London & London Underground

The Tube - The ITV Series (300-mins) ()

Ref: VI912D

Get beneath the surface of the London Underground with this fascinating series originally shown in the London region of ITV and now available on one DVD.

LUL opened its doors to television to record the day to day life of some of its 16,500 staff. This award-winning series takes us behind the scenes to tell the story of some of the dedicated and colourful characters who work for LUL, doing a difficult job under often challenging and stressful circumstances.

We discover many surprising things about the complexities of running an over-stretched, under-funded and creaking network. Sometimes tragic and other times hilarious situations pepper the series revealing what it's like to work and travel beneath a thriving metropolis.

This DVD covers the first two series -13 episodes plus an LUL timeline, picture gallery and episode chapters.

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Price: £16.67 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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The Tube - The ITV Series Vol 3 (176 mins)

Ref: VI272D

The award winning series for ITV London in association with Sky Real Lives. Goes behind the scenes to tell the stories of various staff, the lost property system, the stress that abusive customers cause and also the Emergency Response Team.

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Price: £16.67 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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The North London Line (73-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI918D

Driver's eye view: Richmond to North Woolwich.

The North London Line is unique in being the only Network Rail route to be consistently featured on the London Underground map. 2006 is the last year of operation into North Woolwich by the class 313 EMUs. To record this for posterity, Silverlink Trains allowed Video 125 cameras unrestricted access to train cab and stations along the route.

We start our journey in South West London at Richmond, where North London Line trains run interspersed with those of the LUL District line as far as Gunnersbury. Here we branch off towards South Acton for the NLL proper. At Acton Central we see the raising of our pantograph and the switch from third rail to overhead current collection.

The route was electrified at 25KV overhead to allow vital freight movements around the capital. One of the most unusual stations is that at Willesden Junction, the platforms being positioned above the West Coast Main Line and the affiliated "DC lines" from Euston to Watford.

North London stations such as Hampstead, Camden Town and Hackney come and go in quick succession before we arrive at the modern Stratford (low level) station where 2 of the 4 hourly trains terminate. We continue alongside the Jubilee line and Docklands Light Railway to Canning Town – a 2 mile section of line that will soon be converted to DLR. At Custom House we travel over a section of line that will be lost to rail altogether, from Custom House to North Woolwich.

The history of the route is complex but totally fascinating, details of which are related en route by Rob Curling.

Dolby Digital Stereo.

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Price: £12.50 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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Central (90-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI960D

Ealing Broadway to Hainault. Leytonstone to Epping and Ongar. The first Drivers Eye View from a tube train, with commentary by Rob Curling. In 1992, the 30 year old tube stock was still two person operated and controlled by on-site signal boxes. All this is now history as is the role of the guard on all underground lines. The tunnel sections to Hainault are shown almost in entirety and are arguably the most fascinating part of this unique video. Running through the very heart of London you can see the junctions at Marble Arch and Liverpool Street etc. We even film into the reversing siding at Liverpool Street, somewhere passengers never see. We then travel the other main branch from Leytonstone to Epping, entirely above ground via Woodford and Loughton etc. The "icing on the cake" is our trip over the Ongar branch - the most unlikliest single line branch of the London Underground. We filmed it just in time for it soon closed and never saw a train again until 2004 when it reopened as a preserved non-electrified railway (see www.eorailway.co.uk).

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Price: £12.50 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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Jubilee Line (90-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI992D

PART 1: Stanmore to Stratford:. The video begins at Stanmore, having been opened by the Metropolitan Railway but subsequently taken over by the Bakerloo. After four stations, we join the multiple tracks of the Metropolitan and Chiltern Lines. At Finchley Road the old cast iron Bakerloo tunnel section begins and with additional lighting you will see the tunnels in the best possible light. At Baker Street the Jubilee proper starts with the original opening to Charing Cross in 1979. We visit the old Jubilee terminus, now abandoned but still retained in the event of an emergency. Our train then diverges at Green Park and takes the new Jubilee line extension through Waterloo and Docklands. All underground stations on the JLE have platform edge doors in concrete lined tunnels - a unique experience for drivers. Surprisingly the doors were not installed primarily for safety- they were a cost saving measure. PART 2: LONDON'S NEW RAILWAY. A documentary made for London Underground about the planning, construction and opening of the Jubilee Line Extension. Amongst the highlights, this comprehensive record shows the truly remarkable architecture, the breakthrough of the tunnel boring machines, the opening with LUL's Managing Director and interviews with the architects, politicians and users, everything you ever wanted to know about this futuristic undertaking.

Price: £20.00 (Including VAT at 20%)
Price: £16.67 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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Metropolitan Main Line (90-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI973D

The world’s first underground railway is seen in the westbound direction, with the aid of additional lighting, from a refurbished A60/62 stock train via Baker Street. North from here the railway is literally unique, retaining the Underground's only fleet of commuter-style trains - the legacy of the Metropolitan Railway company's ambitions to be a main line. The line immediately to the north of Baker Street includes full size single line tunnels which take us through a number of closed stations - now served by the Jubilee line. As well as the fast run to Amersham, much of it over multiple tracks, we take the branches to Uxbridge and Watford - the latter possibly soon to become history if the plan to run into Watford Junction is implemented. Finally there is the single line Chesham branch - London Underground's furthest outpost and still retaining much of its former steam character.

