Ruislip Tube Station, the heart of Metroland | Hidden London Hangouts S05E16

In this episode the team revisit Metroland to discover how a new station transformed a small village in Middlesex into a commuter and leisure destination. Chris and Alex explore a rare disused feature of the station - a lever frame signal cabin.
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[@brianbell4937]

For most of my life I lived in Ruislip like generations of my family. We lived in a 16th century cottage at the other end of the High Street, and in the past the road was named Bell Alley afterbmy family. Only a mile or so away is the lovely Ruislip Lido Railway, which itself is quite historic and well worth a visit. The Lido itself has a transport history in that it used to be used to feed water to the Grand Union Canal. The woodlands that Chris mentioned are still there, and surtound the Lido.

[@m1klgordon]

Oh good heavens, I'm 70 next week and live in Ruislip from 1954 to 1974. I travelled from Ruislip to Harrow on the Hill regularly. Thanks for this wonderful walk down memory lane.

[@Shalott63]

Mr Nix is right, there's a huge contrast between Ruislip and swish modern things like Woolwich EL - it shows how London is such a large place full of contrasts, which make it so interesting.

[@christinawouters9381]

Any time the cats show up, the episode is automatically extra amazing! Otherwise, you’re just normal amazing. 😂😉

[@srfurley]

In, I think, 1972 Ian Nairn made a film for the BBC about a journey from Leeds to Scotland. The first part he did by rail on the Settle and Carlisle line, and then by road following the then recently closed Waverley route. He was filmed in a disused signal box on that route, regretted that it was not being used and suggested that it could be used as a home, and the signal levers converted into beer pumps! Sadly, Ian died at quite a young age of alcohol-related disease. The film is on KZbin, it’s from the Nairn across Britain series, and this episode is called From Leeds Into Scotland.

[@terryeiss8469]

Really interesting. My American father was at South Ruislip base 1951-1963, and we lived in Ruislip Manor, The Ridgeway, north of the tracks, and then Ickenham. I used to love leaving the cinema and walking along the little street after dark past the estate agent and coal office to the station. I was the guide to The Clock Tower in the Palace of Westminster for some time, and the room under the signal room immediately made me think of the room under the bell chamber. I enjoyed seeing Alex like Elinor Glynn on a tiger skin at the allotment.....

[@CliveScoggins]

Great film, I grew up in Ruislip from the early 70s and used the station frequently, brings back many memories; especially that interior shot at around 37:00, that was exactly how I remember it, they can't have decorated very much!

[@dianekivi5349]

The short handled levers, worked power worked points!

[@chatteriscl4502]

What a truly fantastic episode. The signal cabin and its workings was great. I loved that Alex conveniently arrives already wearing the radio mic. Great editing. Love the show xx

[@alexgrundon2346]

😉 I wonder how that happened…. Thank you for watching!

[@chrisnix6352]

We of course travel everywhere wearing radio mics 😉

[@ljrigsbee]

Ahh, Metroland! Plenty of fresh air, spacious homes, good gardens, and unlimited sheds! Looking forward to this one.

[@hairyairey]

Allotments - we must have allotments!

[@gazritchie6077]

Yet again another brilliant episode. Great to have a bit of history again after the amazing Elizabeth Line episodes. I do like a nicely kept box.

[@alexgrundon2346]

😉

[@mrbma]

Excellent series. Excellent episodes. Always interesting and informative. Very funny too. Your collective friendship shines through !!!

[@alexgrundon2346]

❤️

[@EngineerLewis]

Those Victorians were innovative, ingenious and creative to come up with the interlocking system. Fascinating to see the equipment still in place in Ruislip. Top marks for the HLH team to dig this up. 😆

[@alexgrundon2346]

🥰

[@hairyairey]

Indeed, mcuh of our media disparages them but many of the things they did was ahead of its time. On a slightly different subject visit the workhouse near Nottingham. You'd be surprised what they were really like.

[@Powerdrummer1972]

A beautifully kept box... I spat my tea out again!

