Harrow: unusual taxi, the LU-owned market and the dead gasworks branch
 

Hi all,

Today I was in Kynaston Close, near Harrow Weald bus garage, and I found a
black cab (registered for the road but not registered to be a taxi) which
was partly painted in London Bus Red, and had a bus roller-blind in the back
window. On closer examination, it was covered in transfers from buses,
including "No standing upstairs". There was also a "ROUTEMASTER" transfer (I
don't remember seeing these on actual Routemasters.) The sides bore bus
garage running numbers. It also bore a very small advert for the bus model
shop in South Harrow Market (which is, AFAIK, still owned by London
Underground), so perhaps the owner is connected with that shop. It was a
real sight to behold - definitely worth a small detour.

On the subject of South Harrow Market, on the north side of the viaduct near
the far end of the market is a strange Art Deco metallic structure
surrounding a drainpipe. I have never seen art surrounding a drainpipe
before in this way. I am guessing it was put up in the 1930s when the
current station was built. I can't think of anything like it anywhere else
in the network, but then again, I don't think there are any viaduct markets
anywhere else on the network.

Further west, close to the remains of the old District Railway gasworks
branch in Stanley Road, an old factory is to be demolished and replaced by
housing. The viaduct-to-nowhere will remain untouched, though. I have been
informed that they can't trim any more of the dead branch without
destabilising the live railway (now the Piccadilly Line, of course). This
doesn't seem entirely plausible, because the dead branch must be several
tens of metres long - perhaps some Piccadilly drivers could give a better
estimate.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes