London Underground GN&C Stock

Last updated

The GN & C Stock was operated on the Great Northern and City Railway, an underground railway line in London, England. It was opened between Moorgate and Finsbury Park on 14 February 1904. The original GN&C Stock operated on the line between 1904 and 1939.

Contents

Construction

The line was operated by electric multiple unit trains from the outset. The initial rolling stock were 77 carriages intended to form 11 seven carriage trains. In practice six carriage trains were operated. They used a multiple unit control system known as the Sprague-Thomson-Houston system. Power was supplied for the line from a power station in Poole Street, which was later converted into the film studios of Gainsborough Pictures.

The electrical equipment for the line - including the rolling stock - was ordered from the British Thomson Houston company, which subcontracted the building of the trains to Brush of Loughborough and the Electric Railway Tramway & Carriage works of Preston. The majority of the carriages were of teak bodywork, although eighteen carriages built by Brush were wooden framed with steel panelling. The carriages were built to a main line loading gauge (unlike the smaller profile of trains on the Northern line and other tube lines).

A single sliding door was provided in the middle of each carriage. Gates were provided at the carriage ends.

The line (and the trains) were acquired by the Metropolitan Railway in 1913, which became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.

Replacement and successors

The trains were replaced by Northern line tube trains on 15 May 1939 and all the original GN&C stock was scrapped. As part of the 1935–1940 New Works Plan, the London Passenger Transport Board aimed to integrate the Great Northern and City line into the Northern line, extending to Alexandra Palace and Bushey Heath. These plans were curtailed by World War II and the Northern City line (or "Highbury Branch") continued operating with 1938 Stock until 1975, when the line was transferred to British Rail. Between 1976 and 2019 the line was operated exclusively by British Rail Class 313 electric multiple units, which were replaced by Great Northern Class 717 trains from 2018.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern City Line</span> Partly underground railway line in London

The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branch of the East Coast Main Line (ECML). It is underground from Moorgate to Drayton Park in Highbury, from which point it runs in a cutting until joining the ECML south of Finsbury Park. Its stations span northern inner districts of Greater London southwards to the City of London, the UK's main financial centre. Since December 2015, its service timetable has been extended to run into the late evenings and at weekends, meeting a new franchise commitment for a minimum of six trains per hour until 23:59 on weekdays and four trains per hour at weekends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro-Cammell</span> British manufacturer of railway locomotives and rolling stock

Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased by GEC Alsthom in May 1989, the Washwood Heath factory was closed in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drayton Park railway station</span> National Rail station in London, England

Drayton Park is a National Rail station in Highbury, in the London Borough of Islington. It is on the Northern City Line between Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park stations, 2 miles 56 chains (4.3 km) down the line from Moorgate; it is in Travelcard Zone 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Underground rolling stock</span> Passenger trains that run on the London Underground

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Underground Standard Stock</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Underground 1986 Stock</span> Prototype stock of the London Underground

The London Underground 1986 Tube Stock consisted of three prototype electric multiple units built for the London Underground in 1986/87 that led to the development of the 1992 Stock.

The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area.

The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation of BR in 1948, and was renamed to ScotRail in the mid-1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British electric multiple units</span> Trains without locomotives, in the European country

An electric multiple unit (EMU) is an electric train capable of operating in multiple with other EMUs that does not have a separate locomotive, 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 such as the Advanced Passenger Train that was a permanent formation with a non-driving power car. As of December 2010 two-thirds of the passenger carriages in Britain are formed in EMUs.

Rolling stock used on the London Underground and its constituent companies has been classified using a number of schemes. This page explains the principal systems for the rolling stock of the Central London Railway (CLR), the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), the District Railway (DR) and the Metropolitan Railway (MR). For information about individual classes of locomotives and other rolling stock, see London Underground rolling stock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Underground 1900 and 1903 Stock</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Rail Class 378</span> Fleet of electric multiple units in Britain

The British Rail Class 378 Capitalstar is an electric multiple unit passenger train specifically designed for the London Overground network. It is part of Bombardier Transportation's Electrostar family. A total of 57 five-car trains have been built – most of which were originally built as three- or four-car units.

London's Metropolitan Railway (MR) amalgamated with other underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators on 1 July 1933, to form the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB); the MR became the Board's Metropolitan line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Railway electric multiple units</span>

Metropolitan Railway electric multiple units were used on London's Metropolitan Railway after the lines were electrified in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British railcars and diesel multiple units</span> Network_Rail

Diesel multiple units and railcars are trains, usually with passenger accommodation, that do not require a locomotive. Railcars can be single cars, while in multiple units cars are marshalled together with a driving position either end. As of December 2010, 23 percent of the rail passenger cars used on Network Rail are part of a diesel multiple unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the District line</span>

The history of the District line started in 1864 when the Metropolitan District Railway was created to create an underground 'inner circle' connecting London's railway termini. The first part of the line opened using Metropolitan Railway gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. The District introduced its own trains in 1871 and was soon extended westwards through Earl's Court to Fulham, Richmond, Ealing and Hounslow. After completing the 'inner circle' and reaching Whitechapel in 1884, it was extended to Upminster in East London in 1902. To finance electrification at the beginning of the 20th century, American financier Charles Yerkes took it over and made it part of his Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) group. Electric propulsion was introduced in 1905, and by the end of the year electric multiple units operated all of the services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Underground carriages</span>

The London Underground opened in 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. The Metropolitan and District railways both used carriages exclusively until they electrified in the early 20th century. The District railway replaced all its carriages for electric multiple units, whereas the Metropolitan still used carriages on the outer suburban routes where an electric locomotive at the Baker Street end was exchanged for a steam locomotive en route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Rail Class 230</span> Diesel-electric or battery-electric multiple-unit passenger train

The British Rail Class 230D-Train is a diesel electric multiple unit or battery EMU built by rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail for the British rail network. The units are converted from old London Underground D78 Stock, originally manufactured in 1980 by Metro-Cammell. The conversion re-uses the D78's aluminium bodyshells with new interiors. It runs on the same bogies but these are rebuilt to as-new standard by Wabtec and fitted with brand new three-phase AC induction motors sourced from Austria. The initial build of three vehicles for London Northwestern Railway replaces the four-rail traction-current system with four diesel gen-sets, driving eight traction motors via purpose built electronic traction control units.

Electric Multiple Units (EMU) are powered on the metro network of Athens, with five or six coaches. EMU-5s are of a former type and are limited to Line 1. On Lines 2 and 3, routes are only operated with EMU-6s. The trainsets were put into operation at STASY in 2011, with its establishment.

References