[@alexgrundon2346]

Fab. I hope Laura won’t read this but I just love how she totally ignores my comments. I think it makes the whole thing funnier. You can tell, as a mum, she gives kid cheek very short shrift 😉

[@Echoes1910]

I could happily listen to the 4 of you all night, every night. You’re an absolute joy, your chemistry and knowledge makes this such great viewing. Oh and I love the idea of drinks on the allotments!

[@alexgrundon2346]

🥰

[@johnrafferty8087]

Another great Video. Love Ruislip Station. Great to see the frame still in the BOX/CABIN.!!!

[@DaveInBridport]

My old stamping ground! Used that station for work, play and school.

[@paulwheeler4283]

Exploring the original single box and it's beautiful Lever frame so raw and majestic in it's mechanical simplicity untouched for so long I'm actually mesmerized railway engineering at its best

[@RoyCousins]

A few hours after watching the hangout, I was sitting on the platform opposite the signal box waiting for a train home to Rayners Lane. Nice to be able to see what's inside.

[@Lisbonized]

17:20 I am a bit confused being from an LUL signalman background. All the boxes/cabins (always thought that a cabin referred to an underground one. Didn’t know the American connection there!) that I’ve worked the diagrams were always read left to right. Lever one always being the furthest left and so on. Fantastic episode once again!

[@NJPurling]

The levers with the cut-down handles mean that whatever they operate is power-assisted. Probably applied to sets of points. Points would be operated by rods, there being a direct physical connection between the lever & point blade. The signalman would need to throw his entire body backwards with the lever to properly throw the points. The power assistance would render the points as easy to operate as the semaphore signals. The presence of a towel hanging from a lever is to help the signalman grip the lever & also not get blisters from the levers. In use those lever ends would have shone like they were silver from usage & the pride of the signalman in the tidiness of the signal box.

[@darrelljim]

A truly fantastic episode! Thank You All so VERY much for keeping this going! With such an extensive system, we know the episodes should keep coming for quite a LONG while!

[@JW-lr1mc]

Well done everybody, I am so happy can share my interests about London Underground to my fabulous friends and families. Good job. Joshua from Hong Kong

[@alexgrundon2346]

Welcome Joshua! Glad you’re travelling with us!

[@tobiaswoodcock]

that desk Mr Nix,take the top off would make a brilliant potting bench on the lotty 🤣

[@srfurley]

The very tall booking hall reminds me somewhat of Middlesbrough. I was at Ruislip recently to deliver some items which I had sold on EBay. I noticed that the toilets close very early, at 16:00 I think. There are no toilets on the trains of course and people don’t need the facilities any less after that time.

[@philipgrundy8530]

Love Metroland, and the signal box at Ruislip was fantastic, keep up the good work

[@thomascooney6644]

I Worked at Ruislip Stn man mid seventies certainly had atmosphere my father took the central line out to W Ruislip in 1948 & concreted Ruislip Gardens 1961 his initials TC ( Thomas Cooney ) 5th January 1962

[@Lisbonized]

24:15 I can hear all the signal technicians screaming, “They’re called lamps!” 😂

[@alexgrundon2346]

Indeed. And the garden centre is screaming bulbs 😉

[@johndonegan269]

Brilliant Brilliant..

[@bigjaffa02]

I lived near here for some years and used Ruislip regularly. I think the railway was triple tracked through the station at one point, with the abandoned rails sill visible on the other side of the Uxbridge platform, behind the concrete wall that was mentioned. Chris and Alex, please come back and tell us about it!

[@chrisnix6352]

I looked into that as I’d always presumed that was the case from the second bridge span and the track alignment but it seems that it was only ever a trackbed during the construction of the line. The provision seems to have been kept for a while (presumably whilst loco run-arounds might have been needed) but the cable-run stanchions appear to have been routed over the trackbed in the 30’s.

[@bigjaffa02]

@@chrisnix6352 Thanks, Chris. I'd always wondered what the story was there. Thanks for this nugget, and a belated happy birthday.

