ISSUE No. 96 - JANUARY 2009

K82, a Willowbrook bodied Leyland Leopard, photographed at Bedfordbus station. (Photos by Bob Bayman.)

The company was a family-owned firm, with Raymond Birch asChairman; his brother, John Birch, as Managing Director; and John’sson, Peter Birch, also actively involved as Assistant ManagingDirector. The Birch company had started as a bus operator in northand west London in 1847. It had many battles with the LGOC andsuspended London bus operation in 1912. Resuming in 1924, theLondon operations were sold to the LPTB in 1934. The companythen developed services outside London, largely by acquisition,focussed on the longer-distance route from King’s Cross to Rushden,via Hitchin and Bedford (numbered 203), with connecting localservices in and around those towns and Luton. Birch achieved a statusand reputation beyond its size, with interesting vehicles, someoriginally with Birch-built bodies. The fleet at one time included tendouble-deckers on Leyland and Guy single-deck chassis, for greaterstability on narrow country lanes; also well known were the Leylanddouble-deckers used on the 203 Rushden service. With the openingof the M1 motorway, the 203 was supplemented by the 203M, whichwas initially operated by Willowbrook bodied AEC Reliances and laterby Leopards with Willowbrook bodies and some by Park Royal. Therewere three garages, at Cathcart Street, Kentish Town (known as RoyalMail Yard, due to the company’s former mail contracts), Rushden andHenlow Camp. The first two buildings are still in existence; the siteof the Henlow Camp premises has now been redeveloped forhousing, with one street named “Birch Grove”. Away from buses andcoaches, Birch also diversified into taxis and domestic oil delivery.

Birch Bros. RememberedBob Bayman was the speaker at the Friends’ meeting on 25th September 2008. Bob spent

most of his professional career with London Transport, latterly as a senior Underground

manager. However, his f irst job - for 200 days in 1967/8 – was with Birch Bros.. Bob

recalled those times in a highly personalised memoir, but one which caught the spirit

of the company.

Bob’s duties in the late-1960s Traffic Office included: briefing drivers(he recalled the squabbles over vehicle allocations, with some driversbeing very precious about who drove “their” buses); passengercensuses; lost property; driving the company car to facilitate ticketand other on-bus checks; and calculating season ticket rates. Amongstthe events that Bob recalled was a driver reprimanded for delayinghis bus to go shopping; a bus which dropped its gearbox; collisions,both between buses and between cars and buses; diversions,including some interesting ones through the USAF base atChicksands, near Shefford; and various breakdowns.

Despite the company’s past, well-deserved reputation for passengerservice, Bob’s 200 days with Birch came at a time when things wereclearly in decline. There were serious maintenance problems, with46 per cent of the fleet off the road at one point, leading tonumerous, impromptu cancellations. January 1968 saw significantservice cut-backs, to reflect declining patronage. There was a threatof nationalisation of bus companies still wholly or in partly inprivate ownership. The BET group, Birch and others mounted acampaign against this, proclaiming that there would be “no sell-out”.But sell out was exactly what Birch did, principally to the state-ownedUnited Counties Omnibus Company, to whom the then remainingBirch bus services were sold in September 1969. Prior to the sale,the Birch Luton bus services had already been replaced by UCOC andLondon Transport (Country Buses). The private hire operations werecontinued for two more years, finally passing to George Ewer Ltd.(Grey Green) in late 1971. Thus a renowned bus operator disappeared– and Bob had moved on to career pastures new.

K187, a 1947 Leyland PD1 with 1957 Weymann bodywork, leavesCathcart Street for the last time, following its withdrawal.

Bob was brought up in North London in an area served exclusively byRTs. Trips as a child to Barnet presented a fascinating variety fromthis staple diet, with trolleybuses and the double-deckers of BirchBros. on the route from King’s Cross to Rushden. Such was hisinterest in the company that, as a school leaver in the summer of1967, Bob asked Birch for a job. He was given a post in the TrafficOffice at Kentish Town. Bob recalled that there were three phonesin the office for answering private hire enquiries: two were for Birchand one was for Monico Motors, which Birch had taken over, initiallymaintaining its separate, apparent identity.

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Barry Le Jeune

14 Jireh Court, Perrymount Road

HAYWARDS HEATH

West Sussex RH16 3BH

Tel: 01444 450822

E-mail: barrylejeune@yahoo.co.uk

Editorial

From The Director’s Chair

Not A Friend?Visit our website

www.ltmuseum.co.uk/friends

for details of membership benefits and

to download an application form.

As previously explained, the Trustees are theprincipal governing body of the Friends. TheTrustees delegate day-to day management tothe Executive and Operations Committees.

The Executive Committee is charged withthe formulation of policies to achieve theobjectives of the Friends, as defined in theTrust Deed*. Specifically, the ExecutiveCommittee concerns itself with:

� Membership strategy� Finance, including membership fees

and the submission of an annualbudget to the Trustees

� Interface with the Museum, includingfinancial support for conservation andother projects

� Marketing� External Relations� Organisation and succession.

Appointments to the both the Executive andOperations Committees are made by theTrustees and advised to members at theAnnual Members’ Meeting.

Members of the Executive Committee are:

Ian Arthurton .... ChairmanBarry LeJeune ... Vice Chairman, with

responsibility also forcommunications issues.

Ian Crane ........... Secretary to the FriendsChris Angell ....... TreasurerPaul Hopper ....... responsible for

Project ManagementRichard Meads ... Membership StrategyJohn Self ........... Fund raising.

Museum Director, Sam Mullins, is also amember of the Friends’ ExecutiveCommittee “ex officio”.Becky Lee acts as Minutes Secretary.

Next time, in the final part of this series ofshort articles on Friends’ organisation andmanagement, we will look at the OperationsCommittee.

*The Friends’ Trust Deed requires theTrustees to act “for the advancement ofpublic education in the history of transportand in particular by assisting and encouragingthe work and activities of the Museum…”.

Executive

CommitteeIn the latest in our ongoingseries of explanations ofhow the Friends are run,we look at the role andmembership of theExecutive Committee.

Final copy date for the

April 2009 issue is:Friday 27th February 2009

Museum Chairman and Board in place and arejust starting to explore the challenges andopportunities of charity status.

All in all, this list of achievements in our firstyear is something of which I am very proud.It is, of course, based on the closepartnership within TfL, our peerless Friends’organisation and a raft of 93 sponsors andfunders. Next year will be a challenge, butwe are as well-equipped as any to meet this,with our new museum, talented board and150+ volunteers. Thank you all for yoursupport during this momentous year.

I am writing this on the way to WinstanBond’s funeral. Winstan was a pillar ofthe remarkable National Tramway Museumat Crich and Treasurer of AIM (Associationof Independent Museums) while I was itsChairman. Winstan was involved in theLondon Transport Museum’s aborted moveto charity status in 1984 and became atrustee of the Transport History ResearchTrust, which deployed the assets LondonTransport had vested in the new charity.Winstan’s contribution to the NationalTramway Museum stood out, even fromsuch an outstanding volunteer-run enterprise.He was a far-sighted Treasurer, worked theresix days a week, developed the world-standard library and was a powerful advocatefor its educational mission. He was a goodfriend to me and to AIM and he is muchmissed.

