When the Bakerloo Line ran to Watford Junction

[@mikkoistanbul1322]

Everybody compliments Jago on his videos. And I wholeheartedly agree. They are masterpieces. But. I think he should also be complimented on his diction. It is quite superb and enhances the overall quality of the videos.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Pretty darned good for someone who is half the Potteries and half Sarth Lunnon! (Actually, it's brilliant, I'm only joking)😅

[@Eurobrasil550]

Very understandable and clear for those of us who do not have English as a first language, Much appreciated.

[@makkari1]

How much to do the next video in a Cockney accent, Jago?

[@telemachus53]

Should also point out, apart from his excellent diction, that he uses a very good sound system, including a top range mic. One of the few you tubers that I don't need to turn on the subtitles for. It has no echo whatsoever. Is thee a way Jago could get other you tubers to do the same?

[@mw...]

Yes and genuinely nice chap as well

[@msg5507]

5:00 here it comes! Yer-kes! Yer-kes! 5:15 And there he is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Drink!

[@lassepeterson2740]

Yer-kes is the Underground hero .

[@daveyoder9231]

Hooray for Charles and his mustache!!

[@KevinTheCaravanner]

I wonder what the man himself would make of this sudden interest in him over 100 years after he has died. Hey, he might never have even existed and is merely an imaginary villain created by the Jago to add spice to his plots.

[@Azeria]

YER-KES! YER-KES! YER-KES!

[@sodadrinker89]

Apparently if you translate this to English, it becomes THE EARTH! THE EARTH! THE EARTH!

[@Azeria]

@@sodadrinker89 this may explain a lot

[@tonys1636]

@@sodadrinker89 I wonder what language 'Goggle' translated it from?

[@jaapsch2]

@@tonys1636 I put it into Google translate, and apparently it is Kurdish (Kurmanji).

[@CyclingSteve]

@@tonys1636 I got Google translate to 'detect' the language. Kurdish (Kurmanji) - Detected

[@rogerwells6807]

The sign couldn’t have found its way into better hands.

[@johnm2012]

14:06 I do like the way the weight of the platform canopy at Watford High Street helps keep the cutting retaining walls from collapsing, while saving on support pillars. You're the downward force to my inward pressure.

[@CharlesTysonYerkesOfficial]

I did love it when we got the District Line to Southend.

[@CCA2020]

Of course you did, Charles

[@CoolTransport]

The legend returns to the comment section 😂

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Well,only sorta...🎩🤔

[@cefnonn]

Keep quiet Yerkes, you're just a ghost!

[@MirzaAhmed89]

I thought you died in 1905.

[@simontrill540]

The Metropolitan Cammel/Metropolitan Camel joke made me laugh out loud. Quality Dad joke! :o)

[@raakone]

Also reminds me of the camel spotting sketch from Monty Python!

[@GX2903]

Metro-Cammell built robust trains that still serves today. The 1972 and 1973 Tube stock, as well as the Glasgow Metro trains and Hong Kong MTR's M-Trains, are still going strong despite their age.

[@philroberts7238]

A quality dad joke would be an oxymoron, wouldn't? Still, I'm a dad myself, so I appreciated it. Also, in keeping with the subject of this episode and seeing that I hale from Oxhey originally, I suppose I could, brutally, be described as such myself.

[@neilchisholm797]

Watford junction to Lewisham or Hayes would be such a good expansion of the Bakerloo line. It was a line I caught regularly from Wembley to work and often caught the old thirties type trains. It was very nostalgic. I miss those days in the very early 90s but my London adventures continued for years before I moved to Australia. I still miss the Underground, it truly is something very special and the best transit system I’ve come across in my travels overseas.

[@WolfmanWoody]

I remember in the 1950s going on holidays and we had to get from Manchester London Road (oh yes!) to Euston. Often the train was crowded and we sat on the suitcases in the corridor. How nice it was when we got to see the underground from Watford and knowing that it wouldn't be long before we got to Euston.

[@camberweller]

I’m early, but since I’m Canadian that doesn’t matter: our trains are always late.

