How To Beat a London Tube Strike! (1962)

5 Days until Christmas, and I thought I would share with you a video I picked up about how to cope with the London Tube Strike of 1962. Can't see people doing the same these days, but as a film, it is quite fun. I especially like the idea of roller skating into the city - though I would have thought walking would take up less energy and take about the same amount of time. And as for the over weight guy looking to run to work - the less said the better!!

Southern Electric - New rolling stock for the Waterloo & City

No reason behind today's selection, other than it really interested me. The Waterloo and City Line is always an interesting little line, as it is not connected to the main Tube network. So the only way to get something in and out was via the Armstrong lift (see the video above).

Sadly the Armstrong lift no longer exists, it was demolished (along with the entire Western sidings) in 1992 due to the construction of Waterloo International – the former Eurostar terminal.

These days the procedure is carried out using a road-mounted crane in a shaft adjacent to the depot, south of Waterloo mainline station on Spur Road. This is only necessary for major maintenance work that requires lifting of the car body as the Waterloo depot is fully equipped for general maintenance work.

Journey by a London Bus (1950)

I love social history. Buildings and events are ok, but it compares not a jolt to how people lived and worked. And how the environment that they lived in affected their lives. So my first offering reflects a very interesting and important change in our countries history since the second world war. That first wave of mass immigration of the 50's.

The film was made by the colonial film unit, and highlights how easy it is to use the bus service in London. And at the time, bus travel would have been the best way of getting around town. So it makes sense to advertise this fact to anyone intending to move to the uk. I would imagine there was a lot of films like this, as it would have been important to get people prepared for their arrival.