I had a few minutes in Bayswater to kill yesterday and decided to take a
look at the famous dummy houses in Leinster Gardens. I must say that the
false facades still work well, and are maintained (by LU?). Even the
pigeon deterrents are in place, exactly the same as on the adjacent
properties. In fact, I actually walked right past, distracted by the
building work next door.

But I wonder why the gap has been retained in the century plus since the
lines below were electrified. It's no longer needed for venting steam
engines, and I'd have thought there would be pressure to reconstruct
genuine buildings over the tracks, just as happens over stations. Have
there been such plans, or is there some major technical/financial reason
for not doing so?

For those not familiar with the site, see
www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html
http://golondon.about.com/od/thingst...terGardens.htm