[166], To promote travel by the underground railways in London a joint marketing arrangement was agreed. In 1882, the Met extended its line from Aldgate to a temporary station at Tower of London. [124] Beyond Aylesbury to Verney Junction, the bridges were not strong enough for the Met's locomotives. They had four 300hp (220kW) motors, totalling 1,200hp (890kW) (one-hour rating), giving a top speed of 65mph (105km/h). [276], In the early 1920s, the Met placed an order with Metropolitan-Vickers of Barrow-in-Furness for rebuilding the 20 electric locomotives. In 1908, the Met joined this scheme, which included maps, joint publicity and through ticketing. 465", "Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive No. [57][58] Authorised on 22 July 1861 as the Hammersmith and City Railway (H&CR),[59] the 2miles 35chains (3.9km) line, constructed on a 20-foot (6.1m) high viaduct largely across open fields,[60] opened on 13 June 1864 with a broad-gauge GWR service from Farringdon Street, [61] with stations at Notting Hill (now Ladbroke Grove), Shepherd's Bush (replaced by the current Shepherd's Bush Market in 1914) and Hammersmith. A Metropolitan Railway Dreadnought coach. In 1883, a school room and church took over two of the shops; two years later land was given to the Wesleyan Church for a church building and a school for 200 children. These consisted of Metropolitan Railway steam locomotive number 1, built at Neasden in 1898, hauling a train comprising 4 teak livered carriages built in 1898/1900 and known as Chesham stock, restored Metropolitan Railway "Jubilee" coach 353 of 1892 and milk van 3 of 1896. This promoted the land served by the Met for the walker, visitor and later the house-hunter. [note 5] Initially, with the Crimean War under way, the Met found it hard to raise the capital. [63][note 17], The early success of the Met prompted a flurry of applications to Parliament in 1863 for new railways in London, many of them competing for similar routes. In 1894, the Met and GWR joint station at Aylesbury opened. It was soon found that A and B Classes could manage trains without difficulty and the 0-6-0Ts were sold to the Taff Vale Railway in 1873 and 1875. Roughly equivalent to 16,000,000 in 2016. [222], Until 1880, the Met did not run goods trains although goods trains ran over its tracks when the GNR began a service to the LC&DR via Farringdon Street, followed by a service from the Midland Railway. [127] In 1899, there were four mixed passenger and goods trains each way between Brill and Quainton Road. [217] The branch transferred to the Jubilee line when that line opened in 1979. In the early 1870s, passenger numbers were low and the M&SJWR was looking to extend the line to generate new traffic. In 1898, the MS&LR and the GWR jointly presented a bill to Parliament for a railway (the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway) with short connecting branches from Grendon Underwood, north of Quainton Road, to Ashendon and from Northolt to Neasden. [32] Three months later, on 24 December 1868, the Met extended eastwards to a shared station at South Kensington and the District opened its line from there to Westminster, with other stations at Sloane Square, Victoria, St James's Park, and Westminster Bridge (now Westminster). The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met)[note 1] was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex suburbs. So it happened that four of the six coaches which had been used for the previous two decades on the Metropolitan Line's Chesham branch came to the Bluebell. [175] Government control was relinquished on 15 August 1921. [238][264][265] The Bluebell Railway has four 18981900 Ashbury and Cravens carriages and a fifth, built at Neasden, is at the London Transport Museum. These were not fitted with the condensing equipment needed to work south of Finchley Road. The GNR, the GWR and the Midland opened goods depots in the Farringdon area, accessed from the city widened lines. [262] A Jubilee Stock first class carriage was restored to carry passengers during the Met's 150th anniversary celebrations. [16] The line was mostly built using the "cut-and-cover" method from Paddington to King's Cross; east of there it continued in a 728 yards (666m) tunnel under Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell then followed the culverted River Fleet beside Farringdon Road in an open cutting to near the new meat market at Smithfield. [213] When the M&SJWR was being built, it was considered that they would struggle on the gradients and five Worcester Engine 0-6-0 tank locomotives were delivered in 1868. After amalgamation in 1933 the "Metro-land" brand was rapidly dropped. [221] A film based on the novel, also called Metroland, was released in 1997. For a short time, while the Met's station was being built, services ran into the GER station via a 3.5-chain (70m) curve. A jointly owned train of six coaches ran an experimental passenger service on the Earl's Court to High Street Kensington section for six months in 1900. Contact us 4mm SCALE COACH KITS 4mm SCALE / 00 GAUGE Southwark Bridge Carriage & Wagon Kits VIEW MORE 4MM SCALE DETAILING KITS VIEW MORE 4MM SCALE GWR COACHES VIEW MORE 4MM SCALE LBSCR BOGIE COACHES VIEW MORE [166], To improve outer passenger services, powerful 75mph (121km/h) H Class steam locomotives[189] were introduced in 1920, followed in 19221923 by new electric locomotives with a top speed of 65mph (105km/h). 