Click on any of the thumbnail images to see the pictures full-size. Links to video clips, of which there are quite a lot, are words in the text (blue), just like links to other web information but preceded by this 
icon.
See also Railways in Britain, Foreign Railways and Railway Disasters across the world.
Try these puzzles about Underground Distances, The XYZ of British Railways, and the Least-Used Public Railway Station Open in Great Britain.
This painting by R B Way is of a Northern Line 1938 stock train. Most of the details seem correct, even the ‘D’ which was always on the south or east end of a train. The 1938 stock were used mainly on the Northern and Bakerloo lines, though they could be seen occasionally elsewhere. Their replacement began in the early 1970s. The last ones were withdrawn from ‘light’ duties (like the Epping–Ongar and Woodford–Hainault parts of the Central line) were transferred to the Isle of Wight (becoming BR class 483) for the Ryde Pier Head–Shanklin route. (Those on the Island Line are in London Transport red livery, though with the obligatory yellow high-visibility front panels; five still operate there.) The setting looks of this painting is distinctly rural, implying that the train is either emerging from the tunnel between Hendon and Colindale, or the picture was painted to make it look more attractive. Almost all the line is underground, and heavily built-up throughout its length (both above its tunnels and around the open sections.
The old 1938-stock is still keeping the Isle of Wight line open, as evidenced by this video from April 2015. It’s a disgrace how the depôt staff at Ryde St John’s Road has failed to keep these fine old trains in a good condition.
Upminster to Aldgate East (40 minutes)
or the complete main District line: Richmond to Upminster (1½ hours)
I was intrigued by this headline in The Independent. Thameslink workers uncovered the long-forgotten Southwark Park station while making way for new tracks in south London. It is between London Bridge and the Greenwich line, where the tracks curved outwards even until recently, where the old platforms were. Spa Road has a similar form.
A short video of Down Street, an abandoned station on the Piccadilly line, which TfL is considering opening up to the public. It’s one of the many ‘ghost’ stations on the network, with stairs that haven’t been used for decades. Churchill and his cabinet used it as a bunker during World War II.
Fancy watching a steam or diesel trip on the old London Underground Central line from Epping to Ongar on 6th May 2013?
London Underground Railway Society
Underground History
Transport for London, including maps of tube, DLR and bus routes
In late 2012 it was announced that 20189 and 20227 would be painted in LUL livery to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground. In January 2013 20189 (L189) was the first to be painted, and also has a former shed plate for Eastfield which it has had since it was in BR Green livery. That’s possibly 20227 behind 20189 in the photograph; it had a quite different livery – the body sides were mostly white, with a huge LT roundel, quite ugly!
I don’t know where this photograph was taken – possibly at Amersham on one of the “Steam on the Met” days, though the pair were to be seen all over the country during 2013. Pannier Tank 9466, Sarah Siddons and London Transport 20189 departing Harrow-on-the-Hill working Train 746 for the Staff Special of the Steam Back on the Met event, May 2013.
LU 2009 Stock; forty-seven 8-car units were built for use on the Victoria line to replace the line’s original 1967 tube stock
A sub-surface Metropolitan line A Stock train (on the left) passes a deep-tube Piccadilly line 1973 Stock train (right) in the siding at Rayners Lane; try getting the Met train into a Piccadilly line tunnel!
What’s in a Name? Cyril M Harris (Capital History)
Principles of London Underground Operations, John Glover (Ian Allan Publications)
London’s Metropolitan Railway, Alan A Jackson (David & Charles)
The Later Years of Metropolitan Steam, H C Casserley (D. Bradford Barton)
London’s Underground, H F Hewson (Ian Allan Publications)
Going Green – the Story of the District Line, Piers Connor (Capital Transport)
Metros in Spain – The Underground Railways of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Robert Schwandl (Capital Transport)
Would you like to see a London Underground runaway maintenance train whose brakes failed before it raced through a busy station in 2011?
Here’s a video of some hidden parts of the Hammersmith and City line between Paddington and the terminus. The train in the foreground is leaving Platform 3 at Hammersmith and its front (far) end is just passing the depôt, almost dead centre of the photograph. In recent years the Central line has been altered to run out to Hammersmith, and between them a five-minute service is normally offered from Hammersmith to either Barking (H&C) or Edgware Road (Circle).
And a video of the commemoration of the Hammersmith and City line centenary on 2nd August 2014. It starts with a collection of still photos, but after a minute or so, gets moving! It starts with Metropolitan Number 1 hauling a train of vintage stock, with Number 12 Sarah Siddons bringing up the rear.
It’s a documentary about the history of the London Underground (about 45 minutes) made by Granada for the History Channel’s Modern Marvels series. It’s a facinating insight into the world’s first underground railway, including vintage footage.
Amidst a shroud of secrecy, steam traction returned to the London Underground tunnels.
As a precursor to 2013’s celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Railway, and to help raise £250,000 to fund the overhaul of the Metropolitan Railway’s 1898 0-4-4 No. 1, early on Sunday, 26th February 2012 LSWR Beattie well tank No. 30587 was used on a test train to see if steam haulage on the modern Underground system was feasible.
On the Saturday, it was steamed and coupled smokebox-first to the Metropolitan Railway 1923 electric locomotive No. 12 Sarah Siddons, which was used as a makeshift passenger-carrying vehicle for VIPS.
The special train left Lillie Bridge just after 1am and ran to Earl’s Court, taking the District Line through to Paddington and then along the old Metropolitan line to Baker Street, stopping briefly en route in Edgware Road.
See the train at Earls Court.
It must have looked something like this on the furthest outreaches of the London Underground! I’m referring to the Brill Tramway, beyond Amersham and Aylesbury on the Metropolitan line...And don’t worry, that’s not a TGV coming this way in the far distance!
The Brill Tramway nor any other part of the London Underground ever had views like this. They used to run steam trains in the early days of the underground, which must have been awful in the tunnels. However, in the early years, the District Railway ran east as far as Southend, and west to Windsor; Ealing Broadway to Upminster is a bit tame now.
This is an extract from the Working Timetable of the London Underground’s Jubilee Line for Monday to Friday mornings from 29th August 1989. An explanation of some symbols: a, b, c, d, K–arrives ½, 1, 1½, 2 or 5 minutes earlier than the time cited; z– works to depôt via washing plant (shown between hour and minute figures); Pfm No.–Platform number;
arr.–time of arrival; dep.–time of departure;
D–train fitted with de-icing equipment; JD–sprays de-icing fluid as required between Stanmore and Finchley Road;
∇–train operator steps back: this means that the operator who brought the train into the terminus does not have time to walk to the far end of the train for its return journey, so another operator takes this train out and the first operator drives a later train.
When it was initially opened in 1979 the eastern end of the Jubilee line was at Charing Cross in central London; in 1999 it was extended to Stratford station in east London. Charing Cross is now closed (though still maintained for reversing trains at times of disruption, and for occasional use as a film set); the tunnels at Charing Cross extend beyond the platforms into the “overrun”, each of which has the capacity to stable a further two trains.
Not all stations are shown in the Working Timetable (see the Underground Map for detailed track and station layouts); intermediate running times are shown in a separate section of the Working Timetable. Note that times are normally given to the half-minute; times in bold are passenger trains while those in light italic type are empty stock workings (of which there are none in this extract).
See also Working Timetable for the Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Line on the Isle of Wight.
From The Guardian of 9th January 2013, 14 ‘alternative’ Tube maps of the London Underground;
and from 26th November 2009, Tunnel vision: a history of the London tube map.
See also Photographic guide to six other metro systems:
New York, Paris, Moscow, Budapest, Athens and Buenos Aires