When the Underground Went To the Seaside

[@michaelcharles4797]

I grew up in Benfleet in the 50s. I'm fairly certain that the BR trains on the Fenchurch Street line still stopped at East Ham at that time. At Tilbury there used to be a rail extention down to the wharf where the passenger liners used to dock. The old customs hall is still there, right next to the ferry that still runs across the river to Gravesend.

[@richardbrown9911]

The reason for the demise of this service was that the ancient electric engines used by the District had mostly failed, and by 1939 there were only two left. One took a direct hit early in the War, and the service was therefore not sustainable. These engines dated right back to the times when the big railway companies had running rights over underground lines in certain places, and therefore used steam engines. There was starting to be a lot of consumer resistance to smoky filthy tunnels, so Government required the big companies to buy these electric engines for use underground. The other side effect of running LTSR coaches through District tunnels was caused by the toilets in the coaches. Like all railway toilets of the time, they flushed through a hole in the floor and so, to avoid nasty smells, the world's first retentive toilets were invented for them. There would have been great relief in the LTSR sidings after 1939 - they didn't have to clean the toilets out any more.

[@Hammondfreak]

I can understand why LT withdrew services to Southend. If they had kept it with four rail upgrade perhaps Brighton would have eventually wanted the Northern line to be extended from Morden. What a ride that would have been !!!

[@oldplucker1]

Southend was the south end of the village of Prittlewell in the 1700’s but because of its close location to London and miles of beaches became a seaside resort. Stagecoaches, Trains and Steamships brought holidaymakers from London. The Pier was one of several on the east coast including Clacton and Walton which paddle steamers visited. There was also a service to Kent to Hern Bay, Margate and Ramsgate. My Father lived in Southend working as a portrait artist and actor with his own theatre company and often took the steamer to Hern Bay and back.

[@Peasmouldia]

I liked the LTS route as a kid 'cause it was still steam then. Passing a BR standard as we got off at Benfleet was truly awe inspiring as a 5yr old. Sometimes, engineering work would divert your train over the Tilbury route coming back from "Sarffend", which seemed to take forever for us kids. Bear in mind, it would often be non-corridor stock. My Mum travelled back to London during a Luftwaffe raid. She said it was raining incendiaries, but they didn't stop, and just went for it. No tunnels for refuge, I guess. Nice one JH, ta.

[@physiocrat7143]

The route had its own special three cylinder tank engines built because the LMS did not consider the route was worth electrifying.

[@glenatkinson1230]

Wow. Thanks for the memories. I can only imagine the horror but probably a bit of adventure for the young'uns. My Grandfather was in Royal Navy during WW2 and heard stories from my Da. Greetings from Canada.

[@timsully8958]

Gosh! My stomping ground! 😀 As far as I know, the water tower at East Ham has probably been there since the year dot as it is on the original alignment. Funnily enough, I use it when travelling eastbound (down) to pop a bit of brake on to slow down for a speed restriction around East Ham depot 😉 Those abandoned platforms are actually used as refuges to allow passengers to alight if there is a major fault.😳 The current tracks used by c2c were added later to accommodate the increase in traffic after the developments around Barking, Becontree, Hornchurch and Dagenham. Originally the LTS stopped at Hornchurch, Dagenham (now Dagenham East) and Upney, which is why additional platforms were built on the new ‘fast’ lines. West of Barking, WestHam did not have LTS platforms but the other stations still had a stopping service. LTS ran a shuttle out of Plaistow bay platform to Fenchurch Street at peak times to ease congestion (it was where the main LTS engine shed was found). My father in law can remember mainline services still stopping at East Ham in the 50s, and the now-abandoned bay at East Ham which still ran trains via a long abandoned curve onto the North London line to Broad Street and St Pancras. I think the change of engines may have come from the original layout at Barking, i.e. before the flyovers were built. The District electric platforms lead into a dead end depot and served what are now platforms 4 and 5. Thus if they used the electric engines into Barking they couldn’t change engines. Mainline LTS (i.e. via Upminster) services then ran through what is now platform 2 and 6. If you want top info, try the books by Peter Kay. I have 7 of them all about the LTS and it is a wonderful source of everything LTSR 👍

[@Ribeirasacra]

Me too. Lived near Barking Station. Grandparents near to Heathway. Always been interested in history, a little interested in railways too. Never recall seeing the supports benches etc which were of the old companies. Southend Central station has always seemed to be neglected. A brief glance here seemly shows not much has changed. Shame as some architectural details are superb.