509. [171], Concerned that the GNR would divert its Moorgate services over the City Widened Lines to run via the GN&CR, the Met sought to take over the GN&CR. [240] In 1896, two E Class (0-4-4) locomotives were built at Neasden works, followed by one in 1898 to replace the original Class A No. Met shareholders received 19.7 million in LPTB stock. Electric traction was introduced in 1905 and by 1907 electric multiple units operated most of the services, though electrification of outlying sections did not occur until decades later. The L&SWR tracks to Richmond now form part of the London Underground's District line. [154] In the same year, the Met suspended running on the East London Railway, terminating instead at the District station at Whitechapel[32] until that line was electrified in 1913. These started work on the Circle, including the new service to New Cross via the ELR. London's Metropolitan Railway (MR) amalgamated with other underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators on 1 July 1933, to form the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB); the MR became the Board's Metropolitan line. With improved fittings they were popular, and it was not long before the Met started the conversion over to electric propulsion, initially with separate locos, then converting some brake thirds to motor coaches. [note 40] Trains were electrically hauled with a maximum length of 14 wagons and restricted to 250 long tons (254t) inwards and 225 long tons (229t) on the return. [190] The generating capacity of the power station at Neasden was increased to approximately 35MW[191] and on 5 January 1925 electric services reached Rickmansworth, allowing the locomotive change over point to be moved. Recently placed in charge of the Met, Watkin saw this as the priority as the cost of construction would be lower than in built-up areas and fares higher; traffic would also be fed into the Circle. They started work on the Uxbridge-South Harrow shuttle service, being transferred to the Addison Road shuttle in 1918. New Metropolitan Railway Dreadnought Coaches Actions Prev 1 Next In 1925, a plan was developed for two new tube tunnels, large enough for the Met rolling stock that would join the extension line at a junction north of Kilburn & Brondesbury station and run beneath Kilburn High Street, Maida Vale and Edgware Road to Baker Street. Where the branch met the extension line two junctions were built, allowing trains access to Rickmansworth and London. Metropolitan Railway Coach Compartment. The tunnels were large enough to take a main-line train with an internal diameter of 16 feet (4.9m), in contrast to those of the Central London Railway with a diameter less than 12 feet (3.7m). [190], No. [85][note 22], Due to the cost of land purchases, the Met's eastward extension from Moorgate Street was slow to progress and it had to obtain an extension of the Act's time limit in 1869. The route at the western end was also altered so that it connected more directly to the GWR station. The track was relaid and stations rebuilt in 1903. The chassis and body including underframe equipment are all one piece. Instead of connecting to the GWR's terminus, the Met built its own station at Bishop's Road parallel to Paddington station and to the north. [28][note 11], Board of Trade inspections took place in late December 1862 and early January 1863 to approve the railway for opening. [279] Access was at the ends via open lattice gates[280] and the units were modified so that they could run off-peak as 3-car units. [90] A meeting between the Met and the District was held in 1877 with the Met now wishing to access the SER via the East London Railway (ELR). [30] After minor signalling changes were made, approval was granted and a few days of operating trials were carried out before the grand opening on 9 January 1863, which included a ceremonial run from Paddington and a large banquet for 600 shareholders and guests at Farringdon. 1 (LT L44) at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. [5], The congested streets and the distance to the City from the stations to the north and west prompted many attempts to get parliamentary approval to build new railway lines into the City. [266], Competition with the GCR on outer suburban services on the extension line saw the introduction of more comfortable Dreadnought Stock carriages from 1910. The plan was supported by the City, but the railway companies were not interested and the company struggled to proceed. In 1801, approximately one million people lived in the area that is now, The route was to run from the south end of Westbourne Terrace, under Grand Junction Road (now Sussex Gardens), Southampton Road (now Old Marylebone Road) and New Road (now. Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) Catching up on this, before yet another day passes, the original Dreadnoughts, the 1910 and 1913 batches, were built with gas lighting and two large gas tanks below the underframe. These 'camel-back' bogie locomotives had a central cab,[155] weighed 50tons,[275] and had four 215hp (160kW) traction motors[276] The second type were built to a box car design with British Thomson-Houston equipment,[155] replaced with the Westinghouse type in 1919. The bill submitted by the City Terminus Company was rejected by Parliament, which meant that the North Metropolitan Railway would not be able to reach the City: to overcome this obstacle, the company took over the City Terminus Company and submitted a new bill in November 1853. [75][76], On Saturday 1 July 1871 an opening banquet was attended by Prime Minister William Gladstone, who was also a shareholder. Special features which can be found on them are the unusually wide footboards and the curved tops to the doors, reducing the risk of damage if accidentally opened in tunnels. A number of these coaches were preserved by the Bluebell Railway . The takeover was authorised, but the new railway works were removed from the bill after opposition from City property owners. [50] By 1864 the Met had sufficient carriages and locomotives to run its own trains and increase the frequency to six trains an hour. The GWR began running standard-gauge trains and the broad gauge rail was removed from the H&CR and the Met in 1869. [23] The tunnels were wider at stations to accommodate the platforms. Goods traffic was to play an important part of Met traffic on the extension line out of Baker Street. Baker Street station was rebuilt with four tracks and two island platforms in 1912. These were not permitted south of Finchley Road. Off-peak, stations north of Moor Park were generally served by Marylebone trains. [12][14], Construction of the railway was estimated to cost 1million. [note 2] The increasing resident population and the development of a commuting population arriving by train each day led to a high level of traffic congestion with huge numbers of carts, cabs, and omnibuses filling the roads and up to 200,000 people entering the City of London, the commercial heart, each day on foot. [71], The first section of the Met extension opened to Brompton (Gloucester Road) (now Gloucester Road) on 1 October 1868,[68] with stations at Paddington (Praed Street) (now Paddington), Bayswater, Notting Hill Gate, and Kensington (High Street) (now High Street Kensington). Underground Electric Railways Company of London, Royal Commission on Metropolitan Railway Termini, Joint Committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway, Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway, London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Limited, Metropolitan Railway electric locomotives, Metropolitan Railway electric multiple units. Nearly one hundred Dreadnoughts were built between . [204], In the 1920s, off-peak there was a train every 45minutes from Wembley Park to Baker Street. Chiltern Court became one of the most prestigious addresses in London. The original intention of the M&SJWR was to run to the London and North Western Railway's station at Finchley Road (now Finchley Road & Frognal). [38] This 4-4-0 tank engine can therefore be considered as the pioneer motive power on London's first underground railway;[39] ultimately, 148 were built between 1864 and 1886 for various railways, and most kept running until electrification in 1905. In 1910, the depot handled 11,400 long tons (11,600t), which rose to 25,100 long tons (25,500t) in 1915. The LPTB cut back services to Aylesbury, closing the Brill and Vern There was also a train every two hours from Verney Junction, which stopped at all stations to Harrow, then Willesden Green and Baker Street. The operation of the chain brake could be abrupt, leading to some passenger injuries, and it was replaced by a non-automatic vacuum brake by 1876. [15][note 8] In 1858, Pearson arranged a deal between the Met and the City of London Corporation whereby the Met bought land it needed around the new Farringdon Road from the City for 179,000 and the City purchased 200,000 worth of shares. The LNWR leased the line, absorbing the Buckinghamshire Railway on 21 July 1879. 5 "John Hampden" is preserved as a static display at the London Transport Museum[277] and No. 465 Keighley 27/06/08. During the four years of war the line saw 26,047 military trains which carried 250,000 long tons (254,000t) of materials;[174] the sharp curves prevented ambulance trains returning with wounded using this route. In September 1909, an excursion train travelled from Verney Junction to Ramsgate and returned, a Met locomotive being exchanged for a SE&CR locomotive at Blackfriars. Both the Met and the District wanted to see the line electrified, but could not justify the whole cost themselves. In 1941 six of these coaches were converted back to steam haulage, made up into two three-coach "push pull" sets, for use on the Chalfont to Chesham branch. [note 33] Initially, the surplus land was managed by the Land Committee, made up of Met directors. [68], Starting as a branch from Praed Street junction, a short distance east of the Met's