words, they attached to the train two special coaches (called
Mayflower
and
Galatea
), which exceeded in plushness the Metropolitanâs ordinary first-class compartments. They were essentially restaurants on wheels. There was also a bar in the carriage. When he became mayor of London, Boris Johnson banned drinking on the Underground, but what would he make of City gents being served whisky and water in crystal glasses in the tunnel approaching Baker Street? âThe scheme of decoration of the cars is that of the latter part of the Eighteenth Century, with remarkably artistic effectâ, observed the
Railway Magazine
in 1910. The window blinds were of green silk. Above each seat was âan ormolu luggage rack with finely chased ornamentation and panels of brass treillageâ. Each of the eight glass-topped tables featured âa tiny portable electrolier of a very chaste designâ.
But the Met hadnât gone to Verney Junction just to give a luxury ride into town for country gentlemen. A little way beyond Quainton Road on that projection the Met built a prong connecting to the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. The Metâs chairman, Sir Edward Watkin, was also chairman of that company, which duplicated other railwaysâ routes in an inchoate way between Manchester and Grimsby, and generally stumbled about the north. Given that he was also chairman of the other railways â the Met, the South Eastern and the
Chemin de Fer du Nord
â over whose territory he wanted to approach Paris (where he apparently kept a mistress), you might say he was trying to build a railway in the image of himself. It has been said that he was âfrustrated only by the political and financialproblems bound up with constructing a channel tunnelâ, and I like that word âonlyâ. In fact, the preliminary borings undertaken in 1881 by his Submarine Railway Company (which can still be seen at the foot of Shakespeare Cliff, Folkestone) were pounced on by the press as likely to facilitate a continental invasion. So that element of the plan was scotched early on.
Interior of either
Galatea
or
Mayflower
, two luxury coaches (named after winners of the Americaâs Cup yachting race) available on the Metropolitan from 1910. The ambience was eighteenth century, and the routine was to order a whisky and water after a hard day in the City (or possibly before).
But in 1897 Watkin did create his trunk line. You can tell it was a marginal latecomer by its name: Great Central Railway. It was basically the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway with a changed name and connection to London. It came down from the north to Quainton Road, where it ran over and then (after Harrow) parallel to the Metropolitanâs line to Finchley Road. Instead of diving underground with the Met at that point, it went into a new cut-and-cover tunnel of its own, running beneath Lordâs Cricket Ground.
It emerged from its tunnel â to a rather muted fanfare â at Marylebone station, which opened in 1899. Marylebone station â the only one in London not used by Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson â is small because it was built on the cheap, tunnelling to the site having proved very expensive. John Betjeman compared it to a branch public library, and it is upstaged by the Grand Central Hotel to the north of it, which was built and operated by a separate company. Not only was Marylebone small but it was also sleepy, because there was never much demand for the Great Central Railway. Its rivals, the Great Northern and the Midland, would do everything they could to stifle its services, and its trains often ran empty. At first, Marylebone had no connection to an Underground line (not even the one owned by the man who built it: the Metropolitan), but in 1907 the Bakerloo Line would open a Tube station underneath Marylebone called Great Central. In 1917 this became Marylebone Tube station, and itâs one of my
Mayflower
and
Galatea
), which exceeded in plushness the Metropolitanâs ordinary first-class compartments. They were essentially restaurants on wheels. There was also a bar in the carriage. When he became mayor of London, Boris Johnson banned drinking on the Underground, but what would he make of City gents being served whisky and water in crystal glasses in the tunnel approaching Baker Street? âThe scheme of decoration of the cars is that of the latter part of the Eighteenth Century, with remarkably artistic effectâ, observed the
Railway Magazine
in 1910. The window blinds were of green silk. Above each seat was âan ormolu luggage rack with finely chased ornamentation and panels of brass treillageâ. Each of the eight glass-topped tables featured âa tiny portable electrolier of a very chaste designâ.
But the Met hadnât gone to Verney Junction just to give a luxury ride into town for country gentlemen. A little way beyond Quainton Road on that projection the Met built a prong connecting to the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. The Metâs chairman, Sir Edward Watkin, was also chairman of that company, which duplicated other railwaysâ routes in an inchoate way between Manchester and Grimsby, and generally stumbled about the north. Given that he was also chairman of the other railways â the Met, the South Eastern and the
Chemin de Fer du Nord
â over whose territory he wanted to approach Paris (where he apparently kept a mistress), you might say he was trying to build a railway in the image of himself. It has been said that he was âfrustrated only by the political and financialproblems bound up with constructing a channel tunnelâ, and I like that word âonlyâ. In fact, the preliminary borings undertaken in 1881 by his Submarine Railway Company (which can still be seen at the foot of Shakespeare Cliff, Folkestone) were pounced on by the press as likely to facilitate a continental invasion. So that element of the plan was scotched early on.
Interior of either
Galatea
or
Mayflower
, two luxury coaches (named after winners of the Americaâs Cup yachting race) available on the Metropolitan from 1910. The ambience was eighteenth century, and the routine was to order a whisky and water after a hard day in the City (or possibly before).
But in 1897 Watkin did create his trunk line. You can tell it was a marginal latecomer by its name: Great Central Railway. It was basically the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway with a changed name and connection to London. It came down from the north to Quainton Road, where it ran over and then (after Harrow) parallel to the Metropolitanâs line to Finchley Road. Instead of diving underground with the Met at that point, it went into a new cut-and-cover tunnel of its own, running beneath Lordâs Cricket Ground.
It emerged from its tunnel â to a rather muted fanfare â at Marylebone station, which opened in 1899. Marylebone station â the only one in London not used by Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson â is small because it was built on the cheap, tunnelling to the site having proved very expensive. John Betjeman compared it to a branch public library, and it is upstaged by the Grand Central Hotel to the north of it, which was built and operated by a separate company. Not only was Marylebone small but it was also sleepy, because there was never much demand for the Great Central Railway. Its rivals, the Great Northern and the Midland, would do everything they could to stifle its services, and its trains often ran empty. At first, Marylebone had no connection to an Underground line (not even the one owned by the man who built it: the Metropolitan), but in 1907 the Bakerloo Line would open a Tube station underneath Marylebone called Great Central. In 1917 this became Marylebone Tube station, and itâs one of my
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