[@timsully8958]

@@Ribeirasacra: yeah I live in Leigh and Central is a shadow of what it once was. Even when I first lived down this way in the early 80s it was a bit grotty. Then they demolished platforms 5 &6 and sold it all off, and then they built the glass and steel thing that looks like a greenhouse which all in all mean it looks a bit haphazard. A bit like London Bridge did until recently (albeit without the dogshit brown 1970s tiling 😅😂🤣). I am lucky because from the cab, I get to see things to which just flash past you in the carriage 😎🍀 The whole line is a bit cobbled together:the reason you have the tight bend at Bow Junction is because the line we now use via Bromley, Plaistow and Upton Park was actually a later short-cut installed to divert trains off the Liverpool Street line between there and “Little Ilford”, which is the junction where you find EastHam depot 😜👍

[@andrewfrancis3591]

From what the old drivers told me the water tower at Barking was to service the steam powered engineering trains that run on the District until the early 70's. So may not be that old comparatively speaking. It's small size supports this.

[@highpath4776]

Plaistow depot, the land became a Car Dealers, I presume it is now housing

[@timsully8958]

@Andrew Francis: the original depot to the immediate north of the station remained as a garage even after the buildings were demolished and rebuilt in the same foot print. The later depot- which was to the south of the railway and the other side of what we call”Sewer Bridge” to Plaistow station- is now occupied by a sport and leisure facility that also accommodates East London Rugby Club. The goods yard which was on the south side of the line and sat immediately alongside he London-bound ‘up’ platform was razed and is now occupied by housing

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

England of the 1800s must have been a fascinating and magical place.

[@brad_mcallister]

21 views in 2 minutes at 8am... That's an achievement in itself, the power of interesting content

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@JagoHazzard]

:(

[@turbo.panther]

8am in London is 6pm where I am, and lots of other times for lots of other places............

[@JagoHazzard]

No worries, I’m not offended - I’m just being silly.

[@ntsst3]

Its 330am here in Pennsylvania USA

[@TheWoodlandpixie]

I'm really enjoying all your videos, you have a great way of presenting things, a good voice, and I like your sense of humour. I once found a derelict line, it was the best thing I ever found whilst exploring. There was an ancient beautiful wooden train carriage, loads of old machinery and tons of old metal signs waist deep in a huge shed, just closed off and forgotten. Spent all day there being dangerous/ looking at everything. It's probably knocked down now as this was over 20 years ago.

[@rhyslindup5974]

The pier also had a steamer service to a town called Herne Bay in kent.

[@finestadversary2060]

Herne Bay 🤔 An international listener going out on a limb here BUT that sounds like a name of a legal case to do with the coronation of Edward VII? I prob got the last part wrong.

[@lordyhgm9266]

Live near Herne bay and you can still see the tourism industry that the line provided, same with Margate.

[@rhyslindup5974]

@@lordyhgm9266 oh nice I live in Herne Bay it self.

[@rhyslindup5974]

@@finestadversary2060 ah no the town has named by it being between the small village of Herne and a Bay.

[@teletubby6614]

I like hern bay also whitstable is very nice

[@Jo1066milton]

Very interesting. I live in Southend on Sea. The line used to be known as "The Fenchurch Street Line" by locals until C2C was invented. I didn't know about the underground connection. We're still "The Eastenders' playground" and have hundreds of thousands of London visitors every summer.

[@mossygreen2790]

It was the eastenders beach holiday (1day, if they were lucky?). I was told by my nan many moons ago, that the District line only had a few stops. After East Ham, next stop Upminster(?), then on to Southend(?) So no barking(possibly?), no upney, heathway, D.east, E.park, Hx, etc? Now whether, I have totally remembered this correctly, I don't know, as it was a long time ago? But I was asking her if she ever used bathing machines, lol.

[@steeveedee4307]

When listening to Jago I'm always struck by the thought that he must be a right laugh to listen to down the pub.

[@gbeeken1964]

I worked for a lot of years on the railways , all of East Anglia and London. I love seeing my old stations I used to look after.

[@birdbrain4445]

It's an interesting thing; one of those oddities I sort of file away in the same place as 'when the Bakerloo Line went to Watford', 'when the Met went to Aylesbury' and 'when the Central Line went to Ongar'. Of course this wasn't a regular passenger service like that, this was an express excursion service for the holiday season - but still. A part of me does wish these lines went as far as out as they once did, but oh well. Great video!