Sam Mullins

During the summer of 2007, as the tide ofbuilders’ equipment receded and the re-opening of the Museum approached, acolleague from another museum pointedout- helpfully, it transpired, although it didnot seem so at the time- that opening wasjust the start, and not the finish, of all theexcitement. A year on, we have come toappreciate just what was meant by this. Ourpace has hardly slackened these past twelvemonths. The main difference has beenseeing the completion of so much in sucha short time, after the prolonged closure.

Since re-opening on 22nd November 2007,we have had a record number of visitors –367,855, 50% more than ever before – andwon prizes and critical acclaim for the newMuseum. During the year, we have pilotednew approaches to the public programme,including the future of transport and cities,and invested in our outreach and educationalcapability. A three-year research project inthe ‘Art of the Poster’ was completed byopening the new exhibition and publishing anew book. Three other exhibitions – BruceRowling’s project archive, ‘Last Stop’ on theRoutemaster and Underground Advertising -have been written and mounted.

The new Museum has won quality assurancefor its all-new customer services team withina year of opening - a great achievement for ateam stretched by very high visitor numbers,the technical challenges of making the newkit work and many more evening andcorporate events to handle. We have a new

There’s no space for afull Editorial this time;

so we’ll justwish all Friends a

Very Happy New Year.

Tuesday 10th March

Selling the Suburbs

Tuesday 24th March

Art for All?: The public response toUnderground posters.

For further details, please see the Museumwebsite. Tickets must be pre-booked byphone on 020 7565 7298. There is aconcessionary price for Friends of £6.

“The Art of the Poster” exhibition is ondisplay at the Museum until 31st March 2009.

If any Friends are visiting Covent Gardenbetween 4th and 8th February, they can takeadvantage of complimentary tickets for themand a companion to the Watercolours &Drawings art fair at The Flower Cellars, 4-6Russell Street. As its title suggests, the fairfeatures watercolours and drawings, togetherwith modern artworks on paper. Just showyour Friends’ membership card on entry. Forfurther details, you can visit the website:www.worksonpaperfair.com .

There is also time to book for the final talkssupporting “The Art of the Poster”exhibition. These take place in the Museum’sCubic Lecture Theatre from 1830 to 1930hours on the following dates:

Tuesday 3rd February

A Modern Medici: Frank Pick –Patron of the Arts

Tuesday 17th February

The Intelligent City:The new publicity and design reform

Friday 27th February

Film Evening: “In the Studio”

Added Attractions

The meeting was held in the Headquarters of Pearson plc. in theStrand. Why so? Because Sir David Bell, Chairman of the LondonTransport Museum Trustee Board, is also Chairman of the FinancialTimes, which is a Pearson Company. Sir David gave an introductoryaddress to the meeting. He explained the history of the building,which was constructed for Shell in 1929/30 (so is contemporary withLondon Transport’s 55 Broadway Headquarters). Shell still occupiesone floor of the Strand building. It was here that John Betjemandelivered the copy for his series of Shell guides. Taken over by theMinistry of Defence in the Second World War, Winston Churchill isreputed to have come to the tenth floor balcony, after dining at theSavoy, to observe the progress of German bombers as they flewalong the Thames towards their targets in the London Docks. (Theviews from the top of the building are certainly impressive, as theaccompanying photo shows. Sadly, it was a dull day. Editor.)

In his introductory remarks, Sir David paid tribute to the Museum’sachievements before he and the Trustee Board were appointed. Heemphasised that it was not the role of the Board to manage the dayto day running of the Museum. Like the editorial independence of theFinancial Times, this required an “article of faith” in the managementteam. The Museum Trustees were pursuing a “low key” role oflistening and learning in their first year and would be watchful overthe Museum’s strategy and governance. From their wide range ofexpertise in transport, retail business, museums, community affairsand politics, the Trustees would also offer support, guidance andadvice in all that the Museum was seeking to achieve. Sir Davidcommented that TfL had inherited a remarkable tradition from itspredecessors. This was to be “recognised, celebrated, embraced andpolished” at the London Transport Museum. The Museum dependedon London and its community for its ongoing success. The Friendswere central to that dependence, and were a clear example of how“ownership” of the Museum extended into London’s widercommunity.

The business sessions of the Away Day started with a presentationby Graham Page and Joanne Howe on existing and future volunteeropportunities. The point was made that, while it was easy to add upthe hours volunteers contributed, this could in no way be calculatedas a simple “people equivalent”; no one person (or even four or fivein the arithmetic total that all the volunteers’ efforts added up to)

Members of the Management Committees of the Friends, together with the Museum’s

Senior Management Team, held an “Away Day” discussion meeting in October 2008. In

the report that follows, we give a flavour of some of the issues that were discussed.

Away Day

Saturday/Sunday 7th/8th MarchActon Depot Open Weekend.London Transport in Miniature.

Monday 20th April18.15 hours.Cubic Lecture Theatre, London TransportMuseum.

Annual Members’ MeetingFollowed by presentation.(Further details in the April newsletter.)

Meetings andEventsMonday 26th January18.15 hours. Cubic Lecture Theatre, LondonTransport Museum.

Friends’ Meeting: Shashi Verma, Director ofFares and Ticketing, Transport for London:“Oyster – Back to the Future”.

could offer the wide range of skills and expertise that the volunteerscollectively did. Issues raised in this presentation and subsequentdiscussion included the currently unused potential for resuminggallery tours at Covent Garden (the Museum promised a responseon this by the end of the year); the need for succession planning toensure that individual volunteers’ specialist skills and knowledgewere not lost; and the desirability of advising new Friends ofvolunteering opportunities, as well as advertising particular currentvolunteer needs (see page 11).

Richard Meads followed with a presentation on membership strategy.While Friends’ numbers had increased substantially in the past year,there remained a number of target groups who were relatively poorlyrepresented in the membership total. These included employees ofTfL and other transport companies, as well as the individual staff ofthe Museum’s Corporate Members and Sponsors. Strategies werebeing developed to attract these target groups. It was also importantthat the Friends actively welcomed new members and sought toensure that the programme of Friends’ meetings and other activitieswas broadly based to attract - and retain - not just the core“transport enthusiast” group, but also those with a wider interestin London’s social history.

Legacies were the next topic for discussion, in a presentation givenby Paul Ross. This identified the need for the Friends to be morepro-active in advising Friends, and other potential donors, of thepracticalities of charitable giving, as a legacy on death or as a giftduring a member’s life-time. Such donations or legacies could bein cash or of artefacts and ephemera collections. The latter wouldbe offered first to the Museum, to enhance its collections; butotherwise would be offered for sale to raise funds for conservationwork.

