On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

In article ,
Tom Anderson writes

What's the loading gauge of the subsurface lines?

Varies.

I should have known!

AIUI, _no_ current subsurface stock can get everywhere).

â I can't think of anywhere that C stock isn't allowed to go. There's a
limit of 4 cars when in service on the ELL, but that's all.

It was once (in ) said:

"[...] 6-car C-Stock. These certainly have clearance issues in the
Dagenham area (meaning no through routing Hammersmith Met - Upminster),
and may have on the Richmond/Ealing branches."

I take it this is not in fact the case.

Aha. A bit of googling turns up
http://billz1064.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=General&action=display&num=1084723 959;
there used to be some sort of problem at Dagenham East, which meant the
trains had to go through the station slowly or something, but this is no
longer a problem.

What is the least common denominator gauge like? Presumably, this is
what the proposed single subsurface stock will be built to; are they
going to have to be titchy? Are they going to regauge bits of the
network instead?

My understanding is that the new stock will be built to C/D loading
gauge, running in different lengths: 4 cars for the ELL, 6 cars for
Circle, H&C, and Wimbleware services, 7 cars for the District via Tower
Hill, and 8 cars for the Metropolitan.

Okay. I assume it's not possible (or at least easy) to add and remove cars
to a train; that means there won't actually be a single fleet for the
whole subsurface system, since trains will be still be differentiated by
their length (eg 8-car sets will only be able to run on the Met).

Thanks for all the info.

tom
--
I'm angry, but not Milk and Cheese angry. -- Mike Froggatt