[@petermartin3818]

My father worked at May & Bakers at Dagenham East, and the company used to have a large social section which organised factory family outings and recall catching a works special for a Christmas showing of The Wizard of Oz Ice Show in London from what was then the unused ex LTSR (BR) platform in circa 1960. The special went to Upminster where the new diesel loco ran round the train to return right road, but broke down in the process. The train turned up late to pick us up hauled by a black 5 steam loco from Shoebury or Tilbury shed! It was in a dishevelled state, and never got the number, but it was experiencing troubles of its own. The train being steam heated we couldn't see much as the windows were all steamed up and it was snowing out side! There was another water tower at Upminster which remained at the end of the Romford platform, but I believe it went some years ago. Plaistow Sheds became a Volkswagen Distributors main dealers workshops, but don't know if the buildings still exist. Probably a block of flats! As the LTS became part of the LMS regime, there were apparently St. Pancras / Southend Specials utilising District Line electric locos, probably changing to steam haulage at Upminster or Barking?

[@zane990]

I've never been to London or even the UK, but this was still a very interesting video. You have a good voice for documentaries, I think. And good storytelling.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Great video as always!Imagine if they built 4th rail electrification all the way to Southend! We might have seen the S-7 Stock specced out differently more like the S-8. Or even without the 4th rail a dual voltage S-Stock. Some alternate realty has that! Maybe the same one that the Bakerloo runs to Hayes in!

[@YourLordMobius]

Are we covering rail accidents soon?

[@anumba1]

Wrthhjbfv 🔉🔁😥😦😧😷😶😝😷😜😝😗😦😗🐓🐐🐱🐑 :-\ :-\ :'( 📧📧🔂🔄🔂🔂📧🔎🔆🔄🔂🔂🔂fg bhai v gang njujjhhgghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@buggs9950]

_Alternative_ reality, alternative. You are not American.

[@keithspillett]

Or Vivarail's D-stock conversions of course........

[@buggs9950]

@Strawberry7Lynn For the Forth bridge obvs..

[@DangerousDac]

Blimey, an almost complete overview of my train, uni and commuter lines I've taken in my life in one video.

[@RobertMitchell-qh5jg]

Brilliant as always The coaches used on this service were probably the first in this country to have retention toilets ( for obvious reasons !) . One of them ended up as a holiday bungalow at Dungeness ( visible from the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway). But it was destroyed in a fire in the late 1970s. Keep your films comeing keeps me going in these strange times !

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks! Didn’t know about the bungalow thing, interesting! I’m planning to film down there next year.

[@Natterlee]

I think the retention toilets were actually locked out of use whilst on District metals. Seems a little bizarre

[@johnsamu]

Very interesting and good storytelling. One remark though, when you're telling something like "these stations are very close to eachother" it would be helpful to show a little map to point out where these mentioned spots are. Unless you're a citydweller you really don't know where these stations/streets are and it's hard to imagine the situation. It's very interesting to learn about all the history behind all these old facades and (sometimes abandoned) buildings.

[@ianmoseley9910]

johnsamu There does seem to be some confusion over the location of Whitechapel St Mary's - some maps show it as having entrances almost next to Aldgate East but older maps show it as more or less where the East London Mosque is now.

[@whyyoulidl]

I found it fun actually hunting down the disused St. Mary's station with street view and pausing/rewinding Jago's vid. Took me a little while, including the inevitable distractions of viewing other 'abandoned stations posts'. A great way to surf the evening away...

[@ianmoseley9910]

whyyoulidl and?

[@lesfez1875]

Remember as a kid the church club took us to Southend, special excursion steam train from Upper Holloway to Southend via Barking. Got lost and handed myself in to police that wore white helmets in those days (1960/61/62) in Southend. They came back for me and had to catch the electric train Southend to Fenchurch St home. Exciting to even be on a train then and never knew the District ran to Southend.

[@martynnotman3467]

The allure of possibly seeing from a mile away a lady scandalously showing her toes must have been a great draw. 😂

[@wendyrual7179]

I now feel the need to sit on a Tilbury line bench 🤗 💕 Tea for 2d!

[@alexritchie4586]

'By the 19th Century, Southend had become a fashionable seaside resort.' (Deliberate pregnant pause) 😂

[@MrGreatplum]

Glad it wasn’t just me that spotted that!

[@stevesalvage1089]

Another very interesting film , didn't realize , would explain my grand parents moving to Southend pre war from bow road and returning to London often , thank you !

[@marcconyard5024]

Fascinating video for me as I have a family connection with relations living at Tilbury, Benfleet and Hadley. I spent some time in the area back in 1998. I was lucky to ride and photograph the Class 302 slam door sets not long before their withdrawal.

