We produce four different B+W sets on the steam worked Metropolitan lines of London Trasnport, inc rare views of the Brill branch in rural Bucks. Each set consists of 10 6x4 ins BW prints, and you can order one set or several sets. The details of the sets are as follows.

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Metropolitan Railway Set BW1 10 6x4 Black+White Prints

This set of ten 6x4 inch Black and White prints recalls the fascinating world of the Metropolitan Railway, prior to its take-over by London Transport in 1933. It operated the Circle Line jointly with the District Railway, and a main line that stretched out north west from Baker St to Rickmansworth, Aylesbury and Verney Junction in rural Bucks. Its most peculiar appendage was a rural branch from Quainton Road to Brill, and we open this selection with a wonderful portrait of Met Class A 4-4-0T No 23 watering outside the wooden engine shed at Brill in 1929. No 23 had been built in 1866 for the Circle and displaced to the Brill branch after the central area lines were electrified in the early 1900s. Passengers on the Brill branch were able to savour vintage Met travel in a rigid wheelbase 8 wheeler that had also seen service in inner London, and we include a portrait of one of the 8-wheelers and a detail shot of the 1882 axlebox. One of the original 1864 Beyer Peacock Class A tanks, No 7, originally named ORION, was sold to the Mersey Railway in 1925 to work engineering trains, and is seen at Birkenhead a few years later. Until 1885, the Met was entirely worked by 4-4-0Ts, but a number of other classes arrived by 1900, the best known being the Class E 0-4-4Ts designed by T F Clark. The pioneer engine, No 1, of 1896, is seen at Neasden. Between 1915 and 1925, the Met went through its “Big Engine” phase, commencing with four Jones 0-6-4Ts, No’s 94-97. Met No 95, ROBERT H SELBIE, named after the company’s general manager, is by the coal platform at Neasden in March 1933. A pair of 0-6-0STs were acquired in 1897 to shunt Harrow goods yard and Neasden Power station, and No 101 is seen undergoing overhaul in Neasden works in 1933. Eight 4-4-4Ts were acquired in 1920-21 for the Aylesbury services, and No 108 is seen bunker first on a passenger train at Aylesbury in 1929. The Maunsell SE&CR Mogul was adopted as a standard engine by the government during World War One, and construction continued after the end of hostilities to reduce unemployment. The Met bought six of the Armstrong Whitworth engines at a bargain price, and converted them to 2-6-4Ts for freight trains. No 113 is seen at Aylesbury in 1929 coupled to a private owner coal wagon. Our last view is of a gleaming Met electric loco No 20, in lined out Met livery at Baker St in 1929 prior to receiving its first bronze nameplate. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.

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Metropolitan Railway Set BW2 10 6x4 Black+White Prints

This set of ten 6x4 inch Black and White prints is a further exploration of the Metropolitan Railway. The “Met” enjoyed a 70 year independent existence until it was absorbed into London Transport in 1933. It operated the Circle Line jointly with the District Railway, and a main line that stretched out north west from Baker St to Rickmansworth, Aylesbury and Verney Junction in rural Bucks. We open this set with a rear three quarters view of Met Class A 4-4-0T No 23 at Brill in 1929. A close up of the inclined cylinders, slide bars and smoke box will be of interest to the modeller, whilst two of the station staff pose beside the BRILL station sign in our third view on the branch. The line between Aylesbury and Verney Junction was constructed by the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway, and we illustrate a rare A&B “Call Notice” to shareholders in 1864. In 1901, four class F 0-6-2Ts, No’s 90-93, came from the Yorkshire Engine Co, and No 92 is seen at the coal stage at Neasden in 1933. The unusual nameplate on the splasher of G class 0-6-4T No 95 ROBERT H SELBIE stands out well in our next view at Neasden. A Jones Class H 4-4-4T No 107 shows the graceful lines of these unusual engines, the 4-4-4T being of great rarity in the British Isles. After the formation of London Transport in 1933, the big engines were transferred to the LNER whilst the smaller engines were renumbered in a common series with ex District stock. Met Class A 4-4-0T No 23 was retained for engineering duties as LT No L45, and is seen in LT colours at Neasden on 22 June 1946. As the last survivor, she was eventually preserved. LT No L46 was one of the four Class F 0-6-2Ts supplied by the YECo in 1901, and had previously been Met No 77. Our final view is of Met electric loco No 20 SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN AT Neasden depot in 1933. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.

