London Underground ghost stations
 

[nerd]
Having gone through Down Street and British Museum stations no end of times without stopping (they're disused stations between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park and between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn), and knowing that Aldwych is no more as a functioning station, I was intrigued by a link published in The Independent last week.

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/201...ion-tube-maps/

This shows disused and abandoned stations on the Piccadilly, Central, District, Metropolitan and Northern lines and tells why they aren't used any more. I have used some of them: Aldwych, Ongar and North Weald, the latter pair just before LT stopped service beyond Epping - OK, the reason for that journey was because it was the last chance for a Tube trip through the countryside.

It doesn't stop there. Looking at the comments, I saw this link:

http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php with a lot more information.

Oh, dear. I had other plans for today ...
[/nerd]

It gets worse...

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

You used to be able to join rare trips down to the odd disused station organised by LRT, I believe these have stopped thanks to 7/7.

^^ one of my most favourite sites :)

I don't know why, but I find this stuff fascinating. There are some disused parts of the Underground that are still let for moviemaking, no? Where was Q Branch housed in the last Brosnan Bond film, "Die Another Day," when John Cleese presents the invisible car?

Here is a list of abandoned stations in the NY system for those interested:

http://www.nycsubway.org/abandsta.html

Well I think from memory it was a set that was used in the film, but they indicate on the tube map visible on screen that it should be where the abandoned Down Street actually is. They couldn't use Down Street as trains still pass through and the platforms are bricked up from the trains. If they had wanted an actual station it could have been done at Aldwych.

Fantastic! I love this stuff. I have read the mighty Hywel Williams' site from start to finish many times - thanks for linking it above.

Have you ever seen the tiles on the wall on the Piccadilly Line route about halfway between King's Cross and Caledonian Road? Apparently they are still there and are the last remnants of the old York Road station which was closed in the 1930s. There was talk about opening it up again what with all of the development in the area, but I haven't heard anything about this in a few years.

Is that by chance where the penultimate scene of "V for Vendetta" was shot?

Author of that site appears to have a child called "Zebedee". I bet he (assume he as per Magic Roundabout) doesn't get much stick later on at school.

both Aldwych and the disused Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross get used for filming - they're both still accessible by trains, so make a pretty authentic set. The LU Film Office has a bit more info on these.

I've managed to visit both of these - Charing Cross, as part of a rail tour on London Transport Museum's 1938 Tube Stock train; and Aldwych on a 'Blitz Experience' tour.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3531/...c229632a22.jpg
Charing Cross platform 3 - out of passenger service since 1999.

Indeed - and they're rather popular for music videos (including the Holborn branch platform and track between there and Aldwych):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEWn0aVcuSM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

Others used the famous Mornington Crescent when it was closed for rebuilding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzJT0rElo0c

(although how she manages to catch the Circle Line from there is beyond me...)

That was the train of 1972 Mk 1 stock parked at Aldwych for filming purposes.

A closet Underground anorak thanks you. :)

I just happened to notice a very old LU map outside of Temple yesterday on my way home (after months of commuting to/from that station) and then saw this thread. Looked today, and it's labelled as a 1932 LU map. It shows the old Aldwych station and has the present Charing Cross labelled as Strand. Wanted to get home without too much of a delay tonight, so didn't spend too much time checking it out. Will have to give it a closer look one of these days.

A web page of some vintage will enlighten you regarding the Charing Cross/Strand/Embankment conundrum.