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A trip on the Underground - 1910!


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Hi Crossfell5

 

Some interesting period detail there.

 

I notice the juice rail on the electrified section generally stayed on the nearside even through stations.

Isn't it the practice these days to move it to the offside at such locations?

 

Also all other traffic seems to have been edited out apart from the GC express right at the end. Or was it a very quiet day?

 

Keith

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When you consider that this film was taken in 1910 while the movie industry was in its infancy it's remarkable. The technology was only invented at the very end of the nineteenth century. With hand-cranked cameras and short film lengths of those days I don't think much has been left out. The Metropolitan Railway must have made a significant investment in this project when you consider all the special location signs in the film. I would assume special not service trains were used.

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I was amazed at the quality and the period details as well. I enjoyed the video all the way through.

 

The views of houses and towns in the distance were very interesting. I was amazed at how so many images & details from 1910 haven't really changed that much! :)

 

Rob

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I notice the juice rail on the electrified section generally stayed on the nearside even through stations.

Isn't it the practice these days to move it to the offside at such locations?

 

It is, and for obvious reasons. The other interesting thing about that is that both the live and return rails continued uninterupted through board crossings between platforms. I suppose that having the live rail next to the platform at least meant that it wasn't a trip hazard to staff crossing the line!

 

The film of the Piccadilly line extension from 1932 is equally captivating (I esecially enjoyed the early 'time lapse' effect of Wood Green(?) station appearing as if from no-where), for a host of reasons. All fascinating.

 

Adam

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Not everyone's cup of tea but well worth a look!

You're not kidding!! What a great piece of film that is!

I particularly liked the fact that the people were walking at more-or-less 'normal' speed; okay, still a little bit fast but not like Charlie Chaplin on drugs, like most films of that Era are (yes I know it was down to hand-winding by the cameraman). Daft as it sounds it's easy to get the idea somehow that in Edwardian times the world was black & white and people always walked fast!

Other points of interest were the total abscense of any road traffic (except a tram early on) certainly out in the country, and the smoke from home chimneys. The latter is a reminder that however nostalgic for the past we might get, if we could really Time-travel and go back to a "more Civilised age" (which I for one think the Edwardian Era was in many respects) everyday life would seem extremely primitive...!!!

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I haven't noticed that on the LR Museum web site before.

 

The Metropolitan Trip was brilliant, especially for someone like me who knows the route so well, having used it to get to school in the '60s and then commuted on it to work throught to the end of the 1980s.

 

Some of the stations are unchanged, such as Willesden Green and Ruislip whilst others such as Harrow are unrecognisable, whilst West Hampstead was demolished and rebuilt when the Met gave up it's all stations service to the Bakerloo in 1939.

 

The conductor rail is nowadays always on the side furthest away from the platform edge i nstations, reverting back to the ouside elsewhere. I'm not sure whe nthe change was made, I must try and find out via the LURS.

 

It also shows the flat junction for the Uxbridge branch, long ince repalced by the current burrowing junction.

 

Note that on the shots of Pinner and beyond the line is not electrified.

 

Thank you very much for posting the link.

 

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Not everyone's cup of tea but well worth a look!

 

http://www.ltmcollection.org/films/index.html

 

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly mine! London in 1962 took me back, I can tell you. (I can't go back to 1910, though!)

 

Super stuff - I've already passed the link on to various others that ought to appreciate it. Thanks for the posting.

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Interesting - the 1910 film, every station seems to have a very large sign made of it's name specifically for this filming session, that would have been expensive.

 

I also note the telegraph wires seem to be 'bundled' to go under the bridges, although there was one where I thought I saw some insulators in silhouette under one bridge.

 

Upper Semaphores on the Met... many other details, all lovely viewing for a pre-groupy :rolleyes:

 

Looking at the Elephant Will Never Forget... film, at approx. 6 mins 30 secs, Tram to centre of road, car width between it and the pavement, people cross from pavement to get on the tram, car stops to allow this to happen - wonder if you could do that now - OK admit in this film the camera's in the car, thus part of 'The Firm', but presumably there was less chance of being mown down then - I can just remember trams, but we lived north of Baker Street then and don't think there many routes that way - I remember the Festival of Britain and the Coronation clearly though.

 

Penlan

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