Vintage railway films - The Victoria line reports - 1960s

[Music] um [Music] victoria to walthamstow london's new underground railway introduced by c e dunton chief civil engineer of the london transport board this map is an aerial photograph of the part of london under which we are now building the new victoria line this line will provide a new route across the west end of london it will connect four mainline termini it will serve a new district in the north east and it will provide new and convenient interchange at existing stations let us look at the route from victoria mainland station to green park to oxford circus a very important interchange place to warren street here is houston another terminus king's cross highbury new district finnsbury park using the existing station seven sisters new district tottenham hill new district black horse road and finally connecting with the eastern region services at walthamstow now that's uh ten and a half route miles mostly in twin tunnels making in all 23 miles of single tunnel it is probably the most complicated engineering work of tunneling character ever carried out in london and it is certainly the largest job which we have done since the work of the old original tube building it's a big job it's a difficult job it's a difficult job to carry out it's an even more difficult job to plan ten and a half miles of route 12 stations eleven of them at intersections with one or more existing lines and the biggest engineering enterprise is at oxford circus even before the victoria line the handling of passengers at peak hours had already reached crisis proportions with the increase in numbers to be expected when the victoria line opens at least 50 percent new facilities will be essential the proposal is to provide at the four quadrants of the circus four new stairwell entrances and below a new ticket hall corresponding to the road area of the circus above the old ticket hall will still be used will be linked by a passageway with the new and will thus provide a total of nine street entrances instead of the old five the immediate problem was to excavate and construct this new ticket hall whose ceiling would be only two feet six inches below the road surface without holding up traffic across the circus for the entire three years it would take to build up to now oxford circus has been only a two-line interchange the central line running east and west below oxford street and the bakerloo running north and south with its station platforms under upper region street now provision has to be made for two new running lines and platforms for the victoria line southbound on this side northbound on the far side and this together with all the additional services required adds up to a formidable labyrinth one and a half miles of new tunneling of one kind and another escalator shafts new concourses exit subways disused ones to be blanked off new services fans and power supplies with their ventilators and cable ducts and public services to be dealt with too there is one aspect of the oxford circus work which could not be seen from the model that is the problem of dealing with the very complicated arrangement of services and mains under the main circus this uh was dealt with by first ascending from all the suppliers precisely what their equipment consisted of and as near as possible where it stood but that was not good enough for the work we had to do we needed to know the exact position of every main to a quarter of an inch you see our purpose was to sink these piles shown in red on this plan and they were to carry the bridge which was afterwards to be built which became known as the umbrella to carry the road and permit us to do our work now the only way in which we could get the position of the mains with sufficient precision was by digging for them by digging shafts and headings and these blue parts on the plant showed where we dug and where we made our expirations well so it was that in september 1962 i was at oxford circus facing the television cameras and answering some questions about the start of our work the operation gonna go well we are now exploring we have to put a massive steel umbrella steel bridge over the whole of this circus and we have to found it on 24 concrete cylinders and those cylinders must go into place without disturbing or falling upon any mains cables gas veins sewers and this place is full of them how long is this first phase going to take then well it depends very much on how we find the position but i'm hoping that our bridge will be designed and out to manufacture in a few months and i wasn't too far wrong because seven months later the first drilling rig came into oxford circus meanwhile a great deal had been done the explorations but uncovered a great many manes sewers we'd even tapped one main which we didn't know whether it was empty or alive we diverted others and so we come we had come to our final design for the bridge the piles were 25 in number shown on this drawing and the deck covered 7 8 of the area of the circus and was only 2 foot 6 deep so as to allow room for the construction of the new ticket hall below and so at the beginning of june 1963 the drilling of the foundation piles commenced 25 holes drilled and filled in 18 days about one and a half holes per night three feet in diameter up to 50 feet deep to get a footing in the firm london clay and filled with reinforced concrete passing through the maze of pipes and conduits which mr dunton has described and missing some of them by as little as an inch that's pretty accurate drilling with a three foot bit when the hole is rather more than fifteen feet deep it's lined with a steel pipe in most cases three feet in diameter to retain the made ground through which the hole passes on its way down to the clay a second section of pipe goes down inside the first one when the hole is deep enough and is progressively rammed down to reach the full depth when the engineer is satisfied that the london clay has been reached a bell-shaped footing is brought out at the bottom of the hull using an ingenious bit with potato peeler blades that can be opened and shut by the rig driver then an inspection is made by the engineer to confirm that the footing is well and truly in the clay the next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete having first removed the inspector a reinforcement goes down and concreting starts and progressively as the shaft fills with concrete the lining pipes are withdrawn to be used again of course on the next hoe it's a delicate operation because if the pipes are left in too long the concrete will harden the pipes will stick and if they are lifted too soon loose earth will fall into the still liquid concrete and weaken it when the shaft is full