h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A line isn't really a fitting description for some of the, er, lines. For example the District Line (the green one) more closely resembles a spider.

Hell, if you squint, the whole thing looks like a Dali drawing.

Does anyone know where the "dead" tube stations are?

What, like Mornington Crescent?

Mornington Crescent is now fully functional again. I meant like Brompton Road and York Way, stations that once existed but don't any more. You can still tell where they are from the architecture though.

I think there is a dead station at Aldwych

You're right - I thought that station was still in operation - I even bet my boyfriend £500 that it was still there - then looked on the tube map and it has disappeared. (Luckily he still owes me a grand from our two previous bets!). It's still marked in the A-Z though. Might wander down there after work and take a look. I have a strange fascination with redundant tube stations at the moment. Anyone read that new book Underground by Tobias Hill?

What is it about?

I haven't yet read it but it is about a guy who works in the Tube. He is trying to track down a murderer who pushes people in front of trains. he makes friends with a homeless girl who lives in one of the disused stations. But then it might or might not be her who is the murderer.

I went to Aldwych station and it is still there though closed. It has a sign on it that says "Piccadilly Rly - Strand Station" so obviously it was not always called Aldwych.

I am now reading the book that I mentioned above. There is a disused station at South Kentish Town which was on the Northern Line between Camden Town and Kentish Town. Apparently it was closed in between the wars.

I don't know why I am telling myself this.

Well, I read it. Um, slight problem, though--I'm in California. I'll try to keep it in mind, if it makes you feel any better.

The bit in the middle looks like a tipped-over bottle of beer. Or maybe Brasso.

Hey Spartus, if you happen to be in London sometime in the near future (you never know ) and intend to use The Underground you may want to bear the following in mind:

For those travelling on a shoestring budget, the London Tube may be the most economical way to get about, especially if you are a woman. Chivalry is alive and well in Britain, and ladies still travel for free on the Tube. Simply take some tokens from the baskets at the base of the escalators or on the platforms; you will find one near any of the state-sponsored Tube musicians. Once on the platform, though, beware! Approaching trains sometimes disurb the large Gappe bats that roost in the tunnels. The Gappes were smuggled into London in the early 19th century by French saboteurs and have proved impossible to exterminate. The announcement "Mind the Gappe!" is a signal that you should grab your hair and look towards the ceiling. Very few people have ever been killed by Gappes, though, and they are considered only a minor drawback to an otherwise excellent means of transportation. (If you have difficulty locating the Tube station, merely follow the signs that say "Subway" and ask one of the full-time attendants where you can catch the bumbershoot.)

Oh, thank you, Jonny, thank you!! You'll never know how much this means to me!! I can't wait!

Oh, damn....

Sorry.

Yeah, I saw that the other day. Apparently, some rubes out there actually bought it. Unbelievable.

Yeah, it is a rather old piece of 'advice'. My personal favourite in that much-forwarded e-mail is about river trips in flat-bottomed boats. I assume you've seen the whole thing, I'm certainly not going to post it all here.

No, I don't think I have. If you've got it handy, mail it on over. I'm as bored as you are...

I think in several thousand years time archeologists will still be attempting to work out what the underground maps are(I'm still trying to work out how they work and I live in the right time zone), and why a civilisation dug so many tunnels. They will probably theorise that we worshipped a kind of underground, alien god where we needed to descend various levels before reaching a state of Covent Garden.

Or a Shepherd's Bush.

Sorry.

That theory would probably explain why your station in Islington is called Angel though.