Sam Mullins then gave a perspective of the Museum one year onfrom re-opening. This touched too on the Museum-Friendsrelationship. Sam commented that this tremendously supportiverelationship was looked on with awe by many other museums; but,however successful, now was a good time to re-examine thatrelationship against the background of all that had already changedand some challenging financial times in the future. Sam committedhimself and the Museum management team to workingconstructively with the Friends to develop volunteeringopportunities; extending the membership package and benefits;and to promoting the Friends to the widest possible audience.

Paul Hopper and Spencer McManus then gave a general update onelements of the “Moving Tube Heritage” project, including progresswith the first stage of the Q-stock restoration; future fundraisingfor the ultimate objective of full restoration to operating condition(in time for the 150th anniversary of Underground railways in Londonin January 2013); and heritage train operating plans for 2009.

Finally, Brian Staines, Chairman of the Friends’ Trustees, summedup the day’s discussions. Brian commented that the Friends hadachieved much in the 30 years of their existence to date. Theconstructive nature of the discussion, and of the Friends-Museumrelationship, gave confidence that the Friends would go forwardand achieve much more in the years ahead.

Page 3

Friends’ meetings are expected to take placelater in the year on 28th September and 30th

November. Why Mondays? The Museumasked us to consider a move to Mondays, asThursdays is becoming a popular evening forcommercial hires of the Museum and/orCubic Lecture Theatre by other organisations.

Please bring your Friends’ membership cardto events at the Museum, as this assists inthe security arrangements for gaining accessto the Cubic Theatre.

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The final nail had hardly been hammered into the new signal cabinwhen a crate-load of parts from two lever frames was wheeled outof the Museum Depot . One was a Westinghouse Style B thatwas used at Holborn for the Aldwych branch. At the time of itswithdrawal, the spare levers had already been removed and, as such,it is of no use to the AMR presently. The other was also aWestinghouse product, but Style N, and recovered from the samearea. Our research shows that the ‘B’ was removed to make way forthe new “IMR” signalling equipment; but, whilst this work was goingon, a temporary frame (the “N”) was installed nearby. The “N” hadbeen made up from parts recovered from the original frame atDrayton Park and is therefore a bit of a mis-match; but it suits ourneeds perfectly.

We seem to be missing one of the front legs, so the front of theframe is resting on parts of a Westinghouse Style L frame, but wehope to procure a leg soon! The levers and electrical ‘bands’ have allbeen connected up. We were able to make temporary use of it forsome of the November Open Weekend (with something a bit morepermanent being prepared for March).

Acton Miniature RailwayHere’s the latest update from AMR Manager, Adrian Allum:

The GNR loco at Wesley’s Halt, with Stephen Trower, son of theowner, in charge. (Photo: D. Hayes.)

On The Track Of JackOn Thursday 2nd October 2008, some 50 Friends from the four London Hub Museums

visited the Museum in Docklands for a viewing of the “Jack The Ripper and The East

End” exhibition.

Many of the guests elected to travel by the Routemaster (RM298) fromthe Embankment, kindly provided by Roger Wright’s London BusCompany. On arrival at Docklands, we were welcomed by David

Spence, the Museum Director, who explained the Museum’s originsand role as an integral part of the Museum of London. He also lookedforward to the opening at Barbican, in 2010, of the Museum’s newGalleries of Modern London. Refreshments were served. David thenintroduced Julia Hoffbrand, one of the two joint curators of the Jack

The Ripper exhibition. Julia explained something of the thinking andapproach behind it, before the guests toured the (now closed)exhibition at their own pace.

The infamous series of murders – eleven in total in the years 1888to 1891 - had been the subject of the most extensive Policeinvestigation then known. The exhibition was based on surviving

The November Open Weekend clashed with “Halloween Parties”on many other miniature railways, so we had only two visiting trainsavailable on the Saturday; but the service was uncompromised. Onthe Sunday, a GNR ‘Atlantic’ visited from the Great Cockcrow Railway(having been in service there on the Saturday); this had plenty ofpulling power. Our Sarah Siddons was not in service, due to theongoing investigation into her poor performance.

Since November, much of the track at Depot Approach has beenlifted, in preparation for the new layout that I mentioned in theprevious newsletter; and, as I write, we are preparing for the nextwork party, when we shall hopefully lay all of the new track. At thistime, we shall also make provision for the track circuits (which arepart of the signalling).

We intend to have work parties on the last Saturday of each month;more volunteers are welcome. However, sometimes the work partyis brought forward or backward, so prospective volunteers are invitedto contact me at adrian@ActonMiniatureRailway.co.uk or on01252-377647 beforehand.

The new lever frame inside the signal cabin.(Photo: A. Allum.)

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The museum is located in and around the historic steam engineshed at Vilanova, which is a 40-minute suburban train ride fromBarcelona’s main station, Sants. The shed is claimed to be one ofthe best examples of railway industrial architecture in Catalonia.The group of historic buildings is made up of three water tanks, asemi-circular main “roundhouse” building and 33 tracks leading to aturntable, which layout permits all the rolling stock to be moved.

Barcelona Railway Museum

Your Editor visited Spain in September 2008

and his itinerary took him to the railway

museum at Vilanova near Barcelona. Here’s a

brief description of what is on display there.

There are 25 steam locomotives on display, some of them Britishbuilt, from all railway time periods. Only one is actually capable ofbeing operated in steam- the replica “Centenary Train” built for the100th anniversary of Spanish railways in 1948. Also to be seen outsideare withdrawn electric and diesel locomotives, including an earlyTalgo set, with the trademark features of articulation, low centre ofgravity and independent suspension. (The museum’s English cataloguequaintly refers to this as “independent rolling”.) Visitors with aninterest in signalling will be impressed by the gantry removed fromBarcelona’s Estacio de Franca station, together with its control panel.

An exhibition featuring the construction and operation of Spain’snew 350kph high-speed rail lines was advertised as being in the 21st

century display space in the former steam engine repair shop.However, this had not been installed at the time of your Editor’svisit; maybe later visitors will be more fortunate. (The latest high-speed line, from Madrid to Barcelona, is very impressive, reducing

the fastest journey times from roundly 4½ hours to 2½ hours.) In themain museum building are displays of railway objects and models, asmall book and gift shop and what is described as a “virtual theatre”,in which a video display shows a theatrical performance based on avisit to a 19th century railway station, featuring comedy sketchesbased around passengers’ lost luggage. (Sadly the performance wasnot in English, but all of the museum’s explanatory display texts are.)