[@IanPhillipsWildlife]

I like the idea of taking a boat from London Bridge to Southend. Another great video.

[@anthonyfmoss]

As I write, over a thousand upvotes to one down and hopefully that was a mistake! One of the highest ratios I can recall. A testament to the fascinating content we get from Jago!

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

Crossrail, 100 years early! Great video, I hadn't realised the District services to Southend ran for such a long time, I'd assumed it was a sort term service.

[@highpath4776]

I thought some were Sundays only

[@Paul020253]

Thanks Jago, that explains all those posters you can buy from the thirties offering District Line trips to Southend. I always thought it was a through ticket and you had to change. Great video!!!!

[@frasermitchell9183]

From Fraser Mitchell, husband of Leslie Some time in the 50s when me and my brother were staying at Grandma's at Putney, she took us out for the day to Southend. I can't remember the detail of the journey, but obviously we had to change somewhere. We started on the District Line at Putney Bridge Station. We also had a trip on the pier railway as well. A good day out all round !

[@EssexWolf1993]

Southend-on-Sea is my hometown! 😁

[@moleyofsouthend-on-sea8837]

Me Too! I still live here in Southend !! :-)

[@TimMiddleton]

me too!

[@D5300noah]

My home town is a place called Lichfield

[@Cloudman572]

You can still get underground trains to the seaside in the UK- the Isle of Wight uses old London underground train as their only stock and runs to about 5 seaside stations, there is also a link from them to a good small heritage steam railway on the island..

[@annfarmer7966]

Fascinating, informative and very evocative - many thanks!

[@simonjames2974]

Ceased in 1939 due to the threat and then outbreak of WW2. The water tower at East Ham is a survivor from the service which once ran from there to Gospel Oak before it was diverted to Barking. Some of the coaches from the through train which were jointly owned by the District and Midland Railway were sold to the Army and ended up on the Shropshire and Montgomery shire Railway when the army took that over in WW2.

[@Dr_KW]

Jago you are a true gem love watching your videos before I fall asleep, thank you for putting out quality content so often recently

[@donnadaffy]

This channel is my nerdy little secret shhhhh

[@stephenpegum9776]

We promise not to tell anyone Donna !! 😎😱😱

[@whyyoulidl]

+1

[@ycrep1993]

I just found this channel and I'm not even British, still can't stop watching 😅

[@catinarage5538]

5 months on and over 100k subscribers! Guess everyone's secret is out.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

Define ‘nerdy’…

[@martinsawyer109]

Great vid as usual, gov’nr. About 45 years ago I was working as a guard/motorman on LT out of Hainaut. One line we ran was the Epping to Ongar shuttle, Just a few stations, including Blake hall & Theyton Bois. (Sorry, not sure about the spelling of that). It was closed & sold off long ago of course to a stream restoration society, but bearing mind how Ongar has grown & continues to grow, it’s a decision TFL are probably regretting. How about a video on the history of the Epping to Ongar? It needs to be done... and nobody can tell it like you can tell it!

[@2H80vids]

I know the E&O heritage line are working really hard to get access into Epping Tube station. Has Ongar grown 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 much? Would through trains, maybe peak hours only, pay anyone? It's an interesting thought and could be a 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 cash boost to the heritage line. It cost the Swanage Railway a fortune but they managed it; doing the same, in a London suburb, could be a license to print money. 😁 Even if through trains are a step too far, an interchange at Epping makes a whole lot of sense. Commuters all week and visitors to the steam railway at the weekends. ✔

[@ferstuck37]

After school used to get on the train too epping, from Debden! then ride the steam train to Ongar, there was a little cafe there were you could get a cup of tea and coconut macaroon and 5 cigs, great experience on the steam train and the smell of the steam! Fantastic. Thanks for the history lesson Jago.

[@martinsawyer109]

Thanks 2H8, didn’t know E&O we’re still trying to get into Epping. Good luck to them! That would really open up vistas. At least there is a precedent. I think that so far Ongar population has only grown a little, but I know that there is considerable interest from local building firms to expand the town. Given the present climate for affordable housing in a nice town, I think it’s only a matter of time. But well done E&O, at least the line’s being run. And there’s a lot of history. Near Blake Hall on the single track it was still possible to see a long line of grooves across a dozen or so of the wooden sleepers made by the crash landing of a twin engined war plane in WW2. Apparently the ruined engines were still somewhere in the surrounding woods, but I haven’t seen them, so cannot be sure.

