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Introduction
This is the Tube Professionals' RUmour NEtwork (with grateful
acknowledgement to the Pilots' Prune). This is an unofficial web
site for professional railway people working for London
Underground and for those interested in the London
Underground railway system.
We provide a wide range of information on the London Underground,
historical, up-to-date, statistical and technical. There are links to other related sites available here too.
The Original Tubeprune Site
This is a new and updated version of the original Tubeprune site. This site is currently being rebuilt from the original so not all links will work yet but the original site still exists and will remain in place until this one is fully updated. Our thanks go to the Trainweb organisation for providing free webspace for so many years.
The Underground Logo
This is the famous logo used by London Underground. It is known as the roundel. It usually has the word "Underground" over the blue bar. It is their trademark and is registered for their use only. It was derived from the logo used by the London General Omnibus Company in the early 20th century when the red circle was a wooden spoked wheel and the blue bar was the word GENERAL. A book about the logo has been published by Capital Transport Publishing called "A Logo for London", ISBN 185414 232 1. The logo celebrated its centenary in 2008.
Photography on London Underground:
If you want to take photos of London Underground for non-commercial purposes, no special authorisation is required in
public access locations. Do not use flash or tripods when photographing trains
or stations. Do not locate yourself in a place of
risk. Please keep in mind that some London Underground staff are sensitive to photography and might ask you to desist,
even though you are acting properly and it is not illegal. In these cases, a wise person would doubtless move on and try somewhere else.
Maybe you could return on another day. Commercial photography requires a permit to be obtained from the LU Film Office.
If you have any good photos you would like to see shown on this site, please forward them to Tubeprune. Suitable pictures
will be posted to the site with a commentary and acknowledgement.
Sample Photo
Here's a photo Tubeprune took of a C Stock train on the Circle Line at Barbican. Even a simple photo like this reveals how much of historical interest can be seen around the system. This station was originally called Aldersgate Street. Its construction dates from 1865 and the walls on the right hand side show the original pale brick arches with the iron brackets which once supported the overall roof. The roof was severely damaged during the second World War and was removed by 1955.
On the end of the platform the white building, built on columns, is the old signal cabin. This was closed in 1954 and was latterly used as a manager's office. Signalling control was transferred to Farringdon. The tunnel entrance to the left has the two tracks of the City Widened Lines, currently used by a few peak hour Thameslink trains, and there were also two sidings down there connected to the Metropolitan/Circle tracks on the right where two Circle trains were kept at night. The last connectons to the old sidings was finally removed in 1979.
The tunnel entrances themselves reveal the different railways using the line in its early days. The widened lines tunnel on the left is larger because it was designed to take GWR broad gauge trains, whereas the right hand tunnel was for Metropolitan, Great Northern and other standard gauge trains.
The steel support in the foreground is one of the overhead electrification masts for the 25kV system installed in 1982 as part of the "Bedpan" scheme to electrify the old Midland main line between St Pancras and Bedford.
The legal bit, please note:
All the information presented on this site is verified for accuracy as far as is reasonably practicable and offered in good faith for the interest and information of visitors. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and contributors and do not represent the views of other individuals, London Underground, TfL nor its suppliers unless specifically stated. The author(s) cannot accept responsibility for any loss or inconvenience in whatever form caused by errors or inaccuracies contained herein, nor for any conclusions drawn therefrom. The author(s) retain copyright.