In summary, the Vilanova museum houses a fairly traditionalcollection and displays, but is well worth a half-day visit if you happento be in Barcelona – a city of many attractions for the transportenthusiast and general sightseeing traveller alike. These include thehistoric blue trams, pictured here, along with two images from therailway museum.

documents in the Metropolitan Police archives and othercontemporary material drawn from many museums in the UK. Thecases co-incided with the growth of what today we would call“sensational journalism”. The exhibition had to deal with a difficult

and sensitive subject, in a non-sensational way. The approach takenwas to reflect the late 19th century world of London’s East End andthe appalling social conditions of the time. The murdered women

had all been forced into prostitution to pay for a night’s lodging andfor a drink to fuel their alcohol addiction. They typically had nopossessions other than the clothes they were wearing. A significant

feature of the material on display was the original master map ofCharles Booth, highlighting the relative poverty of individual streets,based on Booth’s site inspections. The “grizzly bits”, showing thecrime scene and post-mortem photographs, were all discretelyscreened off, so that visitors had knowingly to decide to see them.

So who was Jack the Ripper? You probably won’t be surprised tolearn that the exhibition offered no definitive answers, What it diddo was to present the fourteen principal suspects in a time-line. This

intriguingly demonstrated how the names of first batch of suspectswere all put forward in the few years following the time of themurders. There was then a long gap before renewed press and publicinterest generated more names from the 1960s onwards.

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The Glasgow Subway: One Quaint Underground

Brian Hardy’s talk to the Friends’ meeting on 22nd November 2008 was entitled “Two

Quaint Underground Systems”, referring to the Glasgow Subway and Post Office

Railway. In this, the first of two summaries of the talk, we focus on Glasgow. Brian

dedicated this part of his talk to the memory of John Wright, a former member of

London Underground’s Mechanical Engineering Department, who was the Glasgow

Subway’s Underground Engineer at the time of Brian’s first “behind the scenes” visit in

1974. John Wright, said Brian, “was the Glasgow Subway”.

The Glasgow Subway comprises a 6½-mile-long circle line of twotracks. Construction work began at St. Enoch Square in 1891. Thetunnels were built to 11ft. internal diameter and the track gaugewas smaller than standard, at 4ft. There are 15 stations in all and thedepot was built near Govan Cross. However, there were no pointsand crossings; trains were lifted into the depot by overhead crane,through an opening in the tunnel between Copland Road and GovanCross. The Subway was to remain without any pointwork until afterthe system closed for modernisation in May 1977.

Despite the City & South London Railway opting for electric tractionin 1890, the Glasgow District Subway chose cable traction. Initially,thirty gripper cars were built by the Oldbury Carriage & Wagon Co.,although only twenty were ready for the opening day. The cableoperated at 13 mph, which permitted a round trip time of 39minutes for the trains.

The car sheds were in Broomloan Road, near Govan Cross. Thesharpest curve on the system is at 660ft. radius, just west ofCowcaddens. The deepest point is near Hillhead at 155ft. and theshallowest, at just 7ft. from the surface, between Cessnock andKinning Park. The deepest station is Buchanan Street, 40ft. belowthe surface. The cable powerhouse was located in Scotland Street.The cables were powered by two giant steam engines. Thecontinuously running cable entered and left the power station at aspecially constructed point between West Street and Shields Road.It took about five hours to replace a worn cable.

The gripper mechanism was controlled by the Gripman through ahorizontal handwheel and lever in the small, then unenclosed, drivingcab, about one third of the width of the car. Considerable skill wasrequired to operate the grip, but it was not uncommon for roughstarts, in which case the cable could jump to a height of 10ft. ormore. At the point where the cable went into and out of the powerhouse, the Gripman had to release the cable; in case he forgot, anautomatic trip mechanism came into play to make sure the cable wasreleased. Although Westinghouse air brakes and manual handbrakeswere provided, there were no air compressors on the gripper cars.

The compressors were in the power station and a large storagereservoir was provided at West Street station. Trains had to rechargetheir air after two round trips.

The Subway soon became popular and therefore additional stockwas required. To that end, 24 four-wheeled trailers were built in1898 by Hurst Nelson of Motherwell. Being much shorter in lengththan the gripper cars, they seated only 24. 14 were converted tostandard length between 1902 and 1907 and the other ten scrapped.To compensate, a further six gripper cars were built between 1901and 1913, which were the last new stock built for the Subway beforethe 1970s modernisation.

By the early 1920s, The Glasgow District Subway was in financialdifficulties. Even though the Glasgow Corporation eventuallypurchased the undertaking, it did not prevent closure, which tookplace on 25th March 1922. The Subway reopened on 3rd July 1922,

under the auspices of the Glasgow Corporation.

Despite the desire to electrify the system, costalways got in the way, especially after the collapseof the GDS and its takeover by the GlasgowCorporation. However, experiments eventuallybegan in 1932, using the newest gripper car, No.60of 1913 vintage, which took advantage of theCorporation’s vast tramway resources. A shortsection of track was laid in the depot yard wherethe initial tests took place.

The next stage took the experiment a stage further,with just over a mile of track being electrified on theinner rail between Merkland Street and Copland Road.Its success saw the conversion to electric tractiontake place in two stages. The inner rail was convertedfirst on 31st March 1935, followed by the outer railon 5th December 1935.

Gripper cars were selected for conversion to motorcars. From the 36 that were available, 26 were

Crew changeover in the car sheds ‘pit’ between

Copland Road and Govan Cross.

Although all motor coaches had been given solid sliding

doors by 1965, not so the trailers. Five of them with

gates were even in service on the last day – 21st May

1977. (All photographs by Brian Hardy.)

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converted between 1935 and 1938, while the other ten continuedto operate as trailers, along with the 14 lengthened cars. Roundtrip time was reduced from 39 minutes to 27, although this waseventually regularised to 30 minutes, for service recovery purposes.The hand-operated gates were converted to air operation at thesame time. Because the trains only ever worked in one direction(but regularly changed over from one circle to another), the publicnever saw their off-sides. Therefore, these were painted in a dullred for many years and it was only in the 1960s that both sides ofthe cars were actually painted in bright gloss red.

The modernisation of the Subway was authorised in January 1974,which was to change the shape of almost everything. The original planwas to do the same as when the Subway was electrified in 1935 –close one circle at a time. However, on a number of occasions, thesystem had to close because of subsidence and cracks in the tunnels;so the only option was to close the system totally for 18 months,instead of one circle for 12 months and the other for nine. To thatend, the final day of normal operation was planned to be Saturday28th May 1977, with a special service the following day. In the event,further cracks in the tunnel at Govan Cross forced closure a weekearly. A low-key farewell event did take place on Wednesday 25th Mayon the south side of the inner rail, far away from the subsidenceproblems.

Most of the cars were dumped inthe area surrounding the depot and,in August 1977, a public sale ofredundant assets was held. Sixmotor coaches were sent to theBeamish Museum-not for service,but so they could be ‘robbed’ oftheir motors for the Museum’strams. All six cars were laterscrapped on site. Work soon beganon creating a modern GlasgowUnderground. The new stockcomprised 33 driving motor cars,built by Metro-Cammell of

Birmingham; this, in historic terms as theOldbury Carriage & Wagon Company, isthe same company which built the originalstock in 1896. The original livery for thenew cars was a light orange with a whitewaistline stripe. It was perhaps no surprisethat the system soon became known as theClockwork Orange. With new signalling, newstock and automatic train operation, theround trip time allowed was reduced to 22minutes, but with two minutes extra forrecovery, making 24 per circuit. The hoped-for reopening within 18 months was wildlyover optimistic; it took one month shortof three years, with services resuming on16th April 1980, foreshadowed by a Royal“opening” event five months earlier inNovember 1979.

