Preserved Sleet locomotive ESL 107 at LT Museum Acton |
Information | |
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Number built: | 259 (88 motor cars, 99 trailers, 72 control trailers) |
Built: | 1900-03, 1913 |
Builder: | Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (later Metro-Cammell) Brush |
Engine: | (Original) 2 British Thomson-Houston traction motors per motor car (Ealing) 2 GE212 traction motors per motor car (550v DC third rail) |
Power: | (Original) 500 hp (372 kW) (Ealing) 960 hp (720 kW) |
The new motor cars were built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (BRCW) and Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, the original trailers having been built by the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Company and Brush. In 1908 some trailers were converted to control trailers to allow for shorter trains in the off-peak [3].
The fleet was augmented in the 1910s with the extension of the line to Ealing, extra stock was built by Brush with more powerful traction motors (the original stock was found to be underpowered when used in a lengthy formation). In the 1920s all stock was retrofitted with air-doors.
The CLR became part of London Underground in 1933 (and was renamed the Central Line soon afterwards). The 1903 Stock was replaced by Standard Stock as the CLR's central third rail system was replaced by the standard LU fourth rail.
Some 1903 Stock lived on as sleet locomotives. One of these locomotives, ESL107 has been preserved, it is the only 1903 Stock to have survived.
1903 Stock in service [5] |
Interior view [5] |
Another view of ESL 107 |
Cab of ESL 107 |
[1] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 29
[2] J. Graeme Bruce & Desmond Croome, The Twopenny Tube (Capital Transport, 1996) p. 15
[3] Brian Hardy, Underground Train File Tube Stock 1933-1959 (Capital Transport, 2001) p. 5
[4] John Glover, London Underground Rolling Stock in Colour (Ian Allan, 2009) p. 31
[5] "Fireproof cars on the Central London", Street Railway Journal Vol. XXII No. 9 (Nov 7 1903) p. 851