[@andrewhotston983]

The tea towel that we bought when we visited the London Transport Museum just after it first opened shows the Bakerloo Line running all the way to Watford.

[@charlotteistance4386]

Immediately pauses the video to look at Jago’s book collection and try to work out how they are organised 🤭🤭

[@Railfan608]

Soonest I've watched a Jago video, time zones usually mean I don't watch until the following morning

[@howardkey1639]

I love Watford Junction, it's my favourite station. I miss seeing the old tube stock sitting there waiting to depart for London.

[@johnmurray8428]

My Sunday morning is never complete with Jago and the mention of the American villain of the underground. Thank you.

[@highpath4776]

Not really Villian. More a Shady Arthur Daley of the Train World

[@mikeuk4130]

Your new sign is a very handsome artefact and I love that it holds, for you at least, all that historical, technical and human geographical information imparted to the rest of us by your fascinating video. It’s also a sobering thought that, due to continual improvement, innovation, progress, call it what you will, there will never be standardisation on the railways. Long live variety! You are the spice of life to my pepper-grinder.

[@loddude5706]

"Good man - off to fetch my drinking fez & pipe after the very first 'Yerkes' . . . this means Malt!" : )

[@Whothem]

If they were to just build the Croxley rail link then we would have metropolitan line trains at Watford Junction 😭😭😭😭😭

[@eddisstreet]

If the Mayor of London, or indeed the Mayor of Watford, would organise the funding, the Croxley rail link could be completed and we'd all be happy.

[@ianmcclavin]

Yes, but "just building it" became a political and financial hot potato, before being virtually abandoned altogether. (I'm surprised they actually got as far as posting closure notices on Watford Met. Station, before taking them all down again!!)

[@tomburnham5119]

I believe TfL were reluctant to put up the majority of the funding as the link is in Hertfordshire and it would be of less advantage to Greater London residents. It would have been really useful when most long distance trains out of Euston made a Watford Jn stop, but that doesn't happen so much in recent years.

[@hairyairey]

​@@tomburnham5119It had the potential to reduce traffic levels in Watford but obviously that doesn't benefit London

[@Rob-md6ml]

No you wouldn't there's no space. The overground would service it. Like they used to when it was silver link and open

[@Slycockney]

As a teenager I travelled Warwick Avenue to Carpenders Park on the Bakerloo to visit friends frequently, great journey.

[@pfield39]

Why am I not surprised that you seem to have a huge collection of transportation books? Good man!

[@johnjephcote7636]

Watford Junction was my local station (before the LNW station and engine shed were demolished for the present 'thing'). I worked there as a porter in holidays. I was surprised when the red tubes just 'disappeared'. When I worked there, the slow electric lines of 1916 were commonly known as 'The New Line'. I never heard it called 'the d.c.', or anything else. PS.in the High Street there was a furniture shop called 'Grange'. It had an iron canopy extending out over the entrance and I was told that this was to be the station for the proposed Metroplian extension.

[@peterforden5917]

I worked at the junction in the mid 70's , I enjoyed it a lot , except working with those 'British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment' horrors or Brutes as they were usually called when not nursing a badly bruised finger (most days!) at which point in time they were called a lot of names not suitable for sensitive ears ! among my favourite memories are a heavily delayed commuter train from Rugby (due to frozen points) arriving looking for all the world like a moving icicle ,so badly was it frozen it had taken them in Rugby all day to unfreeze not only the points, but also to de-ice the wheels from the rails as they were frozen solid to each other as though welded, hearing the use of old (!) slang like...-there's a weasel if you want it on the main platform a weasel being not only the monetary tip , but also the wealthy looking cove struggling with luggage. I wonder how much of what I would recognise if I were to visit it today? I became a Guard and worked to Broad Street which sadly on exists in fond memory :)

[@spockwatford]

It is now The Moon Underwater, Wetherspoons pub, so at least it was used for something useful in the end 🍻😀

[@drewzero1]

"You are the lowered platform to my compromised rolling stock"... So, a step up? 😂

[@davidconnor2458]