The modernisation gave further opportunity to reinforce theUnderground name – but the Subway has always been the Subway,so much so that the management finally succumbed to Glaswegianpressure in early 2005 and all signage was changed to suit!

Initially, after the modernisation, trains were two-cars only. Three-caroperation began in November 1980, using a motor car in the middleof a two-car set, with the motors isolated. But with only 33 cars inthe fleet, the Subway had to do with a mix of two- and three-cartrains for several years. The original orange with white stripe liverybecame extinct by late 1983 and was superseded by the slightlydarker Govan Orange. Although it was desirable to have all trainsthree-cars, the difficulty in finding a company that would build justeight vehicles of non-standard size to run on 4ft. gauge wasproblematical. In the end, Hunslets was awarded the contract andeight trailers were delivered in 1992. This not only enabled morethree-car trains to operate, but also allowed the 33 motor cars tobe refurbished over a three-year period. The Strathclyde “bloodand custard” PTE livery then followed, the first car appearing in it in2003; but it took until 2007 finally to eliminate the orange, duringwhich time mixed livery trains were the norm.

Six of the eight 1992 Hunslet-built

trailers have been vinyl-wrapped

in a “Back the 2014 Commonwealth

Games in Glasgow” livery.

Motor coach 23 leading at

Bridge Street outer circle.

This is one of 30 “gripper”cars built for the opening

in 1896. It survived until

closure for modernisation in

May 1977, but did not seeservice on the last day.

Page 8

In 1948, Paul was appointed Senior Personal Assistant inthe office of Alec Valentine, then the Executive Member forOperations and Engineering. He transferred to the CommercialDepartment in 1951, to work on a complex fares revision,which assimilated the separate LT and BR fares structures inLondon. One of Paul’s roles was to identify some 400 difficultquestions that might be asked at the Transport Tribunal hearing – and to script the answers.

Paul then transferred to LT’s Railway Operating Department,as Planning Assistant. He worked initially on the timetableproposals for the four-tracking of the Metropolitan Line betweenHarrow and Moor Park and on evaluating some fanciful andunrealistic proposals for Underground extensions that were thepersonal ideas of the then Operating Manager. A much moresubstantive project was the construction of the Victoria Line,which engaged Paul’s attentions for over 15 years. He workedon the traffic estimates for the proposed line, which precisecalculations (all before computers) fed into the cost-benefitanalysis, which gained the project its approval. Paul recalled thathe travelled on the Victoria Line on its first day, filled withjustified pride at his substantial role in making it all happen, butwas later denied a place in the presentation line-up to meet theQueen at the Royal Opening. He achieved that objective later withthe opening of the Heathrow extension of the Piccadilly Line.

Paul continued his involvement with major Underground worksand extensions in a series of subsequent roles, including Directorof Transportation Policy and Chief Secretary. He was particularlyinvolved with LT’s formal submissions to the Ministry ofTransport and later the GLC. It is said that Paul’s eloquence inreport writing was the envy of his British Rail colleagues inMinistry of Transport days, as LT got more of its projectsapproved than BR did.

Paul’s Underground planning responsibilities, and extensivepersonal knowledge, led to his involvement with consultancywork worldwide. Initially, this was conducted as part of his otherLT duties, but later Paul was instrumental in the setting up ofLT’s consultancy company: London Transport International.Paul identified and arranged the LT input into consultancystudies, undertaking some of the work himself. Metros insome 25 cities around the world are a memorial to his thoughtfulplanning and influence.

Paul responded to criticism of an unpopular, angular version ofthe Underground map by creating a new design, restoring themap’s elegant curves, to relieve intellectual boredom at homeduring two days in the Christmas break of 1962. He can thereforebe said to be one of the few people who have been able to alterthe course of the Thames - and the Circle Line. Paul continued toadapt the map to accommodate new lines and other changes upto his retirement. He recalled the occasion on which LT was

planning to take a T-shirt manufacturer to court for “pirating” theUnderground map. At a briefing meeting prior to the court case,

Contd. on page 9.

Paul Garbutt OBE

We record, with deep regret, the death of Paul

Garbutt on 2nd December 2008. He was 89.

We pay tribute here to Paul’s distinguished

railway and military career – and to his

contribution to the Friends.

Paul Garbutt was born in Westcliffe-on-Sea in 1919. His fatherwas a goods railway clerk in London, initially with the LNWR andlater with the LMS. His early and sudden death in 1933 meantthat Paul had to abandon the possibility of University studiesand go out to work to support the family. He too joined therailways, taking a position in the accounts office at CamdenGoods Yard, working in a classic “Dickensian” office environmentand striving to meet a target of 150 ledger entries per day.

In an interview for the Museum’s oral history archive (from whichmuch of the detail here is taken), Paul recalled that promotionprocesses were very different then from today. A much-prizedvacancy occurred at the LMS Headquarters at Euston. The staffat Camden were summoned and asked a question on someobscure geographical detail of Greek mythology. Paul alone knewthe answer and was offered the job. He therefore transferredto the Pass Section of the Secretary’s office, dealing with LMSOfficers’ travel facilities and those for visiting railway officialsfrom overseas.

Still only 17, Paul wrote his first book: “A Survey of RailwayDevelopment and Practice”. He found a publisher, though Paulsaid he was grateful they never met and the publisher neverdiscovered the age of its new author. The book caused himtrouble with his employers. He was called to the office of theLMS Vice President, Sir Harold Hartley. Sir Harold read out alouda number of passages from Paul’s book and commented thatthey were contrary to the policies of his employer. Expectingthe sack, Paul was surprised to be reprimanded, but then to beoffered a job in the Vice President’s personal office. Paulremembered that one of the challenges of that job was to begiven the task of writing, in three weeks, a paper for the WorldPower Congress in Vienna on Britain’s coal reserves; and thepaper had to be written in German! It earned a Gold Medal, butfor Sir Harold who delivered it, not for Paul who wrote it.

Paul enlisted into the army in December 1939 and was attachedto the Medical Corps, where he rose to the position of OrderlyRoom Sergeant. He later applied for a posting to make betteruse of his railway knowledge; he was initially transferred to theRoyal Army Service Corps and then to the Royal Engineers, withthe rank of Captain. He worked on transport intelligence in theWar Office in London, monitoring German troops and identifyingbombing targets in France to disrupt their movement. Duringthis time he secured promotion to the rank of Major.