of concrete it is left to harden and the lid put on so that all is ready for the start of traffic in the morning a month later the 25 columns are finished and as you can see their tops have been fitted with base plates and holding down bolts for the steel stools that will support the girders forming the main framework of the bridge the intention was to erect the bridge in one long weekend the august bank holiday weekend 1963. all its parts were prefabricated off-site and they had to fit together perfectly at first go otherwise the job just wouldn't be done in that length of time so on the 23rd of july a preliminary installation of the stools took place so as to establish where the girders they were to support would sit and so the bolt holes could be drilled in the tops of the stools in perfect register with those already in the girders on the positioning of the stools and the accuracy with which they were marked up depended the whole success of the operation of erecting the bridge this was how it was done a series of survey stations brass plugs with a punched dot let into the roadway was established along the line of each row of columns with a theodolite site along this line on a scriber held first at the front edge then at the back edge of each still in turn this gives the center line of the girders in relation to the stools measure out the known length of each girder with the help of a plumb line and a tape attached to a spring balance to prevent it sagging and giving a false measurement this shows where the end of each girder will butt up with its neighbor and the stools can be taken away and drilled in the factory with complete accuracy to match the hulls in the girders they will be required to support ten days from now [Music] the area took on a beleaguered look as d-day came nearer buses re-routed and traffic diverted policemen deployed and essential services endangered cavendish square became a supply center where the girders and deck sections were stacked color coded and numbered according to their place in the final mosaic a use for the square of which the gentleman who gave it his name would doubtless have disapproved had he been able to see he was too weak to be moved and so zero hour arrived 1 30 on the saturday afternoon and it was raining of course saturday morning shoppers and assistants were hurrying away from the target area and all traffic was diverted from it 65 hours to do the job in for the bridge had to be open for traffic come what may by 6 30 on the tuesday morning first job was to get the lids off all the columns and the stools back on again then the hardware started arriving the largest of the girders was 35 feet long and weighed just over five tons but the iron fighters were tossing them around as though this was the braemar games the first of them was put in position at 20 past three on the saturday afternoon less than two hours after the start of play the erectors guide the girders into position by sticking their rat tail spanners through the bolt holes the bolt holes were drilled a quarter of an inch over size to allow for expansion of the steel if the weather were hot but that's not an awful lot of tolerance in a job that had to be erected to a schedule like this one but now we saw the first samples of the accuracy with which the contractors had done their work in goes the boat first time of asking see what i mean a couple of hours later the whole center rib was complete except for the ramp sections everybody knew what he had to do and got on with doing it at the same time no one had their head in the sand the job had to go on going right just about seven o'clock the first deck section went in it was a corner one the southwest corner top region street the parts that project underneath fit into the lugs you can see along the top of the girder there something like a a child's construction kit there's no belting down which save time and bolts and they can't shift because the whole structure interlocks and as the cross corner girder swings in to be placed diagonally there you can see the corner deck section in place all the time this was going on the pneumatic drills were going cutting out the footings for the ramp sections in fact this went on day and night for almost the whole of the time the bridge took to erect so unyielding did the two foot thick layer of concrete under the old road surface proved to be on through saturday night too went the work of fitting the deck sections once more they did fit with astonishing regularity by sunday morning 11 o'clock exactly half the deck was complete road surface and all since the deck units came from the factory with the asphalt already applied 43 hours to go [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] so it went on for the rest of sunday and we were still waiting for the bit that didn't fit on through sunday night 30 hours and 40 deck sections to go from midnight when daylight came there it was very nearly complete all that was left to go in were the final ramp sections that had had to wait for the footings to be dug out as it turned out breaking up that two feet of rock hard concrete proved to be the most troublesome part of the job more so than we'd expected well the one that doesn't fit has to be one of these there aren't any more after this 245 units put in position in an average time of 11 minutes each just after midday on the monday with 18 hours left to finish off in it was all over by the congratulations and there are sir alec valentine as he now is london transport chairman and mr duncan to offer them most of monday and all night till first thing tuesday to clear up and finish off putting up traffic lights joining up the ramp ends with the existing road surfaces ironing the seams cutting holes for cables filling in the ramp footings all the final fiddles and right on the dot 6 30 a.m tuesday the 6th of august 1963 with all services functioning the first traffic crossed well it all went together without a hitch the engineers and contractors deserved all the congratulations they got it was a very fine weekend's work and in due time the task of excavating for the new ticket hall began under the umbrella bridge hundreds of tons of earth to be dug out laboriously and shifted to the surface eventually a new roadway will be laid over the ceiling of the new ticket hall and the bridge will be dismantled and taken away the building of the umbrella bridge is only a small though interesting part of the work at oxford circus a more profound phase began in april 1963 in cavendish square two shafts were sunk this one is 70 feet deep and is lined with bolted cast iron segmental rings of 15 feet internal diameter 20 inches wide from the bottom of the shaft a temporary access tunnel of 12 feet internal diameter 