London Underground 1960 Stock | |
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Stock type | Deep-level tube |
In service | 1960–1994 |
Manufacturer | Cravens |
Specifications | |
Car length | 52 ft 0+3⁄8 in (15.86 m) |
Width | 8 ft 6+1⁄4 in (2.597 m) |
Height | 9 ft 5+1⁄2 in (2.883 m) |
Weight | 26.89 long tons (27.32 t; 30.12 short tons) |
Seating | 40 per car |
Notes/references | |
London transportportal |
The London Underground 1960 Stock was a class of electric multiple unit for the London Underground Central line. Twelve motor cars were supplied by Cravens, and pairs were made up to four cars by the addition of two converted standard stock trailers. A production run of 338 motor cars was shelved, due to the time needed to assess the new features and the cost of converting the trailer cars. Some of the pre-1938 trailers were later replaced by 1938 stock trailers.
The trains were used as a test-bed for automatic train operation, where control signals were picked up from the running rails, and all control of the moving train, apart from the initial command to start when leaving a station, was managed by a "black box" controller. The Woodford to Hainault section of the Central line was used for these tests, in preparation for the introduction of the system on the Victoria line when it opened. In 1986, three trains were converted back for manual operation, and a 3-car unit worked the peak-only Epping to Ongar shuttle service, until that line closed on 30 September 1994. One train still works as a track recording unit, while a second is in private ownership and has been used for railtours on the Underground.
London Underground has a history of building small batches of prototype trains in order to try out ideas, prior to building a large production run of new trains. Thus in 1935, four six-car trains were supplied by Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company, which were used as a test-bed for ideas which would be incorporated into the later 1938 stock, [1] while in 1986, three trains, each of four cars and built by different manufacturers, were ordered with subsequent larger orders in mind. [2] The 1960 stock was part of a similar solution, and consisted of twelve motor cars, built by Cravens of Sheffield, incorporating a number of features which it was anticipated would form the basis for a major batch of vehicles to replace the pre-1938 stock then in use on the Central line. If the plan had proceeded, a further 338 motor cars would have been built. [3] However, assessment of the new features took longer than the time available, and the Central line refurbishment was achieved using 1962 stock, which was based on the previous batch of 1959 stock. [4] Many of the design features of the 1960 stock were eventually incorporated into the 1967 stock built for the opening of the Victoria line. [5]
The twelve aluminium-bodied motor cars were ordered from Cravens in 1958, and each was equipped with four traction motors, instead of the two which previous stock had used. They were controlled by a Pneumatic Camshaft Motor (PCM) controller, where an air-operated camshaft controlled the switching of the motors, which was itself governed by an accelerating relay. [6] This system had proved reliable in the control of two motors. In order for it to control four, without a major re-design, pairs of motors were wired together in series, and the controller switched between all four motors operating in series, and the two pairs operating in parallel. In order to protect against wheel-spin, the controller automatically reset if one motor of a pair began to run faster than the other. Whereas previous bogies had been asymmetric, to ensure that more weight was carried by the axle driven by the motor, the pivot was central as every axle carried a motor. One further innovation was that the fully automatic couplers at the outer ends of the trains were not "handed". Previously, trains were designated with 'A' and 'D' ends, and could only be coupled together by joining an 'A' end of one train to a 'D' end of another. This could cause operational problems, particularly on a line such as the Central, where operating a train right round the Hainualt loop resulted in it facing the wrong way. The 1960 stock avoided this problem by duplicating most of the connections in the automatic coupler, so that trains could be joined either way round. The cars also included a flat floor for the first time, rather than having a raised section over the motor bogies (previous stock had flat floors at the centre section only, with a rising transition in the two double doorways to a steeply curved floor 4 inches higher at either end over the bogies).