As the war drew to a close, Paul was seconded to the ControlCommission in Berlin, going in to that city with the first Britishtroops and visiting Hitler’s bunker. Paul worked on transportmatters in the British and American sectors, becoming Secretaryof the four-power Directorate of Transport. As his own personalde-mob approached, Paul was asked to stay on for another year,with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and the award of a militaryMBE. Paul’s post wartime role concluded as a civilian in the JointIntelligence Bureau in London, where he served for a year asActing Head of the Transport Department.

In 1947, Paul decided to return to his public transport careerand approached Anthony Bull, then Chief Staff Officer (laterVice Chairman) of London Transport, whom he had met andserved with in Berlin. Paul was offered a job, initially as aTechnical Assistant in LT’s Press Office. One of his first tasksthere was to draft the speech for Lord Latham to give at theopening of the first section of the Eastern Extension of theCentral Line. To Paul’s’ surprise, he was also asked to draft theresponse by Alfred Barnes, the Minister of Transport.

Page 9

The Friends have recently purchased the following items for theMuseum’s collections:

· A Southern Railway book about residentialproperties in its area;

· A Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Committeenotice;

· Some early Central London Railway postcards, otherpostcards, and two posters;

· A set of LGOC stable horse stalls (with woodworm!).

The first two items are illustrated alongside.

Paul Garbutt OBE contd.Counsel asked Paul to confirm that he had produced his designat the request of LT and in LT’s time. He replied “no” to bothquestions. Counsel’s opinion was therefore that the copyrightbelonged to Paul and not to LT. It was typical of Paul’s loyalty to“the old firm” that he transferred copyright to LT straightaway.It was a gesture that was later properly rewarded by anunsolicited, but substantial, one-off payment.

Paul drew on his inside knowledge to write the book “LondonTransport and The Politicians” (Ian Allan 1985). This showed theeffects of increased political interference in the affairs of LondonTransport, especially in the period of Greater London Councilpolicy control. Paul drew on his broader transport knowledge towrite “ World Metro Systems” (Capital Transport 1989, with arevised edition in 1997). In an entirely different field, he alsowrote “Assassin” (Ian Allan 1992).

Paul retired from LT in December 1978, with an award of OBE.He then became an active member of the London TransportMuseum Friends of which he was a long-serving Committeemember. He edited the Friends’ newsletter for 17 years, proudlyclaiming to have published in that role more words than CharlesDickens. Paul continued to serve as a Trustee of the Friends untilJune of 2008. He was also a Fellow of the Railway StudyAssociation.

In his later years, Paul’s life was greatly enriched by his marriageto Dorothy, to whom we send our sincere condolences. Paulwas a gentle man (and a gentleman), with a mischievous, boyishsense of humour much appreciated by his colleagues and by hisgodchildren and their children. He will be remembered withaffection, as will his fund of stories from his full and varied life,only a few of which we have been able to record here.

Recent Acquisitions

Ken AveryIn October 2008, we were saddened toreceive the news that Ken Avery had diedsuddenly, but peacefully, after a shortillness, at the age of 66.

Ken grew up in Finsbury Park, attendedWilliam Ellis School in Parliament Hilland went on to study science at LondonUniversity. On leaving university, Kenworked as a market researcher at thePaddington Headquarters of chemicalcompany Beechams; he was to remainin this job until his retirement.

At school, Ken enjoyed the debatingsociety and, as a 24-year old, stood inlocal elections for the Conservatives inBloomsbury. He won the seat in 1966,becoming the youngest-ever Torycouncillor in Camden – a record that

stands to this day; he held the seat until1986. Ken also served as a governor atArgyle Primary School in Bloomsbury.

Following his retirement, Ken movedto Canterbury, where he remained activeas a local councillor. In addition topolitics, Ken also had a life-long passionfor London Transport and was a greatsupporter of the Museum. He wouldtravel to Covent Garden once a weekto assist as a volunteer in the Museum’slibrary or to lead guided tours forvisitors.

During the Museum’s recent refit,designers modelled the figure of oneof the passenger manikins on Ken; henow sits immortalised in the Q23surface-stock car, located on the firstfloor of the main gallery.

(Joanne Howe)

Museum in Leyland, Lancashire, until moving to Bredgar in September2000.

Further details of Henry Turner’s unsuccessful attempts at busoperation may be found in “London’s Buses, volume one, TheIndependent Era: 1922-1934" by Blacker, Westgate and Lunn.

The Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway houses a working collectionof narrow gauge steam locomotives and rolling stock, along withmodels, railway relics, agricultural steam engines and the Bean motorcars. It is open to the public on Easter Sunday and then on the firstSunday of each month from May to October inclusive. For furtherdetails, visit the website at www.bwr.co.uk.

Bean Bus

The Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway,

near Sittingbourne in Kent, is home to

largest collection of Bean cars in the UK.

Included in the collection is a single-deck

Bean bus with London connections.

Page 10

It was very interesting to read Richard Kinnibrugh’s recollections, inthe October 2008 newsletter, about the state of LT’s archives at 55Broadway in the 1980s.

There is no doubt that he and his colleagues came just in time tosave for posterity these priceless records of London’s history. Thearchive is of very broad scope, covering not just the technicalitiesof London’s transport history but a vast amount of social, personal,economic and industrial history as well. Anyone seriously interestedin researching the history of London from the mid 19th centuryonwards is well advised to refer to its content.

As has been mentioned in the newsletter before, for the past twoyears the London Transport Museum Friends have been playing asmall, but significant, part in the preservation and cataloguing of thisinvaluable resource. The work is ongoing. I am not certain how muchthere is still to do, as new files keep turning up. From a volunteer’spoint of view, the material could offer something fascinating, suchas the Metropolitan Railway staff records from 1900; or somethingmore mundane, such as an LT Staff News index from the 1970s.

So the Archive Project is still very much an active operation, withabout eight Friends’ volunteers working on a regular basis at 55Broadway. There is an embargo of 75 years on the publication ofpersonal information, so Richard Kinnibrugh can rest easy for yearsto come!

Gems regularly come to light. Taking the staff records of theMetropolitan and District Railways of the early 1900s as an example,we find that all employees were male, except for a few elderlywomen employed as Ladies’ Waiting Room Attendants. The averageheight of male employees was about 5 feet 6 inches. Many camestraight from school, aged 14. Where there is a record of previousemployment, there is a huge variety of backgrounds, from farmlabourers to footmen, errand boys and craftsmen.

The records vary from the light-hearted (larking with the femaleattendant at the tobacconist stall) to the dramatic (commended forbravery in saving a boy’s life). This is from just one entry – that ofEdward Summers, a porter at Baker Street.

Major problems before the First World War seem to have beendrinking on duty and late arrival at work. Industrial accidents werefairly common; and there are sometimes sad footnotes to the effectthat the employee had died as a result of heart failure, tuberculosisor an industrial accident.

Very poignant are those that record deaths in France during the FirstWorld War, where you can see that the Fredericks, Alberts andGeorges have signed up “to join the colours”, only to perish laterin the hell of trench warfare. Sadly, there are a lot of these.