[@christopherjames9018]

During morning rush hour in the 60s we had a very large trestle table selling news papers.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Oh brilliant

[@crompton48]

im presuming that the box for timing out is a welwyn block as you say the signaller would wind it to time out basically to stop rash movements like putting points under trains ... when working a manual box on the West Coast Mainline we had red levers ( Signals) blue levers ( points) black levers ( manual points) brown lever ( release to another box which was 'absoloute block) ...... also some boxes had a black and white lever for detonator placing ... its been 30 years as a signaller ... all i do now is use a mouse at an SCC !!

[@TERRYBARTLETTRAILMAN28]

Fantastic guys and I did go to West Ruislip before to film steam specials Flying Scotsman and 7029 Clun Castle

[@crompton48]

Excellent program the HL4 at their best i went through the whole series in a week brought the book and became a patreon ( albeit a minor one ) ! ive always loved the network and now im hooked and it helps that the humour the fun etc makes it all congrats guys 👏

[@alexgrundon2346]

This is sensational! Thank you!

[@Extreme_Rice]

I've preemptively liked this as I'm going to out when it's on. Looking forward to catching up though, it's almost local to me.

[@groovydonkey]

Totally fascinating and informative. I live in Uxbridge and often travel to Ruislip, it's great to see it hasn't changed much over the years and good to see inside the signal box, as I always notice and look at it as I go through the station. The flats you mentioned being 1980's were actually converted from an office block to flats in the the 2000's. It's a shame that Hillingdon station is such an eyesore on the line and has no character about it, after it's was "Modernised". Great upload.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Thank you!

[@chrisnix6352]

Thanks for that detail about the flats. We’ve got photos of the office block looking pretty ruined in the early 80s and I first visited Ruislip for work in about 2001 and the flats looked pretty established so we’d figured late 80’s design and 90’s build. The Fanuk office seemed to have replaced an equally 60s looking block in the same photo and has also now been replaced by flats on the last few years.

[@groovydonkey]

@@chrisnix6352Even when first converted they did and do have that 80's look about them.

[@oldman1734]

Hasn’t changed much??? Uxbridge and Ruislip are unrecognisable to people like me. Still, perhaps I’m old enough to remember when England was England. Not that long ago, but now gone.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Old Man I think he was talking about the station and furniture, rather than anything more.

[@grahambartram7944]

Just a small correction - Ruislip Station, the footbridge and the signal box (yes we call it a box) are all Grade II nationally listed, as well as having a local listing. The footbridge is original (without the roof) but was moved closer to the station building not long after the station opened. The steps up to the signal box are fairly new as the original steps were demolished after becoming unsafe after decommissioning and there was no access to the box for many years. As you will see from your own video the whole station is in need of some care and attention, especially when it comes to paint! The large block of flats outside the station were actually constructed in the 1960's as an office block for Times Furnishings (hence it was called Times House) and then re-skinned and converted into flats in 1999 and renamed "King's Lodge".

[@alexgrundon2346]

Can I just say, thank you so much for such a wonderfully polite correction. Others would have been rather more bullish. You’re incredibly sweet.

[@ulazygit]

Looking forward to this … one of the original stations on the Met Railway Uxbridge branch line …

[@richardmellish2371]

Bit of amusement at 14:58 when you're supposedly just going into the signal box and a camera on a tripod is already there. In the pictorial map at 38:20 the Metropolitan is conspicuous by its absence, even though its line from Harrow got there before the District did.

[@alexgrundon2346]

I love your precision. That camera had been in the box since about 1458. We got in there about a quarter past three 😉

[@ciaranmaher1924]

Loved this episode guys! A question: is it possible that the signal cabin was still in operation in the mid to late 80s? I grew up there and could've sworn I remembered them in operation. Also, those 80s flat were formerly Times House, a commercial office building! I can't recall if it was completely leveled and re-built, or whether they refurbed the building to be residential (I suspect the latter). I think that change to residential happened in the 90s.

[@Beatlefan67]

Take a trip to Crewe Heritage where you can have a go on Exeter West Signal Box. Then you'll find out what operating a signal-box is like! You'll love it.

[@dianekivi5349]

The short handled levers operated power operated points, probably the cross over points.