Fascinating to hear the early history of the DC Lines. But some of the later history was missed: It's worth adding that by the mid 1960s, the all-day Bakerloo service had ceased, with the traffic left to BR. There were just a handful of Mon-Fri peak hour Bakerloo trains north of Queens Park, running SB in the morning peak and NB in the evening peak. In 1979, the Bakerloo started running regularly again as far as Stonebridge Park (to serve the new depot there, built to replace a previous depot the Bakerloo lost access to when the Jubilee Line took over the Stanmore branch). But there were still only four Bakerloo trains each peak north of Stonebridge Park. This skeleton service was withdrawn in 1982 not because of pressure from BR, but because LT couldn't afford to keep running it after the Fares Fair scheme ended. And it was the dramatic ridership increases on the network following the introduction of Travelcards that persuaded LT to resume an all-day Bakerloo service to Harrow & Wealdstone two years later, not because BR somehow "relented". This service was far superior to that which had been withdrawn in 1982. The BR service to Broad Street (and latterly Liverpool Street) became just a single journey each peak, abandoned entirely in the 1990s. And the service to Euston came under TfL control (as part of the Overground) in 2007.

[@surreygoldprospector576]

And I remember in the rush hours trains to Broad Street went via two different routes - via Hampstead and via Queens Park. So there were 4 options going south.

[@PerCPH2200]

Yes.... I have a working timetable from OCT 1965, and it lists 4 morning peak SB trains between 0734 and 0822 and another 4 trains running Queens Park to 'Harrow' and return (6 similarly in the evening peak), while the 4 Watford services returning NB arriving between 1815-1843. By the MAY 1971 timetable, which is the next I have, the additional trains to/from Harrow have ended, leaving only the 4 departures/arrivals north of Queens Park.

[@ronalddevine9587]

Do I understand that you are into toy (model) trains? I am as well. I live just outside of New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Railroad was electrified from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal in New York City in the early 20th century. Two or three different electrical systems had to be dealt with. AC & DC, overhead catenary, outside third rail. It's still in use today, and is one of the most heavily traveled commuter lines in the USA. As always, great video.

[@jimmeade2976]

Another interesting video, Thank You! To answer your question, your sign only has the word WATFORD and not JCT or JN because there's no space to put it. WATFORD (LMS) fills up the entire sign. Showing the map and its changes is a welcome addition to the videos. As someone who lives on the other side of the pond (although I have been to London many times), I am not that familiar with locations by name. The map helps me understand the information in Jago's excellent voiceover.

[@andrewmcgee382]

I love thc careful attention to detail in all Jago's videos. Exactly what we need.

[@paleonard1979]

Amazing video and I have serious book envy! Good job Jago.

[@alanclarke4646]

The 38 stock are the classic underground trains i remember from trips to London with my parents. 😁

[@malcolmpym507]

The last Bakerllo's ran on Peak hours . 4 trains were stabled at Croxley Shed in 11-12 roads, The crews were based at Croxley and came under the duristiction of Queens Park. One of the drivers was given the honour of driving HM the Queen from Stanmore when the Jubilee Line was opened. There were no other Bakerloo line trains in the 70;s other than these until Stonebridge Park was opened . As a driver at Watford those days I trained on how to assist a failed Bakerloo Line train with a Class 501.

[@melvynbuckton6881]

Croxley shed was on wiggenhall rd watford. Some track still exists over the colne river.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

14:25 looks like watford high street station there. Wow this one takes me back.

[@formula1facebookfan]

It is indeed!

[@bishwatntl]

Yes, it is.

[@isashax]

I was in London this week and used the Bakerloo and Jubilee to Kilburn. I wondered about the step up, so here I have the explanation! Thanks Jago!

[@alexandraclement1456]

It's always a pleasure when Yerkies, our antihero, gets a mention.

[@nilo70]

There is a drinking game for the Fiend’s name 😊

[@brettpalfrey4665]

I have never travelled to Watford by train, only passed through, on the main line ..Now I know why the Underground service was somewhat limited! your explanation of timetable conflicts was very clear, and I think that Bakerloo trains would just get in the way...oh by the way, nice to see Mr Yerkes back again, its been a while...Keep em coming Jago!

