Sunday London Variety

Super Baker Brown Loop

Mr Khan's collection of silly names for bus routes now becomes even sillier.  It all began with Superloop which runs an incomplete circle of disconnected bus routes following (roughly) the North- and South Circular roads. There were also a couple of express routes which didn't even purport to loop anywhere.

Now we have a BL1 Suoerloop route that isn't even called Super and it doesn't even have much affinity with the Bakerloo Line from which it gets part of its super silly name.

The buses that operate the route are panted brown and white to serve where the Bakeloo Line might go if its extension to Lewisham is ever built. Which it probably won't be because Mt Khan (Sir Sadiq of that ilk) doesn't have the money and Rache (Chancellor of that patterned tablecloth she uses to work out the nation's finances) ...

... won't give him any more!

In case you think fbb has gone even more nuts than usual, the "Exchequer" was. historically, a chequer board counting table used for financial calculations.

Here is the BL1 route in two sections, showing its "limited stoop" trajectory. First from Waterloo to Burgess Park ...

... and then from its next stop, Old Kent Road, to Lewisham.

There are lots of stops at Lewisham because of the dreaded one way systems and the fact that the town really should have a bus station - but there is nowhere suitable to build one.

Of course, Sir Sadiq keeps his bus timetables secret, but Robert Munster, as usual a really splendid chap, publishes full timetables for the BL1. 

It runs every 12 minutes Monday to Friday ...

... ditto Saturday ...

... and every 15 on Sunday.

One positive emerges from the start of the service. The "wrapped" bus which, accompanied the earlier prediction of the BL1, did not look brown ...

... it was a slightly brownish red! The real vehicles are, without a doubt, a very brown brown.

Now wasn't there a rule which stated that ALL London buses should be red all over with no colour relief?

Hmmm?

Docklands Delivers ...

Just one train for the moment.

It is hard to remember what a weedy thing the Docklands Light Railway was when it started.

The articulated two car train (above) is running on a single track line to Tower Gateway station, not quite round the back by the bins ...

... but it connected with nothing in central London and even had its own non-TfL logo!

Thus, the trains were small ...

... the stations were small and the platforms narrow. A railway system built on the cheap, and it looked it!

But now ...

... five car trains are arriving (slowly!) with walk through carriages ...

... improved access for wheelchair passengers ...

... and better on-board information.

Generally, they are very impressive.

Jago Hazzard ...

... doesn't look like that and that is not his real name. He makes YouTube videos, mainly of London Underground stuff and, what fbb likes about him, is that he is remarkably self-effacing. He lacks the arrogance of some video semi-professionals.

Anyway, when fbb was a-courting his future Mrs, he took an interest in North End Underground station which was close to the young lady's in-town residence.

Built near the Bull and Bush pub (as in the song) ...

... just off the road called "North End" ...

... it was never opened because these two ...

... owners of most of the land, called Hampstead Heath, gave it in perpetuity to "the community" such that it would never be developed. That meant that the station was a commercial non starter.

But the rudimentary entrance, stairways and ventilation shaft are still there.

fbb has dutifully peered through the fence. The experience was truly underwhelming!

The station was used as a government hideaway during WW2 and if you peer into the murk as you travel the Northern line, you can sometimes glimpse the abandoned platform area.

The reason for this excursion into and under "The Heath" is that Mr Hazzard has just published a video about a supposed station under Buckingham Palace.

The idea has oft been promulgated that there is (or was) a secret station accessible only by "The Royals", to be used for emergency evacuation if, literally "the balloon goes up" or, more likely, "the bombs fall down" on Buck House.

The Victoria Line does pass under the Royal HQ as per the blue line on the map extract below.

What Mr Hazzard suggests is that a station fit for Royal Egress would need to be of some quality and would be readily visible from a passing train.

The usual suspects would find out anyway. Infrastructure secrets never stay secret for long because somebody will eventually spill the proverbial beanz.. 

Of course Mr Hazard may have been paid much fine gold by "them" to quash the rumours by publishing his video!

But he did turn up a piece of evidence generated by Google's AI (Artificial Irrelevance) summary available to all on line.

It is about 150% garbage.

Our Jago has only found one other reference to such a secret station on-line ...

... and it was written in the Ian Visits blog in 2022/

Please note the date.

Some readers may remember when Timmy and Siddy went to a secret non-station at Heathrow. It never had proper platforms and is in place as an emergency evacuation staircase associated with a ventilation shaft.

Well now; we might yet wonder about Buckingham Palace!

 Next Variety blog : Monday 6th Oct