Going UndergrounD for 150 Years

This week the London Underground will celebrate 150 years since the first underground railway journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon by the Metropolitan Railway on 9th January 1863 (as advised by the London Transport museum although some commentators are stating it as being 10th January which was the first public journey). Whilst not directly Southern Railway related, the subsequent expansion of both the Underground network and the London County Council Tramways routes formed competition to the Southern Railway and certainly encouraged the onset of electrification of the SR’s suburban system.

There are a number of events, exhibitions and activities planned to mark this 150th Anniversary further details can be found on the London Transport museums website here.
The highlight will be on Sunday 13 and 20 January 2013, when the restored Met Locomotive No. 1 will bring steam back to the Underground to celebrate the inaugural public passenger underground journey. Met Locomotive No. 1 will pull the Metropolitan Railway ‘Jubilee’ carriage No. 353, which was built in 1892, only recently fully restored, and the ‘Ashbury’ (sometimes known as ‘Chesham’) set of coaches built between 1998 and 1900 that have been loaned from the Bluebell Railway. The Electric Loco No. 12 Sarah Siddons will also form part of these trains.

Video footage of last nights (08/01/13) test run with Met No1 can be seen here

So although not strictly Southern Railway related I didn’t think such an anniversary should not go UnmentioneD, so I apologise to any purely Southern followers of this blog. However, If like me you are also a fan of some the finer details and wide range of iconic architecture found across the Underground network and you have a few minutes to spare Ian Jones’s fasinating 150 great things about the underground blog is well worth a read.