please empty your brain below
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I knew that this would be today's post as I caught it on the news yesterday. You can't get more up-to-date than Mr Diamond Geezer, now, can you?
zed | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 7:32 a.m. | #
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An excellent post, thank you. There is something about the very shape of these tunnels, recognisable from etchings in countless history books, which makes one think of top hats and bonnets.
On a minor point, I'm pretty sure the rail down the centre of the tracks would have been the return rather than the live one. The live rail on the Underground is at the side of the tracks, and always furthest from the platform.
Perhaps slightly less minor; Brunel senior was a Marc, having been born of French parents.
NightMale | 13.03.10 - 9:14 a.m. | #
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<amends live rail → return rail>
<amends Mark → Marc>
Cheers.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 9:34 a.m. | #
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DG,
Thanks for letting me know about this: I'd have never have heard about it in time if I'd not read your post. A thoroughly enjoyable evening :)
I've put my pics of the evening here:
http://bit.ly/thamestunnel
Michael | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 10:29 a.m. | #
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They were letting small numbers of people without tickets join the tour this morning, so if you are ticketless and prepared to wait you *might* get lucky...
Henry | 13.03.10 - 12:51 p.m. | #
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Awesomundo in extremis!
John Nez | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 3:02 p.m. | #
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Fabulous post DG and photos remind me somewhat of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere:)
ambermoggie | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 3:12 p.m. | #
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A fantastic post - an adventure into a different world!
el d. | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 3:57 p.m. | #
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A great post and having seen your "advance warning" a week or so ago I managed to get a ticket so I had my own walk through today. Very interesting and well worth doing and thanks to those who organised the event.
Some of the marshalling was not good outside Rotherhithe Station as they did seem to be allowing unticketed people in on a "wait for a long time and hope you're lucky" basis. Some local people were not best pleased when they asked what was going on as they knew nothing about it in advance. A number of other people turned up hoping to buy tickets on the door.
An overhead conversation went something like this "oh x read about this event on a blog (I wonder whose?) and then she went and booked tickets straight away. That's why I'm here now".
PC | 13.03.10 - 4:04 p.m. | #
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A great experience. Yes, they were allowing people without tickets to pay on the day if a booked participant failed to show for their slot, which was surely better than having the place go to waste?
Kim | 13.03.10 - 6:01 p.m. | #
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Amazing actually that hard hats/hi-viz weren't mandatory too.
Kim | 13.03.10 - 6:03 p.m. | #
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Wow, what an experience of a lifetime! I'm gutted that you didn't get to go to the Fancy Fair though.
CornishCockney | 13.03.10 - 6:56 p.m. | #
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Lucky you for managing to get in. I'm disappointed now to hear that they were letting unticketed people in when I had a timed entry ticket and wasn't allowed in... sigh.
Sarah | Homepage | 13.03.10 - 7:49 p.m. | #
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Nice photos, Michael
I didn't get to do the tour of the tunnels but I did pass the Brunel Museum this evening and can say that - no matter how it might've appeared earlier - the Fancy Fair was in full swing and, to my mind, it was great.
In addition to today's tours of the tunnel, they were also doing tours of Brunel's shaft. Apparently, just for the shaft, more tours will be taking place tomorrow.
I guess I can currently reflect on being fortunate, inasmuch as my first job - back in the '70s - involved occasional trips from the city down to the firm's bookstore, which was at Wapping. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say I developed a fascination for the place.
Yes, one of the things I still have definite memories of was the ride there on the underground, and the arrival at Wapping station.
RogerW | 13.03.10 - 10:58 p.m. | #
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Fantastic experience, I blagged a long lunch hour on Friday and got to go down. I'd have been one of those very annoyed locals had I not got the early tip off from this blog, nice one DG.
I was actually surprised how little the platforms had changed in the closure. Wapping seems to have all its ELL era historic murals, which I quite like and I thought would be gone, but happily they are all still there.
Great also to see such an unusual range of people thronging the streets of Rotherhithe, the place doesn't get many visitors.
MickeyMouser | 13.03.10 - 11:53 p.m. | #
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Ah, so envious! This looked as if it was a wonderful experience. I'll have to catch the video in a vain attempt to recreate what was no doubt something quite extraordinary.
doreen | Homepage | 14.03.10 - 10:10 a.m. | #
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Great report. Partly made up for me missing it. However I am convinced that may do it again in future when they have to close it for engineering works. I know they have done charity walks through the tunnel in the past.
Can't believe you didn't know about the centre Underground rail. It IS live (very live at -210V DC and a lot of current) except when the track is shared by Network Rail when it truly is a return rail. The outer rail is + 420V DC giving an overall voltage of 630V. The reasons for this, both historically and technically, are long, complicated and very boring. The short answer is that it makes things easier in iron ring tunnels.
Pedantic of Purley | 14.03.10 - 10:44 a.m. | #
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sounds a little like TFL treating the public badly again.
the history of which I a writing a book about...
it goes all the way back to the 1800's
martin ellis | 14.03.10 - 4:38 p.m. | #
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the road tunnels are more complex because they require to be more jobs.
Brian Brand | Homepage | 17.03.10 - 6:19 p.m. | #
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