London Underground 1938 Stock

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1938 Stock
Manufacturer	BRC&W Metro-Cammell
In Service	1938-1988
Length per car	DM 52' 3 3/4" NDM 51' 2 3/4" UNDM 51' 2 3/4" T 51' 2 3/4"
Width	8' 6 1/4"
Height	9' 5 1/2"
Weight	DM 27.4 tons NDM 25.9 tons T 20.65 tons
Seating	DM 42 NDM 40 UNDM 40 T 40
Stock Type	Deep-level tube

Inside 1938 tube train trailer.

The 1938 Tube Stock is the 'classic' tube stock design. The trains were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W, and were used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they had worked on the Bakerloo, Piccadilly, Northern, East London and Central lines. They are regarded as the most celebrated fleet of trains LT has ever operated, with a career spanning the best part of fifty years.

[edit] Numbers

As built the 1938 Stock was numbered as follows.

[edit] Nine-car trains

As part of the New Works program of 1935-1940 there were plans to operate nine-car trains of 1938 stock on the Northern Line. These cars were numbered differently from the other cars, the first digit '1' being replaced by a '9'.

The formation for a nine-car train was DM + NDM + SNDM + T + NDM + T + SNDM + NDM + DM.

Plans to operate nine-car trains did not work out and so in the early 1950s the cars were renumbered. The DMs and trailers had the '9' replaced by a '1', the DMs becoming 10324-10333, 11324-11333 and the trailers 012389-012408. Twenty-eight of the thirty NDMs were likewise renumbered, the exception being 92055 and 92058 which were rebuilt into UNDMs along with all twenty SNDMs. The twenty two cars rebuilt into UNDMs were renumbered 30000-30021.

[edit] 1935 / 1949 Stock

So successful was the 1938 Stock that when in 1948 additional cars were needed 91 almost identical cars were built, 70 Non-Driving-Motors (NDM) and 21 trailer cars. These were known as 1949 stock and operated with the 1938 stock. They were numbered in the same scheme, the UNDMs were numbered 30022-30045, 31000-31045 and the trailers 012495-012515.

After World War II the former 1935 stock streamlined DMs were rebuilt into trailers, and included with the 1938 stock, being renumbered 012477-012494. Before the war three trailers were built for use with the streamlined DMs. These three cars differed from the 1938 trailers in that they were not equipped with compressors. However the cars were not delivered until after the war and with the DMs rebuilt the three cars became part of the 1938 stock fleet, being numbered 012412 - 012414 and fitted with compressors.

[edit] 58 Trailers

In 1938 fifty-eight 'Standard Stock' trailers, originally built in 1927, were converted to operate with the 1938 Stock. These cars were renumbered 70513-70570. The first car withdrawn was 70550, as a result of damage sustained in an accident at Watford in 1962, while the last car, 70534, was withdrawn in 1973.

[edit] Isle of Wight

British Rail Class 483, no. 483001, pictured on mainline services on the Isle of Wight in 1989 was originally built as a 1938 tube stock train for London

The only examples still in daily use are the six units that survive operating the Island Line service on the Isle of Wight, and allocated TOPS Class 483. Ten sets (nine serviceable; a total of twenty cars) were bought by Network SouthEast from London Underground in 1988. Two of Island Line's sets (nos. 007 and 009) have been restored into their original red livery, both with grey roofs. However, their fronts had to be painted yellow as per mainline regulations.

[edit] Preservation

A 1938 tube stock train preserved at the London Transport Museum depot in 2005

In addition, some other units survive in preservation, including cars from the first-built unit, which are preserved at the London Transport Museum Depot in Acton. The preserved sets have been restored into their original red liveries, one with an orange roof (Bakerloo line) and one with a grey roof (other lines). The four-car preserved set regularly ventures onto the LU system for railtours and occasional filming work.

[edit] External links

• London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • End view of 1938 stock car, 1938
  • 1938 stock train at Acton Town, 1938
  • Interior view of 1938 stock car, 1962
  • Detail of shovel-shaped interior lights, 1938
• District Dave's London Underground Site -1938 Tube Stock photos
• Tubeprune - Rolling Stock Summary

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