wrote:
On 14 May, 15:27, "Recliner" wrote:
Surely T4 station has another claim to fame -- is it not the only
single-platform, one-way station on the Underground?

A bit off topic but the weirdest underground station I've ever been
in is Mirabeau on the Paris metro. It's the last station on a loop
and served only by eastbound trains utilising a single platform.
However westbound trains rise up a steep ramp towards the station
roof before disappearing into a tunnel. see
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?15813 for pic.

Paris has a number of single-platform one-way stations, though I agree
that Mirabeau (line 10) is the weirdest. There are 5 other one-way
stations on that loop, and there's a similar one-way loop on line 7bis
with 3 stations on it. The termini of lines 2 and 6 at Nation are on
one-way loops. (Some of these stationa may actually have more than one
platform face and/or interchanges with other lines.)

Charles de Gaulle-Étoile is a terminus of line 6 on a loop with one
track but arrival and departure platforms on each side. (The doors open
on the arrival side first.)

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Mon, 21 May 2007, wrote:

On 14 May, 15:27, "Recliner" wrote:

Surely T4 station has another claim to fame -- is it not the only
single-platform, one-way station on the Underground?

A bit off topic but the weirdest underground station I've ever been in
is Mirabeau on the Paris metro. It's the last station on a loop and
served only by eastbound trains utilising a single platform. However
westbound trains rise up a steep ramp towards the station roof before
disappearing into a tunnel. see
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?15813 for pic.

Agreed, that's bonkers. I take it the ramp is related to the loop; i would
guess it looks like:


----\ /--\
X |
----/ \--/

Rather than the more obvious:

----\
|
----/

Perhaps that arrangement has a smaller footprint or something.

tom

--
the logical extension of a zero-infinity nightmare topology

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 21 May 2007, wrote:

On 14 May, 15:27, "Recliner" wrote:

Surely T4 station has another claim to fame -- is it not the only
single-platform, one-way station on the Underground?

A bit off topic but the weirdest underground station I've ever
been in is Mirabeau on the Paris metro. It's the last station on a
loop and served only by eastbound trains utilising a single
platform. However westbound trains rise up a steep ramp towards
the station roof before disappearing into a tunnel. see
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?15813 for pic.

Agreed, that's bonkers. I take it the ramp is related to the loop;
i would guess it looks like:


----\ /--\
X |
----/ \--/

I think you've interpreted "the last station on the loop" as meaning the
furthest extremity of the line. He meant it was the last station you
ride through if you travel right round the loop. Like this (M =
Mirabeau station):

/--------\
| \
\----------======
M

(Actually you can't go round the loop like that now, as the line has
been extended west from the end of the loop. See line diagram at
http://www.ratp.info/picts/plans/gif/reseaux/m10.gif )

I've read that problems with the foundations of a nearby church led them
to put the westbound platform further up the hill and call it Église
d'Auteuil after the church. There's a 180-degree panorama photo of
Mirabeau station at http://metrorama.free.fr/2002-07-Mirabeau10P.jpg
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Richard J.:
He meant it was the last station you ride through if you travel right
round the loop. Like this (M = Mirabeau station):

/--------\
| \
\----------======
M

(Actually you can't go round the loop like that now, as the line has
been extended west from the end of the loop. See line diagram at
http://www.ratp.info/picts/plans/gif/reseaux/m10.gif )

Actually you could at one time go round the loop even after the line was
extended west from it. Here's an older map of the system:

http://www.netads.com/~meo/Places/fr/metromap.jpeg

The loop is in the southwest, near the circled 10 marking the terminus
of that line. Note that trains are shown going two ways from Porte
d'Auteuil. (I don't know when it changed, or whether the turnbacks
via the loop happened all the time or at certain times of day or what.)
--
Mark Brader I "need to know" *everything*! How else
Toronto can I judge whether I need to know it?
-- Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Mark Brader wrote:
Richard J.:
He meant it was the last station you ride through if you travel
right round the loop. Like this (M = Mirabeau station):

/--------\
\
\----------======
M

(Actually you can't go round the loop like that now, as the line
has been extended west from the end of the loop. See line diagram
at http://www.ratp.info/picts/plans/gif/reseaux/m10.gif )

Actually you could at one time go round the loop even after the
line was extended west from it. Here's an older map of the system:

http://www.netads.com/~meo/Places/fr/metromap.jpeg

The loop is in the southwest, near the circled 10 marking the
terminus of that line. Note that trains are shown going two ways
from Porte d'Auteuil. (I don't know when it changed, or whether
the turnbacks via the loop happened all the time or at certain
times of day or what.)

After the extension to Boulogne was built in 1980/81, trains ran
alternately to Boulogne or round the loop for much of the day.
Virtually all trains have run to and from Boulogne since 1994, and AFAIK
the western end of the loop is now used only for empty stock movements.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Tue, 22 May 2007, Richard J. wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 21 May 2007, wrote:

On 14 May, 15:27, "Recliner" wrote:

Surely T4 station has another claim to fame -- is it not the only
single-platform, one-way station on the Underground?