[@andrewbeadle9168]

Hi Guys One quick Question Would you ever consider covering the old London Country area? Siddy I love everything you do.. even the programmes with Tim Dunn ( sorry Alex)

[@alexgrundon2346]

We all love Timmy Dunn, don’t worry! And yes we could

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Liking the allotment very much Chris,great to see what's in the Box/Cabin the style Of which reminds me of Midland Railway ?. Oh and by the way Siddy with your hair up your achieving a cute moomin look 😉

[@chrisnix6352]

Thanks for that. Yes I know what you mean about the cabin/box style. No photos of it seem to survive In our collection but it’s neighbours do and their block equipment looks just like the LMS indicators I have that we use for the title plate of the show.

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Thankyou Chris.

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

I was going to add very much like the Box at Chesham iirc.

[@ulazygit]

Finally finished watching this episode … most excellent! It’s been 20 years since I left metro-land and loved seeing this. Great to see the signal BOX in such good order - how does it compare to the boxes at Chesham and Rickmansworth? Also, are you going to visit any stations on this line (just missed Pinner and its fair), particularly those north of Amersham? (Thinking Verney Junction and HS2) …

[@alexgrundon2346]

Yes we will. We have lots of places on our list. The adventure’s just begun

[@chrisnix6352]

Thanks for that. Fear not - we are not done with Metroland yet!

[@Extreme_Rice]

Harrow-On-The-Hill is my local station, just saying.

[@ulazygit]

@@alexgrundon2346 I reckon it’s always an adventure with you 😂

[@Signalelectrician]

The short levers work motor points.

[@mvpeters]

Which station do you think is the 'least changed' since it was built? Ruislip is obviously a candidate; Amersham or Chesham perhaps? But there must be others - any ideas? Mike

[@Polysixchick]

the gas fire in the cabin is 1950s, made by a company called "Portcullis", the original Victorian coal fire or stove looks like it's been removed sadly

[@groovydonkey]

Maybe you should do an episode about Hillingdon and how it has changed so much. That would would be good to see how it was before the abomination that is there now.

[@alexgrundon2346]

✅ and Uxbridge

[@pb4rton]

I had to watch this one without audio, so used the auto generated captions. Some nice variations with rice slip, rice lip, Siddy became "city" and a few others😆 I am presuming that there would have been a kitchen and toilet area underneath the cabin for the signalman to be able to use?

[@alexgrundon2346]

There’s no evidence of that down there now from what I could see.

[@trishevans5125]

Hi guys, was watcging Secrets of the London Underground series 1 episode 4 or 5, l uded to work with Mark Ovenden.

[@papamatthewgracebrookschan7748]

They're called signal cabins in Ireland, North and South.

[@jacksugden8190]

I liked the before and after images, as wouldn’t have thought twice about it, wasn’t aware of of any sidings, made sense with that old signal box, what happened to the route diagram on the upper leaver panel?.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Not sure. Sadly long gone

[@chrisnix6352]

Hopefully it survives somewhere in private hands.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

cabin or box…i prefer the catch-all term of tower used just about everywhere in the US, never before heard of them called cabins- the only cabins associated with trains that i have heard are the ones where the driver actually operates I prefer towers as it’s towering over the tracks, guarding the line, and keeping things in order

[@MrAustinPowers]

Do have a cabin like this in the museum? Maybe it could be relocated and set up to show visitors

[@keithvirgin771]

How about coming down to Devon and going down to the beach on the Oddicombe cliff railway in Torquay 😎

[@alexgrundon2346]

Any excuse to come to the West Country, we’re there

[@chrisnix6352]

I did that a lot n my childhood!

[@srfurley]

Shortened levers operate electrically so do not require significant effort to move.

[@chrisnix6352]

Absolutely - the two point levers seem to have been shortened and we presume that was done when the points were modified to be powered - this is detailed in a traffic circular.

[@sarahjoyholden7856]

Can't find this one on the patrons channel

[@simondragt1445]

hello every body I am a person from South Harrow and I beleve this South Harrow was the terminus for the district line upto 1906 and in 1908 the South Harrow to Rayners Lane viaduct was built and then then Picadilly Line continued to Uxbridge ? I remember the LT lines being used for coal trains to the South Harrow and Rayners Lane Gas works upon the town gas works and this signal box was a coal train bypass

[@RoyCousins]

IIRC the stub of the gasworks line is still visible on the side of the viaduct

[@Gregdotgreg]

Do you keep the deckchairs in stock in the museum, or are they delivery only?

