Yesterday I was invited along to one of the infrequent open days at the London Transport Museum’s depot in Acton, where you’ll find various ‘works in progress’ – historic carriages at various stages of restoration, signalling equipment, switchgear and the like that span the entire history of the London Underground and London’s other modes of public transport.
Consisting of a vast warehouse-like structure, the majority of the space is given to the previously mentioned carriages, some of which are clearly at a stage where are ready to go on display at the main museum in Covent Garden – one early twentieth century example in particular has been very lovingly restored indeed, as you can see from the photograph below. You’ll also find a large collection of buses and trams on show, including of course the famous Routemaster, one of which was being used to take visitors on a short tour of the local area (having seen the newly commissioned London bus up close at the museum earlier in the week, its clear where the design ideas of come from, as it shares many features of its predecessor).
Up on one of the two mezzanine levels you’ll also find what I imagine for many people is the depot’s main attraction – a complete timeline of maps of the London rail and tube network as well as a big display of decommissioned signs that used to grace various parts of the network, again spanning the entire history of the system. This being an open weekend there were also lots of stalls in evidence, selling everything from railway books to scale models of carriages, and outside near the refreshment area I made my most startling discovery – who knew that the 25 route that runs through my local area was once the testing ground for hydrogen fuel-cell technology? I wonder why it didn’t catch on?
In addition to the open weekends there are also guided tours on the last weekend of each month, which you can find out about here. If the displays in Covent Garden don’t satisfy you, I suppose the depot is the next logical choice!
