When we still lived in the US, I saw some YouTube videos of the Open Days at the Acton facility that the TfL museum has. The main museum building is in Covent Garden, and it includes all sorts of vehicles. However, the museum has way more than can fit in that building and, since we are talking about trains and buses as well as artefacts, there is a need for a lot of space. There is a depot at Acton that fulfils this role. It is not usually open to visitors, but they have public days scattered throughout the year.
I had looked at going several times since we moved back to the UK, but it either conflicted with something else, or my heart just wasn’t in it. Finally, I got a weekend when I was able to go, there was nothing else planned and I felt energetic about heading up to town. You take the Tube to Acton Town, and the depot is just across the road. It is a rather cool facility.
The trains and buses are clearly the most obvious of the exhibits and you can’t really miss them as you walk around but there is so much more. Talking to some of the staff as I looked around, they highlighted that they have lots of material that they have received but that has yet to be fully identified and catalogued. They are gradually working through it all but there is so much and it takes time to get the information on it. A location sends them a bunch of stuff when they want to be rid of it but that doesn’t mean it is a known quantity. Quite a challenge.
If you want an engine from a bus, a traction motor, parts of a bogie and so on, this is the place to come. They have all sorts of parts. As you walk in the entrance, you immediately come across all sorts of old electrical equipment. This looks like something out of a Fritz Lang movie. Really old school electrical equipment.
Then you have the station material. Whether it is a shop booth, the surround of a ticket window or a selection of old ticket machines and barriers, this is the spot. Many of these were familiar to me from my time living in London in the late ‘80s when I was a student. When I realise how old that makes them, I did have a bit of a moment!
Signage is something there is a ton of. They have multiple station signs to choose from but also all sorts of wayfinding signs and safety notices. Many of these don’t seem that out of date but then some of them are so different to what we are now familiar with that you can tell they are really old.
Of course, the biggest attractions both literally and metaphorically and the trains and buses. The buses are off to one side and there are all sort of ages and traction modes. Some trolley buses and diesel buses from across the decades are on show. Some of these had long careers while others came and went quite quickly.
The trains are lined up on the depot’s rails, and they come from all sorts of eras and lines since different lines have had their own fleets. One thing that I really liked seeing was Standard stock. As a youngster, this was the type that was being used on the Island Line on the Isle of Wight. They were replaced by the far more modern 38 stock! That only was replaced relatively recently. Some old Waterloo and City line equipment is there along with various vehicles that you can access including a Victoria Line train that the Queen was in for the opening of the line.
I’m sure for an enthusiast, this is an absolute gold mine of preserved vehicles and equipment. As someone who just finds engineering stuff interesting it is still a fun day out. Also, having been a user of the system since the 80s, it can be quite a trip down memory lane to see things that used to be such regular features and that have now gone. I’m glad I made the trip.