[@2H80vids]

@@LiveFromLondon2 Interesting, I thought there was a physical break. So much the better then. That means it's 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 a "paperwork" issue, rather than anything needing built for the usual millions. Not sayinmg it would be easy, just easier. 😁 Didn't realise that LT heritage stock visited the E&O either. Being 600 miles away, I only know what I read in the railway press.

[@schwarzalben88]

I think the District line Southend trains were withdrawn on the outbreak of WWII, and of course never resumed post war. I’m a retired BR worker and I still get free travel over the District line to Upminster ( I can’t remember off hand where from at the London end.) The District line basically took over the local LTS service as far as Barking from the LTS, that’s when the Tilbury line platforms were closed at places like West Ham.

[@ianmoseley9910]

schwarzalben88 I think there were occasional excursions services from the Tilbury line platforms in the 50s

[@sewing9434]

Thanks for this! All the permutations and combinations of trains that ran over the London & Blackwall; or its offshoot, the London, Tilbury & Southend are mind-boggling. Add this to the long list of trains that ran to exotic destinations! (In this context, it's not Southend that's the exotic destination, but Ealing Broadway! :) )

[@__-jt4tv]

Very cool! One future episode as a successor to the Slap Fight for the Circle Line could be the Fenchurch Fallout when the Midland yoinked the LTSR from under the nose of the GER.. who promptly blocked the LTSR's new locomotives from using the station... And other hijinks!

[@L4LTVuk]

As a kid in the 60s I regularly used to get the Eastern National Bus from Wood Green to Southend - it took a couple of hours and I'd play the only electronic games machines with my pocket money on the arcades at the seafront. In fact it was only one game - a submarine shooting down a trawler. Happy Days! That would be another video entirely.

[@neilthehermit4655]

Thaks again Jago. Learnt something new today. More please.

[@Guninush]

It's great to start the day with a Jago Hazzard video

[@nightlurker]

There you go Jago, as the comments on this video (and others) show you really touch the world with your channel.🚂🚇🌍

[@2H80vids]

Also, the really low number of "thumbs down". Pointless, childish things but unusual to see so few. He must be doing something right. 😁👍

[@david-jackson-wills]

Great video Jago, I never knew that info about the district line. I used to live in Wickford which of course goes to Southen Victoria, but I worked for years in Southend at the Zero 6 Nightclub!! it was here that I met my mate Neville who was from Melbourne, and the reason that I came to live in Australia where I am now with my wife and 2 gorgeous kids!! so Southend on Sea and the Zero 6 nightclub completely changed my life for the better!!

[@wilfridwibblesworth2613]

Ahoy there Jago! - At 0:13 you can see the base of the NLA tower in Croydon and I heard that needed to be such a strange shape because there was a little old lady who refused to sell her house when the plans went through so they just had to build the tower around it or something. It might be an urban myth but what isn't nowadays!

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

Interesting that another ‘nail house’ may have left its mark there.

[@MrGreatplum]

Another fantastic video - and a momentous one for me as I have now watched every single one of Jago’s videos! 😀👍🏻

[@DavidB5501]

Lovely at 6:26 to see a painted sign for tea at 2d per cup! Since that is before decimalisation in 1971 it is at least 50 years old. Unless some hipster put it in recently just for fun.

[@hpot53]

Watching your videos keeps me from being so homesick for England!

[@flinthillsmodelrailway]

excellent video - i live on the C2C line so was good to see why the district line ends at Upminster

[@timblacker37]

You are, in my opinion, a latter day Jonathan Meades. Not sure if you are familiar with him, but he made a series of fascinating documentaries on a variety of topics in the early 90’s called ‘Abroad in Britain’ and his documentaries were delivered in an absolutely deadpan style with complex language, laced with caustic wit and surreal interludes. He was an absolute genius, and take it as a compliment that I think you deliver your documentaries in a very similar style to him.

[@JagoHazzard]

Many thanks!

[@hatjodelka]

He's not 'was', he still is! He lives in France now.

[@amethyst7084]

I can't remember where I first heard of the District Line's service to Southend. I had even heard that in the west, the District Line had run from Windsor. I think the District Line should be re-run to Southend immediately 😃👍🏾 Thanks very much for another great video, Jago. 🚇

[@paulyp9163]

Excellent video. I live in Barking and always wondered about the unused platforms along the District Line.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I would imagine if the District Line went all the way to Southend-on-Sea. But now you got c2c and Greater Anglia providing services from London to Southend. With c2c trains from London Fenchurch Street to Southend Central and Shoeburyness and Greater Anglia trains from London Liverpool Street to Southend Airport (for London Southend Airport) and Southend Victoria. Plus I live near to both lines and Southend-on-Sea.

