Getting to Old Oak Common

[caradoc]

23 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

The point about call boys is interesting.  Up until WWII the GWR restricted its employees to living within a certain distance of their place of work.  I understand from what I was told that prior to the war it was limited to 5 miles for clerical staff and I'm sure it was probably no more than a couple of miles for wages staff.  During the war the distance for clerical staff was definite increased - perhaps to 8 miles because it allowed somebody I knew to move out to Hanwell when his place of work was at Paddington.  This distance from place of work gradually increased post-war - probably as much a consequence of housing shortages as of anything else.  Oddly when I got my final 'big railway' job in 1994 for the first time in very many years I was actually faced with a requirement to live within a certain travelling time of my place of work - although the interpretation of that time tended to err on the generous side.

 

The GWR restriction persisted for a while !

 

When I moved to the WR in 1980 (for a CO2 post at Reading BO) I was told I could not live at my parents' home in Oxford and travel, even though I could get in by train for all the shifts. I did look for accomodation nearer, eg at Didcot, but could find nothing suitable so spoke to the Area Manager who agreed I could live at home. During the flexible rostering strikes I did commute by bus, but could not get in for every shift, so it was agreed that I could book on at Oxford instead. The person who had interviewed me was most unhappy that I did not live closer, until I told him the AM had okayed it.

 

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, jointline said:

That would certainly make sense.  Need an expert on breakdown provision to LT lines to come in on this!

 

I only know the cover for the E&SB and as late as 1962 London Underground could still call on Crane No 16 at Old Oak Common  (R&R 45 ton - as per Bachmann) to assist with incidents on the E&SB although by then it obviously couldn't get to all of it and couldn't actually get on any of the LT lines.  I presume that arrangement remained in force until the Steam Lines were closed in the 1960s, 

 

Prior to the opening of the Steam Lines the arrangement was that the GWR attended to a breakdown of a steam train and the Central london Co. attended to the breakdown of an electric train.  But in the case of a breakdown of an electric train requiring the use of a heavy lifting crane the GWR would, on application, supply a 'breakdown train'. (i.e including a crane) but they were not permitted to work east of the flyover bridge at Wood Lane Jcn. Perhaps this type of crane assistance continued as long as the connection remained at Ealing Broadway although some incidents could just as readily be tackled from the Steam Lines - hence the assistance remaining in place, although in slightly different form of words, until the Steam Lines were closed.

[jointline]

16 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I only know the cover for the E&SB and as late as 1962 London Underground could still call on Crane No 16 at Old Oak Common  (R&R 45 ton - as per Bachmann) to assist with incidents on the E&SB although by then it obviously couldn't get to all of it and couldn't actually get on any of the LT lines.  I presume that arrangement remained in force until the Steam Lines were closed in the 1960s, 

 

Prior to the opening of the Steam Lines the arrangement was that the GWR attended to a breakdown of a steam train and the Central london Co. attended to the breakdown of an electric train.  But in the case of a breakdown of an electric train requiring the use of a heavy lifting crane the GWR would, on application, supply a 'breakdown train'. (i.e including a crane) but they were not permitted to work east of the flyover bridge at Wood Lane Jcn. Perhaps this type of crane assistance continued as long as the connection remained at Ealing Broadway although some incidents could just as readily be tackled from the Steam Lines - hence the assistance remaining in place, although in slightly different form of words, until the Steam Lines were closed.

That would definitely seem to answer the reason for it remaining, thank you.

On a slightly different note,  the running connection from the Met District to the GW was a little to the west.  Using the rather amazing National Library of Scotland Georeferencing Maps you can superimpose it on the current station structure.   The platforms were of course much shorter,  and the double track went across what is now the east end of the up suburban platform.

[hayfield]

As kids living very close to Bushey and Oxhey station we all were avid train spotters, trips on the slow line to Willesden Junction not only took us to Willesden Sheds but a short walk down the road took us to Old Oak Junction, I think you will find several main line and tube stations are in close proximity with a numerous amount of bus routes passing close by.

