June 24, 2014:

 

            I was woken up by a bunch of people talking loudly outside my dorm. I threw on my clothes and told them to keep it down as people were trying to sleep. They seemed apologetic. I returned to my room and went back to bed.

 

            I got up around 8:30 am and got dressed I took my breakfast voucher and went for breakfast. After breakfast, I returned to my room and worked on this report some more.

 

            I finished packing and checked out of the hostel. I then walked to Mile End and boarded a Hammersmith train and rode to Paddington station. Once at Paddington, I went to a place to have my suitcase stored while I went around London. I was taking an evening flight to Dublin so I could have the day in London.

 

            I then looked around Paddington station for a few minutes. I saw a store dedicated to Paddington Bear; a children’s book/TV series from England. I went to the Underground and boarded a Circle Line train. I rode to Embankment station. I was going to the London Transport Museum.

 

            I asked how to get to the museum. I was told to walk to the end of a street and take a bus. I did that but I ended up going in the wrong direction. I did ride on one of London’s “new Routemasters” though.

 

            Along the way, we passed some vintage Routemasters in service. London has some original Routemasters which they run on two routes. I photographed the original Routemasters when we passed.

 

 

 

 

            When I realized I was going the wrong way, I got off the bus where it meets the London Underground. I photographed the bus after I got off.

 

 

            I went to the Tube station and asked how to get to the London Transport Museum. I was told to board a bus going the opposite direction to Southampton Road. I waited for the bus. I saw an old Routemaster coming. I photographed it.

 

 

            Although the Routemaster was running on route #9; which I wanted, it was short turning before Southampton Road. I waited for the next bus which was a newer double decker.

 

            I rode to Southampton Road and got off I then walked a couple blocks to the museum. I saw a poster advertising the musical “Wicked” which I had seen in New York on my previous trip and enjoyed. I wouldn’t go see it in London due to time constraints.

 

            I soon arrived at the museum. I paid my admission then had my bag stored at the coat check. I then went into the museum. I took an elevator to the top floor which showed life in London in the 1800s. I photographed various exhibits about London pre underground and the early days of the Underground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            London was the first city to build a subway system. It opened in the later half of the 19^th century. The trains were originally powered by steam which in an enclosed environment is hazardous due to carbon monoxide. They eventually switched over to safer electric powered trains.

 

            I also learned that bombings on the London Underground weren’t new. Once such bombing happened in the 1890s.

 

            I photographed some early electric London Underground trains. I noticed once car was built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company; the same company that built my all time favorite TTC subway cars; the original rolling stock for the subway called the Gloucester cars which ran between 1954 and 1990. Unfortunately, the London Transport Museum doesn’t have any TTC Gloucester cars in the collection. If they did, I would have tried to get to England sooner!

 

 

 

 

 

This was built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company.

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed a couple more exhibits including one on early tunnel boring machines.

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed more exhibits leading up to and including World War 2. During World War 2, when Germany was dropping bombs on London, people slept in the Underground stations for safety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is actually a simulator of 1938 Tube stock.

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed a few more subway exhibits.

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed an exhibit on trams and trolleybuses in London. They even had a vintage tram and trolleybus on display in the museum. There was also a 1914/1915 vintage motorbus there as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I saw a model subway train. I photographed it.

 

 

            I photographed a few vintage buses including at least one Routemaster in the museum.

 

 

 

 

 

            I photographed the front section of a newer double decker.

 

 

            I photographed a few exhibits about commuter rail and light rail.

 

 

 

 

            The London Transport Museum has some more Tube stock stored in warehouses off site; much like the New York subway museum. However, I don’t know if they’ll run any old trains on the London Underground though.

 

            I soon got my backpack and went into the gift shop. I saw they were selling some HO scale PCCs by Con-Cor. I looked in a book about transit and saw an interior shot of ex Toronto PCC #4615 in Kenosha! I didn’t buy anything in the gift shop though.

 

            I then left the London Transport Museum and headed to catch a bus. I wanted to ride a vintage Routemaster. I just missed one. While waiting, I photographed some newer double deck buses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            A Routemaster finally showed up. I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            The bus would be going out of service where I was planning on getting off. I went upstairs and photographed a sign advertising the Routemasters.

 

 

            When I got off the bus, I photographed it before I filmed it pulling away.

 

 

            I then walked for a few minutes. I decided to go on the London Eye. I photographed it from the bridge I crossed to get to the London Eye.

 

 

            I also photographed what looked like an old steamboat.

 

 

            I saw there was a large crowd waiting to go on. I decided to buy an express pass that would allow me to bypass the line. I also bought lunch while I was there.

 

            After I finished lunch, I went to get on the London Eye. I got on almost right away. From the London Eye, I got a birds’ eye view of London and I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Big Ben.

 

 

 

 

            The London Eye had an on ride photo like several roller coasters I’ve been on. After I got off, I looked at the photo but I didn’t buy it. I then left but not before I took one more photo of the London Eye.

 

 

            I went into an arcade for a minute and then left. I caught a bus across the Thames and I photographed Big Ben and a “new Routemaster” that I believe was numbered 1122.

 

 

 

            I then walked to the London Underground. I rode to Monument station and got off. I photographed a train because its was car #8058 as #8058 is the number of a former TTC fishbowl that’s preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum.

 

 

            I transferred to the Docklands Light Rail line. The trains are all driverless. When the next train on the Docklands line came, I photographed it.

 

 

            I saw at the front of the front car. I filmed a couple other Dockland trains as we passed. From the train, I saw the Emirates Air Line gondola line but I didn’t photograph it. I eventually got off at a stop and filmed the train pulling away.

 

            I looked at a map and decided it would be easier to get back to the tube by waiting for the next train and riding it to Canning Town station which I did. I photographed the train pulling out of Canning Town.