[@alexgrundon2346]

There were some on-show when I was last in there. Why not give the shop at Covent Garden a call ?

[@JW-lr1mc]

Can’t wait

[@alexgrundon2346]

Thanks for your supportive comment on the last episode. Means a lot.

[@malcolmhumphries3284]

I don't know how I've managed to do 34 or nearly 35 years working on the cabins and come back to Rayners and train the newbies again.

[@Demun1649]

These were NOT "empty fields"! They were all WORKING FARMS. And the Londoners destroyed the countryside, just for RICH people to move into, and even attempted to destroy Ruislip Woods by joining Ruislip to Northwood with a large estate of massive houses for the very rich. It was stopped by the local council, who bought the Woods from King's College, London and saved them. They are now the largest area, IN EUROPE, of Hornbeam trees, also known by the Victorians as Ironwood, used for the gear wheels used in windmills and water mills. Also, no comment about the siding behind the Uxbridge platform, it was still in use in the 60s, LT kept the battery powered PW trains between maintenance works. It never gets mentioned, I used to look over the fence at the trains, I have always been fascinated by the battery powered Underground trains. And, if you go to Ruislip, that siding explains why the road bridge is a twin-arched bridge, the siding came in through the southern arch, to the side of the main lines.

[@paulquilter3481]

Inward sneezing, DON'T. It can be dangerous. I have heard of somebody who lost the sight of an eye because they did this. I am a convert to hangouts, thank you for for the informed conversation.

[@paulwheeler4283]

Signal box or Signal cabin? I'd be interested to see what other people think I personally will always call them Signal boxes

[@alexgrundon2346]

Well it’s all down to whether the Americans got involved. Deep level tubes developed by the American business mogul Charles Tyson Yerkes brought two notable imports: signal CABINS and tube CARS (rather than carriages). Those terms have stuck on the tube. But out in Ruislip above ground - and because 1980s Yellow Pages ads gave us the Hornby R186 signal box for that sweet little kid’s dad… we’ll let you say signal BOX at Ruislip 😉

[@paulwheeler4283]

@@alexgrundon2346 we have a lot to thank those Americans for don't we but yes I know exactly what you mean wow it feels funny talking about the yellow pages in past tense now I love my Hornby models I think somewhere I have 2 00 scale signal boxs one similar to box at Ruislip and the other one is a GWR Half brick box which is absolutely beautiful in design but I wish I could get my hands on a 00 scale model of the Seven Bridge Junction Box in Shrewsbury which if I remember rightly has the largest operational lever frame in the world I can't wait to see what Hornby produces in the way of crossrail Elizabeth line models :) sorry if I'm babbling on to much I apologize

[@thomascooney6644]

Central line was destined for Denham & to connect with E midlands line however with the Korean War & Suez everything was diverted to defence a bit like now a feeling of WW3

[@malcolmhumphries3284]

Nice saying something Metropolitan was Brill!

[@petercompo]

Skoll Chris

[@marksmith334]

Siddy, just so

[@daveharris7224]

Why are there so many stations in Ruislip?

[@jacksugden8190]

Found 6, this was just serving another part of town, there was the Manor, Gardens, the South and west, all depends where one lives.

[@mrbma]

Bit like Acton !!!

[@alexgrundon2346]

It’s greedy

[@chatteriscl4502]

@@mrbma I feel it deserves it's own episode

[@bynleyjones5419]

One minute you say that you are nothing to do with t f l but next Thing you're saying that you have to have the same tests às sydi On the episode of riclip?

[@alexgrundon2346]

?

[@Demun1649]

For additional information, the signal box went out of use, and the levers and workings are installed in the signal box at Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield. AND, the Ruislip railway station building was identical to the one at Uxbridge station, designed and built by the same architect, (I can supply the architect’s name if required), the Uxbridge one was destroyed by the London vandals, when they built the current concrete monstrosity that acts as Uxbridge station on the High Street. Don't waste time trying to find the old station, it is buried underneath the place called Sainsbury, the fake supermarket behind the bus garage.

