Most museums have storerooms, but if your institution showcases buses, trams and tubes then you need more storage than most. The London Transport Museum has a substantial depot at Acton, and on a few weekends a year it opens to the public. Last weekend, I joined the long queue for a ticket before exploring prized items both restored and unrestored; taking a tour of the inspection pit; and finishing with a ride on an RT bus.
Touring the inspection pit was fascinating; we started on board the bus before heading underneath it. Steps led down into the narrow workspace, giving a view you'd normally have to get run over to see! The affection our guides feel for their giant charges was apparent, and their care is obvious from the surprisingly clean underside of this bus, which still takes to the roads from time to time.
Back in the main area, there were so many vehicles, machines, signs and fittings vying for attention that it would be easy to spend days exploring them all. Here are a few details that caught my eye.
2 comments:
Ah the good old days, when a Marathon cost 20p and didn't have a stupid meaningless name.
Absolutely - I can accept inflation, but 'Snickers' is unforgivable.
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