The first of the new trains entered service on 9 November 1960. [3] The driving motor cars were numbered 3900-3911 although the first two cars, built by Cravens, were numbered 3000 and 3001, being renumbered 3900 and 3901 before entering service. To make the sets up to four cars, each incorporated two trailer cars which were rebuilt from old Pre-1938 Standard Stock. Two units were intended to be coupled together, forming an eight-car train. [3] The 1960 Stock initially ran on the main Central line, before being cascaded to the Hainault Loop. One of the main factors influencing the use of 1962 stock for the Central line upgrade, rather than a production run of 1960 stock, was the cost of refurbishing the Standard Stock cars to run with the new driving motor cars. [3]
Initially the 1960 stock cars were coupled to two refurbished "Standard Stock" trailers, numbered 4900–4911. Originally the cars were to have been numbered starting at 4000. Conversion work included the fitting of fluorescent lighting, the addition of door indicator lights to the outside of the cars, and painting in silver paint, to match the unpainted aluminium of the motor cars. Four of the trailers had been built in 1927, and only included two sets of double central doors. Two of these were rebuilt with additional single doors at each end. The rest of the trailers were built in 1931, and included the extra single doors when built. Four of these trailers were later fitted with de-icing gear, and carried a 'D' below the running number to indicate this. By 1974, the trailers were a serious maintenance problem, and a decision was taken to replace them with single 1938 Stock cars coupled between the two motor cars, reducing the units from four to three cars. Conversion work included the fitting of two compressors, as the pre-1938 trailers had been equipped with one each, but the process was costly, and only three sets were completed. [4]
The pre-1938 trailer cars were withdrawn between 1975 and 1983, and the converted 1938 trailers that entered revenue earning service were numbered 4921, 4927, and 4929. The process was delayed by the discovery of asbestos in some of the motor cars. [7] Two further four-car trains were refurbished in 1980 and 1981 at Hainault depot. One visible difference was that the trailers were painted white, rather than silver. [4] The sixth train was by this time used for track recording. A 1938 trailer was converted for use with it and renumbered TRC912, but was never used. [5] It remained in store until 2006, when it was scrapped by CF Booth, Rotherham.
The 1960 Stock trains ran mainly on the Hainault loop. Following limited trials on the District line of a system of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) in 1963, the lightly used Woodford to Hainault section of the Central line was used as a testing ground for full ATO in preparation for its use on the Victoria line. Five of the six 1960-stock trains were adapted at Acton Works. The side doors to the driver's cab were sealed, so that access was normally through the passenger saloon. Since the trains were to be operated by one person, the door controls were moved from the rear end of the motor car into the cab. The train control equipment was fitted beneath the centre seats, and consisted of a "black box", which interpreted signals received from the running rails. These were picked up by sensing coils mounted on the leading bogie. One rail supplied safety information, which was received continuously. Any failure to obtain this data resulted in a trip-valve operating, which stopped the train. The second rail supplied signal commands, which included speed signals and instructions to start and stop the train. This information was only provided when it was needed. The driver was renamed a train operator, and was responsible for opening and closing the doors at stations, and initiating a start from the stations, by pressing two buttons simultaneously. All other operation, including stopping at signals and restarting when safe to proceed was automatic. The first automatic train entered service on 5 April 1964. The automatic control equipment was temporarily mounted in the passenger saloon, between the cab and the first set of doors, to enable engineers to monitor and adjust it as experience was gained. [8]
One unit was used to trial a system of fully automatic train control on the Woodford to Hainault branch in the early 1980s. The original ATO equipment had reached the end of its life by 1986, and three trains were converted for manual one-person operation. In the 1990s, one of these 3-car trains operated the peak-only Epping to Ongar shuttle service. The 1960 stock was withdrawn when that line closed on 30 September 1994. [7]
One of the 1960 Stock trains was retained by LUL and remained in use as track recording train, running with 1973 Stock trailer TRC666. It was overhauled at Eastleigh Works in 2019. [9] The original 1960 track recording cars were scrapped because of asbestos contamination, and two of the retired motor cars were converted to replace them. [7] A second unit is owned by Cravens Heritage Trains. It is kept at Ruislip depot, and has been used for railtours and filming work since it was purchased in 1995. [10]
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London Underground rolling stock includes the electric multiple-unit trains used on the London Underground. These come in two sizes, smaller deep-level tube trains and larger sub-surface trains of a similar size to those on British main lines, both running on standard gauge tracks. New trains are designed for the maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars.
The London Underground 1938 Stock was a London Underground tube stock design. A total of 1,121 cars were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W. An additional 173 cars were added to the fleet by the end of 1953, comprising 91 new builds, 76 conversions from Pre-1938 Tube Stock or 1935 Tube Stock, and six unconverted cars of 1935 Tube Stock, and the stock was used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they worked on the Bakerloo, Northern, Piccadilly, East London, Central, and Northern City lines. Ten sets were refurbished and ran on the Isle of Wight as Class 483, making them the oldest passenger rolling stock operating timetabled services on the National Rail network at the time of their withdrawal in January 2021.
