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Author Topic: Waterloo Station - some quirks and odd facts  (Read 2609 times)
grahame
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« on: January 14, 2020, 22:46:33 »

from Get Surrey - a list of "11 unusual things about Waterloo station you probably didn’t know".  I am sufficiently sad, old and fully read to rarely be surprised by things in these lists - but in this case 4 were new to me ... so sharing in case there are some new to you too.
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Robin Summerhill
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« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2020, 23:03:47 »

Hmm - item 9 "The name has been a sticking point"

It is said that when Winston Churchill was plannning his own funeral arrangements, he insisted that his funeral train would leave London from Waterloo, despite the insistence of railway managers that, as the eventual destination was to be Blenheim Palace and Bladon churchyard, Paddington would make much more sense. Churchill was adamant that the train should leave from Waterloo.

When  pressed even harder he said:

"If De Gaulle dies before me, it can leave from whatever damn station you like. But if I die before De Gaulle, it leaves from Waterloo"

 Wink

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broadgage
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« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2020, 00:24:39 »

After the closure of the old "news cinema" a moving message display board was installed at high level at the platform 1 end of the concourse.
The distinctive curved steel work for this was still in place until recently and might still exist.
This was long before the LED age, and the display contained thousands of small incandescent bulbs. It displayed news headlines, stock market prices and adverts.

Other trivia, the Duke of Wellington PH just outside the station was at one time operated by Travellers fare.
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Oxonhutch
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« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2020, 08:00:28 »

Until its demise in a German bombing raid in WWII (World War 2 - 1939 to 1945), London Necropolis Company's trains to the cemetery at Brookwood ran from their own terminus just south of the main station, and whose post-war ruined remains can be seen here (The entrance - still there today - is at 121 Westminster Bridge Road). Trains bringing mourners back to London terminated at Waterloo itself.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2020, 08:07:17 by Oxonhutch » Logged
JontyMort
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« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2020, 09:54:05 »

from Get Surrey - a list of "11 unusual things about Waterloo station you probably didn’t know".  I am sufficiently sad, old and fully read to rarely be surprised by things in these lists - but in this case 4 were new to me ... so sharing in case there are some new to you too.

I see the section about it being the last terminus to use steam is illustrated by a Bulleid Pacific. Note to sub-editors: this is incorrect, next time use a Class 91. 🙂
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grahame
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« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2023, 15:24:43 »

Our mirror also has an article http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/FINAL-Parsons-Coffins-by-Train.pdf

Made the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66507599

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Necropolis Railway: The railway trip where only some returned
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CyclingSid
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« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2023, 06:59:32 »

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The railway trip where only some returned

In another context could be some the services to Weymouth you report.
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