Open Day at the London Transport Museum’s Depot

The London Transport Museum do good events. It’s funny, I haven’t visited the actual Museum yet, but I’ve been to two, two of their  events. The first was a while ago, when we went exploring Aldwych Tube station. The second happened this weekend, at their big depot in Acton (which is just down the road from the Gunnersbury Park Museum). After exploring the Horniman Museum’s stores I couldn’t wait to get to the depot and have a nose around the London Transport Museum’s Depot.

London Transport Museum Depot in Acton

What really struck me about the whole day, was how many London Transport Enthusiasts there were. So many, many people who truly love trains and buses. After tearing Will away from the stalls selling everything from old maps and tickets to model trains, we set to exploring all the nooks and crannies of the depot. There wasn’t much information, so this is going to be more of a picture blog. Enjoy.

There were signs.

A selection of Tube stop signs

Signs from the London Underground

As well as a roundel or two (hundred, really there were quite literally corridors of roundels)

London Underground Roundel

A roundel for the Victoria Line

 

There were models too. The details in some of them was really quite something.

A model of the old Strand Station

 

A model of Canary Wharf station

A Lego Tube Station

Other models were… less amazing…

Some museum dummies from the London Transport Museum Depot

Finding fascinating things in the stores was so much fun. However, the stars of the show were the old trains and buses that took up most of the warehouse space.

Old Tube trains int the London Transport Museum Depot

Inside an old tube carriage

An old bus headed towards the British Museum

Enterprise Steam bus

If you waited patiently, you could have a ride on the old Enterprise Steam bus. Doesn’t the driver’s (standing) uniform look dapper?

Wandering around the Depot was quite something. Almost everywhere you looked there was something that was worthy of a photograph (I took *so many*). If they do another one, it really is a lot of fun (even if you’re not a train or bus enthusiast).