It is also obvious that working hours were very long. One man wascriticised for turning up 50 minutes late for his 5.40 am shift, havingleft work the previous evening at 9.55 pm. This was exceptional(Coronation Day, June 1911), but it gives a clear picture of thestandards required of ordinary employees.

These records paint a remarkable and unvarnished picture of life inthe late 19th/ early 20th century, expressed in its own terms. Fewbosses nowadays could dismiss a young employee as “utterly uselessand, in my opinion, mentally deranged” (Finchley Road Stationmaster,1913). There is also the case of the Hammersmith & City conductorwho “ indulged in a practical joke on a passenger, by wrongly callingout the name of a station while he was dozing. Cautioned and warnedagainst a repetition.”

I particularly enjoyed an account of a W.H.Smith’s lad being placed ina barrow and sent up in the goods lift at Baker Street by a group ofhigh-spirited young porters. The main concern of management wasthe damage to the barrow! Can you imagine that happening now?

These records are a source of unending interest and their immediacyis striking. You are constantly reminded how great organisationsdepend on their humblest employees to keep operating; and youare aware that you are probably the first person to see thesedocuments in seventy years or more. It is as well that they are beingrecorded now, as they are in a poor state, crumbling and fading with

years-just like some of the archivists, I suppose!

Yet More On The ArchivesFriend and archive volunteer Lawrie Hooley offers some further thoughts, prompted

by the articles in recent newsletters:

UL 1771 is a 30 cwt. Bean model 11 chassis with a 14-seat body byBirch Bros.. It was ordered in 1928 by Henry Turner for his newlygranted bus route between Barnes and Richmond Park. The vehiclewas first registered on 14th January 1929. It was Turner’s secondvehicle – the other being a 12-seater based on a Bean 25 cwt. chassis.

By 1930, Turner was in serious financial difficulty and Birchrepossessed both vehicles to clear his outstanding debt to them.In 1932, it was purchased by a Mr. Nutt who planned to start a busservice in the Colindale area. However, the looming threat of theabsorbtion of such a service into the LPTB caused those plans tobe abandoned. The bus disappeared form records until 1941, whenit was purchased by Walter Church for use as a family retreat fromthe blitz in the Hatfield area. After the war, it was used as a caravanby a Mr. Ellingworth at Dunsmore near Wendover. The vehicle wasacquired for preservation in 1966, but work did not start seriouslyuntil 1988. The bus appeared on the HCVS London to Brighton runin 1991. It was then displayed at the British Commercial Vehicle

Page 11

LettersDowntown Historic RailwayMay I add a few observations and corrections to the article on theVancouver DHR, which you published in the October 2008newsletter?

The DHR is owned by the City of Vancouver. The City of Vancouverpurchased the freight only track from CPR and leased the interurbancars from their owners. The fact that the Downtown Historic Railwayis not owned by any transport authority is the big problem. Thetransport authority, TransLink, has a legislated monopoly in Greater(Metro) Vancouver and is not interested in funding any extensions tothe DHR at this time. The proposed extensions are way too much forthe City budget.

Some further explanation of local geography, in relation to formertramways, might also be helpful. Marpole, referred to in the article, isa neighbourhood in south Vancouver, about eight miles from the Citycentre. It was served by the Arbutus line, operated by two-car trains,which continued to Steveston. The “town” 50 miles east, outside ofthe city, is Chilliwack. This Fraser Valley line was operated by three-and four-car trains.

The single-deck car No. 4 is from Brussels (donated by STIB withshipping paid for by the Tramway Museum Society). It was built by LaBrugeoise et Nivelles in 1935 with a wooden body. The car wasrebuilt in 1956 with a steel, PCC-style body. It was converted to abreakdown car (depannage) and “tow truck” in 1985 by STIB. Weconverted it back to a passenger car. Most of the volunteers love thistram because it will become our accessible car. The doors and stepson the historic cars are not conducive to wheelchairs. We are alsoworking on installing an electronic controller on car No.4. Theoriginal manual cam controller will destroy the arm of anyoneattempting to operate it for a full shift! Neither the City nor theSociety paid for the restorations. Car 1207 was restored as a transitcentennial project by the former transit authority. Car 1231 wasrestored by a consortium of volunteers headed by Bill Bailey.

Trams on the DHR run every weekend from 12:00 until 17:00between mid May and mid October. However, do not come lookingfor them in 2009.The track is being completely replaced andupgraded, to allow the operation of modern low-floor LRVs. Thiswill also enable operation of car No. 4, which has streetcar wheelsthat could derail on freight track. It is unknown at this time when theline will be returned to its eastern terminus (the three milesmentioned in your article) due to rebuilding of 1st Avenue for theWinter Olympics.

The latest word from City staff is that the track might be finished fora partial summer season in 2009. They will know better as work

progresses. However, a better time to visit would be during the2010 Winter Games, when, along with the historic cars, we will beoperating two modern Bombardier Flexity Outlook trams to handlethe expected crowds. These cars will be on loan from Bombardierbefore they go to Brussels Transit (STIB). If we do a good job,maybe there will be money for extensions.

Best wishes to all tram fans in the UK.

Dale LairdOperations Superintendent, Downtown Historic Railway, Vancouver.

____________________________________

Blackwall TunnelI am enclosing a copy of a photograph that I have had for many years,but have only recently rediscovered. I thought that you might like topublish it in the Friends’ newsletter.

It obviously depicts the southern approach to the Blackwall Tunneland the start of a nightmare for all the vehicles following the horse-drawn truck. I would guess that it dates from around the late 1930s,although it could possibly be early post-war. That style of coach wasstill very much around then.

Brian Beckett,Carshalton.

Thanks Brian. Can any Friends date the photo more accurately, or offermore information on the coaches? The one nearest to thephotographer has the name “Henry Coaches” on the rear panel. (Editor)

Volunteer Opportunities

3. ConductorsWe are looking to recruit more conductors for the planned heritagebus operations in 2009 and beyond. Key competencies are:

· Able to engage/communicate with the public (adults andchildren)

· Appreciation of passenger and vehicle safety issues· Reasonable agility/fitness to work on, and move around,

a bus in motion· Manual dexterity, to work a ticket machine/issue tickets/

handle cash on a moving bus· Appreciation of historical significance of vehicles used

on public trips· Ability to work as a team (especially with driver)

4. LegaciesWe are also looking for a volunteer able to assist with legacy guidanceto Friends, recording and keeping in touch with potential benefactors.

If you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities, pleasecontact Joanne Howe, by email at joanne.howe@ltmuseum.co.uk or

by phone at 020 7379 6344 extension 2263.

We are currently looking for potential volunteers in four areas:

1. Oral History TranscribersSome interviews are from the Museum’s archive and others havebeen carried out more recently. Transcribing the interviews fromthe recorded tapes into a written record is a vital role to ensure thatresearchers can easily see what has been said in an interview. It canalso be very interesting listening to different peoples’ experiences.Skills required - You need to be comfortable using a word processorand have attention to detail.Location and timetable - There is no definitive number of hours youneed to do. You can take on as little or as many interviews you feelcomfortable with. You can also do the work from home in your owntime, fitting transcribing into your own schedule.