Paddington station, the western extension passed through fashionable districts in Bayswater, Notting Hill, and Kensington. (Inner Circle Completion) of the Metropolitan and District Railways. [195] A possible route was surveyed in 1906 and a bill deposited in 1912 seeking authority for a joint Met & GCR line from Rickmansworth to Watford town centre that would cross Cassiobury Park on an embankment. In 1880, the Met secured the coal traffic of the Harrow District Gas Co., worked from an exchange siding with the Midland at Finchley Road to a coal yard at Harrow. [247] To run longer, faster and less frequent freight services in 1925 six K Class (2-6-4) locomotives arrived, rebuilt from 2-6-0 locomotives manufactured at Woolwich Arsenal after World War I. New Metropolitan Railway Dreadnought Coaches | District Dave's London Underground Site The Administration team are: Dstock7080, londonstuff, tom, rincew1nd and whistlekiller2000, The Moderator team are: antharro, Dom K, goldenarrow, metman and superteacher. Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. [192] With a capacity of 125,000 spectators it was first used for the FA Cup Final on 28 April 1923 where the match was preceded by chaotic scenes as crowds in excess of capacity surged into the stadium. [35], Initially the railway was worked by GWR broad-gauge Metropolitan Class steam locomotives and rolling stock. [24][note 10], Within the tunnel, two lines were laid with a 6-foot (1.8m) gap between. [95] Initially, the service was eight trains an hour, completing the 13 miles (21 kilometres) circle in 8184 minutes, but this proved impossible to maintain and was reduced to six trains an hour with a 70-minute timing in 1885. [132], Around 1900, there were six stopping trains an hour between Willesden Green and Baker Street. The Met's chairman and three other directors were on the board of the District, John Fowler was the engineer of both companies and the construction works for all of the extensions were let as a single contract. A new company was created; all but one of its directors were also directors of the Met. [16] Signalling was on the absolute block method, using electric Spagnoletti block instruments and fixed signals. [150], Electric multiple units began running on 1 January 1905 and by 20 March all local services between Baker Street and Harrow were electric. [223] Goods for London were initially handled at Willesden, with delivery by road[224] or by transfer to the Midland. They approached again in 1904, this time jointly with the local District Council, to discuss a new plan for a shorter branch from Rickmansworth. The revised kit is to increase realism and make the kit a lot easier to build. An incompatibility was found between the way the shoe-gear was mounted on Met trains and the District track and Met trains were withdrawn from the District and modified. [155] GWR rush hour services to the city continued to operate, electric traction taking over from steam at Paddington[158] from January 1907,[152] although freight services to Smithfield continued to be steam hauled throughout. [11] After successful lobbying, the company secured parliamentary approval under the name of the "North Metropolitan Railway" in mid-1853. At times, a train started at Great Missenden or Wendover. [184] The dream promoted was of a modern home in beautiful countryside with a fast railway service to central London. 509 Keighley 27/06/08. In May 1861, the excavation collapsed at Euston causing considerable damage to the neighbouring buildings. [123], The Met took over the A&BR on 1 July 1891[123] and a temporary platform at Aylesbury opened on 1 September 1892 with trains calling at Amersham, Great Missenden, Wendover and Stoke Mandeville. [117] At the beginning lukewarm support had been given by the LNWR, which worked the Bletchley to Oxford line, but by the time the line had been built the relationship between the two companies had collapsed. [143] Electrification had been considered by the Met as early as the 1880s, but such a method of traction was still in its infancy, and agreement would be needed with the District because of the shared ownership of the Inner Circle. [135] When rebuilding bridges over the lines from Wembley Park to Harrow for the MS&LR, seeing a future need the Met quadrupled the line at the same time and the MS&LR requested exclusive use of two tracks. To reduce smoke underground, at first coke was burnt, changed in 1869 to smokeless Welsh coal. Sources differ about the running of the first 'inner circle' services. [235] Originally they were painted bright olive green lined in black and yellow, chimneys copper capped with the locomotive number in brass figures at the front and domes of polished brass. A short steam train was used for off-peak services from the end of March while some trailers were modified to add a driving cab, entering service from 1 June. Nearly one hundred Dreadnoughts were built between 1910 and 1923. [207][note 38], Construction started in 1929 on a branch from Wembley Park to Stanmore to serve a new housing development at Canons Park,[191] with stations at Kingsbury and Canons Park (Edgware) (renamed Canons Park in 1933). The proposals for tunnelling under the park proved controversial and the scheme was dropped. [32], The District also had parliamentary permission to extend westward from Brompton and, on 12 April 1869, it opened a single-track line to West Brompton on the WLR. [288] A trailer coach built in 1904/05 is stored at London Transport Museum's Acton Depot; it has been badly damaged by fire,[289] and the Spa Valley Railway is home to two T stock coaches. [185], From about 1914 the company promoted itself as "The Met", but after 1920 the commercial manager, John Wardle, ensured that timetables and other publicity material used "Metro" instead. 