[@crossleydd42]

I can well remember visiting a cousin and his wife, with an aunt, on the Tube to Carpenders Park, in the 1950s. Living at Morden, it was the first time I'd travelled on a Tube train in the open air. And I recall the high platforms, when alighting.

[@gerardtohill9597]

I remember as a student in the 70s travelling on the Bakerloo to Watford Junction a few times. It was a long journey!

[@chriswade7470]

Yes I did as well

[@Inverse_to_Chaos]

Thoughts on Class 710 services to Watford?

[@antonydennett5938]

What a fascinating tube story. Thank you.

[@MichaelCampin]

I remember going to Watford Junction on the tube many years ago.

[@johnjephcote7636]

Watford LMS was used to distinguish it from Watford Met.and LNE joint station. Until I left in 1969, the huge viaduct at the bottom of the High Street and also the branchline station at Watford West (Croxley road) still had 'LMS station in large white letters on black. Watford Met's goods shed still proclaimed 'Metropolitan and LNE Railway'.

[@driver288]

Intresting video as always. Soon I will once again visit London and Bournemouth and enjoy some time on the British rail network. Since my time driving the Stockholm underground trains mid 90s I’ve been a simulator geek. Both planes trains trams and buses. One sim actually contains the entire Bakerloo line. So I immediately recognized Stonebridge Park and depot. So the sim is pretty realistic. I will be sure to visit the London transport museum with my 6yo son although I guess my wife need some convincing 😂. Even though I’ve never been on the overground on previous visits to London I’ve been up and down the Suffragette line several times virtually by now.

[@AndreiTupolev]

9:00I think the LMS only referred to Watford Junct as Watford, at least it seems to be in the 1934 timetable I've just skimmed through. (In brackets, Junction for St Albans, but 'Junction' is inside the brackets)

[@stephenpegum9776]

I can remember coming up to London when I was a young lad & occasionally travelling on the Bakerloo line. I seem to recall it had a distinctive smell but I can't describe what it was all these years later.

[@ianthomson9363]

It still has it- I think it's electricity and soot. All Tube trains should smell like this.

[@MrAsBBB]

Probably hot break shoes and dust. Unfortunately it is now the most grubby line on the network. The seats are not to be sat on as they are smooth in some places with years of dirt, especially where people put the feet on the seats.

[@WilliamMulligan]

Great video. In the early eighties I was a motorman (driver) on the Bakerloo line and regularly drove trains to and from Watford Junction. We used to stable four 1938 stock trains overnight at British Rails Croxley Green Depot. In the depot the power for the train was plugged into the side and was attached to overhead rails. When leaving the depot the guard had to run alongside the train and ready himself to disconnect it from the power. As the train built up enough momentum, the guard had to quickly pull the plug out. He would then jump on the train before it disappeared up the track.

[@stephensaines7100]

Impressive library there @14:00 Jago!

[@sockstarnik]

Shockingly I remember this (just). I recall seeing the platforms in around 1981 as 7 year old > this was the Victorian Watford Junction before the oh so pleasant building we see today. For whatever reason we were getting the new funky intercity train to manchester to visit my uncle > this was when the man from Jim'll Fix It was telling us that British Rail ‘was getting there’ and frankly every 7 year old watched Jim'll Fix It! I seem to recall the LU roundels and disused platforms remained for some years, possibly into the 90’s

[@ukroadsandtransport]

I love a bit of history, who doesn't, its interesting that you are always digging new information up its awesome Nice one Jago

[@lipkinasl]

Ahhh!! The age-old chestnut of how to correctly serve this line. I used to live in Carpenders Park, so was a regular commuter on it. My impression was that the current Overground service to Watford Jcn, and the current Bakerloo service to Harrow & Wealdstone is more than adequate for the off-peak. The problem is the peak service! I always used to think the Overground alone at 4tph between Harrow and Watford was woefully inadequate in the peak. I don't know if that is still the case. And I don't have a genius answer to fix the issue. A huge expense would now have to be justified to re-instate the 4th rail DC setup that tube trains would require to reach Watford, and it would be to cover peak services only. Cost justification therefore not going to be met. Let alone the Bakerloo needing extra trains to provide that service. So increase the Overground in the peak, and you likely get a capacity issue at Euston, or its approaches. Maybe some Overground peak-only services from Stratford could run through the abandoned Primrose Hill station to South Hampstead and on upto Watford Junction?