400 feet long was driven out towards regent street north of the circus the purpose of this shaft and tunnel was to enable the construction of the northbound station tunnel to begin the access tunnel had reached the correct position the face gang could form the 12 feet internal diameter breakup for the pilot tunnel which preceded the construction of the full diameter station tunnel the miners tools are shovels and pneumatic clay spades the muck the london clay is loaded into skips the london clay famous in tunneling history since the eighteen nineties is the ideal medium in which to build a new tube railway london is going through a phase of construction and development nowadays work sites are commonplace lorries carting away spoil from some job or other are an everyday site cavendish square garden on an early summer day in 1964 peaceful enough but in the southeast corner there's a work site with a crane over one of the shafts above the other shaft a two-foot gauge track on an elevated staging leads to a platform hoist seventy feet below ground a welded steel hand shield with three working platforms is driving the twenty one feet two and a half inch internal diameter northbound station tunnel the excavation for a lining ring has been completed now the rams are withdrawn so that the next ring can be erected each ring consists of twelve cast iron segments weighing a total of four tons each segment is put into position by a hydraulic erector then the segments are bolted to the previous ring and to each other each ring advances the tunnel by 18 inches the best rate of sustained progress was 52 feet per five day week working 24 hours a day softwood packings are inserted in the circumferential joint to distribute the thrust of the shield finally the small key segment is inserted in the crown when the lining ring is complete the shield is once more forced forward by its hydraulic rams its cutting edge trims the excavation to its cylindrical shape as the shield moves forward play may be dislodged by the face rams the miners shovel the spoil from the bottom of the shield onto a belt conveyor which runs rearwards over their heads at the end of the belt the clay is discharged into skips thus by autumn 1964 the northbound station tunnel was completed and work was proceeding on the southbound tunnel simultaneously large-scale operations are taking place at 35 work sites all along the route of the new victoria line work on the new victoria line will continue for several years and from time to time films will report on its progress [Music] [Applause] [Music] 40 to 50 feet down in the london clay the 21-foot tunnels for 11 new stations and 25 miles of 12 and a half foot running tunnel tunnels for pedestrian subways and escalator shafts and ventilation ducts are being cut there are other things than that to building the line like laying the permanent way in due course and installing the escalators and building the ticket halls but first and foremost it's a job of digging out tunnels there's nothing new about that men have been digging tunnels mucking out and shifting spoil to the surface for thousands of years since the days of the stone age flint knappers it's just that the methods have changed a bit over the years and the costume digging through heavy ground like london clay has been done since 1825 when the first thames tunnel was begun with some form of shield the first one designed by mark brunell had 12 of these frames side by side making 36 cells in each of which a miner worked at the face each frame was shoved forward by screw jacks operated manually pressing against the end of the brick lining put in behind the spoil was mucked out to a platform from which the bricklayers putting in the lining also worked the next shield designed for the second terms tunnel by peter barlow was circular and only three miners were needed to work it first the men dug out a cavity in front of the central hexagonal space then climbed through and enlarged it outwards a lining made up of cast iron segments was used and pressing against the end of it screw jacks to push the shield forward space left outside the lining was filled in with a grouting of lime and water and from that time all circular tunnels in soft ground have been dug basically in this way the young engineer then in charge of the project james henry great head later improved the shield by mechanizing it one of his shields was used to dig the rather height tunnel under the thames it was built by joseph westwood and company in their thames side yard this version of it is being used for the 14 station tunnel shields on the victoria line the lining is erected with the help of hydraulically operated arms and bolted together inside the shield when the shield moves on the space outside the lining still has to be grouted in with cement and water the jacks are hydraulic too and independent of one another these are all improvements first made by great head though the ground must still be dug out by hand power tools have replaced the pick and shovel but now rotary mechanical diggers have replaced great head shields for building most of the running tunnel of the victoria line where the ground is good and the drives are long enough to justify them economically kenya moody designed the first version of this one in 1955. the outside static drum is essentially great head shield but the inner drum rotates and has cutters which do the digging hydraulic rams push the machine forward for the length of each shove this is the mcalpine digging shield whose prototypes were built for the 16-foot toronto tube railway in 1959 each of these machines can be operated by two men and they are powered by electro hydraulic systems mounted on a sledge towed behind the shield on this also is a belt conveyor to carry away the spoil the lugs on the wheel spokes are mountings for the cutting teeth each ram has its own control so that the shield can be steered by varying the thrust on opposite sides or at top and bottom taken apart for transportation the shields go down the access shafts to be reassembled at the bottom where short chambers somewhat larger in diameter than the running tunnel to be bored have been made ready for them rotary diggers do the job quickly and accurately but they're costly and take a long time to set up so they're not justified for short lengths of tunnel like stations it's only when they can drive on for long distances that they pay for themselves the face has been prepared by hand and left with breast boards to retain it this section of tunnel began below highbury fields in july 1964. it drove along 60 to 70 feet below the streets and houses towards king's cross the beginning of a shift and the machine is switched continuous working in eight hour shifts five days