City Road
When i got a job with TFL, back in August '09, i kinda called it a day on exploring the London Underground. The same, possibly delusional fear i had of getting caught while actually exploring the system, now pervading my work... mainly a worry that if i got caught now, id lose my job. So i stopped. And it stayed that way until Winchester and Silent Motion found a way into City Road Tube Station.
With a method of entry that offered a physical challenge, but little risk of capture, i ummed and ahhed for a while before giving in and asking Loops to go with me. We got in, down and within 3 minutes of being there, walked nearly headlong into track workers. Beating a very hasty retreat, hoping that they hadnt seen us, we were up and out in as short a time possible. Annoyingly, id spotted them just as id set my tripod up to take my first photo... which i never took.
The tube is trackworker hell. Exploring it after hours (usually the only feasible time) you will find that its not so much a case of getting a night with track workers as a night without them. Anyone who has spent any time trying to get into the system after trains stop will testify to multiple failed efforts.
The nice thing was, however, that with City Rd, you could get in during service. The upper station lights would be on, while the platform cavities would be nicely illuminated by passing trains. You just had to keep out of the view of their drivers.
Doing my exercises.
.
Keeping vigil.
Place needs a sweep.
Staunch.
The platforms at City Road were considerably shorter than those of modern stations. The station closed along with the rest of the line in the 1920's for tunnel enlargement (the original Northern Line having been based on the much smaller King William Street Tube) and platform lengthening. City Road was ignored during these refurbishments and remained closed when the rest of the line reopened.
With a method of entry that offered a physical challenge, but little risk of capture, i ummed and ahhed for a while before giving in and asking Loops to go with me. We got in, down and within 3 minutes of being there, walked nearly headlong into track workers. Beating a very hasty retreat, hoping that they hadnt seen us, we were up and out in as short a time possible. Annoyingly, id spotted them just as id set my tripod up to take my first photo... which i never took.
The tube is trackworker hell. Exploring it after hours (usually the only feasible time) you will find that its not so much a case of getting a night with track workers as a night without them. Anyone who has spent any time trying to get into the system after trains stop will testify to multiple failed efforts.
The nice thing was, however, that with City Rd, you could get in during service. The upper station lights would be on, while the platform cavities would be nicely illuminated by passing trains. You just had to keep out of the view of their drivers.
Doing my exercises.
.
Keeping vigil.
Place needs a sweep.
Staunch.
The platforms at City Road were considerably shorter than those of modern stations. The station closed along with the rest of the line in the 1920's for tunnel enlargement (the original Northern Line having been based on the much smaller King William Street Tube) and platform lengthening. City Road was ignored during these refurbishments and remained closed when the rest of the line reopened.
