Description

Get the Driver’s Eye View from Rayners Lane to Cockfosters and Acton Town to Heathrow aboard 1973 stock trains, with expert commentary by Rob Curling. We also pay a visit to Aldwych, the terminus of the short branch which closed in 1994.

Because the Uxbridge branch is covered by the Metropolitan Main Line production (code VO1413) this Piccadilly Driver’s eye view begins at Rayners Lane – in the reversing siding.

Our 1973 stock train, recently refurbished to look like new, takes you right through the centre of the capital and out into the North London suburbs. Emerging from tunnel at Arnos Grove our train continues to Cockfosters in Hertfordshire.

The section between ActonTown and Hammersmith is unique in being the only tube line to feature express running – leaving the parallel District line to provide the stopping service.

We then go back to Acton Town and join another 1973 stock train for a drivers’s eye view of the Heathrow Airport branch. This line, much of which was built by the District Railway, has another unique feature for a tube line, a quaduple track section from Acton Town to Northfields.

As well as seeing four closed stations from the driver’s cab we also pay a visit to Aldwych, the terminus of the short branch which ran from Holborn but closed in 1994. If you ever wondered about the chequered history of this anacronistic branch, the historical and contemporary narrative will explain all.

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