The London clay excavated by Crossrail is being used to create a new RSPB wetland reserve in Wallasea Island. That's the only train-related fact I know.<br>
London Overground is franchised! just a different model to the rest of the network.<br><br>It is a 50/50 joint venture between MTR and Arriva.<br><br>Buses are franchised too.<br>
So much train news in a single week, my heart is all a-flutter.<br><br>Sadly, despite the wording of the press-release, the GOBLIN is not being extended to five carriages.<br>
Yes.<br><br>You know the long corridor with flights of steps up to the 'big train' platforms? The one that also has the long spiral staircases down to the tube? You know how one end is connected to Station Place, and the other is a dead end? Well the dead end will be connected to the Wells Terrace passageway.<br><br>It's a bit more complicated than that, but if you care then you can always look at the diagram: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/finsbury-park-brochure.pdf<br><br>Which reminds me - you know those spiral staircases? Well they have another set of spiral staircases *inside* them, which is part of the reason they are so steep. I can't visualise this easily, but it's true, and they will both be open when this project finishes, doubling capacity.<br>
@Arkady.... as I understood it they were built as double-helix staircases. So the ceiling above you is essentially the floor of the <b>other</b>, intertwined, staircase.<br><br>It should be possible to determine this, since if that's true walking 360 degrees round the staircase will cause you to ascend by *twice* the height of the ceiling.<br>
I believe the double spiral stair-case originally also served a substantial ground floor concourse - the only part of which is still visible is the short corridor mentioned by Arkady. In many ways, the current plans are a massive wasted opportunity to join up both stations - and bizarrely, this arrangement used to exist.
Did you know that when it opened in 1906 Holloway Road tube station had the world's first spiral escalator?
It was so dangerous it was abandoned and permanently mothballed the next day . The escalator machinery was still in place until quite recently but has now been taken to storage in some museum or other.
Escalator corner on Friday anyone?
There is a curved escalator in a department store in San Francisco. The first time I saw it I thought it looked like something from Tomorrow's World, wonder why there aren't more of them?
<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2"><a href="https://www.islington.gov.uk/onlineplanning/docserver/applications/2008/02Feb/P080346/(W02)%20Design%20&%20Access%20Statement%2015_02_2008%2014_18_12.pdf">This document</a> from the old planning application has lots more detail and even a few pics of the disused bits. Apparently flooding is a bit of an issue with the old concourse and tunnels.</font><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div><br></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2"><br></font></div>
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