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The Thames Tunnel was the world's first underwater tunnel, excavated beneath the River Thames in London between 1825 and 1841 and opened on 25 March 1843. It was built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. 35 feet wide (11 m), 20 feet (6 m) high and 1,300 feet (396 m) long, it runs between Rotherhithe and Wapping at a depth of 75 feet (23 m) below the river's surface at high tide. It was originally designed for horse-drawn vehicles, but the tunnel company ran out of money to construct the ramps down to the tunnel and it was opened as a pedestrian tunnel.
In 1863, the tunnel was purchased by the East London Railway company for conversion to a railway tunnel. The first trains ran through the tunnel in 1869. From 1884 Metropolitan Railway and District Railway services used the tunnel and it later became part of the London Underground's Metropolitan line and finally it's East London line. In 2007 the tunnel was closed whilst the East London line was converted to become part of the London Overground network. It was reopened in 2010. Recognising its architectural and engineering importance, the tunnel is a Grade II* listed building. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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William Henry Barlow FRS FRSE FICE MIMechE (10 May 1812 – 12 November 1902) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway engineering projects. Barlow was born in Woolwich, the son of mathematician and physist Professor Peter Barlow, who taught at the Royal Military Academy.
From the mid 1840s until 1857, Barlow was chief engineer for the Midland Railway, after which he set up his on consultancy in London. Between 1862 and 1869 he was the consultant engineer on the Midland Railway's extension from Bedford to London, designing St Pancras station and the 240-foot (73 m) wide cast iron and glass train shed roof over the platforms, the widest unsupported arch in the world at the time.
Barlow was also engineer on the completion of Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and sat on the committee which investigated the causes of the Tay Bridge disaster in 1879. He designed the replacement Tay Bridge completed in 1887. In 1880, he was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that Arsenal is the only Underground station to be named after a London football club (it was previously known as Gillespie Road)? Watford and West Ham are both named after the areas they serve.
- ...that the cause of the Moorgate tube crash in February 1975 was never satisfactorily determined?
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Image 2Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 4Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 6Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 7The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 8"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 9View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 10Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 1155 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 12Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 13The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 14London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 16Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 18Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 20Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 21The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 23Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 24Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 27Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 28Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 29The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 30Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 31The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 32London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 33Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 34Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 36Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 37London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 38Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 39A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 40TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 41Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 43The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 44Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 45Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 47Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 48Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 49The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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