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Metropolitan Railway Set BW3 10 6x4 Black+White Prints

This set of ten 6x4 inch Black and White prints examines the Metropolitan Railway, which enjoyed 70 years of independence prior to the formation of London Transport in 1933.  Our set opens with an idyllic view of No 23 at the head of a mixed train at Wood Siding on the Brill branch in 1929. The combination of a coppice and a Metropolitan engine hauling an NE goods van is not something we associate with the London Underground system, but the Brill branch was a part of the Met and briefly of LT. A rear three quarter view of the cab of No 23 at Brill provides invaluable data for the modeller. Met No 82  was the last of the seven class E 0-4-4Ts built between 1896 and 1901, and is at Neasden in 1933. Absorbed into LT later that year, it was one of three members of this class to be broken up in 1935.  Jones class G 0-6-4T No 95 ROBERT H SELBIE is seen at Neasden in 1933. Jones Class H 4-4-4T No 108 drifts though the platform at Aylesbury in 1929. this rear three quarter view revealing the large numerals carried on the bunker of Met engines. A pair of Peckett 0-6-0STs were used to shunt Neasden power station and at Harrow goods depot, and No 102 is seen with one the the power house chimneys in the background in 1933. They were given class B, the letter being reused after the original modified A class tanks were no longer required. Met electric loco No 1 JOHN LYON, and No 14 BENJAMIN DISRAELI head a row of electric locos at Neasden depot in 1933. Although we have entitled this section, the Metropolitan Railway, we have decided to include a little of its partner in the Circle line, the METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, or District Railway. The District was US controlled by the early 1900s, and its US owners sent one of their rising young officers, A H Stanley, from New York to run the District in 1907. We include a copy of the letter announcing his appointment.  Stanley had been born in England but his parents had emigrated to the USA where he became a general handyman in Detroit, rising to management level in a decade before moving to New York and London. Becoming Lord Ashfield, he led the Underground Group, and after 1933 was the head of LT, making this letter a momentous piece of news. We also include a 1917 District Railway interest warrant on debenture stock, but our last view is one of the most exciting views in our London collection, as it is of District Railway 4-4-0T No 34 at South Kensington in November 1928. No 34 was from a batch of six Beyer 4-4-0Ts built for the company in 1880. After electrification, it was retained for works trains and survived until 1932. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.

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Metropolitan Railway Set BW4 10 6x4 Black+White Prints

This set of ten 6x4 ins black and white prints is a further exploration of the Metropolitan Railway which provided one half of the Circle line and operated a main line out to Rickmansworth, Aylesbury and even Verney Junction. We commence at Neasden works where we see an A class 4-4-0T undergoing an overhaul. The Beyer Peacock designed 4-4-0Ts were built for the Met and its partner, the District Railway, between 1864 and 1886, but most went in the early 1900s when the Circle line was electrified. A few survived for engineering trains, and to work the short branch from Quainton Road to Brill. We see Met No 23 outside the wooden loco shed at Brill in 1929. In an earlier set, we looked at Wood Siding in 1929. In this set we see Wood Siding a few years after closure in a rare portrait taken on 5 May 1941.  The penultimate Met Class E 0-4-4T, No 81, of 1901 is at Neasden in 1933. A view of Neasden loco shed yard includes Class G 0-6-4T No 95 in the distance, whilst a class H 4-4-4T is on a freight at Aylesbury in 1929. A Class K 2-6-4T No 111 is caught at Neasden depot. These engines were a rebuild of the “Woolwich” Moguls built as an employment relief project after World War One, this particular engine actually coming from Armstrong Whitworth. A pair of Peckett 0-6-0STs were built in 1897 and 1899 for shunting at Neasden power station and Harrow, and Met No 102 is seen as LT No L54 at Lillie Bridge on 22 June 1946. Met Electric loco No 8 SHERLOCK HOLMES is in grimy post war utility livery at Neasden in June 1946. Although the big Met steam engines had been handed over to the LNER after the formation of LT, the LNER worked some of the services on the main line with engines cascaded from other parts of LNER territory, and in a general view of Chesham branch terminus of the erstwhile Metropolitan Railway, we see LNER No 7418, a former GCR Robinson Class C13 4-4-2T. The signal box on the right is, however, pure Met. A copy of these notes accompanies the set. These views are copyright; Reproduction by any means is prohibited without our prior written permission.

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