The Standard Stock title was applied to a variety of Tube stock built between 1923 and 1934, all of which shared the same basic characteristics, but with some detailed differences. This design is sometimes referred to as 1923 Tube Stock, 1923 Stock, or Pre 1938 Stock. Most of the Standard Stock was built to replace the first generation of "Gate Stock" Tube trains or to provide additional trains for extensions built in the 1920s and early 1930s. Standard Stock cars consisted of motor cars, with a driver's cab, behind which was a "switch compartment" occupying approximately one-third of the length of the car, plus trailer cars and "control trailers", with a driving cab but no motor. All were equipped with air operated sliding doors. The guard's door on the earlier trains was a manually operated, inward-opening hinged door.
The London Underground R Stock electric multiple units were used on London Underground's District line from 1949 to 1983. Composed of new cars and converted Q38 Stock trailers, the cars were built and converted in three batches between 1949 and 1959. The cars were driving motors (DM) or non-driving motors (NDM), there being no unpowered trailers. The second batch, introduced in 1952, was constructed from aluminium, saving weight and one train was left unpainted as an experiment. Considered a success, trains were left unpainted or painted white or grey to match in 1963–68. Originally designed to operate in trains with six off-peak and eight cars during peak hours, the trains were reformed as fixed seven-car trains in 1971. R Stock trains were replaced by the D78 Stock and withdrawn between 1981 and 1983.
The London Underground O and P Stock electric multiple units were used on the London Underground from 1937 to 1981. O Stock trains were built for the Hammersmith & City line, using metadyne control equipment with regenerative braking, but the trains were made up entirely of motor cars and this caused technical problems with the traction supply so trailer cars were added. P Stock cars were built to run together with the O Stock cars now surplus on Metropolitan line Uxbridge services. The trains had air-operated sliding doors under control of the guard; the O Stock with controls in the cab whereas the P Stock controls in the trailing end of the motor cars. The P Stock was introduced with first class accommodation, but this was withdrawn in 1940.
The London Underground 1967 Stock was a type of deep-level train that operated on the Victoria line of the London Underground from the line's opening on 1 September 1968 until 30 June 2011. It was also used on the Central line between Woodford and Hainault between 21 February 1968 and 1984, as the same automatic train operation (ATO) system was used on both lines.
London Underground battery-electric locomotives are battery locomotives used for hauling engineers' trains on the London Underground network where they can operate when the electric traction current is switched off. The first two locomotives were built in 1905 for the construction of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, and their success prompted the District Railway to buy two more in 1909, which were the only ones built to the loading gauge of the subsurface lines. Following this, a number of battery vehicles were built by converting redundant motor cars, with the batteries placed in the unused passenger compartment. One exception to this was made by the City and South London Railway, who used a trailer car to hold the batteries, and wired them to a separate locomotive.
An electric multiple unit (EMU) is an electric self-powered train, capable of operating in multiple with other EMUs and without the need for a locomotive; these are typically passenger trains with accommodation in every vehicle and a driving position at each end. The term can also be used to describe a train that is a permanent formation with a non-driving power car, such as the Advanced Passenger Train. As of December 2010, two-thirds of the passenger carriages in Great Britain are formed in EMUs.
Electric locomotives were first used on the London Underground when the first deep-level tube line, the City and South London Railway (C&SLR), was opened in 1890. The first underground railways in London, the Metropolitan Railway (MR) and the District Railway (DR), used specially built steam locomotives to haul their trains through shallow tunnels which had many ventilation openings to allow steam and smoke to clear from the tunnels. It was impractical to use steam locomotives in the small unvented tubular tunnels of the deep-level lines, and the only options were rope haulage or electric locomotives.
The London Underground 1935 Stock was an experimental train design by Metropolitan Cammell in London. Twelve two-car units, marshalled into four six-car trains, were built. They served as the prototypes for the later 1938 Stock.