[@JamesCalbraith]

Reminds me of how Kyoto's underground tunnels are also used by suburban railways, so you can get the "tube" all the way to Nara.

[@lzh4950]

8 out of the 10 lines in Tokyo's subway are directly connected to commuter rail lines too (1 of them ( _Tokyu Dentoshi_ ) in turn connects to Yokohama's subway line as well). There're also seaside-bound _Odakyu_ RomanceCar long-distance trains operating out of some of Tokyo's subway stations ( _Hibiya_ line IIRC). & then they're also some downtown subway-like stations & tunnels operated exclusively by commuter rail operators themselves (e.g. _Keio_ in Tokyo, _Hankyu_ & _Keihan_ in Kyoto)

[@MarkBrennan]

The 'Tea 2d a cup sign' at 6:23 is at East Ham station.

[@richard-riku]

This is so similar to the metro system in Tokyo. Many of the trains which make up the metro system in the centre of the city continue well into the suburbs on lines run by suburban railway companies, even having the same express only stopping pattern in the central section. The Fukutoshin line immediately comes to mind.

[@PsychicLord]

Perhaps you could do a similar video about the District Line service to Windsor.

[@srfurley]

PsychicLord I was just about to say the same thing.

[@sabinebogensperger1928]

Tell me more, tell me more! 👍📹

[@ginganinja93]

As someone who grew up local to Windsor, wishing this line had stuck around, plz do it 😂😂

[@grazeme]

Yes Please 👍 The Time the Queen nearly took the tube to Windsor!

[@1963TOMB]

It's a shame that the Northern Line never got to Skegness

[@2H80vids]

Skegness is maybe pushing it a bit but, if you include the Northern City branch through Finsbury Park, you could reach all sorts of places, then and now. If the Underground/main line junction at Finsbury Park had happened when originally planned, who knows where through trains might have reached? 😁

[@ramblingrob4693]

love how you find the smallest detail which still exists. Ive seen the water tower but the rest of the detail never took any notice

[@paulbennett772]

The reason that the service was truncated in 1939 should be obvious. Hitler would only have needed to invade Southend, then take the train right into the heart of London.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

The Southend Corridor Express service was a casualty of WW2 - it was withdrawn right at the start of the war and as far as I am aware none of the rolling stock survives. Also withdrawn at the same time were the former Metropolitan Railway Pullman Cars which provided freshly cooked light refreshments and the through GWR trains which used a special fleet of 'City' coaches that swapped between steam & electric haulage at Paddington station. Happily two of the coaches survive and one has been restored so that it can sometimes see passenger service at the Didcot Railway Centre. But unfortunately all the of articulated coaches which were built for this service have been lost.

[@spiccybaby]

That was great! I'd love to see a piece about the GWR 9700 Class Pannier Tank engines and their goods trains from Paddington to Smithfield Market via the Hammersmith & City line. They carried on until July 1962.

[@JagoHazzard]

They do crop up briefly in an upcoming video...

[@salentino]

Your channel and content are my favorite find of the week. Looking forward to my next trip to London. Hopefully in 2021. Stay safe and keep up the great work.

[@elizabethspedding1975]

With the right weather in the summer it could be great.

[@jameshanson5933]

Hello from Vancouver, BC, excellent channel.

[@nicktecky55]

Here's a little tip: if a post-war public policy decision appears to be odd, look for the cold dead hand of HM Treasury. As part of the route was run using steam, they wouldn't have wanted their money leaking into supporting it, which could have happened given the level of public subsidy needed to replace the stocks of damaged and knackered buses. There was also an internal conflict with the LT Green bus services, including the Green Line express coach services. Of course the same Treasury never supplied the readies for the proposed motorway network to be built for those same services to run on, but that's a different story. As ever, Yes Minister provides an excellent primer!

[@highpath4776]

By 1948 both BR and LT were executives of the British Transport Commission, charged with economy and eliminating wasteful duplication. It made sense for fast Southends to stop at just a few stations where the district was, and london wages for drivers meant taking that beyond the LPTB boundary would become difficult.

