Advent Quiz ...

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Today : the view from the Circle Line platforms of Paddington Underground station. Well, the Circle Line platforms that are across Praed Street rather than out towards Hayes and Harlington.

Yes, correct (kind of unique view, this one!)

Although sometimes referred to as part of "The Tube", the Circle and District line at Paddingtom [Praed Street] Station isn't a deep level underground bored as a tube - rather it's a "cut and cover" line which was built by digging a cutting then roofing it back over. I suspect that the buildings seen in this picture are real enough, but there are others which look like regular street blocks on the road, but are in fact just facades.

And of course the Circle line should now be called the "teacup" line as it no longer operates as a through full circle. 

[Oxonhutch]

Your view is looking through the gap in the overall canopy created by the Luftwaffe in 1940.

"Paddington (Praed Street)" [Metropolitan/District sub-surface]
 High explosive bomb/s hit station 23:33 on 13/10/40 causing multiple fatalities, and causing the suspension of services between "Edgware Road" and "South Kensington." {Rb}{HO^▸ (Model Railway, 3.5mm to 1 foot scale) 201/3}
C&FA: 5 killed or died at scene, 4 injured died in hospital. Total = 9.

Nick Cooper, 30 January 2013

The overall roof on the other side is its original length still with a smaller gap to exhaust the steam from the pre-1904 steam engines.

[stuving]

Your view is looking through the gap in the overall canopy created by the Luftwaffe in 1940.

"Paddington (Praed Street)" [Metropolitan/District sub-surface]
 High explosive bomb/s hit station 23:33 on 13/10/40 causing multiple fatalities, and causing the suspension of services between "Edgware Road" and "South Kensington." {Rb}{HO^▸ (Model Railway, 3.5mm to 1 foot scale) 201/3}
C&FA: 5 killed or died at scene, 4 injured died in hospital. Total = 9.

Nick Cooper, 30 January 2013

The overall roof on the other side is its original length still with a smaller gap to exhaust the steam from the pre-1904 steam engines.

The 1954 OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) 1:1250 map shows the buildings on the Praed Street frontage east of the Metropolitain station building (Nos 165-171) as "Ruins", and the current building there is obviously post-war. It also shows the roof extent as it is today.

In the previous 1895 map (1:1056), that roof extends right up to the pavement of London Street, whereas the plain wall you see now is the back of a single-storey newsagent's shop. That map also shows the frontage of the station building as a different plan profile to today's - it was remodelled in the Met's later house style of white faience in 1914 by Charles W Clark.

For some reason this roof isn't shown on the map as glazing (by crosshatching). But then neither is the main-line station's.

One thing has always puzzled me about Paddington station as shown on that 1895 map, which shows the internal arrangement of platforms. Bishops Road Station (currently the H&C) has an "Up" and a "Down" platform, which looks odd today. The main station has six numbered platforms (1-6) plus another undesignated one. But - looking even odder - these are labelled in the French or American fashion: each is a single raised strip with one or two tracks alongside.

If you look at other London termini (not hard with the NLS georeferenced maps) you find some done this way, some the current British way, and a couple still without platforms in the modern sense. I have never heard of this change in the meaning of "platform n" in contemporary writing, nor later, and I wonder what the public perception of it was. Does anyone know? This seems as good a place to ask the question as anywhere...

[grahame]

If you look at other London termini (not hard with the NLS georeferenced maps) you find some done this way, some the current British way, and a couple still without platforms in the modern sense. I have never heard of this change in the meaning of "platform n" in contemporary writing, nor later, and I wonder what the public perception of it was. Does anyone know? This seems as good a place to ask the question as anywhere...

I don't know the answer(s), but I do recall reading of early days where there was a departure platform on one side of the station, and then a series of tracks for storing trains and ons or perhaps two arrival platforms on the other side of the station - I think Euston may have started like that.   Some of the storage tracks for replaced by extra platforms;  some confusion between track number, platform face number (which is really what we have today) and platform number.

Recalling back when I was growing up around the London area and often used London Bridge, platforms 1 2 and 3 were for outbound trains, platforms 4 6 and 7 for inbound trains, and it was explained to me that 5 was missing because there used to be a through track in the wider gap between lines 4 and 6 (4 shared a platform with 3, and 6 with 7).    There was also a platform that was out of use / had been used by Royal Mail across from track 7, making that a train you could have got out of both sides of. 

