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On Thursday 28 March, we are holding a Schools Early Explorer Morning. The Museum will open to the public at 12 noon.

Introduction

All of the rail vehicles we hold in the London Transport Museum collection are significant. Many reveal new technological innovations and design features and carried millions of people, some world famous, across decades of service on the Underground. They all stand as symbols of their period in history and as a vital part of what made London tick.  

Here we focus on ten significant and unusual rail vehicles that have interesting stories to tell about how travel in the capital has changed. 

1. Metropolitan Railway milk van No. 3

This wooden railway van, which ran on the Metropolitan Railway (later the Metropolitan line) from 1896 to 1936, was designed to carry milk directly from dairy farms in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire into London, being attached to fast passenger trains. It carried large churns of milk with additional suspension added to prevent the milk from turning into butter.  

2. Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive No. 5 'John Hampden', 1922

In the years after the First World War, the Metropolitan Railway needed more powerful electric locomotives to carry growing suburban traffic, freight and heavier trains. This is one of twenty built, being delivered in 1922. It was named John Hampden in 1927 when it was decided to name all the locomotives after real or fictitious people associated with the area served by the Metropolitan Railway. It continued in passenger service until 1961. It is on display at the Museum in Covent Garden

3. 1927 Standard Tube Stock driving motor car No. 3327

In the first half of the twentieth century, Tube trains were generally red. This carriage is typical of the Tube trains known as Standard Stock. They were built between 1923 and 1934, this one dating from 1927. The trains were most commonly used on the Piccadilly, Northern and Central lines up until the 1960s. They were the first type of Tube train to have air-powered doors, allowing passengers to board more quickly. 

4. 1938 Tube Stock four car unit & 1938 Tube Stock driving motor car No. 11182

This beautiful deep red four car train, restored to operational condition, was in service on the Underground network between the late 1930s and 1988. When manufactured, this was the most advanced electric Tube train in the world, with all motors and electrical equipment housed beneath the floor to allow greater passenger numbers. A single unit 1938 Stock train car can be seen at the Museum in Covent Garden. 

5. Q Stock cars & LER Q23-stock driving motor car No. 4248, 1923

These two red cars both date from the 1930s and were in service on the District line until around 1970. They are part of a generation of Underground trains known as Q Stock (all sub-surface Underground trains are named with letters). Some cars featured stylish windows and flared sides, while others had distinctive clerestory roofs. They are part of a four-car unit at the Museum Depot. A single unit Q Stock train car can also be seen at the Museum in Covent Garden.

6. London Underground sleet locomotive No. ESL107, 1939-40

This unusual rail vehicle is a sleet locomotive that was used to de-ice the rails on open-air sections of the Underground. In the central section were tanks of anti-freeze that were brushed on electrical conductor rails to clear ice, sleet and snow. This one was converted from two early Central London Railway cars and was one of 18 built at Acton Works in 1939 and 1940. They were replaced in the 1980s as de-icing equipment began to be fitted to passenger Tube stock as standard. 

7. R Stock driving motor car No. 22679 

This train car was one of over 350 R Stock built between 1949 and 1959, some converted from Q Stock trains. It ran on the District line until 1983. It was constructed in aluminium, safe from corrosion, so was among the first Underground trains to be left unpainted. It was also the first on the network to have fluorescent lighting.  

8. 1967 Tube Stock driving motor car No. 3052

This red, white and blue Tube train was in service from 1969 until 2010. Among its first passengers was Queen Elizabeth II, who rode in it to mark the opening of the Victoria line to Victoria station in March 1969. The 1967 Tube Stock was built for the Victoria line and incorporated automatic operation. The cars included extended windows in the doors, so that standing passengers could see the station name.  

9. 1972 Tube Stock (Mark I) D end driving motor car No. 3530

This silver train was in service between 1972 and 1999. Like most deep level Tube trains, it is named after the year it was produced. It is one of a generation of Underground trains made of lightweight aluminium left unpainted, which began to be developed from the 1950s. 1972 Stock trains operated on the Northern, Jubilee and Victoria lines, and the last of them are expected to continue to run on the Bakerloo line until 2035.

10. 1983 Tube Stock driving motor car No. 3734

This silver aluminium train was one of the 1983 Tube Stock, which had brightly coloured interiors and modern features, including passenger operated doors. But as they only had single width doors, they were slow to board, contributing to them being withdrawn by 1998 after only 15 years’ service. This car operated on the Jubilee line and was part of the second batch of trains manufactured in 1988, so only served on the network for 10 years. 

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