[@ballyhigh11]

​@Hansel Franzen Without wanting to get too political I'd say that was due to the rise of Reagonomics in the '80s. I always find it incredible that Washington DC built an entire metro system in a couple of decades and that it opened (only just!) within my lifetime. Just seems so unthinkable for a public work on that scale to happen now sadly. I also find it really sad at what a terrible state the Washington Metro has fallen into :((

[@noelbowman8052]

Well I never knew that! Fascinating . thank you

[@wildswan60021]

A little point about the water tower at East Ham. Whilst not 100% sure, l believe this was actually a LT water tower and was used by LT service locos. l lived at Plaistow as a kid and remember the LT Panniers passing my bedroom window in the "Wee Small Hours", long after BR steam had disappeared. I remember being totally amazed. I think there was a similar water tower at Upminster. I understand the one at East Ham survives due to the difficulty of removing it so close to the C2C overheads. Really enjoy both your videos and sly humour...Straight outta Brompton! Love it!

[@JagoHazzard]

Ah, interesting! That certainly makes sense.

[@nigelsalway495]

My favourite line on the London Underground. When visiting from Canada, we stayed with my aunt who lived close to the Upney station. As a railway fan, I picked up the LTSR monogram very quickly. With respect to the service to Southend ending in 1939, perhaps this was a war-time economy. The plan might have been to restore service when the war ended, but it didn't happen for one reason or another.

[@likklej8]

Did it have a Buffet car as the Met line trains into Baker St did? When train spotting in the early sixties we took the Met train from Harrow on the Hill to Neasden to do the shed.

[@michaeljames4904]

The allure of brass bands playing tiddly-om-pompom was considerable.

[@TheWoodlandpixie]

Tis the only way one should walk along the prom prom prom

[@2H80vids]

@@TheWoodlandpixie 🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵 🍦🍨

[@Punnery]

You'd think a train service named after Tilbury would have open-air carriages, but maybe that's just me. Fun video!

[@harryunderhill5604]

Brilliant, never heard someone say LTSR so much. Great to see so many familiar places. -Regards

[@ianmoseley9910]

At East Ham, at the end of the east-bound platform, you can see where there was a bay for the trains that ran round the curve to join the line through Woodgrange Park. On the map you can see where Shakespeare. Crescent curved to follow the line.

[@majorbloodnok6659]

I always really liked the look of the 4-4-2 Tilbury tanks

[@stuarthall6631]

Thank you, Jago. Another good watch! And, there I was upon seeing the title thinking that this video was going to be about tube trains upon the Isle of Wight!!

[@DAVCOUGAR]

You used to be able to run trains from london liverpool st via Shoreditch then via new cross onto the soutern.

[@warweezil2802]

As a District line guard we used to joke about how nice it would be to do a “Rounder” to Southend.. that would be a duty I’d enjoy

[@00Zy99]

I just realized that this was operational at the same time as the through services the GWR ran along the Met. Imagine a service running through on both ends. Crossrail a century early!

[@ccityplanner1217]

I would like to see an annual special between Southend Central and Windsor Central. Run it with an electrostar, attaching a tube maintenance locomotive between Barking and Ealing Broadway, and a diesel at Slough.

[@QuarioQuario54321]

It would be nice if it came back. At one point the metropolitan wanted to run trains from Manchester to Paris

[@samanli-tw3id]

A subway between Manchester, London and Paris?

[@QuarioQuario54321]

@@samanli-tw3id It never happened and barley any of it would be underground. I’m not entirely sure where the link between the sub surface lines and mainline was meant to go. Or where it would enter the channel tunnel. The terminal would be Paris Gare Du Nord, as metropolitan line trains are way too big to fit in Paris metro tunnels.

[@philipdove6987]

Good film, must be very good for me to overcome my northern prejudice for me to want to watch it. The rustic bench you credited to the Midland railway was a design used by many Railways, and bench providers. I have an example that was used on the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway (later GCR) at Chesterfield

[@JagoHazzard]

Interesting! I should investigate that.

[@paulinacyganek7440]

I've been in Southend a few fays ago and I saw some abandoned platforms along the way when I was traveling by train.

[@adrianbaker5916]

The LT&SR also linked Upminster and Romford, although the line still exists it is now part of London Overground

[@Ramtamtama]

For 35-odd years the Metropolitan ran out to Brill, on the Bucks-Oxon border, some 45 miles from Charing Cross

[@jacobphelan790]

Love the vids man. Very interesting. Keep up the good work

[@michaeldwyer3352]

Entertaining report, but please supply maps for non-Londoners. My July 1922 copy of Bradshaws Guide shows that this service ran daily including Sundays throughout the year (see pp 650-652 Midland, London, Tilbury and Southend). A typical through service from Ealing Broadway to Southend took about 2 hours: eg weekdays depart Ealing 9.36, arrive Southend 11.35, arrive Shoeburyness 11.40. Passengers from Ealing would have needed firm bladder control unless (as one of your subscribers hints) there were on board retaining toilets.

