I was waiting on the northern line at mill hill east this morning
and noticed that the overrun track beyond the red stop lights
had been partially replaced with some new track & concrete
sleepers and a new buffer stop. Given that no trains ever run
along this short section of track (unless they're about to crash!)
what exactly was the point in them wasting probably thousands
replacing this track and the buffer stop (and I noticed more of the
same has been done at finchley central) when stuff in dire need
of upgrades such as signals seems to be ignored??

B2003

Pointless maintenance seems to be what PPP is all about. The needless
retiling of stations has already been discussed in a recent thread.
And the other day I noticed that they had replaced all the antique
roundels at Sudbury Town with new ones, despite the fact that the
originals had only minor blemishes that were only visible up close.
(The new ones are identical except for the text being in a slighly
different font - why is this? there is no difference in readability
and it's now different to all the other stations)

In message , asdf
writes
And the other day I noticed that they had replaced all the antique
roundels at Sudbury Town with new ones, despite the fact that the
originals had only minor blemishes that were only visible up close.
(The new ones are identical except for the text being in a slighly
different font - why is this? there is no difference in readability
and it's now different to all the other stations)
I wonder if that's what's happening at West Ruislip? I noticed
yesterday what appear to be new roundels on the platform covered up with
black polythene sheeting.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

asdf wrote:
Pointless maintenance seems to be what PPP is all about. The
needless retiling of stations has already been discussed in a
recent thread. And the other day I noticed that they had replaced
all the antique roundels at Sudbury Town with new ones, despite the
fact that the originals had only minor blemishes that were only
visible up close. (The new ones are identical except for the text
being in a slighly different font - why is this? there is no
difference in readability and it's now different to all the other
stations)

The roundels at Sudbury Town were previously "different to all the other
stations" (except possibly Arnos Grove and Boston Manor), as the
lettering used a "petit serif" font designed by Percy Delf Smith and
Charles Holden for use in London Transport's HQ at 55 Broadway. There
is a photo of one of these Sudbury Town roundels at
http://www.london-underground.de/fot...jpg&d=d.htm l

Is that sign the same as the old or the new signs that you mention?
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

http://www.london-underground.de/fot...jpg&d=d.htm l

Is that sign the same as the old or the new signs that you mention?

Looks like one of the old ones. (Although from what you said I'm
starting to worry that I imagined the change!)

snip

You did. Sudbury Town has _always_ had roundels with a serif font;
they've been there since the station was built, and considering that it
is now listed, ripping them off would be a Bad Idea ;-)

You did. Sudbury Town has _always_ had roundels with a serif font;
they've been there since the station was built, and considering that it
is now listed, ripping them off would be a Bad Idea ;-)

Silly me I was very struck by it last time I was there, and had
never noticed it before.

They must have at least repainted them though, I'm sure some rust
patches disappeared. And the roundels in the windows of the waiting
rooms had definitely been changed - you could see the frames of the
old ones, behind the new painted-on-a-white-metal-square ones.

TheOneKEA wrote:
snip

You did. Sudbury Town has _always_ had roundels with a serif font;
they've been there since the station was built, and considering that
it is now listed, ripping them off would be a Bad Idea ;-)

Whatever happened to the flourescent sign on the station frontage? ISTR
reading that it was one of the first commercial applications of coloured
neon signage

You did. Sudbury Town has _always_ had roundels with a serif font;
they've been there since the station was built, and considering that
it is now listed, ripping them off would be a Bad Idea ;-)

Whatever happened to the flourescent sign on the station frontage? ISTR
reading that it was one of the first commercial applications of coloured
neon signage

So which was it -- fluorescent or neon?

Neon lights are the ones where a brightly colored glow comes from
inside a clear glass tube. (Red if the gas is actually neon.)
Fluorescent lights are the commonly seen ones with a coating that
glows more or less white. Most colored lighted signs today use
fluorescent tubes behind a colored plastic panel, although of course
there are several other choices.
--
Mark Brader "How can we believe that?"
Toronto "Because this time it's true!"
-- Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

Mark Brader wrote:

Whatever happened to the flourescent sign on the station frontage?
ISTR reading that it was one of the first commercial applications of
coloured neon signage

So which was it -- fluorescent or neon?

Neon lights are the ones where a brightly colored glow comes from
inside a clear glass tube. (Red if the gas is actually neon.)
Fluorescent lights are the commonly seen ones with a coating that
glows more or less white. Most colored lighted signs today use
fluorescent tubes behind a colored plastic panel, although of course
there are several other choices.

Good point... As it was (reportedly) red and blue, I suspect it was neon.