Today marks the 151st anniversary of the public opening of the Metropolitan Railway in London, which was the first underground rapid transit line, although it used steam when it opened.
I can't imagine an underground/ subway system being steam-powered. Granted you go with the technology available, but it must have been a smoky hell.
They had special "smokeless coal" and there were round holes with grates in the street to let smoke and steam out and provide ventilation. According to observers one could see the progress of the underground train by seeing the sequence of smoke from these round vents. These were not the small-profile "Tube" trains with their deep tunnels, but the close-to-the-surface District and Circle Lines, lines still in operation and much extended, but of course electrified for well over 100 years. And originally electrified with electric locomotives, before the Frank Sprague invention of mu control was applied.
Thanks for that information Dave, I see it wasn't as bad as I thought.
Still couldn't have been ver pleasant, though.
Wayne
That makes it 1863 when the first London underground opened. That is pretty impressive. Although I am a little skeptical about running steam engines in tunnels even with vents and smokeless coal.
Firelock, it was, even with the vents. Condensing tank locomotives eliminated some (half?) of the water going out the stack, however, but the coke (and later "smokeless" coal) smoke remained an irritation.
All the stations were outdoors, with glass roof trainsheds. This reduced some smoke.
Electrification fixed the issues, with the same coaches and locomotives.
And London Transport celebrated the 150 anniversary by running a special train hauled by a steam engine. I haven't gone digging but it may have been mentioned in the Trains forum at the time.
I imagine the service did not come anywhere close to what we expect from heavy rapid transit today, perhaps headways of 10 or 15 minutes rather than two or three minutes.
John
The 150th Steam on the Underground was run out in the suburbs, where the track is largely open air. These sections were electrified later than the tunnels in the city center.
cx500I imagine the service did not come anywhere close to what we expect from heavy rapid transit today, perhaps headways of 10 or 15 minutes rather than two or three minutes.
I think so.
Even after WWII there was one District Line branch that switched to steam power for a run to a distant suburb. I think, though, that at the end these were mu electrics hauled by steam, much like the Hudson Div. two rush hour inbound AM and outbound PM New York Central Peekskill trains. Some of the electric locomotives may still be around for work-train service. I know I saw one in the early 1970's.
Dave, I think that all the Met electrics have been retired from all service, replaced by the battery electrics usable with no power to the rails. Two are preserved, though.
Since this year is the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Hammersmith and City line, there will be steam running on the weekends of August 2-3 and 9-10. They will be using the same locomotive as last year plus the same coaches as well.
It seems that most of the London system is actually above ground, especially where the lines radiate outward from the Circle line.
I'm sure a lot of you have been to the London Transport museum at Covent Garden. Nice, but the depot at Acton is the real deal! It's open to the public only rarely but is well worth visiting if you get the chance. The train used for the Metropolitan line celebration was there as well as the electric locomotive used on the Metropolitan, the "Sarah Siddons" which was used for the 150th also.
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