a week the gang consists of a leading minor a man of considerable experience who is in charge a second minor and four minor laborers the hydraulic rams fitted with feet conforming to the curvature of the tunnel are selected and butt up to the last section of lining cutting begins [Applause] the control in the driver's hand the small lever and button is the master control which keeps the whole machine moving forward evenly compensating for the varying hardness of the ground at the rate of about two inches a minute [Music] there you see the trailing edge of the arter drum creeping forward [Music] with a mechanical digging routine of this kind the spoil comes out much faster than with any previous method ten and a half cubic yards for each shove a quite elaborate arrangement of skip trains hauls it away from behind the shields three trains to each shield 17 skip loads from each shaft [Music] under the grating is a belt conveyor which carries it under the tunnel to an inclined shaft specially built for the purpose of which it is carried to the surface [Music] london clay is not self-supporting for very long so the lining rings must be put in quickly two kinds are being used cast iron as in the past and precast concrete with these precast concrete ones a ring is made up of 11 segments and two packings the rings are two feet wide so as soon as the digger has progressed by that much which takes from 10 to 15 minutes it is stopped [Music] the rams are withdrawn and a ring of segments is built up [Music] the time the film takes to show this operation is the actual time it takes to carry it out to maneuver the segments into position on each side there is a compressed air driven winch and a hydraulic erector the first two segments are shaped to form a drainage channel and the flat bed on which the permanent way will be laid [Music] level the next two segments have notches cast in them into which a double-acting hydraulic jack will be fitted when all 11 segments are in place to expand the complete ring for the packings to be inserted the holes used for the lifting bolts will also serve as sockets for the support brackets for power signal telephone and lighting cables along the sides of the finished tunnel concrete lining rings which are cheap to make and quick to erect can only be used where the segments need not be bolted together but can be expanded against the clay without grouting eliminating grouting means a big economy in both time and money but to do without it the diameters of tunnel and lining must match exactly this can be achieved when rotary diggers are used no bolts or other fastenings are needed the ring when complete is self-supporting unbolted cast iron rings of running tunnel size are also being used but in larger diameter tunnels all of which are cast iron lined the segments are bolted the shaft rams apply pressure to the edge of the lining segments to make sure that each butts up tightly to its neighbor in the previous ring retaining pins keep the upper segments from falling while the crown segments are put in here you can see the essential difference between the great head type directors which are centrally pivoted and inside the shield and these which are outside it and pivoted at the crown in rather less than four minutes the crown segments are going in to be held in place temporarily by wooden wedges the jacks are put into the notches provided for them in the lower segments and the whole ring is expanded to force the outer face into close contact with the clay this is what makes it possible to dispense with crouching the gaps each side are then closed with the concrete packings which keep the whole ring in compression the operation of placing the lining ring and expanding it will have taken seven or eight minutes and a new cutting cycle begins the concrete lining segments are made at fairlock in essex [Music] here there are natural deposits of gravel and an already established washing and screening plant [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] by the time the victoria line is complete more than 10 miles of lining rings will have gone out from fairlock [Music] many of the remainder the cast iron ones are made at stanton and others on t side and in glasgow [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] the cast segments are milled to a close tolerance [Music] and then set up in a test yard to check them for accuracy [Music] more than 100 different diameters and types for different uses crossover tunnels and junctions some as large as 35 feet escalated tunnels the next largest station tunnels running tunnels pedestrian subways and smaller ones for ventilation ducts and other services and off they go to the many supply points [Music] [Applause] [Music] so down below there are of course the other parts of the job that cannot be done by rotary diggers for economic or practical reasons short lengths of large diameter like this one which accommodates a crossover at page green common are much better dug out by hand using power tools in some cases work has to be done manually because daily traffic cannot be interrupted or because the tunnel diameter varies every few yards at highbury for example a running tunnel is being enlarged for a new junction [Music] a protective steel hood has been built above the existing track it's mobile and can be moved along on rails as the work progresses while trains continue to run the extra diameter can be accurately dug out and lined and the old running tunnel demolished an even more spectacular example of this is at finsbury park where the piccadilly line has to be diverted into a new tunnel the tunnel for the junction was made around the old tube with the junction tunnel complete the old tube can be progressively demolished and then with new permanent way prepared alongside and in the diversion tunnel the old line will be connected up to the new in a little over 12 hours great head type shields are being used for station tunnels because the lengths involved some 460 feet each justify some form of shield the rotary type would not be economic but the cost and the time needed to erect hand digging shields is of course far less wherever there is a change of tunnel diameter where there is a junction or a crossover or where station tunnel meets running tunnel the tunnel must be dug out and the lining erected by hand under the umbrella at oxford circus a rather sinister cavern is taking shape which will be the new ticket hall there elsewhere too it's business as usual at seven sisters the station booking hall is being hollowed out under a parade of shops at houston installation of new escalator machinery has begun [Music] from the shafts all along the line the spoil is carted away the shafts which serve more than 30 digging