 

I would imagine most workers lived close by either walking or cycling to work, or using free train travel from further afield 

[The Stationmaster]

22 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

The GWR restriction persisted for a while !

 

When I moved to the WR in 1980 (for a CO2 post at Reading BO) I was told I could not live at my parents' home in Oxford and travel, even though I could get in by train for all the shifts. I did look for accomodation nearer, eg at Didcot, but could find nothing suitable so spoke to the Area Manager who agreed I could live at home. During the flexible rostering strikes I did commute by bus, but could not get in for every shift, so it was agreed that I could book on at Oxford instead. The person who had interviewed me was most unhappy that I did not live closer, until I told him the AM had okayed it.

 

I have a pretty good idea who it was who said that to you - a very nice bloke but he had formerly been in Divisional Staff Office and still had some of that attitude about him.

 

I don't know how I would have got on with him in earlier years when I had a job in the DMO at Reading (which was therefore my home station) plus I was also relieving at various times in booking offices at Slough (just for one week - too frightening to do any more with what I was finding there) , Maidenhead, Twyford, and Henley

 

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

As kids living very close to Bushey and Oxhey station we all were avid train spotters, trips on the slow line to Willesden Junction not only took us to Willesden Sheds but a short walk down the road took us to Old Oak Junction, I think you will find several main line and tube stations are in close proximity with a numerous amount of bus routes passing close by.

 

I would imagine most workers lived close by either walking or cycling to work, or using free train travel from further afield 

In BR days the free travel limit for staff working in London was 12 miles later on although I've an idea it had earlier been 8 miles.  It normally excluded London Underground although there were certain exceptions which as far as Old Oak is concerned included (and still do) the Central Line between Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip and White City or between East Acton (and stations west thereof) and Paddington (but not intermediately beyond White City) and on the Bakerloo Line between Paddington and Harrow & Wealdstone (north of Harrow counted as BR for staff travel purposes).

 

Thus staff at Old Oak had pretty good free access via the Central Line and part of the Bakerloo Line.  I haven't tried it for many years but I did occasionally find that showing an 'All Stations London Division' or 'All Stations Western Region' pass at the UndergroundD barriers at Paddington could lead to a bit of head scratching

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I have a pretty good idea who it was who said that to you - a very nice bloke but he had formerly been in Divisional Staff Office and still had some of that attitude about him.

 

I don't know how I would have got on with him in earlier years when I had a job in the DMO at Reading (which was therefore my home station) plus I was also relieving at various times in booking offices at Slough (just for one week - too frightening to do any more with what I was finding there) , Maidenhead, Twyford, and Henley

 

In BR days the free travel limit for staff working in London was 12 miles later on although I've an idea it had earlier been 8 miles.  It normally excluded London Underground although there were certain exceptions which as far as Old Oak is concerned included (and still do) the Central Line between Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip and White City or between East Acton (and stations west thereof) and Paddington (but not intermediately beyond White City) and on the Bakerloo Line between Paddington and Harrow & Wealdstone (north of Harrow counted as BR for staff travel purposes).

 

Thus staff at Old Oak had pretty good free access via the Central Line and part of the Bakerloo Line.  I haven't tried it for many years but I did occasionally find that showing an 'All Stations London Division' or 'All Stations Western Region' pass at the UndergroundD barriers at Paddington could lead to a bit of head scratching

 

I think we look back at what commuting was using today's standards, I would assume railway staff would live closely to their place of employment and unlike what many put up with today commutable distances, back in the days of steam these would be very short, in a 2 mile radius many thousands of working class would be living let alone a 5 mile radius. and areas which are now very desirable therefore expensive to live in, would have been normal working class areas with properties to match the local working environment, many properties in these areas would be low quality.

 

Motive depots were built quite away from termini where land was cheap and housing was built to service local employment needs, in the 50's owning your own property was never an option for the great majority of the working class.