[@stephenbrasher]

that water tower is an amazing survival.

[@00Zy99]

Fun fact-Verney Junction to Shoeburyness is roughly 94 miles. If you took over the Buckinghamshire Railway (which might have been better suited as an MR extension), you would get 115 miles.

[@colinbeaney7230]

Superb infomation

[@PierreWheaton]

Can't beat classic bone dry British humor. 👍🏼

[@dodgydruid]

It was common for folks in the early days of the east London line to nip down to New Cross and pick up a train to the coast that way as well when the east London line was still connected to Liverpool St. I can still remember looking through at Shoreditch to see the Liverpool St trains running past the gap there and if memory serves me right there was another St Mary's just to the right of the old gap which platforms were extant long long after closure. Hey any chance of a vid on the pre Southern Railway overhead wires you can still see some scant evidence of on the run down from Victoria?

[@rogerwhittle2078]

Ian Watson. I've always wondered about that. I know it was very early in the history of electric trains on the Southern and I've often wondered why it was discontinued, in favour of the now limiting 3rd rail 750vdc? It is possible to see the bases of the long gone overhead catenary, next to the track around Balham Station and (I think) one or two near Streatham Common station. I believe it was quite low voltage - circa 700 - 1100 volts and (even more doubtful) was direct current. So, come on Jago; Southern Railway overhead electric?

[@xander1052]

who's brilliant idea was it to disconnect the ELL from liverpool street? surely a connection like that would be excellent to have.

[@2H80vids]

@@sihollett Interesting stuff. 😁👌👍

[@2H80vids]

There 𝑚𝑎𝑦 have been some government involvement there; there certainly was with the sub-surface Underground lines. A judge ruled in favour of the third/fourth rail system, rather than overhead, at the time when the Met and the District were electrifying the "Circle Line". I doubt whether overhead, even on the cut & cover sections, would have been a great idea. Whether compatibility with the Underground lines was considered (Richmond, New Cross etc) I don't know. Also, there were more connections between Underground and main lines back in the day. The original, 1863 line was connected at various points so, some compatibility might have been considered sensible. How different things could have been if the SE&CR and LSWR had gone with overhead electrification. Even in today's fragmented railway, the "Southern" is still somewhat separate from the rest of the network. Over to you Jago. 😁

[@assortedpov]

Do any Southeastern trains even still stop at New Cross? I lived in New Cross for a year and a half for university, until this pandemic started and I move back with family in Folkestone. Going between visiting family in Kent and back to New Cross, I tended to catch the HS1 to St Pancras, then northern line to London Bridge, then Southern rail to New Cross Gate. Couple of times last winter, the HS1 line was closed due to flooding and I had to catch the old slow Southeastern line, the trains went straight through New Cross without stopping. But perhaps it had to make up for time, or it depends which time of day you catch it?

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

I think as the Tube became more government run and less privately owned, more focus stated to be put on services within the limits of the city whose transport budget ever more subsidized the lines operation, from being a railway that happened to be in London and Underground, The Tube was becoming a London service run for and by London...

[@bobuk5722]

Hi Jago, I like the dry humour. Brings a smile to my face. Wonderfully interesting series you are doing and clearly a lot of research goes inypto making it. Many thanks. BobUK.

[@annjakeman9571]

Leon Sea 😆 great video & narration 👍

[@maedero05]

Geof Marshall got a short video with a brief mention on the western end of the metropolitain line watford, amersham, chessham and little beyond to Quaintain road, Bril, Verney junction maybe nice to go little deeper on these most western edges of the former tube network ! Where they steam holded allway´s wich frequency served, how long they lasted ? Would be nice before all sites are gone !

[@rogergregory7190]

Hi Jago You might be interested to learn that I took a special steam train from Hatch End direct to Southend on Saturday 20th June 1953 to attend a special Air Show featuring the Kings Cup and many vintage light aircraft. We witnessed a tragic mid-air crash between a Percival Proctor G-AKWV and G-AIKJ in which one of the pilots (from my home town) was killed. I still remember seeing parts of his plane fluttering down.

[@snapperduck]

I have an original 1939 tube map which has a box showing the stations to Southend. I guess that there was a plan to reopen the line post war.