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Metropolitan & District (85-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI945D

Hammersmith to Whitechapel, Whitechapel to Ealing Broadway. Our journey begins aboard a "C" stock train at Hammersmith "Met" station. For the first few miles the line is elevated on brick arch viaducts. At Westbourne Park we "fly under" the Great Western main line into Paddington. Here we enter the tunnel section of the first passenger-carrying underground railway in the world - Paddington to Farringdon!

At Whitechapel, having traversed the northern part of the Circle Line, we transfer to a "D" stock District Line train for the return trip along the southern portion of the Circle. As the Circle branches off we continue through Earls Court alongside the Piccadilly line tracks to eventually end up at Ealing Broadway. Filmed in 1989.

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Northern - City & West End(116-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI986D

Edgware to Morden via Bank, Kennington to High Barnet via Charing Cross, Finchley Central to Mill Hill East

Includes the Northern City branch which runs from Edgware to Morden via Bank. There is so much to see from the driver's cab. The overground section through the 3 platform station at Golders Green and into tunnel. The "Crewe" of the Northern line at Camden Town. The extra wide platforms created with the building of the Victoria line. We also run over the first section of tube railway in the world, the City and South London whose carriages were nicknamed 'padded cells'.

The Northern West End branch starts with our train heading south around the Kennington reversing loop. When we say you will see all of the Northern line on this one DVD that is what we mean. Running through the West End via Charing Cross and Totenham Court Road we see Camden Town once more but from a different perspective. Running itno the open at East Finchley - a classic design of 1930s underground architecture we arrive at the terminus on the edge of Hertfordshire, High Barnet.

Finally, you will see the Mill Hill East branch starting from Finchley Central, nowadays the only single line tube branch on the entire underground .

All lines were filmed aboard brand new 1995 stock trains in bright weather using the latest digital cameras.

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East London & District Drivers eye view 1 (140 mins)

Ref: VI929D

The East London Line is one of the smallest autonomous operations on the Underground, with its own depot at New Cross. Services alternate between the two southern termini of New Cross and New Cross Gate. Our journey on board an ‘A’ stock train begins at the former and takes us through the very oldest part of civil engineering on the underground network, Marc Brunel’s 1843 tunnel under the Thames. Peak services continue to Shoreditch which is where our journey ends.

Our second journey starts at Richmond where we board a “D”stock train running along the District Line’s main artery from Earl’s Court along the bottom half of the Circle line to Tower Hill, beyond which the line joins up with the Hammersmith and City line to Barking. We then continue all the way to Upminster. This most intensive route sees trains running with intervals of only two to three minutes. The journey time from Richmond to Upminster is approximately 90 minutes.

The Edgware Road branch then follows: Starting at Wimbledon, our “C” stock train takes us over the former Southern Railway branch to Putney Bridge. After Earl’s Court our train turns north along the western side of the Circle line through Notting Hill Gate to terminate at Edgware Road – the only station shared by District, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines.

Finally there is by far the shortest route on the District: Kensington High Street to Kensington Olympia, at one time running only during exhibitions but nowadays running daily.

All four routes are shown virtually in real time on this DVD. Individual lines and key stations have fast menu access.

Price: £20.00 (Including VAT at 20%)
Price: £16.67 Excluding VAT (non-EU countries e.g.Australia)

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Piccadilly (105-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI938D

Rayners Lane to Cockfosters, Acton Town to Heathrow

Because the Uxbridge branch is covered by our Metropolitan Main Line production, this Piccadilly Driver's eye view begins at Rayners Lane - in the reversing siding.

Our 1973 stock train, recently refurbished to look like new, takes you right through the centre of the capital and out into the North London suburbs. Emerging from tunnel at Arnos Grove our train continues to Cockfosters in Hertfordshire.

The section between ActonTown and Hammersmith is unique in being the only tube line to feature express running - leaving the parallel District line to provide the stopping service...

We then go back to Acton Town and join another 1973 stock train for a drivers's eye view of the Heathrow Airport branch. This line, much of which was built by the District Railway, has another unique feature for a tube line, a quaduple track section from Acton Town to Northfields.

As well as seeing four closed stations from the driver's cab we also pay a visit to Aldwych, the terminus of the short branch which ran from Holborn but closed in 1994. If you ever wondered about the chequered history of this anacronistic branch, the historical and contemporary narrative will explain all.

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Victoria Line (105-mins) (DVD)

Ref: VI266D

The Victoria Line is London's busiest underground line with 15 out of the 16 stations providing interchange with other underground lines or Network Rail. From 2006 to 2013, the line is being rebuilt, resignalled and new trains tested and while they are still running the existing trains (Ian:- I attended a talk in 2008 explaining how this was being done!).

The 1967 stock trains were filmed in their last few years of service in 2009. These were the first fully automatic trains in London running on the Victoria line which was opened in stages from Walthamstow in East London. The whole line is seen in virtually real time from the operator’s cab with the aid of additional lighting. This is more than a Driver’s eye view, for we also follow the progress of our southbound train on the track diagrams of the service control centre, we see inside all the stations with their famous tiled murals, the exteriors of many and of course the operator himself.

Bonuses complete the story of the Victoria Line starting with seventeen minutes of archive film recalling the construction and opening of the line. We then board a staff only depot bound train for a Driver's Eye view from platform 4 at Seven Sisters into the only open air section of the Victoria line into the depot.

The next bonus gives us a comprehensive look around Northumberland Park depot itself with Craig Martin the depot manager. Last but not least we take a look around the Service Control Centre with service manager Gary Oliver.

Last but not least we take a look around the Service Control Centre with service manager Gary Oliver.

Price: £18.00 (Including VAT at 20%)
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