[wordup] Lost stations on London's Underground

[Adam Shand]

This is pretty cool, I've just included a small part though, you'll need 
to go to the site for pictures etc.

Adam.

From: http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/

Disused Stations on London's Underground
By Hywel Williams

For a brief note about the disused Underground station featured in Die 
Another Day, the new James Bond film, click here to read my thoughts on 
the location used.

Introduction

Since moving to live near London a few years ago, one of my interests 
has been the London Underground, the oldest and one of the busiest 
underground railway networks in the world. I'm not a train spotter by 
any means, but I find the history and background of London's 
subterranean railway fascinating.

One of the things I find most interesting is the changing history of the 
railway, of which there is still much hidden evidence. For example, look 
through the window as you travel between Tottenham Court Road and 
Holborn on the Central Line and you'll see a station - where no 
passengers have alighted since 1932. This used to be British Museum 
station. Or perhaps you may notice the the tunnel wall change from cast 
iron tubing to bricks as you travel on the Piccadilly Line between Green 
Park and Hyde Park Corner. This also used to be a station. Down Street, 
closed in the same year as British Museum. These stations are often 
referred to as ghost stations.

There are about 40 abandoned stations on the Underground network along 
its entire 255 miles (408Km) of trackway - some subsurface and some 
above ground. Some have vanished without trace whereas others are almost 
intact, grimy time capsules of the era when they were closed.

Orientation

One point to note is that in these pages, all lines are referred by 
their contemporary names. Many if not all of the lines have however had 
different names during their existence.

Deep Level Lines

Aldwych Abandoned Platform In the 18th century, digging deep level 
tunnels, especially under water was a dangerous and tricky business. 
Several attempts to cross the Thames had ended in failure, even with 
lives being lost. Brunell's Thames Tunnel (used today by the East London 
Line) was the first successful tunnel under the Thames but its 
construction was costly and very difficult. When it was discovered that 
steam traction could be replaced with electricity, tunnels could be dug 
that were much deeper. James Henry Greathead devised a new method of 
tunneling that employed compressed air in conjunction with a circular 
drilling shield to bore circular tunnels (about 3 metres in diameter) 
much deeper into the soft north London clay, where the tunnel was then 
strengthened with cast iron rings.

Due to the speed at which these tunnels could be mined, many stations 
were envisaged on each of the lines that were created and most of these 
stations are still in use today A small number however have fallen into 
disuse over the years.

Take Aldwych for example, at the end of a disused railway siding right 
in the heart of London.. or Down Street, where some of Winston 
Churchill's World War Two cabinet meetings were held... or Brompton 
Road, used as a World War 2 anti aircraft Ack Ack command centre, with 
maps from this era still on the walls today! Evidence of these stations 
remains both on the surface and also beneath the ground if you know 
where to look.

Click here to find out much more and to see photographs of some of these 
lost stations as they are today.

Cut and Cover Lines

Wood Lane Before the Greathead Shield was invented, most subterranean 
railways in London were built using the Cut and Cover technique. In many 
cases, this involved digging a deep cutting along the path of a road. 
The railway was laid in the trench and was then covered up with the road 
being re-laid above. These underground railways started out as 
extensions of some of the existing outlying railways and were initially 
served by steam locomotives and so many places were required where steam 
could be safely vented.

Over the years, the need and use for some of these stations have changed 
with the result that some were closed. Some can still be seen today by 
the careful observer whereas others have completely vanished without trace.

<lots more on the web site> ...