[@bishwatntl]

Yes, the capacity is an issue, but it was worse in the days when 3-coach class 313s ran the DC service every 20 minutes. Imagine the reaction when a 7-coach Bakerloo cast off its peak-hour passengers at Stonebridge Park and the next northbound train in was a 313!

[@nigelcole1936]

Always wondered what was on the other side but happy stick with this side thanks Jago

[@nigelscott3115]

When I moved to London in 1970 the Bakerloo Line trains consisted of 1938 stock with one carriage of 1927 stock which had a distinctively different roof. I believe that these were the oldest carriages that were still in regular use on the deep tube.

[@euanduthie2333]

Thanks for this, Jago. I had always wondered why the Bakerloo line seemed like it couldn't quite decide where it ended over the years.

[@stalbanstransport]

Jago you must visit the old Hatfield and St Albans railway now the Alban way if you go I suggest bringing a bike with you it’s a lovely ride

[@roderickmain9697]

THAT explains it. Always wondered why the Bakerloo had its end chopped off (I was youngish). Yes, it probably should go to Watford. But I guess it depends on demand. Nice to see CTY get a mention.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Yes, I always wondered who had got the Bakerloo's end away.....

[@raakone]

They determined most traffic from north of Harrow and Wealdstone was going to Euston anyways, so they only reinstated it up to there.

[@stuartparks8094]

Great video... I haven't been that way for a few years but there used to be the 4th rail still in place for a lot of the route north of H&W

[@esjay2011]

Thanks

[@MrStevetmq]

I used to change at Watford Junction when traveling from Northampton to Hammersmith. It sometimes was quicker. And when I when to Queens Park

[@TheDoctor342]

Me, an American: gosh, imagine if we had this enthusiasm to build and assist commuter traffic instead of demolishing a neighborhood to build an underutilized 8 lane highway

[@DavidShepheard]

You can do it. Go find your local urbanist movement and see what local initiatives you can support. Paris has been making a lot of changes (more than London). Other European countries have some cities that are getting better too. Look for RM Transit, for general stuff. But try to hook up with local experts to campaign for specific stuff.

[@mittfh]

Or even demolishing a bunch of property to add one more lane to an existing overcrowded highway... ... Only to repeat the process a few years later... ... And a few years after that... ... And a few years after that... ... Somehow never either learning from history or understanding the concept of induced demand.

[@princecharon]

@@mittfh They understand the concept just fine, but the politicians get more money by pretending they don't, so they will keep on pretending unless electoral pressures force them to do otherwise.

[@kevinnicholson7722]

@@mittfh blame the auto manufacturers

[@edmundcostelloe6261]

As a child in the fifties and sixties I used to travel regularly from Hatch End ( for Pinner) to Watford Junction on either tube stock or LMS and later BR stock. You did not mention that at Hatch End there was a small signal cabin on the northbound platform used to reverse some Bakerloo services at peak times via a crossover.

[@HuggyBob62]

One of the things that surprised me when I was in the Covent Garden London Transport Museum was the time lapse of lines being extended - and then shrinking again. I obviously hadn't seen many of Jago's videos at that time.

[@mickontherock1]

Excellent as always thank you.

[@jadeboswell-rz2ly]

Hi Jago, love the video. Love the way you convey the history in jolly manner.I remember the Bakerloo trains at Watford junk alongside the class 301's. A little bit off point. But there was to have be a cross link between Watford and Croxley. This was started with the old track being cleared but finical problems arouse and that put a stop that. Well thanks again.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I rode the last Bakerloo train to Watford (LMR) as it had become on the destination plates (only a vinyl by then), a 1938 Stock. The crew let us stay on and we had a ride round and into Croxley Green Depot! The Stonebridge journeys started out as ECS moves once the Jubilee opened and Bakerloo trains used the new depot there (Neasden had been the main depot before the split), it was decided to makes these journeys public, and add more in the peaks only. The GLC were very pro public transport, and the Harrow & Wealdstone (or Harrow Wealdstone as the reverse of your plate shows, i have one also!) extension was funded by them, again peaks only. All day running came in May 1988 after the mixed Bakerloo & Jubilee lines crew interworking ended with the Jubilee's conversion to OPO. The reason that had continued after May 1979 was to stop the Bakerloo depots crews having all tunnel work (QP-E&C), so Harrow was a bit of fresh air work.... Not much though, back then only one train in five went through, and Stonebridge was still peaks only.... happy days, sort of, i was a Bakerloo guard back then......

