Q stock restoration
We’re restoring a unique piece of transport history - the last three 1930s Q stock Underground carriages
Introduction
We are restoring the last three 1930s Q stock Underground carriages, known as ‘cars’.
Q stock trains ran on the District line from the dark days of the Second World War through to the swinging sixties before being retired from service.
A team of volunteers are working with our restoration experts to get the last three 1930s Q stock cars back up and running.
Keep us on track
Campaign totaliser
Your donations could help us by...
£5 lightbulb
Light up a 1930s fluted glass lampshade. The train needs 250 lightbulbs.
£15 Poster
Decorate each car with reproduction posters appropriate to the period, which help tell the unique story of each car.
£50 panel of Lacewood
Fit one panel of original London plane wood, also known as Lacewood. It’s rare now but was plentiful years ago and covered the walls of the Q stock cars.
£100 tin of paint
Paint the train in its original colours of red, cerulean blue and gold.
£330 moquette seat
Cover a seat with a period moquette textile design. We need to upholster 120 seats.
£50,000 two brake vans
Refurbish the worn parts of the vans, including the timber work.
Thanks to a bequest from the late Bob Greenaway and individual donations made by London Transport Museum Friends, work has already begun on the car interiors. This work is being delivered by a mix of retired London Underground drivers, guards and engineers and people passionate about preserving London’s history.
We need your help to raise a further £200,000 to get the three cars back on track and operational again.
The project
We are restoring a unique piece of the District line’s heritage, the last three remaining 1930s Q stock cars:
- 08063 (Q35), formerly N stock, built in 1935 by Metro Cammell in Birmingham
- 4416 and 4417 (Q38), both built in 1938 by Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
The 1930s Q stock trains were formed from sleek new cars with flared sides, purpose-built to run with a mix of older cars with American-style clerestory roofs dating from 1923.
Unlike modern-day Underground trains with identical carriages, Q stock trains were made from a mix of cars with different styles dating back to 1923 – passengers never knew which formation would pull into their platform.
We urgently need your help to complete the restoration to mark 50 years since the Q stock was withdrawn from service.
We aim to restore the cars, held in the Museum’s collection, to operational condition and include them in our award-winning heritage vehicle events programme.
With your help we can complete the restoration of three Q stock cars and tell the transport story of:
- Life in wartime London, sharing the story of evacuation in 1939
- The rebuilding of London in the 1940s
- The growing optimism and prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s.
Other projects
Read about our Battle Bus project and how we restored a heritage B-type bus to operational condition, and converted to a military troop carrier
On Christmas Eve 1868, the Metropolitan District Railway first opened. In 2019, we celebrated 150 years of the District line.
All about London's most famous fabric - moquette! Discover the history, how it's made, how to look after it and more.
The Documentary Curator programme brings more contemporary material to the Museum and enriches the Museum’s historic collections.
We are aiming to build up our collection of materials that reflect LGBT+ experiences of transport in London through building new relationships, researching and carrying out new collecting projects.