[Nearholmer]

I’d always assumed that the hole in the fence from the canal towpath, up near the turntable end, had as much to do with guys getting to/from work as it had to do with train-spotters.

[The Stationmaster]

23 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

I think we look back at what commuting was using today's standards, I would assume railway staff would live closely to their place of employment and unlike what many put up with today commutable distances, back in the days of steam these would be very short, in a 2 mile radius many thousands of working class would be living let alone a 5 mile radius. and areas which are now very desirable therefore expensive to live in, would have been normal working class areas with properties to match the local working environment, many properties in these areas would be low quality.

 

Motive depots were built quite away from termini where land was cheap and housing was built to service local employment needs, in the 50's owning your own property was never an option for the great majority of the working class.

But don't forget that in at least part of the '50s Drivers were relatively well paid and that was when many more began to buy their own houses.  I knew numerous Drivers at a variety of WR depots who had bought (and in one case had built) their own houses in the 1950s and early '60s.

[hayfield]

I think loco drivers were always near the top of the pecking order, but the shed would require many support staff, few would be better paid many were not

[The Stationmaster]

22 hours ago, hayfield said:

I think loco drivers were always near the top of the pecking order, but the shed would require many support staff, few would be better paid many were not

The Shed Labourers were the worst paid and post war they were very difficult jobs to fill because of there being both more attractive and better paid jobs in the area.  Hence the WR began active recruitment in the West Indies and two men from the Divisional (then District) Staff Office were sent over to there for a while to run a recruitment scheme which I'm pretty sure covered more than one island.  In later years when I knew one of them he often said it was the best job he'd had in the whole of his railway career.

 

Net result was that Old Oak shed acquired a considerable number of coloured staff a number of whom escaped redundancy at the end of steam and stayed there until retirement in the 1980s  (and probably a bit later) - see my earlier comment regarding the workabus Drivers. But as their wages were made up by night, Sunday and overtime working but of course they started lower down the basic scale.

 

One little known fact is that the footplate staff side of Old Oak was at one time heavily dominated by Communist Party members and that continued to some extent into the 1980s but by then MI5 were no longer bugging their branch meetings in a nearby pub - which they'd done during the war.  Nidge might remember a Driver called Lennie Hughes (just remembered - it was Len Hughes) something or other who always went on about 'the cess pit' and what he meant by that was something else which had the initial letters 'CP'.

Edited April 21, 2020 by The Stationmaster
Remembering Len Hughes full name

[Rugd1022]

Yes Mike I remember inklings of all that malarkey and kept well out of it, I'm afraid the 'us and them' attitude of some in the job left a long lasting impression on me for the wrong reasons, and to some extent still does. Indoctrination was and still is pretty rife amongst certain folk in the job and I'm afraid it doesn't wash with me. I don't want to get political but I will say this and no more - as far as I'm concerned a union shouldn't have any political affiliations of any kind if it truly cares about and stands up for all of its dues paying members, I know I'm rather 'urinating into the wind' on that score and nothing is ever likely to change, but, well, ce la vie and all that.

 

 

[Davexoc]

7 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I’d always assumed that the hole in the fence from the canal towpath, up near the turntable end, had as much to do with guys getting to/from work as it had to do with train-spotters.

 

It was for Factory staff, as you could clock on passing through to the ammenity block. That's providing you were coming from Willesden junction and didn't want anything from the kiosk at the top of the ramp in Old Oak Common Lane...

 

Going home was different, as there was the draw of the BRSA club next to the hostel, which meant going out the other way.

[TheSignalEngineer]

21 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I’d always assumed that the hole in the fence from the canal towpath, up near the turntable end, had as much to do with guys getting to/from work as it had to do with train-spotters.

Back doors and holes in fences had their uses elsewhere.