[@stevenr2463]

Thank you for this. Bakerloo, Watford - all part of my (Watford - my father´s) history.

[@template16]

An incredibly detailed and informative video. Add in the reference to Charles Tyson Yerkes and my evening is complete. I shall now ponder on the reason for naming 1938 stock. Thanks Jago.

[@SteveChambers]

Great video! My recollection is that the 1980s cut backs to the Bakerloo were at least in part caused by budget cuts at the GLC who controlled London Transport at the time.

[@General_Confusion]

I like the handy book on your book shelf, How to meet girls if your a train nerd.

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Ignoring the Euston connection because of costs.... Sounds familiar.

[@zork999]

I got excited about "Five Go On a Summer Adventure" (at 6:44) only to find out that was a GWR ad campaign from 2016 (in which it seems only Timmy got an adventure).

[@oc2phish07]

This route existed, and was my local one, when I lived in Kilburn as a child. A very interesting, and entertaining, video, Jago. And I would love to be able to get a Bakerloo Line train to Watford Junction again.

[@borderlands6606]

Your sign may well have been in place at the Harrow and Wealdstone crash of 1952. Although it says LMS, it took BR quite a while to rid itself of all grouping signage, especially smaller plates like the one in the video. Although I lived on the line in the late 70s and early 80s, I never got round to taking the tube to Watford. It seemed a very specialist requirement given the speed of alternative services.

[@modeltrainsandtracks]

Fascinating bookcase!

[@cjf97]

Yerkes makes an appearance. Yippee. I possibly should have given a spoiler alert first though. 😂 Thanks as ever J.

[@borassictime918]

What happen to Maida Vale on the line diagramme at 6:42? Is it a signal of distress, like flying your flag upside down? 🤔 😂

[@sardonicus1966]

You are the lowered platform to my compromised rolling stock 😂😂

[@peteryoung4957]

Thank you Jago. I found this video very educational. As a child I remember riding the red train to Watford Jct, with my parents.

[@raakone]

Also of interest, this line had two branches*, that were ALSO electrified to Yerkes standards. The two branches connected to Croxley Green in the middle of Watford (yes, the Croxley Green line that was going to be linked to the Metropolitan, but withheld funds and then a pandemic effectively ended this plan for now), and to Rickmansworth Church Street (which itself branched from the Croxley Green branch). While the junctions were designed so that trains from both branches could continue onto the main (DC) line in either direction (and they used Watford Joint Stock, which lasted longer on the branches than the main line), all Rickmansworth Church Street trains went to Watford Junction, and Croxley Green trains that went south ALL went to Euston (even though there were provisions allowing for some of them to go to Elephant and Castle). The two branches also connected to the Croxley Depot, which was shared with the Underground for stabling Bakerloo Line trains as well until 1982 (and it closed in 1984). The line's electrification north of Queen's Park was originally provided by a power station around Stonebridge Park, but it was closed in the 1960s. In the 1970s the shared section, as well as the rest of the DC line and North London Line, were converted from 4 rail to 3 rail to allow use with third rail stock designed for the ex-Southern lines. But sections shared with the Tube have the 4th rail bonded to the running rails, so both trains are kind of "correctly powered." In some other areas some 4th rail remains, but directly on the track bed (some "ancient" 4th rail can also be seen on the Northern City Line in some stations) All trains running on the shared section must be fitted with LU compatible tripcock gear, has been the rule since forever so that Bakerloo line trains didn't need a second person required in area without trainstops. *there was a third branch, from Harrow and Wealdstone to Stanmore Village, but it was awkwardly arranged, never electrified, and effectively done in by the Metropolitan branch (now Jubilee Line) to Stanmore, so it was truncated to Belmont in 1952, and then Beechinged in 1964.