[@tedcopple101]

Al you got a black eye mate?

[@alexgrundon2346]

Oh genius. I rubbed my eye with a dirty hand. 😉

[@malcolmhumphries3284]

Yellow distant

[@malcolmhumphries3284]

Welwyn Release

[@EngineerLewis]

Also I have seen the latest update on the HS2 developments where they are promoting their cut and cover tunnel works kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooakhpyHjpt4q8k Also did the Elizabeth line have to pay easements to dig the new tunnels under central London and if yes does anyone know how much of the 19 Billion was spent on that?

[@Demun1649]

Ruislip IS NOT made up from two words meaning "Rush" and "Leap". You cannot believe what Eileen Bowlt writes. First: She is an "incomer". Second: She is NOT AN ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE EXPERT. RUISLIP is made up from two Anglo-Saxon words, RYSSE, pronounced RYE ZSHER, and LYPPE, pronounced LIP PAY. RYSSE is Anglo-Saxon for RUSHES, specifically Bulrushes, and LYPPE is Anglo-Saxon for "The edge of". So RYSSE and LYPPE means THE EDGE OF THE RUSHES. Bulrushes used to line both banks of a MUCH SHALLOWER, MUCH WIDER, RIVER PINN, and was a major source of seeds, for roasting and pounding into flour for simple breads. The Bulrush also supplied a fantastic source of starch with its root, which was pounded into a paste. Bulrushes were important to CENTURIES of survival for tens of thousands of people, especially the poor, which was most people. But you listen to an incomer who had been living in Ruislip for just 13 years, having moved from Lud's Den! A Celtic name that became corrupted, by the Romans, into Londinium, and then corrupted, again, by the Angle, Saxe and Jutes illegal immigrants. Lud's Den means, simply, the Devil's Place. I do wish people would not take the explanation of an amateur, but STUDY the language. The Jehovah's Witnesses do the same thing with the made up name they claim is GOD's Name! Please correct the explanation if you produce another video about Rysse Lyppe.

[@aetcranium]

Bare legs whilst on the track? Naughty Naughty.

[@chrisnix6352]

Really??!!!! We weren’t on the tracks and shorts are part of train crew uniform.

[@aetcranium]

@@chrisnix6352 You went beyond a physical barrier towards the track. Possible you were on a walkway at all times but it's not setting a great example. Train Operators are supposed to carry disposable trousers if wearing shorts, in case they need to leave the cab.

[@chrisnix6352]

@@aetcranium we were indeed on a walkway.

[@jacksugden8190]

Be interesting to see what the team unearth, other than what’s on Wikipedia and Google Earth.

[@chrisnix6352]

I’ve been deep in research in our IMS and on the ground so Wikipedia will learn a lot from this one!

[@jacksugden8190]

@@chrisnix6352 Nice film of which I enjoyed watching, not a 100% certain Chris, years ago once visited some people in Ruislip on the way to the Lido, I eventually saw the Lido, just cannot remember whether I used that station or not, I certainly remember the original Hillingdon (Swakekeys) before the motorway arrived, was fascinated by that signal cabin, as never thought about a downstairs to the rods for the points.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Get googleearth a Yale key and I’ll shake its hand

[@tashko1225]

Green goblin

[@alexgrundon2346]

Goblin green

[@royhart4156]

Why did you not get someone who knows about signalling to explain things? Most of your discussion was the blind leading the blind.

[@chrisnix6352]

That’s just rude and untrue.

[@alexgrundon2346]

Oh ROY! Do I sound like your mother? We’ve done an episode on signals and there’s another explainer to come. Just take in the rural, the sun and the fun. We’ll bore you with the intricacies of the levers another time.

[@mrbma]

@@chrisnix6352 Brilliant episode, interesting choice of location. I very much enjoyed the signal box/cabin segment.

[@mrbma]

@@alexgrundon2346 As I said to your good self before...always one !!!