[didcotdean]

A good reference for a historic diagram of Paddington and other termini of the time is "The District Railway Guide to London", published in 1888. This has been digitised and available on the British Library Website. Paddington is on page 140 of the original document, 148 of the pdf.

It states platforms 1,2,3 were for departure and 5 and 6 for arrival (either side of the carriage road) - although there is a 4 on the diagram. Maybe not for public/passenger use.

[Worcester_Passenger]

A good reference for a historic diagram of Paddington and other termini of the time is "The District Railway Guide to London", published in 1888. This has been digitised and available on the British Library Website. Paddington is on page 140 of the original document, 148 of the pdf.

It states platforms 1,2,3 were for departure and 5 and 6 for arrival (either side of the carriage road) - although there is a 4 on the diagram. Maybe not for public/passenger use.

I remain permanently amazed by what I learn on this forum!

[grahame]

[chuffed]

Piccadilly gardens. Manchester with the first generation trams, now replaced by 'flying bananas'.

[grahame]

Piccadilly gardens. Manchester with the first generation trams, now replaced by 'flying bananas'.

I'm afraid it isn't.

[chrisr_75]

Piccadilly gardens. Manchester with the first generation trams, now replaced by 'flying bananas'.

I'm afraid it isn't.

I can't put an exact location to it but I think it's in Rotterdam somewhere?

Edit - I recognised one of the buildings from a long forgotten training course, it's Delftseplein, outside Rotterdam Centraal.

[grahame]

I can't put an exact location to it but I think it's in Rotterdam somewhere?

Edit - I recognised one of the buildings from a long forgotten training course, it's Delftseplein, outside Rotterdam Centraal.

Yes, it's just outside Rotterdam Centraal.  Passengers arriving at the station file off their trains into the passenger subway that goes right across from north to south of the railway, and if they exit on the south side this is the scene they meet. It's a very clean and easy change.   I suspect that whilst we can look at it as a good example, we shouldn't be too envious because it probably came abut because Rotterdam was so badly smashed during the second world war that it was able to be laid out more of less from scratch.

[chrisr_75]

I can't put an exact location to it but I think it's in Rotterdam somewhere?

Edit - I recognised one of the buildings from a long forgotten training course, it's Delftseplein, outside Rotterdam Centraal.

Yes, it's just outside Rotterdam Centraal.  Passengers arriving at the station file off their trains into the passenger subway that goes right across from north to south of the railway, and if they exit on the south side this is the scene they meet. It's a very clean and easy change.   I suspect that whilst we can look at it as a good example, we shouldn't be too envious because it probably came abut because Rotterdam was so badly smashed during the second world war that it was able to be laid out more of less from scratch.

Indeed, a large part of Europe 'benefitted' from the allies destroying much of the light and heavy rail infrastructure, thus they ended up with a much more modern system after the war whilst our Victorian system survived largely unscathed and blights us to this day!

It is said by the locals that the centre (not sure how this area is defined) of Rotterdam has only one building pre dating the 1950's. The Dutch are understandly still rather sensitive about what happened in Rotterdam.

[Western Pathfinder]

Piccadilly gardens. Manchester with the first generation trams, now replaced by 'flying bananas'.

I'm afraid it isn't.

I can't put an exact location to it but I think it's in Rotterdam somewhere?

Or Anywhere but Rome ! Or Knowle ,for that matter.



Edit - I recognised one of the buildings from a long forgotten training course, it's Delftseplein, outside Rotterdam Centraal.

[ellendune]

Last time I was outside Rotterdam Centraal it was still a building site!

[John R]

Piccadilly gardens. Manchester with the first generation trams, now replaced by 'flying bananas'.

I'm afraid it isn't.

I can't put an exact location to it but I think it's in Rotterdam somewhere?

Or Anywhere but Rome ! Or Knowle ,for that matter.



Edit - I recognised one of the buildings from a long forgotten training course, it's Delftseplein, outside Rotterdam Centraal.

Maybe it is somewhere in the beautiful south then?