During my training time S&T Engineering and Management trainees, who were Salaried, were expected to comply with the discipline of the wages staff they were working alongside. When I was based in Crewe Telegraph Shops for a while I was lodging almost opposite the gatehouse clock. It was 7.55 clock on for 8 o'clock at your bench IIRC. After a late night out I could get out of bed at 7.45, wash and dress then across to clock on by about 7.53. At 8am I would go down to the stores with a list of small bits needed for the jobs in hand. Then out through the back door by the PWay Club, back to the lodgings to eat my breakfast, retrace my steps picking up a bag of bits from the Storeman and busily reassembling a Block Instrument or AWS Cab Unit before the Manager had finished his first cup of tea and started his rounds.

[The Stationmaster]

38 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Back doors and holes in fences had their uses elsewhere.

During my training time S&T Engineering and Management trainees, who were Salaried, were expected to comply with the discipline of the wages staff they were working alongside. When I was based in Crewe Telegraph Shops for a while I was lodging almost opposite the gatehouse clock. It was 7.55 clock on for 8 o'clock at your bench IIRC. After a late night out I could get out of bed at 7.45, wash and dress then across to clock on by about 7.53. At 8am I would go down to the stores with a list of small bits needed for the jobs in hand. Then out through the back door by the PWay Club, back to the lodgings to eat my breakfast, retrace my steps picking up a bag of bits from the Storeman and busily reassembling a Block Instrument or AWS Cab Unit before the Manager had finished his first cup of tea and started his rounds.

Such things were all part of the old railway.  At one time I was regularly covering part of an early turn in a booking office in my home town in addition to doing my day job in Western Tower.  But Reading, Western Tower, was my home station so my day had to start from there travelling out on an ECS in order to get me to the booking office in time to open it at the appointed time.  All of which meant I was technically - and in payment terms - on duty while I was still in bed because I could get up in plenty of time to walk to the station and open the booking office about half an hour after I'd officially left Reading.  But over the years the railway got its own back at various times so i was paying to live in lodgings most of the time but for various jobs could occasionally live at home - on scale expenses.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Returning to the subject of shed buses, a picture came up on one of my FB groups this morning. It shows the Saltley Loco bus in shiny BR livery in May 1949. at a guess I would say it looks like a post-war build of the Bedford OWB, which was the Utility version of the OB which had just started production in the Summer of 1939. Not sure about copyright issues so I am trying to post a link to the Getty Images site which holds much of the old Birmingham Mail archive.

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/british-railways-bus-used-to-ferry-fueling-train-crews-from-news-photo/918590736

 

The Utility OWB had slatted seats and steel in place of aluminium for a lot of parts but post-war some were rebuilt to the familiar Duple body interior then full Duple Vista style bodies reappeared until the SB came into service at the end of 1950.

Edited April 21, 2020 by TheSignalEngineer

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 minute ago, The Stationmaster said:

 But over the years the railway got its own back at various times so i was paying to live in lodgings most of the time but for various jobs could occasionally live at home - on scale expenses.

I had a similar experience during reorganisations where one instance led to me being allocated to a job at HQ, home station 100 miles from my house, with it's section being staffed mainly by my ex-Divisional staff who were temporarily outbased in the same building as the Division pending HQ moving there so made sure I was in residence there on as many days as possible. This meant two hours per day more at home and full-day scale expenses about four times per week.

Next reorg I was Staff Rep, didn't like the new setup, the RS&TE had given me a public rollocking for wasting money by using the design process which became the BR standard instruction post-Clapham.  I got myself not identifed with the post I was pencilled in for. That left me in pole position on the displaced list and able to pick the job I actually wanted. As it was only guaranteed to last for a year I arranged with my new Area Engineer that I would live at my present home and I would qualify for redundancy travelling allowance in lieu of house removal cost. As it happened I got my immediate line manager's job the next year.  I was displaced again in the next reorg where I ended up back home getting two grades in two years.

[The Stationmaster]

Not entirely Old Oak related - but wait and see - movement around the railway and getting promotion which sometimes worked domestically or sometimes didn't was very much part of the job.  I think overall I was redundant at least half a dozen time over the years and it only once resulted in me finishing up in a job I very definitely didn't want and from which I was fortunately 'rescued' from before I even took it up.  And twice the redundancy resulted in me being promoted.