shields of various types and sizes in different parts of the project eight of the shields are rotary diggers starting from different points with the intention that the lengths they are boring will come out at predetermined places here at pretoria avenue is a tunnel face prepared for the breakthrough of a shield from the running tunnel beyond the nail represents the center point at which the digger should come through and it darts similarly at the end of the line at ho street walthamstow two pairs of crosswires a few feet apart on the center line of the tunnel show that the boss in the center of the digger is only about an inch out after driving more than a mile not bad [Music] steering [Music] carefully the breast boards are taken down so that the remaining thickness of the face doesn't collapse bringing the periphery with it [Music] uh and the shield comes on to complete the breakthrough into the station tunnel from her street walthamstow to victoria work proceeds and from time to time films will report on its progress [Music] 12 stations [Music] 25 miles of running tunnels the victoria line this report shows some of the engineering problems encountered and overcome during the construction of london's new tube room building the victoria line is a complicated undertaking it involves the rebuilding of important stations handling a great deal of traffic at 11 of the 12 stations passengers will be changing trains three stations also interchange with one or more main line stations so it was at the stations that problems were going to arise king's cross for instance kings cross underground serves the two mainline terminals of kings crossings and pancras below the surface it links the shallow metropolitan and circle lines with the deep piccadilly and northern tube lines the new victoria line tunnels thread their way through above the piccadilly and below the metropolitan immediately below the two old brickline tunnels of the metropolitan containing altogether four tracks one of the new victoria line station tunnels had to be driven there are here the subsurface brick arch tunnels carrying the metropolitan circle line and the tunnels carrying the midland curve up to some pancreas and the hotel curve up to north of kings cross main line the victoria line station tunnels and the lower concourse tunnels had to be driven immediately below the brick tunnels and just above the piccadilly line tunnels which are in the other direction and this in turn is above the northern line tunnel rather than entering the brick tunnels to strengthen them or underpin them with stressed rafts since they were in use it was decided to design the new victoria line station and concourse tunnel so that the linings could be expanded and direct in the ground stresses in such a way that the high stresses were induced below the footings of the brick arch tunnels but not much elsewhere as an additional measure to prevent the brick arch tunnels above settling or distorting the victoria line station tunnels were driven with specially strong tunneling shields these had more than the usual number of rams to support the clay at the tunnel face normally station tunnels are lined with cast iron but here steel lining rings have a special design were erected and expanded against the ground by hydraulic jacks one on each side to enlarge the existing king's cross station to cope with the extra passengers using the victoria line or changing to other lines a new interchange subway to the mainline terminals was necessary it had to pass through the top of one of the old brick tunnels train services using the tunnels were much too important to be suspended so the problem was to keep the trains running while the arch of the old tunnel was demolished and replaced with a flat concrete roof to make room for the floor of the subway inside the tunnel within the very narrow space clear of the trains a temporary protective shield was constructed with this steel shield to catch the debris the old brickwork was demolished and the tunnel given its new shape then the brickwork was carted away a hundred years of railway history just a load of old rubble [Music] king's cross a busy station was kept in full use all the time that the new escalators for the victoria line were being built and all the time that the new roof was being put on the ticket hall and all the time that stanchions and girders were being put up inside enlarging it and changing its shape completely most of this work was done at night but some of it during short occupations in the daytime but passengers took the inconveniences in their stride oxford circus station also presented problems it's one of the busiest of the existing stations it will be an interchange between three lines the central the bakerloo and the victoria in this station alone there are eight new escalators and one and three-quarter miles of new tunnels oxford circus is one of the busiest road intersections in london here an umbrella bridge had been built to carry the street traffic so that excavations could go on underneath for a new upper concourse and ticket hall which will occupy the whole area below the road intersection this is just one night's work of the many days and nights of labor at this site the job was to get columns and girders down through small openings made by lifting sections of the umbrella the columns and girders were to support the new roof and carry the roadway the columns are 23 feet long they were awkward loads to handle in the confined space the girders up to 35 feet weigh up to 9 tons each it's great on other nights like this through this and similar little slots 19 columns 66 main girders and 600 smaller ones have been maneuvered and already mixed concrete delivered and placed to form the roof this kind of work could only be done at night when there wasn't much traffic and cranes and lorries could occupy the road but once the material was below the umbrella work could go on continuously by day as well the columns and girders could be put in place first taking the load of the temporary umbrella and later supporting the permanent roof and the road while all the time the oxford circus traffic rolled on unhindered up above large buildings surround oxford circus one of them with three deep basements and massive foundations one of the new station tunnels had to be constructed immediately underneath it and had to bear its weight here is a sketch of the three basement in order to get to this work from the only available axis a tunnel 250 yards long had to be driven underneath the bakerloo line tunnels with a vertical shaft and then small tunnels were driven on either side of the footings and within small cross headings the foundations were underpinned by a stressed concrete raft so if you were shopping