509 and brake No. [267] Two rakes were formed with a Pullman coach that provided a buffet service for a supplementary fare. The cheapest coaches on the market were some ex-Metropolitan Railway coaches, dating from the turn of the last century, for which London Transport were asking only 65 each. [94][note 24] After an official opening ceremony on 17 September and trial running a circular service started on Monday 6 October 1884. [281] For the joint Hammersmith & City line service, the Met and the GWR purchased 20 6-cars trains with Thomson-Houston equipment. [32], In 1868 and 1869, judgements had been against the Met in a number of hearings, finding financial irregularities such as the company paying a dividend it could not afford and expenses being paid out of the capital account. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "exmetropolitanrailwaydreadnoughtcarriage" Flickr tag. 509 'Dreadnought' 7-compartment First built 1923. [146], Meanwhile, the District had been building a line from Ealing to South Harrow and had authority for an extension to Uxbridge. Nearly one hundred Dreadnoughts were built between 1910 and 1923. By 1864, the Met had taken delivery of its own stock, made by the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Iron Co., based on the GWR design but standard gauge. Competition with the Great Central Railway on outer suburban services on the extension line saw the introduction of more comfortable Dreadnought Stock carriages from 1910.includeonly> A total of 92 of these wooden compartment carriages were built, . Costs were reduced by cutting back part of the route at the western end so that it did not connect directly to the GWR station, and by dropping the line south of Farringdon. [237], From 1891, more locomotives were needed for work on the extension line from Baker Street into the country. [173], Unlike other railway companies, which were required to dispose of surplus land, the Met was in a privileged position with clauses in its acts allowing it to retain such land that it believed was necessary for future railway use. The Met and the Metropolitan Board of Works managed to stem and divert the water and the construction was delayed by only a few months. [172], On 28 July 1914 World War I broke out and on 5 August 1914 the Met was made subject to government control in the form of the Railway Executive Committee. [77] From this date, the two companies operated a joint Inner Circle service between Mansion House and Moorgate Street via South Kensington and Edgware Road every ten minutes,[note 20] supplemented by a District service every ten minutes between Mansion House and West Brompton and H&CR and GWR suburban services between Edgware Road and Moorgate Street. [106][107] In 1873, the M&SJWR was given authority to reach the Middlesex countryside at Neasden,[108][note 25] but as the nearest inhabited place to Neasden was Harrow it was decided to build the line 3.5 miles (5.6km) further to Harrow[109] and permission was granted in 1874. [27] By the end of 1862 work was complete at a cost of 1.3 million. [155] The H&CR service stopped running to Richmond over the L&SWR on 31 December 1906; GWR steam rail motors ran from Ladbroke Grove to Richmond until 31 December 1910. [278], The first order for electric multiple units was placed with Metropolitan Amalgamated in 1902 for 50 trailers and 20 motor cars with Westinghouse equipment, which ran as 6-car trains. [113] A locomotive works was opened in 1883 and a gas works in 1884. [182] The Railways Act 1921, which became law on 19 August 1921, did not list any of London's underground railways among the companies that were to be grouped, although at the draft stage the Met had been included. Between 1 October 1877 and 31 December 1906 some services on the H&CR were extended to Richmond over the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) via its station at Hammersmith (Grove Road). Parliamentary powers were obtained in 1912 and through services restarted on 31 March 1913, the Met running two trains an hour from both the SER's and the LB&SCR's New Cross stations to South Kensington and eight shuttles an hour alternately from the New Cross stations to Shoreditch. Concerned that Parliament might reconsider the unique position the Met held, the railway company sought legal advice, which was that the Met had authority to hold land, but had none to develop it. [60] In August 1872, the GWR Addison Road service was extended over the District Railway via Earl's Court to Mansion House.