 

Footplate staff had their own PT&R arrangements (Promotion, Transfer & Redundancy) some of which I've already mentioned.  One of these worked to the advantage of various people at Old Oak because being a London depot and with an 'all lines' footplate vacancy list established in the 1950s it was easy for Firemen/Secondmen to get driving jobs if they were prepared to cross south of teh river where various depots seemed to have perpetual vacancies.  On being promoted to Driver they were able to record a 'First Preference' (in the event of a vacancy arising) for any depot they wanted - anywhere on BR (and it could be changed whenever they wanted but no less than two weeks before a Vacancy List was published.  Usually being fairly local they would make Old Oak their First Preference - and back they would come when they were senior enough to get the next vacancy.  So you could have a Driver at Old Oak with a First Preference for elsewhere (for example, a real one, Penzance) and when that came up off he would go - at two weeks notice - and the most senior recorded First Preference for Old Oak would go into the resultant vacancy, again at two weeks notice.

 

Equally there was a well established merry-go-round where due to seasonal timetable and workload changes a number of Old Oak (and elsewhere) drivers would be made redundant and with a.subsequent increase in work for whatever reason (e.g additional HST turns which needed two Drivers) back would come a group of First Preference men because as Drivers they would be senior to any Secondmen applying for promotion locally.  That left vacancies - usually - south of the river so off would go some Secondmen on promotion to Driver and putting in a First preference for Old Oak.

[TheSignalEngineer]

There was a similar situation in S&T during sectorisation and privatisation when business sectors and outside firms were all trying to set up their own organisations. It led to some quite useless staff being recruited for positions they were totally incapable occupying properly. At least three other lots were trying to set up where we were located in The Rotunda with so much rotation of staff and silly pay rises it became known as the Magic Roundabout.

Personally l had several approaches including two in writing with a contract enclosed. The two Projects Directors I worked under at that time kept their promises to make it worth my while to stay although was that because of my abilities or the fact I knew where lots of bodies were buried so to speak, and not only in our company. After all, I had recruited, trained, managed or worked with a lot of members of the opposition over the previous 30 years. You get to know a lot about where the Brown Stuff landed over that time, and not only in your own department.

[jointline]

On 17/04/2020 at 23:32, The Stationmaster said:

I've just had a further thought about the connection at Ealing Broadway - it would have allowed the Old Oak Common breakdown crane to still access the ES&B.  officially the breakdown crane cover was provided by the Central London and its successors but there was provision in the 1927 Instructions for the Old Oak crane to be called in to assist if necessary.  The connection at Ealing Broadway would have been the easiest way of getting it onto the ES&B as it would have required additional works at North Acton to recreate the junction with the ES&B and the connection at the Wood Lane end was sensibly removed once the Steam Lines were available.

 

Stock transfer to & from Acton Works could presumably have normally been dealt with by the shunt connection between the ES&B and the District at Ealing Broadway.

This thread was a long time ago now,  but just re-reading Peacock's book on GWR Suburban services,  and he mentions that there was a workman's train,  not advertised for public use, from Clapham Platform 12, at 0703 ,  returning at 5.56,  to Greenford via Ealing.  Stopping at all stations except Acton. (Saturdays returning at 12.32 and only going as far as Kensington).  The carriages were put away on the old down goods loop between Lillie Bridge and Kensington, working empty from Clapham for this purpose.   

This was in the STT from 4th July 1938,  and presumably stopped thereafter.

Another little big of the jig-saw relating to this line!

[TravisM]

On 14/04/2020 at 14:41, jim.snowdon said:

In the 1970s and 80s London Transport used to run various staff bus services in the small hours that served the railway depots, and probably quite a few other LT establishments, using full size buses and crews that were otherwise standing spare. Certainly on the underground there were duties that started late, bringing in the last trains, sleeping on the cushions overnight and taking the first trains out in the morning. I guess it I a practice that dates back to an era when fewer people had private cars. By the late 80s buses had been replaced by taxis working on contract.