in oxford circus in may 1965 that's what was going on under your feet the building now stands on a new concrete raft foundation crisscrossed with steel tubes through them go high-tensile steel cables to strengthen the concrete by stretching it [Music] wow a color code is used to make sure that the cables come out in the same order they go in without kinks or twists [Music] they're anchored at the far end and then stressed at the free end by a hydraulic tensioning machine powered by an electric pump when the load on each cable reaches 25 tons the correct tension it is anchored at the free end too when all the cables have been stressed the tubes are filled with the cement mortar and all the spare ends of course trimmed off the shield for the station tunnel capable of a forward force on the tunnel face of 800 tons was driven very slowly scraping along below as the underpinning was trimmed to fit the outside of the shield supporting the weights and the tunnel built by expanding the rings against the underside of the raft the lining is steel not cast iron as in other tunnels so in november 1965 the shield driving the southbound station tunnel at oxford circus 59 feet down advancing one and a half inches an hour came into contact with the curved underside of the concrete raft supporting peter robinson's the raft had been so constructed that the miners after digging out the clay below it had only to skim off the lowest inch or so of concrete and the shield could then move forward again taking up the load of the building above then the tunnel lining was erected behind the shield and now supports the whole structure directly and permanently and as segment by segment ring number 170 of this section goes into position another 18 inches is gained in the long drive from walthamstow to victoria through the london clay [Music] over the london clay in many places lie layers of water bearing sand and gravel these present a problem when escalated tunnels have to be driven through them one way unusual but effective of making the ground fit to mine through is to freeze it solid this was done successfully at tottenham hill station liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees centigrade that's 352 degrees below fahrenheit freezing point was circulated through a succession of four inch steel tubes driven into the ground five feet apart after passing through five tubes the nitrogen was allowed to escape to atmosphere at minus 10 degrees centigrade it took three months which included the hottest weeks of the summer of 1966 to freeze 500 cubic yards of ground after that the escalator shaft could be excavated and lined in safety so that passengers can change trains easily walking at one level for short distances at three places existing lines had to be diverted this involved mining out large diameter tunnels encircling the existing running tunnels while trains operated in them throughout these diversion tunnels were necessarily dug with hand tools and the running tunnels had to be supported yard by yard as they became exposed at finsbury park the westbound piccadilly line was diverted in this way for passenger interchange there were already four platform tunnels eastbound and westbound on the piccadilly line at the top of the diagram the two platforms at the lower half were used by the northern city line which had been terminated temporarily at the previous station so we have two lines in use at the top and two available at the bottom but we want the eastbound piccadilly line alongside the eastbound victoria line and the two westbounds adjacent to so it was necessary to divert the westbound piccadilly line from the second from top position into the third from the top to make room for the eastbound victoria line now that required making a junction at both ends and still keeping the piccadilly line operating all the time the complication was that at the west end the westbound piccadilly line was on a falling gradient and the victoria line was on a rising gradient of 1 in 90 producing a difference in level of a maximum of five feet down to nothing except for five hours at night trains were running all the time with the railway supported on timberway beams and saddles resting on steel trestles five feet above future level at night the old tunnel was demolished segment by segment [Music] the actual changeover was meticulously planned every operation and the time required for it was worked out thoroughly so that every minute of the 15 hours available was used to the utmost and everyone knew exactly what he had to do on saturday october the 4th 1965 as soon as the last service train had passed over the old line just before midnight the work started first the downhill end of the track was removed [Music] overhead runways have been built over both the existing track and the diversion track they were used to lift the beams and trestles and run them along to wagons standing on the uphill end of the old track [Music] the length of remaining track governed the number of wagons that could be used to take the material away so the available storage was all important and a way of loading these awkward objects had to be carefully worked out in advance and the plan followed closely so that each wagon took its full and correct load [Music] so [Music] right then on time so far [Music] the first train load taken away through the old tunnel the track where the wagons had been standing dismantled this material taken away through the new tunnel where track had already been laid stage two completed still on time the old track and trestles out of the way the rest of the diversion track can be laid [Music] signal equipment to be installed power supply and signal cables reconnected the new track temporarily supported on special jacks and brace units and everything ready for the first train to come through the diversion as scheduled on the sunday afternoon afterwards the track was concreted in and the jacks removed aside from the special operations and major difficulties the work of driving tunnels has gone on steadily tunnels for the railway the stations escalator shafts subways cross passages cable ducts and ventilator shafts from the smallest five feet in diameter to the largest 35 feet when tunneling work was at its peak between february and april 1965 there were 16 tunneling shields in use six mechanical excavator shields five shields under which the running tunnels were mined with hand tools and five large diameter station tunnel shields the phase of tunneling drew to an end in autumn 1966 on the 20th of september only one digger shield was at work completing the final running tunnel drive from hybrid to king's cross at 9 40 that morning that last shield broke through the last of the clay an inch and a half off the