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Happy Birthday Escalators on the Tube

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allticketspls

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I may be a bit of a saddo for posting this but today marks the 100th anniversary of the first escalator on the Tube coming into operation at Earls Court.

LU obviously don't think this is an important anniversary as there is no publicity about it anywhere so it is once again down to Internet bloggers to remember the anniversary.

There is an excellent article regarding the anniversary on Diamond Geezer's blog.
 
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wintonian

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I may be a bit of a saddo for posting this but today marks the 100th anniversary of the first escalator on the Tube coming into operation at Earls Court.

LU obviously don't think this is an important anniversary as there is no publicity about it anywhere so it is once again down to Internet bloggers to remember the anniversary.

There is an excellent article regarding the anniversary on Diamond Geezer's blog.

An in Honour of the humble escalator:

[youtube]idXkkUyDfsk[/youtube]
 

valenta

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LU obviously don't think this is an important anniversary as there is no publicity about it anywhere so it is once again down to Internet bloggers to remember the anniversary.
LU might not want to mention this anneversary because of the tragedies involving wooden escalators in the past...
 

SS4

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I may be a bit of a saddo for posting this but today marks the 100th anniversary of the first escalator on the Tube coming into operation at Earls Court.

LU obviously don't think this is an important anniversary as there is no publicity about it anywhere so it is once again down to Internet bloggers to remember the anniversary.

There is an excellent article regarding the anniversary on Diamond Geezer's blog.

And on Thursday it's the 100th anniversary of some arsehole blocking everyone else's path! :lol:

Interesting though, the escalator does an awful lot to move people through a station
 

tom1649

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LU might not want to mention this anneversary because of the tragedies involving wooden escalators in the past...

There is still one wooden escalator on the system. It is at Greenford station on the Central Line. Apparently the requirement to remove them didn't cover surface stations. This particular escalator leads up from the surface level platform to the ticket hall.

I'm certain that Notting Hill Gate and Highgate stations still had some wooden escalators until 1998/1999.
 

Harlesden

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Is it just me? On playing the video on this thread, I could barely understand a single word coming out of the vocalist's mouth.
 

Daniel

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LU obviously don't think this is an important anniversary as there is no publicity about it anywhere so it is once again down to Internet bloggers to remember the anniversary.

It has made LUL's intranet homepage, though:

On 4 October, 1911 the first escalator opened at Earl's Court

It is 100 years today since the first escalator was installed on London Underground, at Earl's Court.

Due to a nervous public at the time, Tube chiefs agreed a one-legged man should test these new escalators to prove their safety. And so Bumper Harris, a clerk for London Electric Railway, entered London Underground folklore when he hopped on the escalator on 4 October, 1911. In those less politically correct times Bumper's bosses felt that if a man with a wooden leg could handle the new mode of transport - anyone could.

Boosted by an inquisitive public, many of whom just came to ride the escalator, more than 550,000 people travelled on the Otis Elevator Company's machine in the first month.

Clearly the fashions of the day caused a few minor teething problems, especially for women, with reports of nine torn dresses. One passenger suffered a pinched finger while another was reported to have fallen from his crutches during the ride. Since Bumper's first trip, more than 500 escalators have been installed across the LU network.
 

Tracky

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Just checked the Railway Magazine from the time. They included a picture, but didnt pass comment beyond the caption.
 

Bungle73

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They've got the remains if the world's first spiral escalator at the LT Museum Depot at Acton.

http://tomhalltravel.wordpress.com/...on-holloway-roads-long-lost-spiral-escalator/

There is still one wooden escalator on the system. It is at Greenford station on the Central Line. Apparently the requirement to remove them didn't cover surface stations. This particular escalator leads up from the surface level platform to the ticket hall.
It's also, I believe, the only LU station where you travel up the escalators to the platforms and not down.
 

317666

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Marylebone still had wooden escalators in the early 2000s I seem to remember. Although it doesn't anymore.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Yes, but only the treads were still wood - the sides were replaced with metal panels painted to look like dark wood shortly after the King's Cross fire.
 
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