[@kevinrayner5812]

I was going to add that Watford Junc to Watford High Street already existed. And they built a London facing junction for trains to run from Rickmansworth to Euston.

[@welcometowatford1483]

It's impossible to ignore the failure to extend the Metropolitan line into Watford Junction, by building a new viaduct and linking it to the old Croxley Green branch. Network Rail and TfL allowed costs to escalate to astounding levels for one bridge and two stations, and eventually Sadiq Khan pulled the plug.

[@sheltie777]

I recall years ago that someone posted an interesting video whereby the Watford Metropolitan Line was to be re-routed to Watford Junction, and also serve Vicarage Road football ground on the way (useful on match days). This would have solved that last problem of not going into the centre. However, I think this idea has been cancelled (or maybe just delayed) because of money. I have heard that a few times.

[@scythal]

I believe that may be our good old friend Geoff Marshall! And I believe the line was cancelled due to funding issues and disagreements between the Mayor of London and the local Mayor of Watford...

[@kevinrayner5812]

Now dead in the water.

[@MartieD]

Joolz and Jago are out for a London walk again in my feed👍

[@maestromanification]

Interesting video Jago. The DC line has an interesting history, until the 1980s it had a non standard signalling system which was kind of a simplified version of the Mirfield speed signalling system A few years ago I read an article in backtrack that LMS looked at building a similar line to the Watford DC line to Luton alongside the Midland mainline Cheers Russ

[@Russell_G]

One of my 1st signalling major works projects was the Watford -Euston DC lines, commissioned in 1989 as I recall.

[@gingertom2355]

@@Russell_G 12th December 1988 @8am to be precise. I remember it only too well for what happened elsewhere in London that fateful morning having left site, got home and switched on the TV before bedtime. Never forgotten.

[@maestromanification]

@@gingertom2355 I was nearing the end of my BR MP12 drivers course

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

@@Russell_G Have you got round to removing the old signal in the Up DC - Dn Fast 10' just north of Harrow yet? 😄

[@Russell_G]

@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Not me personally no..been retired for 6 years!!

[@jgodfrey546]

Bit late getting to this one thx to work...no surprise: it's another gem! Curious if in your research you learned how the electric parcel racks at the 8:20 mark worked..?😊 Cheers!

[@davidholt7883]

In 1980/81 I was going to the College of Lsw in Lancaster Gate every afternoon. I made a point of getting on a Bakerloo train at Watford High Street and cosying up with a book in a seat behind the drivers cab on the 38 stock until Paddington.

[@HarrowwInk]

funnily enough you released this right when the overground is currently running from stratford to watford junction lol

[@bishwatntl]

My local line. The difference in train heights and the compromised platform heights are a nuisance - especially when half my journeys are on the Metropolitan Line that has level boarding. The only saving grace for me is that having Bakerloo to Harrow increases the potential frequency of trains to and from Queens Park and Willesden. For me the lack of a Met Line service into the centre of Watford (either the proposed line that would have terminated in what is now a Wetherspoons pub, or the cancelled Croxley Link into Watford High St and WFJ) is a missed opportunity and a transit link that could have been very useful.

[@highpath4776]

I always thought the poor little wheels of tube stock would wear out and fall off being asked to go all the way to Watford once north of Harrow. Was it the fastest bit of tube railway line in the system ? ( Central I know goes of the the old GE line to Epping at a fair lick but not as much it seemed as the Watfords).

