More than storage - Behind the scenes at our Museum Depot
Activity has continued throughout the winter at the Museum Depot in Acton, our storage and conservation centre, despite the COVID-19 shutdown. Without guided tours, school visits or open weekends, and with a much-reduced staff presence, we’ve been taking the opportunity to reorganise the storage of our vast and varied collection.
It seems like a long time since we last welcomed the public to our Museum Depot. In August and October 2020, during the various breaks in lockdown restrictions, we were able to open for two fun-filled weeks for families. We can’t wait to throw open the Depot doors once more this May half term.
So what have the Depot team been up to during the enforced closure? Our London Transport Miniature Railway volunteers continued with various upgrade projects adhering to safe working practices. While digging foundations for a new workshop they unearthed a District line destination plate, Barking on one side, East Ham on the reverse.
Our Acton site sits on land formally occupied by Ealing Common Depot District line sidings, as seen on the plan below. The plate may have been in the ground for over 50 years, since the withdrawal of Q stock trains between 1960 and 1971.
Our unique collection of Underground trains offer the ideal location for filming period dramas, films or commercials. During early December we facilitated five days of set building, light rigging and filming for a major production. This entailed reorganising our concrete apron (the section of rail track between our building and the Underground system), as well as moving train cars and other vehicles to allow a huge fleet of film trucks and catering buses on site.
We also removed our four car 38 stock train from inside the building, to allow space for lighting, green screens, staging and safe circulation space. We wrapped the train to protect it during the cold and frosty December nights.
As soon as the filming concluded the 38 stock train was unwrapped and returned inside and other trains, road vehicles and kit moved as we prepared the outside area for a massive engineering project on the District and Piccadilly line tracks adjacent to our Depot.
In February 2021, London Underground planned 10 days of line closures to allow track and point replacement near to Acton Town station, and we offer an ideal location for access to the ‘live system’. An enormous Kirow 810 rail crane, capable of lifting 100 tonnes, was delivered to site to unload and then transport to the railway 36 new track panels. The track panels were up to 18 metres in length.
In all conditions, we continue to upgrade, rearrange and make room for new acquisitions to our collection, but most of all we look forward to welcoming visitors back to the Depot on 29-30 May and from 2-6 June 2021.