calculated position right on the permitted limit of deviation [Music] so [Music] on that day if you'd had a long enough piece of string you could have stretched it all the way from victoria to walthamstow through the new tube tunnels for the victoria line tunnel's complete track laying begins [Music] short service rails and chaired sleepers taken down to begin the permanent way accurate in line and level in mining the tunnels the maximum error allowed was one and a half inches as the tunnels were driven surveys were made and from the surveys wriggle diagrams were produced showing the actual positions of the tunnels relative to theoretical line and level where necessary modifications to the planned alignment were plotted if good realignment could not be obtained there would be nothing for it but to rebuild parts of the tunnel lining for setting out the track monument plates are fixed to the wall of the tunnel at 50-foot intervals and at every change of curvature tables of measurements taken from the wriggle diagrams show the level of the track in relation to accurate markings made on the monument plates chaired sleepers are laid out using the 20-foot service rails they rest on the bottom invert segments in concrete tunnels or in iron line tunnels on the bottom concrete left three inches low an approximate top and line survey is done first accurate to one eighth of an inch at this stage adjustments are still [Music] possible a final top and line ensures that the track is correct to 1 16 of an inch a final survey checks that every sleeper every chair is exactly right after this the way really will be permanent [Music] so specially designed shuttering for the concrete metal surfaces oiled so the concrete won't stick everything ready for concrete to be poured the concrete mixed in the central underground plant in one of the crossover tunnels [Music] delivered in small lots quickly while still workable poured and compacted into every crevice shaped and smoothed to a steel float finish so that fluff and oily dust can be cleaned off easily when it's set the short service rails are taken up and used farther along the line [Music] northumberland park depot in the long term it will serve as trains but now for the time being it is a welding plant for 300 foot lengths of rail now that the chaired sleepers are accurately in position laying the long welded rail is a quick process using special rail trains and equipment [Music] oh [Music] problems that's only a few of them progress there's still a lot of work to be done power supply automatic train control automatic fare collection equipment completion of the architectural work of the stations but if all goes well the northern section of the line will be opened in the latter part of 1968 and the whole line completed in 1969. [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] july 1968 trains are running under test conditions on the victoria line london's new tube railway the line is first of all a major work of civil engineering but civil engineers and contractors alone cannot provide an operational railway they achieved the last tunnel breakthrough below king's cross in september 1966 below regent street in april 1967 they tightened the last nut on the last bolt in the last lining ring they carried out the meticulous top and line surveys which ensured the correct laying of twenty three miles of permanent way accurate to a sixteenth of an inch at last the civil engineers could see daylight their next task was to lay continuous welded rail fabricated at northumberland park depot throughout the tunnels deep in the london clay from special trains by the summer of 1968 the architect's plans and models were taking solid full-scale shape a deep tube railway has little to show on the surface but what does show is well designed and functional black horse road is the only entirely new station building on the line a black horse in fiberglass for the facade was undertaken by david mcfaul royal academician from a small plaster sketch he first models the low relief in clay full size easter weekend 1968 the civil engineers dismantling one of their own structures the umbrella bridge which for almost five years has carried the oxford circus road traffic over the deepening excavations for the new ticket hall below job completed many hours ahead of schedule the victoria line called for 42 new escalators for use at 11 of the 12 stations the civil engineers built the foundations for them then the mechanical engineers and their contractors took over the responsibility for the installation and proper functioning of the machinery when london's first moving staircase began to run at earl's court in the year 1911 a man with a wooden leg was employed to ride up and down all day to show the passengers how safe and easy it was hardly necessary these days the modern escalator normally runs at 125 feet a minute 145 feet a minute at peak times about a mile and a half an hour but how quickly will the modern escalator stop in an emergency to make sure it's loaded with weights to represent 1.6 passengers per step five tons on 50 steps right take it back and try it again so the average is four feet two inches stopping distance from full speed the civil engineers left the station tunnels as twin iron barrels like shotgun barrels but 21 feet in diameter and 460 feet long now they have to be finished and surfaced with clad roofs above the platforms and tiled walls that's the architect's responsibility automatic fare collection a series of new concepts new equipment signal engineers responsibility automatic train operation the old style driver becomes the hands-off train operator on britain's first fully automatic passenger railway the original control apparatus was installed on the helen loop out in essex in april 1964 using converted 1960 rolling stock for a prolonged period of service testing the apparatus stops the train at stations the train operator opens and shuts the doors and can make announcements to the passengers through car load speakers if necessary he also starts the train from then on the black boxes take over they tell the driver what they're going to do next they make the train obey the signals after a signal check they restart the train accelerate it and run it at the best possible speed for the prevailing operating conditions but the man is there qualified and experienced with power to override the mechanism should anything go wrong for a new railway new trains are necessary from the drawing boards to a full scale mock-up at acton works public address and radio telephony illuminated advertising fluorescent lighting nudge-free elbow room for passengers double glazing designed for easy cleaning from the mock-up to a prototype the prototype subjected to exhaustive