LT also ran quite a network of staff buses from Chiswick Works and, presumably, Aldenham Works, but I can't remember them being a feature of life in Acton Works.

 

Jim

When I worked for London Transport, they ran regular staff trains after the last service trains finished.  One regular one I used was the Uxbridge staff train worked by a Neasden crew on “Uxbridge Nights”.  They would stay at Uxbridge for 3-4 hours and then work the morning staff train calling all stations to Baker St.

[The Stationmaster]

13 hours ago, jointline said:

This thread was a long time ago now,  but just re-reading Peacock's book on GWR Suburban services,  and he mentions that there was a workman's train,  not advertised for public use, from Clapham Platform 12, at 0703 ,  returning at 5.56,  to Greenford via Ealing.  Stopping at all stations except Acton. (Saturdays returning at 12.32 and only going as far as Kensington).  The carriages were put away on the old down goods loop between Lillie Bridge and Kensington, working empty from Clapham for this purpose.   

This was in the STT from 4th July 1938,  and presumably stopped thereafter.

Another little big of the jig-saw relating to this line!

Interesting although it didn't serve North Acton but ran via West Ealing.  It is in the May 1938 STT,  as a Passenger train, but definitely not in the July 1939 Service TT when the only GWR passenger trains serving Addison Road were the joint service with the Met which ran via Paddington to Edgware Road.  The SR passenger trains from Clapham Jcn all terminated at Addison Road and the only other local passenger service on the WLL was the LMS  trains between Willesden Jcn and Addison Road. Interestingly in the 1929 public TT there are trains running in very similar times to the 1938 STT Greenford train shown between Addison Road and the. Central side at Clapham Jcn

 

I do wonder if it was some sort of hangover from the GWR service to Victoria although in 1938 it ran off the Western side at Clapham Jcn.  I had a look at the 1901 STT and as far as the GWR was concerned that was basically the service to Victoria (it ended around the outbreak of WWI) which ran mainly from Southall although two Up trains started from Windsor and two Down trains terminated at Slough.  Plus of course the GW&Met Joint service as mentioned above. 

[roythebus]

An interesting post. I "discovered" trainspotting at OOC and 1A about 1961 when one of dad's workmates told me about OOC. The 630 trolleybus would have got me along Fulham Palace Road to Scrubs Lane then along the towpath and through the hole in the fence by the North London Line into OOC. The trolleybuses had finished the year before so we had to get the new Routemaster buses on route 220. The 220 ran a night service until privatisation from Harrow Road to Tooting Broadway.

 

LT used to use Mellows Hire for a lot of their staff buses until the late 1960s then used their own buses where they could, I remember catching a BEA Routemaster along Fulham Palace Road one morning for a short trip to Cromwell Curve sidings when I worked on the District. LUL use staff taxis these days.

 

One of my neighbours in Delorme Street was a retire 81A driver, Andy Maxwell. He worked on diesels and must have retired in the very early 1970s. On the DR there was a redundant 81A fireman, George Gee, and as a TCS at Waterloo we had Noel Hutchinson, an ex Southall man, still active on the Lost boys FB group.

 

I had to work an exhibition train from waterloo to Marylebone in the 1980s, the driver lived in Crewe and travelled for his job at Waterloo. He must have been one of the furthest travelling for his job. He let me got on with it as we were picking up an OOC conductor crew at Kensington. They were brought there and collected later by the staff bus. That special was one of the few occasions a 33 had been to Marylebone.

 

KX also had a staff bus that ran to and form Liverpool Street, usually driven by designated footplate crew for those who lived at Ilford hostel or lived on the Sarfend lines. It only ran at night when the Circle wasn't running.