The 1920 Tube Stock consisted of forty cars built by Cammell Laird in Nottingham, England. These cars were the first new tube cars to be built with air operated doors. The batch consisted of twenty trailer and twenty control trailer cars, which were formed into six-car trains by the addition of twenty French motor cars built in 1906 and modified for air-door operation. They initially ran on the Piccadilly tube, but in 1930 were considered to be drab, compared to new stock being delivered at the time. The motor cars were therefore replaced by Standard Stock units, built in 1927, and the 1920 cars were refurbished. They were transferred to the Bakerloo line in 1932, and continued to operate until 1938.
The Central London Railway Stock were electric multiple units composed of trailers that had been converted from carriages designed to be hauled by electric locomotives with new motor cars. The Central London Railway opened in 1900 with electric locomotives hauling wooden carriages, but the heavy locomotives caused vibrations that could be felt in the buildings above the route. It was found that conversion to electric multiple units solved the problem, so new motor cars were bought and replaced all the locomotives by June 1903. Trains normally ran with six-cars, four trailers and two motor-cars. Some trailers were equipped with control equipment to allow trains to be formed with three cars.
The London Underground 1956 Stock consisted of three prototype units built before mass production of the 1959 tube stock. These units were tested on the Piccadilly line and remained in service after production trains were introduced. Later they were transferred to the Northern line, but in 1995 they were replaced as non-standard by 1962 Stock cascaded from the Central line.
The London Underground Q Stock were trains used on the District line of the London Underground. First introduced in 1938, these electric multiple units were formed from cars built between 1923 and 1935 and new purpose-built cars, and fitted with electro-pneumatic brakes and guard controlled air-operated doors. Trains were made up from cars of different ages with differing appearances, the older ones with clerestory roofs and the newer ones with flared sides. Some units were withdrawn in the early 1960s, although six- and eight-car trains remained on the District line with use gradually diminishing to peak hours only, and four car units worked the East London line until 1971.
Metropolitan Railway electric multiple units were used on London's Metropolitan Railway after the lines were electrified in the early 20th century.
District Railway electric multiple units were used on London's Metropolitan District Railway after the lines were electrified in the early 20th century.
Departmental locomotives on the London Underground consist of vehicles of a number of types which are used for engineering purposes. These include battery locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives, sleet locomotives, pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars. Details of the first four types are covered elsewhere. Pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars are generally vehicles which have been withdrawn from passenger service, but continue to be used by the engineering department. Pilot motor cars are used to move other vehicles around the system, while ballast motor cars are used to haul ballast trains and engineering trains.
Ruislip depot is a London Underground traction maintenance depot on the Central line, and is situated between the stations of Ruislip Gardens and West Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The depot is accessible from both ends, and was built for the Central Line extensions under the 1935-1940 New Works Programme. It was nearly completed by 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War prevented further work. It was used as a factory for anti-aircraft guns during the war, and was finally opened in 1948. The main car shed has 16 tracks, and there is also a three-track car cleaning shed.
Hainault depot is a traction maintenance depot in Ilford on the London Underground Central line, between Hainault and Grange Hill stations, now in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. Until boundary changes in 1998, part of the depot was in Epping Forest District. Construction began in 1939, but was delayed by the onset of the Second World War, and was not completed until 1948. It has stabled three generations of trains, Standard stock, 1962 stock and 1992 stock. It has also housed trains of the experimental 1960 stock, both when it was conventionally controlled and during trials of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) in preparation for the construction of the Victoria line. Some of the 1967 stock destined for the Victoria line was also stabled at the depot while its ATO equipment was tested and commissioned on the Woodford to Hainault Branch.
Acton Works is a London Underground maintenance facility in West London, England. It is accessed from the District line and Piccadilly line tracks to the east of Acton Town station, and was opened in 1922. It was responsible for the overhaul of rolling stock, and gradually took on this role for more lines, until the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, when all major overhauls of underground vehicles were carried out at the works. By 1985, when rolling stock had become more reliable and maintenance intervals had increased, this function was devolved to depots on each line. Subsequently, Acton continued to overhaul major items after they had been removed from trains at the depots, and tendered for work, which included the conversion of the A60 Stock to One Person Operation. It is likely to be reorganised and expanded to house the departments displaced from Lillie Bridge Depot which is being demolished as part of the redevelopment of Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
Media related to London Underground 1960 Stock at Wikimedia Commons