A bit off topic but the weirdest underground station I've ever
been in is Mirabeau on the Paris metro. It's the last station on a
loop and served only by eastbound trains utilising a single
platform. However westbound trains rise up a steep ramp towards
the station roof before disappearing into a tunnel. see
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?15813 for pic.

Agreed, that's bonkers. I take it the ramp is related to the loop;
i would guess it looks like:


----\ /--\
X |
----/ \--/

I think you've interpreted "the last station on the loop" as meaning the
furthest extremity of the line. He meant it was the last station you ride
through if you travel right round the loop.

Ah, sorry.

I've read that problems with the foundations of a nearby church led them
to put the westbound platform further up the hill and call it Église
d'Auteuil after the church.

So it's sort of functionally one station, but split into two because of
the practicalities. Interesting.

tom

--
102 FX 6 (goblins)

On May 21, 8:57 pm, Harry G wrote:
On 17 May, 08:34, Bill Hayles wrote:



What I don't know (maybe you can help) is whether the 1960 stock ever
made it to Ongar.

It certainly did! When an all-day service was running on the Epping -
Ongar shuttle, around 1989-1991, a red-painted unit of 1960 stock was
used. I think this continued on the shuttle until closure in 1994.

After the line was reduced to peak-hour only service, around 1981/2,
it was still operated by a unit of 1962 stock on a 40 minute headway.
ISTR this unit was stabled at either Loughton or Woodford during the
day, and formed a through service on at least some the first/last
branch trips. I can remember at least once being on a through Loughton
- Ongar service.

I think it was in May 1989 that LUL decided to run an all-day every-
day service. The service pattern for this was interesting however. In
the peak hours it was the same old 40 minute headway Epping - Ongar
shuttle - in the daytime however (and I think start/finish of the
traffic day) the shuttle ran Epping - North Weald - Epping - Ongar -
Epping and repeat pattern. This gave a 30 minute service Epping -
North Weald, hourly Epping - Ongar.

The 1962 stock unit used on E-O was at some point around the start of
the all-day service replaced by a 1960 stock unit that had recently
come off ATO duties on the Hainault - Woodford shuttle, and which was
replaced by through services to Central London at around the same time
(obviously with full length 1962 stock).

I well remember a gala day on a Sunday in May 1990 on the Epping -
Ongar line, which attracted *huge* numbers of people. The train was
packed out all afternoon, with the service running well off timetable,
and supplementary bus services picking up excess passengers(!!) that
couldn't get a train. The 1960 unit had been painted red by then, I
think it may have been specifically for this event.

Somewhere in my collection I have a memorable picture of Denis
Tunicliffe, MD of LUL, very gingerly getting out of the front of the
unit at North Weald, through the driver's cab door, and clinging onto
the grab rails to get onto the platform because I don't think the J
door would have opened to let him out through the passenger saloon!

Some time not long after this I had a cab ride for two return trips on
a Saturday afternoon, and marvelled at just how this rural outpost had
survived - and also noticed that if a driver had left his cab door
open he might well have soon ended up with a pheasant for company ;-)

Unfortunately the all-day service was abandoned with the budget
cutbacks of the early 1990s, and the closure notice followed within a
year or so. I believe the 1960 unit stayed on the shuttle until then,
unless it failed and had to be replaced.

What I don't know however is if the 1960 stock ever operated the
service when it was new (i.e. before it was confined to the humdrum
Hainault - Woodford shuttle for ATO tests).



I hadn't realised that they'd used that 1960 stock unit till a few
years ago when I saw the driver's eye view video that's commercially
available and included it.

There's a couple of bizarrities that you might know the answer to
though.

1) When the first 1938 stock trailer was converted and put in a 1960
stock unit, it seemed to sit at Hainault depot for years but never
went into service, while the 1927/1931 trailers stayed in service.
What was the story behind the 1938 trailer(s) staying out of service
for so long?

2) The 1962 stock units that ran the Ongar shuttle only ever seemed to
be taken from the relatively few that had de-icing equipment,
regardless of time of year. What could be the reason for that (if I'm
right)?

On 21 May 2007 12:57:57 -0700, Harry G
wrote:

On 17 May, 08:34, Bill Hayles wrote:

What I don't know (maybe you can help) is whether the 1960 stock ever
made it to Ongar.


It certainly did! When an all-day service was running on the Epping -
Ongar shuttle, around 1989-1991, a red-painted unit of 1960 stock was
used. I think this continued on the shuttle until closure in 1994.

Sorry for the delayed follow up - I've been off line for a week.

I never thought of what went on after 1978 (which is when I ceased to be
a semi-regular user).

I was thinking more of 1960 itself, when the idea had been to have a
whole fleet of 1960 stock, and it was thus tested all over the Central
Line.

What I don't know however is if the 1960 stock ever operated the
service when it was new (i.e. before it was confined to the humdrum
Hainault - Woodford shuttle for ATO tests).

I'm sure it must have done at least once on proving trials, but maybe
it's one of those things that lacks documentary evidence (i.e. photos).

--
Bill Hayles

http://billnot.com