Dashing through the snow: keeping London moving in winter
Introduction
Winter weather presents numerous challenges for a public transport system, from snow on the tracks to icy roads and station platforms.
Heavy snow can cause all kinds of problems. Here Stationman Eric England is making sure passengers know where they are by clearing the snow off the station name roundel at East Finchley Underground station in January 1962. That period had been so cold that a build-up of snow caused Big Ben to ring in the new year ten minutes late!
Passengers wait on a snow-covered platform at Finchley Central in December 1981, when temperatures fell to -25°C. This was the coldest December of the twentieth century, with conditions causing delays and cancellations on the network. Scenes like this are getting increasingly rare as the climate warms.
Snow obscures the destination blind of this RT type bus on route in Ludgate Hill in the winter of 1951-1952, with the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral only just visible in the background. Slippery roads and poor visibility make for treacherous driving conditions, requiring a great deal of skill from bus drivers.
Equipping staff for winter
Drivers, conductors and station staff all need to be protected from the elements and equipped with the right skills to keep transport on the move, particularly in challenging winter conditions.
This photograph shows a Routemaster type bus on the skid pan at Chiswick Works, taken during the filming of a London Transport Films production called ‘Getting to Grips’ in 1984. Skid pans allow drivers to train in slippery conditions all year round. This is an especially important skill in winter.
Drivers’ cabs and covered top decks were introduced on London’s buses in the 1930s. Until then, bus drivers, conductors and top deck passengers alike were at the mercy of the weather. A woman conductor collects fares on the top deck of a London General Omnibus Company bus in a snowstorm during the First World War.
In 1935, this driver and conductor already had drier jobs than their colleagues only a few years earlier. Both are wearing winter uniform as they converse through the cab door of a rain-spattered LT type bus, which had a roofed top deck and fully enclosed cab.
London Transport offered their bus crews seasonal uniforms. Here bus conductors model summer (left) and winter uniforms in 1952.
Clearing snow
Snow, ice and winter conditions affect all forms of transport. Rail and road transport face different challenges with the build-up of snow, and so the methods used for clearing it are different too.
Pictured here from left to right are Stationwoman Cynthia Palmer, Stationwoman Nellie Thompson and Station Foreman David Pillay at Leytonstone Underground station in January 1963. Palmer and Pillay were among thousands of London Transport staff to be recruited from the Caribbean. Getting used to winters in London was one of many challenges they faced.
A ‘snow broom’ clears tram tracks on Victoria Embankment in January 1951. Snow brooms were trams fitted with snow clearing equipment. They were often converted from older vehicles. This snow broom has an open cab, with staff exposed to the elements.
London Underground sleet locomotives were used to de-ice conductor rails by spraying de-icer liquid onto the rails during cold or snowy weather. This vehicle was built by joining together the end of two withdrawn passenger cars and adding trailer bogies containing the spraying equipment.
This photo shows a member of staff pouring de-icer into sleet tender number ST/1, attached to a Standard Tube stock car in 1957. These tenders were a lighter version of sleet locomotives. From the 1980s their job has been done by equipment fitted onto standard passenger rail vehicles.
A build-up of ice on the overhead wires was problematic for trams and trolleybuses. This ice breaking trolley head helped keep trolleybuses moving even in wintry conditions.
This photo shows an RTL type bus on Route 2A to Norwood. To keep road traffic moving, streets need to be ploughed or salted. Slippery conditions make driving more difficult and traffic can build up. In this photo from 1970, the last time London truly experienced a ‘white Christmas’, the road is relatively clear.