 

BR free passes were/are valid on all former joint lines and a few other bits as well. I got a list of them from someone at LT when I was at Kings Cross. they wer from memory District Line Wimbledon-Putney Bridge; Richmond-Turnham Green; Whitechapel-Upminster but not valid for exit at Mile End; Met Line Hammersmith-Liverpool Street, Baker Street-Amersham & Chesham; Piccadilly KX-Finsbury Park; Central Wood Lane-Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip, Liverpool Street-Stratford; Leyton-Ongar via both loop routes; Bakerloo Baker Street-Finchley Road; Northern Line Kings CrossEdgware/Mill Hill/Barnet; Victoria Line KX-Finsbury Park. LT staff were allowed free travel on BR services on joint routes including Harrow-Marylebone.

 

Going back to trolleybuses, we found the 660 and 666 were still running from Old Oak Lane to Hammersmith so we used to get that a few times, not realising then that they only had another few months to run!

 

There was an open day at OOC in the late 1960s with a DMU shuttle from Paddington. star of the show was a Blue Pullman set on display. I still have the souvenir ticket in my collection.

 

[The Stationmaster]

The Central Line availability is West Ruislip or Ealing Broadway to Paddington (changing to the Circle/District Line at Notting Hill Gate) but not available at intermediate stations between White City and Paddington.   Like all the other routes over LUL lines it is basically a former mainline railway company route on which staff travel was available when they were in railway ownership although in this case the bit from Notting Hill Gate to Paddington is an addition of a non railway company owned route which had to be added in order to recreate the route to Paddington which had previously existed from places such as North Acton and Ealing Broadway.  It's many years since I last did this route on a BR pass and it would be interesting to see how LUL staff react if I were to try it now!  (I have an Oyster Card anyway).

 

Some of the LUL routes vary according to the type of pass or staff travel card.  Thius on the Met it is everywhere from the country end to Baker Street for staff travel cards and LM Region card passes (nowadays 'Blue Passes') but for Silver or Gold Passes the availability extends beyond Baker Street to Euston Square including the intermediate station.  Interestingly the same does not apply to the Hammersmith & City where all availability only comes as far in as Paddington for all passes - so none of them include the whole of the route of the former Met & GWR joint stock operation.

 

And there are oddities so because of the previous TOC involvement in the Heathrow Connect stopping train service from Paddington to LHR Staff Travel Cards and any passes valid on the WR may be used on that  (but not on Heathrow Express).  Oddly - and perhaps erroneously? - WR Blue Card Passes are shown available on Heathrow Express but Silver and Gold passes are not!

 

It's a fascinating little are and one which over the years various folk I know have tried out to see if it really works.

[caradoc]

The last couple of times I've transferred from Paddington to Euston I have used a new, and not immediately obvious, but actually pretty simple and easy route; Bakerloo Line Paddington-Queens Park, Overground Queens Park-Euston. Which, with one simple change via the footbridge at Queens Park, took me from inside Paddington to inside Euston (and the footbridge bit could be avoided by going a bit further and changing via the island platform at Willesden Jc). As I presumed my staff pass would not cover the Bakerloo Line section I have paid for that; It does mean having to go out of the station at Queens Park and immediately come back in !

 

[woodenhead]

26 minutes ago, caradoc said:

The last couple of times I've transferred from Paddington to Euston I have used a new, and not immediately obvious, but actually pretty simple and easy route; Bakerloo Line Paddington-Queens Park, Overground Queens Park-Euston. Which, with one simple change via the footbridge at Queens Park, took me from inside Paddington to inside Euston (and the footbridge bit could be avoided by going a bit further and changing via the island platform at Willesden Jc). As I presumed my staff pass would not cover the Bakerloo Line section I have paid for that; It does mean having to go out of the station at Queens Park and immediately come back in !

 

That also sounds a much more interesting way to get to Hammersmith from Euston avoiding going outside of the station or venturing down into the underground at such a crowded spot though half of the people using the underground at Paddington appear to use the Bakerloo platforms!