 

 

            I transferred to the Jubilee line. I photographed the train when it arrived.

 

 

            I rode one stop north to West Ham. I got off and filmed the train departing. I then transferred to the District line. I wanted to get a photo of the train pulling in, but there was a train in the station already. I decided to ride one stop west to Bromley-by-Bow and film the train leaving. I photographed the next train when it arrived.

 

 

            I rode the train to Monument station and filmed it pulling out. I transferred to the Northern Line. I filmed the train pulling in.

 

 

            I rode the train to Euston station and filmed the train pulling out. Euston has a connection to the British Rail main line. I looked in a couple stores before I bought a Coke from a Burger King in the food court in the railway station.

 

            I then boarded a train on the Victoria line. I photographed it when it arrived.

 

 

            I rode one stop east to Kings Cross station. I decided it was time to go back to Paddington station then onto the airport.

 

            At Kings Cross, I photographed a memorial to the 31 victims of a fire that occurred in 1987. I had seen a show of Discovery Channel about that fire.

 

 

            I went to wait for either a Circle line train or a Hammersmith train. When the train arrived, I photographed it.

 

 

            I rode to Paddington station and filmed the train pulling out. I then got my suitcase back. I then went to a currency exchange and exchanged 30 British Pounds for what they are worth in Euros since Ireland takes Euros. Although I had plenty of time, I decided to buy a ticket on the express train to London’s Heathrow Airport. The next train was leaving shortly! I did have enough time to photograph it before I got on.

 

 

            I boarded the train and the train soon departed. It was less than 30 minutes between Paddington Station and Heathrow Airport.

 

            The train was crowded and I had to stand the whole time. At one point, we passed by a railway museum with a couple steam engines that looked operational. One of them looked like an A4 class like the Dominion of Canada at Exporail. One thing to note is that the A4 from Exporail returned to Britain for a gathering of all the preserved locomotives in its class; kind of like the British version of “Streamliners at Spencer” though only 6-7 units were displayed. The unit from Exporail was also repainted as well. However, the “Dominion of Canada” had recently returned to Exporail by this time.

 

            We soon arrived at London Heathrow terminal 1 station. This was where I was getting off. I photographed the train.

 

 

            I then went to the terminal. To get to Dublin, I would be flying on British Airways. I had booked this flight on points from my TD credit card. This wasn’t the cheapest flight, but I chose it because I felt it was easy to get to Heathrow than another airport when I booked it.

 

            I checked in and cleared security. They had to scan my Canadian money belt because of all the change but I was soon on my way. I still had hours before my plane left. To get to my gate, I had to go through another inspection area. It wasn’t as bad as regular security though I had to wait in line for a few minutes.

 

            I got to where my plane would be leaving from. I bought dinner from a place in the terminal and photographed a British Airways Boeing 777 and 747-400.

 

 

 

            I photographed a few more planes including the plane I would eventually fly on. I would be flying on an Airbus A319. At one point, I saw an Airbus A380 taxi past, but I was unable to photograph it.

 

 

 

 

This is the plane I would fly on to Dublin.

 

 

            I saw a Boeing 757 operated by Icelandair. In the early stages of planning my trip, I thought about flying Icelandair home to Toronto, but that was before I learned of TTC #2290 going to Ireland and Icelandair doesn’t fly to Dublin.

 

            I logged onto the airport’s Wi-Fi and went online. I worked on this report for a little. I saw an A380 take off. I took a so-so photograph of it. I also photographed the South African Airways Airbus A340 as it left the gate.

 

 

 

            Soon, it was time to board my flight. I had a middle seat. There were no window seats available. The plane left on time but we were about 4^th in line to take off. Some of the planes in front of us were 747s and 777s. On the way to the runway, I saw a couple Airbus A380s.

 

            I attempted to film the take off roll when it was our turn to take off. The flight took under an hour. At one point, the person sitting at the window seat switched seats with me.

 

            We were soon approaching Dublin. We approached from the North due to a runway being closed. I filmed the landing. We taxied to a gate at Terminal 2. I photographed a couple commuter planes at the gate.

 

 

 

            We soon arrived at the gate. For some reason, we were assigned a gate where we had to exit the plane by way of stairs instead of a jet way; much like in Paris. After I got off the plane, I photographed it.

 

 

 

            I went into the terminal. I had to clear Customs in Ireland. We were divided into rows of people who live in the European Union or people who don’t live in the European Union (like me). My line was longer. When it was finally my turn, the agent wasn’t anal and asked the usual questions.

 

            I then went to the baggage claim and got my suitcase. I then went to the arrivals area.

 

            The hotel I was staying at has a shuttle, but I found out that the last shuttle leaves a few minutes before my plane was scheduled to arrive. However, I was met by Des; someone from the Transport Enthusiasts Club which owns ex TTC fishbowl #2290 and his wife. I had emailed Des saying that I would be wearing a hat with a TTC fishbowl on it. I was obviously the only one on the plane with a hat like that so I was easy for him to recognize.

 

            Des, his wife, and I went out to the parking to Des’s car. I told him about the story about the charter with #2290 leading to my encounter with the driver of 2290’s older sister #2855 leading to my Michigan trip.

 

            Des took me to my hotel which was a short drive from the airport. I checked in though it took a little long due to computer problems at the hotel. My room was one of the two closest to the lobby.

 

            I went to my room and found like my hotel in Doncaster, you had to put your keycard into a slot near the door for the power to work!

 

            I also found one of my two adaptors wouldn’t work in the room’s outlets. The TV didn’t work.

 

            I went online and worked on this report some more. I eventually called it a night.

 

Click to read about my reunion with TTC #2290 and my flight back home: My Days in Ireland