Impromptu Travels 2

I've no idea why, but when I arrived at ROV this morning the destination indicators were showing that the WOO train would be later than expected. I saw it approaching and began to make my way up the platform, as usual, to be at the front, which is better for LIS (and HOL). Since the platform is on a curve, you can't see approaching trains (or the destination indicators) from this end of the platform, so I usually wait down at the other end until I see the train approaching. I reached my usual spot and expected to see the train pulling into the platform as usual. It didn't come. Curious, I made my way back down the platform to see it held outside the station, which I've never seen before. No train can surely have been through ROV for 20-25 mins. I don't know what it was waiting for, but it pulled in in the end. We still had a bit of a wait for the train coming down from BUH to clear WOO junction though. By this time I was late for Hindi (although I should stress that I wasn't exactly running early to begin with) so I ended up deciding to go to Russell Square. It made a nice change, I suppose, but the journey isn't as enjoyable and the lifts are a real nightmare.

I was still late for Hindi though :P And after that I had some time to spare and I couldn't resist the temptation to take a spur of the moment trip up the Met to Wembley Park and back. So I did. I walked back to Euston Square, got a Hammersmith train to Baker Street and got aboard a Watford train that was in platform 4. Soon enough we were on our way heading towards Finchley Road. Along the way I made sure to catch a glimpse of the disused Marlborough Road station. You can't see very much of it these days, it's been closed since 1939, but the site of the old platforms is visible:

The site of former platforms at Marlborough Road. (Image courtesy "Oxyman" (via Wikipedia))

And, in fact, from the train, a ledge of some sort is actually quite noticeably visible where part of the platforms used to be. The station was closed in 1939 - although the surface building remains - due to heavy congestion on the Metropolitan line between Finchley Road and Baker Street. To alleviate this problem, deep level tunnels were constructed between Finchley Road and Baker Street and these, along with the branch to Stanmore (which was then part of the Metropolitan line) became part of the Bakerloo line. Nowadays, of course, this has been transferred to the Jubilee line. Prior to this, three stations (Swiss Cottage, Marlborough Road and Lord's) had existed between Finchley Road and Baker Street on the Met. All three stations were replaced by two entirely new stations - Swiss Cottage and St. John's Wood.

After Finchley Road, the Met emerges into the sunshine and it's a very pleasant journey up to Wembley Park. As I mentioned over the weekend, for much of the way, there are four London Underground tracks, as can be seen here at Dollis Hill:

Southbound platform 2 at Dollis Hill, looking toward Willesden Green. On the far left is the Metropolitan line towards Finchley Road, on the immediate left is the southbound Jubilee line towards Willesden Green, on the right hand side of this island platform is the northbound Jubilee line (obscured by the platform itself in this shot) towards Neasden, to the right of that (visible in this shot as the first line on the right) is the Metropolitan line towards Wembley Park. On the right of this is the Chiltern Railways line. The track nearest to us leads towards the terminus at London Marylebone, the outermost track on the right leads towards Harrow-on-the-Hill (and on to Aylesbury). (Image courtesy "Sunil060902" (via Wikipedia))

As I mentioned in the caption, two Chiltern Railways tracks also run alongside London Underground's tracks. These are on the Aylesbury route, between London Marylebone and Aylesbury (with one of the two trains per hour continuing to Aylesbury Vale Parkway).

This can be clarified by showing all of this in a simplified diagram (signals etc. not included):

The track layout around Dollis Hill station. SB = southbound, NB = northbound, SB2 = southbound platform 2, NB1 = northbound platform 1. The Metropolitan line is shown in purple, the Jubilee line is shown in silver and the Chiltern Railways line is shown in white and lilac.

This is a pretty accurate representation of the track layout between Finchley Road and Neasden, with the Jubilee line having island platforms between its northbound and southbound tracks. The Met has no platforms at West Hampstead, Kilburn, or Dollis Hill. At Willesden Green and Neasden, the Met also has platforms which are only used in times of severe disruptions or emergencies:

The northbound Jubilee line platform at Willesden Green. This is an island platform, the southbound Jubilee line platform is on our left. Visible on the extreme left and (most easily visible) on the extreme right are the little-used Metropolitan line platforms. Trains usually pass straight through these platforms at (near-)full line speed. (Image courtesy "Sunil060902" (via Wikipedia))

There are also sidings at West Hampstead and Willesden Green to complicate this picture slightly, but the diagram of Dollis Hill gives a very good idea. Beyond Neasden and, in particular, around Wembley Park, things do become much more complicated and I'm afraid I simply don't have the information to go into the track layout around those stations.

Anyway, it's a very pleasant journey, shooting through these stations at speed and between West Hampstead and Kilburn there are some truly spectacular views over the city. Admittedly, on the trip up to Wembley Park, the Sun was in just the wrong place, but all the same it's still very pretty and I was able to enjoy some great views on the way down. You can also get marvellous views of Neasden depot.

When I got to Wembley Park I was delighted to see the Metropolitan line's A-Stock RAT in the fast platform (the platform called at by trains which do not stop at Preston Road or Northwick Park; it is the leftmost platform at Wembley Park (looking towards Preston Road)) and I was sure to have a good look at it. We also passed a heavily graffitied unit of A-stock which had been preserved and is currently sitting looking rather forlorn in the depot. Still, while at Wembley Park, I also noticed an out of service train which was heading for the depot. I watched it be cleared by the shunt signal and head off to the depot and, when my Aldgate train pulled in, we caught up with it making its way around Neasden depot, which was nice. I also caught sight, again, of the track recording train in Neasden depot, so it was a good day for spotting unusual trains :P

After that it was back to Euston Square, but at least I was 10 minutes late for class, in consequence of not quite timing my journey right :P

The trip home was not eventful, but when I got to WOO, I was disappointed to see that 2 EPP trains and a DEB reverser were indicated as the next trains through, on the destination indicator. After one of the EPP trains had gone through, though, the board started displaying:

1. Epping
2. Hainault
3. Debden

Then, when the Epping train had come through, it changed again to

1. Hainault
2. Not in service
3. Epping    Held

 Apparently there was a good service on the Central line, but that EPP train continued to be indicated as held and was still shown as held when I got on my HAI train. Looks to me like there must've been a small problem somewhere down the line - LES perhaps?