TfL maintains a sizeable archive of historical documentation within its Corporate Archives, a grouping responsible for safeguarding the corporate memory of Transport for London and its predecessor companies. A small but substantial proportion of this archive has been uploaded to a digital portal where you can search through scans of what was once day-to-day stuff but is now a unique record of the capital's transport history. Staff lists, leaflets from coronations, details of mascots, bus maps, uniform specifications, Country Walks booklets, DLR leaflets, floodgate specifications, original Metro-Land adverts, fares booklets, the activities of the staff flying club, Routemaster construction diagrams, absolutely allsorts... likely not precisely what you're looking for but a fascinating collection all the same.
Documents can be slow to load, especially when they're multi-paginated, and I'm not sure what happens if dozens of people try to access the system at the same time. But it's an excellent time sink if you're bored and potentially invaluable if you're ever trying to do research about London Transport from way back.
One of the best places to look for a flavour of times past is the collection of in-house staff magazines, so I've dug back to hunt out a few snippets from Februaries past. I'm only scratching the surface here, but the full magazines are available (eventually) if you want to read the full publication.
Good progress is being made with the Morden extension, three miles of single tunnel having already been executed. Tenders amounting in all to £231,000 have recently been accepted for the sub-surface portions of the four stations on the Clapham-Tooting section. Two of these—Balham and Trinity Road—will be entirely below ground; the others—Nightingale Lane and Tooting Broadway—will have booking halls at ground level. The work of preparing the foundations for the car sheds at Morden has been much hindered by the recent heavy rains.
The remodelling of the booking hall at Bank station (C.L.R.) is now completed. In place of the cramped lift-equipped hall that had done duty since 1900 we have an especially noteworthy example of the new type of sub-surface booking hall with spacious circulation area, Passimeter booking booths and escalator connection with the platforms. The Bank Station has become quite an attraction for City folk during the mid-day interlude, throngs of people lingering in the subways and watching with curious interest the animated scene presented in the booking hall as streams of passengers pass to and fro the escalators.
Arrangements are in hand for laying out, on the lines of the Wembley 'bus station, the section of the forecourt of Victoria station that is used as a terminal for "General" services. A feature will be a traffic control tower, wherein will be stationed the regulating official who, by means of signals, will control the departure of the motor-buses. Concrete platforms will replace the present ones of timber.
The person who knifes the cushions of motorbuses has resumed his activities after a few months' rest. In one 'bus alone nine cushions have suffered. Can it be he wants to know what is inside the cushions? If so we would be glad to show him around the Upholstery Department at Chiswick and satisfy him once and for all.
It may be said that even amongst the most sceptical, the fact has dawned that radio is here to stay. The millionth licence in Great Britain has been sold and the army of listeners is increasing by leaps and bounds. The T.O.T Radio Association is meant to bring together all radio amateurs of the great undertakings that form the Underground group of companies. The annual subscription is only 2s 6d and this sum is almost immediately refunded by the large discounts granted by the leading wireless firms.
The majority of arrangements for the L.G.O's Third Annual Boxing Tournament at the People's Palace, on Friday March 6th, are completed. Lord Ashfield of Southwell has very kindly promised to attend and Lord Lonsdale has intimated his intention of being present.
Doggy Ailments: I lead, others follow. Bring your dog to me for any skin disorders, stomach trouble, worms or distemper. My speciality: Teeth extracted. Puppies correctly docked. Remedies: safe and reliable. Advice freely given. Driver C.W.F. Gill, 5 Wellington Road, East Ham.
When he has finished his day's work checking the tickets of Green Line travellers, inspector Albert McCall takes a busman's holiday. As a hobby he collects bus tickets and has 22,000 of them filed away in albums and boxes at his Kingsbury home. Oldest ticket is one issued by West Metropolitan Tramways in 1884 for the trip from Kew Bridge to Hammersmith Broadway. Fare then was twopence: in the 66 years to the present time it has just doubled.
A special letter of thanks to bus and railwaymen for their service last year has been written by Aldersbrook Area Park Residents Society. The residents have sent their "sincere appreciation of the unfailing courtesy and helpfulness shown by all members of Wanstead Central line station staff and by the inspectors and bus crews of route 101 which runs through the area."