stress testing at birmingham all requirements satisfied all specifications met now for quantity production [Music] the traction control equipment clear static braking auxiliary contactors control jumpers car wiring and motor alternator rectifier sets were made at the manchester works of associated electrical industries mostly to tried and true designs with some modernizing modifications this equipment then went to birmingham where the chains themselves were built in the metropolitan camel works altogether over 50 contracts and subcontracts were placed with british firms for the victoria line rolling stock the requirements amounted to 30 and a half eight car trains each train has two four car sets each set has two motor cars and two trailer cars total 244 cars each car an assembly of precisely fitted brass and steel and light alloy and copper and plastic and glass and upholstery and each an assembly of thought debate design craftsmanship experience and skill so from birmingham the cars are hauled over british rail on their own wheels to ryslip west depot to be handed over to the mechanical engineers [Music] a dry slip a series of travis's and lifts so that the traction motors and all associated equipment can be fitted into the bogeys [Music] it is here that the new trains move under their own power for the first time [Music] iron passengers patient uncomplaining and heavy two and a half hundred weight each twenty stone their role to provide a simulated rush hour load for braking and acceleration tests at actum [Music] for a few days the trains become mobile laboratories driven both manually and under automatic control while loaded to the equivalent of 160 passengers per car 10 tons braking characteristics dry rail breaking characteristics wet rail [Music] performance plots to be digested by a computer of all this trains proved fit for service ready to be handed over to the operating department then to the hailed loop for operation with live passengers the sculptor frees the black horse from the plaster mold nervous work this like partition horses without harness yes but trains need control at every station the interlocking machine rooms are dust free air conditioned and electrically isolated the signal engineers will fill them with control equipment each unit to be tested and certified before it is conveyed to its test in sight it will be there for years feeding data to the track and the trains manual lever board electronic interlocking machine operating panel control equipment racks printed circuit modules code generators train program machines binary clock counters train number coincidence units illuminated diagrams when completed the network of interlocking machines gives communication throughout the line at the speed of light the data centers in upon and radiates out from number 72 houston street which everyone calls coburg street control day by day hour by hour second by second for the whole foreseeable future with new alliance for weekends cup finals and public holidays coburg street control this concrete and electronic drum of a building is the final arbiter for division b the northern and the victoria lines in july 1968 the installation of the mimic panels with their associated relays and wiring was well advanced the control will be manned shift by shift by two controllers one for the northern and one for the victoria line and five regulators four for the northern and one for the victoria the controller is charged with ensuring that the train service throughout the division operates as closely as possible to the timetable the regulator's duties are mainly supervisory since the setting of signal routes is carried out automatically by program machines alterations to program out of turn workings cancellations of trains extra trains and serious disruption of traffic are the concern of the regulator and he has the means to deal with them at his fingertips power for the underground lots road generating station provides most of it as the victoria line neared completion it just happened that lots road without ever coming off load was being completely modernized and re-equipped with oil-fired boilers and new turbo alternators lots road came into use in february of the year 1905 and in those days people called it the chelsea monster it underwent several modernizations and by 1932 all the original generators and boilers had been replaced 1968 sees another complete replacement the installed capacity of lots road today is 180 million watts at 22 000 volts enough power for a town the size of eastbourne from lots road the current for the underground goes to the main switch houses kerberg street switch house was specially built and equipped for the victoria line it houses circuit breakers for the 22 000 volt current and transformers to bring this current down to 11 000 volts at eleven thousand volts the current is distributed to the nine substations which serve the line with traction current at 630 volts dc [Music] the tunneler's access shafts of yesterday are now ready-made cable ducts so currents of 22 kv and 11 kv traction current at 630 volts and lower currents for signal and train control circuits are now all conveyed along the cables which line the walls of the tunnels northumberland park depot made the most urgent demand for power its substation had to be the first into operation may 1968 northumberland park switches on [Music] [Music] the depot at northumberland park is in business here trains will be stabled out of traffic hours clearing the track for maintenance here the trains themselves will be maintained all the pieces are coming together at last july 1968 trains are running tests from northumberland park into the tunnels of the victoria line [Music] now after six years of physical work not to speak of the years of planning the northern section of the line between wolfenstein highbury is working up towards its opening in september 1968. in 1969 the line will be opened all the way between walthamstow and victoria and already the engineers are hard at work on the next stage the three and a half miles from victoria under the thames to brixton [Music] uh

Channel: Bennett Brook Railway

Views: 155,295

Keywords: trains, steam power, diesel power, diesel, train station, steam train usa, train, steam train, diesel train, rail, thomas the train, thomas the tank engine, railway, railway line, steam loco, steam locomotive, diesel loco, diesel locomotive, narrow gauge, passenger train, freight train, whiteman park, swan valley, perth, western australia, australia, bennett brook railway, british transport films, transportfilms, transperth, transperth trains, perth trains, vintage railway films

Id: PxFcWT7oNiU

Length: 99min 37sec (5977 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021