[@neilbain8736]

I wonder if this channel creates a herd instinct or something more ethereal. Normally this chap, Yerkes, is like a running gag, like DEATH in Practchett or Penge in Rankin's novels, and he's there and everyone's happy and I don't really think about him, cos he'll turn up, he always does, regular as clockwork or sennapods (clockwork sennapod- there's a penny for your thoughts). But this time, I was actively thinking, this is the sort of stuff Yerkes should be getting up to, like where is he, and then, cynical bugger that I am, I thought why am I thinking this. Then at 5:15 he turns up. And there's a few comments wondering about Yerkes too. Uncanny. But we find that he's a bit deceased and can't do much (more). If anyone wants to write a fan thingy of DEATH collecting Yerkes, here's a cue. I love these histories. Hopefully I actually learn something and if I ever visit London, I'll get an Oyster card, get lost, and maybe end up in Penge although I've never actually been there but they tell me it's nice.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Watford Junction is usual in that it's in the actual town it's a junction for.Most junction stations are outside of the town they are named after and a place where people change off the mainline to get to the place.

[@davidyork4898]

Watford Junction is the Junction for the St Albans Abbey Line.

[@kevinrayner5812]

@@davidyork4898 Watford Junction is not the original station. The original station building still exists hidden behind a wall on St Albans Road. I assume it was relocated when the St Albans line was buillt. There were plans to take the line all the way to Dunstable.

[@davidyork4898]

@@kevinrayner5812 Yes I know, I have seen pictures of the original station

[@jimmyedwards1639]

There used to be a housing estate near Carpender’s Park for US military personnel and their families stationed in the London area.

[@tonybennett9964]

I remember that time having gone there as I lived in Queens Park and latter Harlesden

[@peterhughes7099]

Well you’ve answered my often occurring question when on the NW main line heading for London or home why there are the “other trains” running to London from Watford apart from the express trains! 👍

[@brianfretwell3886]

No mention of the DC lines being branded as the Halequin Line in the Network SE days? I'm surprised!

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Best forgotten!

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

i can remember using the underground trans between watford high street and Carpenders Park back in the 70's.

[@teecefamilykent]

Hurrah sir, fantastic video.

[@SeverityOne]

Judging by the other comments, I wasn't the only one who became unaccountably excited when the Underground Electric Railways Company of London got mentioned. And I wasn't disappointed either.

[@PeterGaunt]

What an interesting bookcase you have 🙂

[@julianaylor4351]

Memories of Art College at Watford College now West Herts, the art school in an old school, down the St Albans Road, between 1979 and 1981, taking trains to Watford Junction, either to or from on Watford/Euston slow service or Bakerloo Line trains. Occasionally, because I had a BR season ticket from Wembley Central, rather than a tube season ticket like some of my college friends, I used the semi fast train from Wembley Cental to Watford Junction, if I was late or there was a serious delay, like engineering work and once a crash at Bushey. Once got a tube train back from Watford, because I had been at the Christmas party and was told that the next slow train, was cancelled; so last train at 11:30 pm or so in December 1979. The platform and track bed are still there, abandon and overgrown, I've seen them on Street View. ❤ The previous Bakerloo Line trains before 1938, were 1928 trains, so I'm not surprised they were scraped. I have vague memories of them as a very young child, they were slow, dirty, shabby and noisy. Terminating the Bakerloo trains at Harrow and Wealdstone, was more sensible, because all there is at Stonebridge Park is a bus stand, whereas at Harrow and Wealdstone, you can get the slow service to Watford Junction or the semi fast service to change to the mainline services at Watford's other platforms. So LT were being credibly stupid. Sidenote a local rather unreliable bus route the 79 from Edgware, now goes to Stonebridge Park station instead of Alperton.

[@andyhinds542]

I used to drive class 313 units on the "DC" between Watford and Euston, and Richmond and North Woolwich. It was soul crushing tedium.

[@davidbutterworth9609]

Lovely bookcase!

[@brenmuk]

Looking great. It will be interesting to see how fast things grow. Will you be installing a pool?

[@Tonydjjokerit]

They are planning to do so again Jago!

[@tsungiraichiramba]

Class Jago as usual

[@keef71]

No mention of the BR cl.501 EMUs, introduced in 1957(?) which ran on the DC lines, originally on the LT 4th rail system but later converted to BR 3rd rail. Worked Watford-Euston and also Broad St. via the NLL. Later, Broad St.-Richmond. They lasted until the mid-'80s until replaced by cl.416 2EPB and cl.313

[@davidyork4898]

And the GE units which were still running in the early 60s I prefered those to the 313s better seats and you could still get to see out of a window .