D78 Stock Farewell Railtour
On Sunday, 7th May 2017, a special tour commemorating the cessation of D Stock services on London Underground occurred. Starting at High Street Kensington station, the all-day tour saw the train visit all of the District line’s terminal stations (except for Edgware Road), along with a run to Northfields and the West Ham siding.
Click the left-hand image below to see a PDF copy of my ticket for the tour; click the right-hand image to view the commemorative booklet that was given to tour participants.
Photographs - I have split the photographs taken on the day into four pages; each page concentrates on a group of photographs with a similar theme.
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| Exterior |
         
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| Interior |
         
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| Others |
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Videos - all of my videos filmed during the tour can be watched by clicking the YouTube players displayed below:
Train 755 arrives at (a very crowded) Platform 4 at High Street Kensington at the start of the tour.
The train departs High Street Kensington en route to Olympia. Owing to how the tour was scheduled, High Street Kensington was employed as the departure station for many of the individual parts of the railtour.
Heading from High Street Kensington to Olympia, the train passes through platform 4 at Earl’s Court.
Following a very quick stop at Olympia, the train begins its return journey to High Street Kensington via Earl’s Court.
Recorded on the Richmond branch, this video demonstrates the operation of the air pressure gauge as the brakes are applied and released in UNDM 8007.
Arrival at Richmond.
After a brief pause, the train departs Richmond for a third return to High Street Kensington.
The train arrives back at High Street Kensington, where a short break occurs prior to the traversing of the Wimbledon branch.
As the train departs Wimbledon, we pass a train of S7 Stock that is awaiting departure from platform 1.
As the train passes non-stop through Earl’s Court platform 1, the historical train describers are glimpsed.
Passing Chiswick Park.
As we approach Acton Town, a Piccadilly line train of 1973 Tube Stock heads in the opposite direction.
With thanks to Alex for providing this footage, the train arrives at the Piccadilly line station of Northfields, where the tour would pause for lunch.
Travelling between Northfields and South Ealing, we travel on the test track and are informed of the water jet system that is installed along the section, in order to test braking systems in simulated rain.
We pass through Earl’s Court for the last time in the eastbound direction en route to Upminster.
Travelling eastbound between Earl’s Court and Gloucester Road, we pass along the southern side of the three-way junction that is colloquially known as ‘The Triangle’.
Travelling from Victoria to St James’ Park - the spiritual home of London Underground.
The train passes through the real-life equivalent of ‘Walford East’ station in EastEnders.
After a brief interlude at the Plaistow bay platform, the train departs for the West Ham siding.
The train arrives at the District line’s eastern extremity, Upminster, and a good crowd of well-wishers is on hand to capture the event.
Owing to one of the tour’s passengers dropping their commemorative poster onto the tracks, a member of staff has to climb down and retrieve it, prior to departure from Upminster.
With thanks to Alex for allowing me to use this footage, the train enters Ealing Broadway’s platform 9; signifying an end to the tour, and D Stock operation on London Underground. Meanwhile, an S7 Stock train awaits departure from platform 7.
The train enters Ealing Broadway’s platform 9; signifying an end to the tour, and D Stock operation on London Underground.
After de-training all of its passengers, the D78 Stock bows out of public service on London Underground after 37 years.
