be securely cordoned off and proper walkways provided.
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Post by Nortube on Nov 14, 2016 15:41:26 GMT
Came across this London's Transport some really good photos going back a few years, also check out the other albums. Just started looking through some of them. I agree, they're really good. Surprising how much has changed in a relatively short time in many cases.
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Post by dave1 on Nov 14, 2016 19:12:19 GMT
I can't remember the full details now, but I know that there was the red polythene mesh type fence running from roughly the station area to the depot, effectively shielding the live side from the dead area - this can be seen in the distance in some of the photos. The outside roads 1 - 5 would have been live. I think all the rest of the depot had current discharged. Indeed, on photos on the next flicker page (after the Isle of Wight photos), there are two vintage buses between the tracks below the long pedestrian bridge. Visitors were free to wander all around the tracks in front of the depot without supervision. This is something that would probably be extremely unlikely to happen these days because of the trip hazards (i.e. rails!) that were not seen important in those days. Now, any visitor access would have to be securely cordoned off and proper walkways provided. Nortube you are right now days a mine field but if done correctly it would be an excellent event but I suppose that the management of today it is beyond them.
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Post by dave1 on Nov 14, 2016 19:12:59 GMT
Came across this London's Transport some really good photos going back a few years, also check out the other albums. Just started looking through some of them. I agree, they're really good. Surprising how much has changed in a relatively short time in many cases. Nortube like you say it's not that long ago really.
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