2. Opportunities to work with the trains and busesFor many years volunteers have been assisting at the Depot withthe sorting of collections and regular cleaning of the large exhibits.With projects like the Q-stock restoration and heritage bus operation,there is a need for more “hands-on” involvement from people withbus or rail engineering knowledge and skills. We are hoping to expandthe range of work done on one or two days a month to coincide withexisting sessions.

(Registered Charity 285108)

Secretary:- Ian D. Crane, 15 Springbank, Eversley Park Road, Winchmore Hill, London N21 1JH.

Individual Membership enquiries:-

Write to G.P.Tilly, c/o Friends Office, London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB.

(Please write, do not telephone, as the off ice is not open every day, and Museum staff cannot help when it is closed.)

This newsletter is produced by JR Printing Services, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9AA.

Alan Mellor submitted the only correct entry to last time’sparticularly puzzling competition picture. Alan correctly identifiedthe location of the picture as Hillingdon. Alan explains:

“In the early 1990s, the Department of the Environment, now theHighways Agency, rerouted the A40 at Hillingdon Circus to build anunderpass. It was required also to build a new railway bridge for theMetropolitan and Piccadilly Lines and to reconstruct the B466 roadbridge and slip road to the eastbound A40. A brand new “state of theart” (and award-winning) Underground station replaced the originalone, with its timber entrance hall.

At the time, the Channel Tunnel was being constructed nearFolkestone and the DoE were experimenting with different road signsand canopies. They decided to use the A40 project to assess whichwould be the best arrangement. One potential system is shown in thephotograph – other signs were also tried out. From memory, a signfurther east – the photo shows the westbound carriageway – waspositioned asking motorists to disregard the new signs and explainingwhat they were, in case anyone thought they had taken a wrongturning!

Jim Bleasdale, who supplied the photo, provided the exactcircumstances in which it was taken. The date was March 1994 and anadvertisement for the Ford Fiesta was being filmed on an unopenedsection of the new roads. The filming extended over two days,though very little was used in the final advert.

Alan wins the book prize, kindly donated, as usual, by Ian AllanPublishing.

And so to this month’s picture, kindly provided by John Howe. Ofwhich London Transport building is this the only remaining structure?John produces an excellentrange of card kits of LTpremises, which may beviewed atwww.radleymodels.co.ukorwww.doublehhmodels.co.uk.You may find a clue there!

Please submit youranswers by email orpost to the Editor’shome address, by theclosing copy date forthe April issue.

What, Where, When?

Shop News Models - In a very flat market for models, there is news fromExclusive First Editions, with the announcement of a BET Federation36ft (post 1964) single-deck bus and coach casting to be available fromlate summer 2009, and a Dennis Dart SLF casting to be releasedaround the same time. Of particular note from EFE is the release ofa superb British European Airways RMA with trailer. This is the firstmodel to excite the market for some time.

Creative Master Northcord has announced a new casting to beavailable in mid 2009, a Polish built Scania double-decker, such asare now making their appearance with a number of London fleets,including Go-Ahead and East London.

Our own Standing Order system for special models has been finallyupgraded to the latest standards that conform to Transport forLondon’s guidelines; all data is now entered on the system and thefirst despatches have been made. We apologise to Friends for thelong wait, as minor teething problems have been discovered andrectified. All outstanding model orders are expected to bedespatched by early spring 2009.

We are now actively planning a special model release programme for2009; details will be sent to all subscribers when this is finalised.

Michael Walton

An autumn dominated by miserable economic news has cast gloomover the retail sector, but it is good to see so many Friends stillpatronising the shop; and, in the book sector at least, business isstill brisk.

On behalf of the Museum’s retail staff, I wish all Friends and theirfamilies a happy and healthy 2009.

Books - It has been a very good quarter for interesting newbooks and it is good to see Ian Allan’s titles improving their designstandards.

“Working Days - Midland Red” by Malcolm Keeley (£16.99) from IanAllan illustrates the improvement. This is a good overview of acompany that had many parallels with London Transport (their ownvehicle designers and in-house manufacture, a reputation forinnovative design, a standardised fleet, strong corporate identityand a large operating area). Sadly, with the effects of the 1968Transport Act, the company went into well-documentedfragmentation and decline. The book is well worth buying.

Also from Ian Allan are: “Buses by Design” by Gavin Booth (£24.99),which presents an overview of bus design; and “British Railways inWartime” by Kevin Robertson (£19.99), which is an excellent bookwith some outstanding illustrations from the Getty Archive.

Capital Transport has produced three superb books. The previouslyhighlighted “Paris Metro in Map and Station Design” by Mark Ovenden(£29.95) will tell the reader everything they ever wanted to knowabout maps and stations in that fabulous city; and the book isbeautifully designed too.

It is rare to come across a book of personal transport reminiscencesthat is worth buying. “Beneath the Wires of London” by CharlesWyatt is very much an exception. The author chronicles his workinglife with trolleybuses in a most engaging way, and the book is wellillustrated with largely unpublished photographs. A must at £25.

As time marches on, memories of steam traction in everyday useon Britain’s railways fade away. Enthusiasts may have personalfavourite classes of engines, or areas of the country that particularlyinterest them. There is a special affection for Southern steam,particularly on the erstwhile South Western Division, and theSomerset and Dorset. Authored by Michael Welch, “Somersetand Dorset Sunset” at £18.95 is a fantastic book, with superbphotographs of the line’s dying days in full colour and a joy to own.I do have the tiniest criticism – there is no map for readers to relateto the photographs.

The excellent Abandoned Underground Stations by Jim Connor isnow in stock (£15.95), as is a new edition of the very popular QuailMap Railway Track Diagrams, covering Southern and TfL, at £14.95.

Two unusual titles are worth mentioning. “Municipal Buses of SouthWales” (Venture Publishing, £16.00) has been a surprise best seller.The book charts in full colour the sometimes obscure andconservative (small c!) Council fleets of the Welsh Valleys andillustrates some of the unusual vehicles that were operated. Alsoanother world away from London Transport, the second unusualtitle is “Great Northern Railway of Ireland Road Motor Services”(also from Venture, at £30). As interest in all matters relating toIrish transport seems to grow, this is an interesting record of aprogressive railway company that innovated in all its operations,both road (many vehicles were constructed in their own workshops)and rail (very early users of railcars).

DVDs - Following on from the last newsletter, another BritishFilm Institute DVD (No.9 “Just the Ticket”) is released at £20.99,as is an omnibus edition of 18 discs at £99.99.

Maps - Two excellent maps are now stocked; both are producedby Maxwell Roberts (the noted map historian) and are refinements ofHarry Beck’s proposed London Railways Map from the late 1930s anda Paris Metro Map from 1950. Both designs remained unused, butMaxwell has faithfully kept to Beck’s original design intentions. Bothare priced at £12.99 each.