The canteen at 55 Broadway was an interesting sight on the occasion of the first ever London Transport chess match, when teams representing Central Buses and the Rest of London Transport opposed each other with grim determination in a 23-board match. Central Buses, who have the strongest chess section within the organisation, won by 14½ to 8½.
The twin set on the left is ideal for the out-size woman. If you are one of our juniors, why not knit it for Mother? The slippers above should tempt those who like sewing. Write to the Editor of London Transport Magazine for a free pattern.
At the Elephant and Castle the task of modernising the Northern line station is well on the way to completion. It is expected to reopen early next month. The old station with its familiar domed roof has been demolished. In its place a modern square building has been erected. The new station was designed by our architects to blend in with the adjoining enclosed shopping centre, which is one of the features of the development in the area.
Two new escalators come into use next month at Euston Underground station, which is being reconstructed and will serve the Victoria line. They are the first of eight escalators which will replace the three 56-year-old lifts at the station. The escalator tunnel is the first to be fitted with a waterproof ceiling lining which does not need decorating and only requires washing to keep it clean.
A new bus route serving both Waterloo station and the full length of the Albert Embankment came into service last month, mainly to serve office workers. It is included in a scheme for re-shaping a number of services along the Thames embankments to match them more closely with customer needs. The new Monday-to-Friday link is provided by service 168A from Clapham Junction to Turnpike Lane.
During the 50 years of service of stationmaster Jack Roberts he has worked at every Metropolitan station north of Harrow. He started in 1915 as a porter at Brill, the terminus of the single track branch from Quainton Road. "There was no rush hour in those days, but we worked just as hard - turning our hands from everything to issuing tickets to loading hay, cattle and milk." On one occasion while helping to coerce two bulls into entering a wagon from the cattle loading dock, one of the animals had a different idea and suddenly charged. Jack dived through the dock rails only an inch or two ahead of the thrusting horns!
A system of flexible working hours will be introduced shortly for a limited number of London Transport clerical and administrative staff at 55 Broadway. Mr George Graves, TSSA line secretary, told LT News that experiments with flexible hours had recently been carried out in LT offices using a manual system in which staff entered the hours they had worked on forms provided for that purpose. "Further trials, but this time using mechanical aids, will begin soon among staff in the two typing pools and in the appointments section of the welfare office".
Wartime telephone equipment which controls calls to LT's famous 222 1234 travel enquiry service is to be replaced with a new £40,000 system. The old switchboard, which is being strained to the limit to cope with up to 16,000 calls a week, is due to be pensioned off before the end of the year.
During 1974 more than 66,000 people visited the London Transport Collection of historical vehicles at Syon Park. This brings the total number of visitors to the Collection, since its opening in May 1973, to more than 130,000.
Earl's Court Underground station is the first to get the restyled slim-line automatic ticket gates. Over the next six years all 250 LT stations will receive the new automatic equipment. As we went to press it was being installed at Tottenham Court Road and Manor House. [pictured: Attractive Australian secretary Wendy Denchemko was one of the first passengers to use the new slim-line barriers last week]
Tickets for Sidcup Garage's annual dinner dance at Langley Park on February 22 are selling fast so members are asked to book their seats as quickly as possible.
In my opinion the shortage of police officers is the main reason why hooliganism, vandalism, 'mugging' and attacks on transport staff are on the increase. The police have a serious staff shortage, but surely they could step up recruitment by lowering their standards slightly. There must be hundreds of applicants who are just too short or who do not quite possess the educational qualifications yet would make excellent police officers. The public and public servants have a right to be protected.
R. J. Tucker, Conductor, Merton
You can still take advantage of the bargain stewpan offer featured in the last issue of LT News. The set of three enamelled saucepans, suitable for either gas or electric cookers, is available for only £7.50 inclusive of VAT, postage and packing. The final design is available in a choice of colours: brown and orange with contrasting brown lids, and blue with contrasting blue lids. Cheques should be made payable to Penguin Promotions.
