Photo - LER Gate Stock Ends
A pair of steel-bodied London
Electric Railway tube gate stock cars, coupled, showing the centre buffer and the air
hoses coupled at waist level. The control and lighting cables (called jumpers) are
slung across the gap at roof level. These cars are on the Hampstead Line at Golders
Green depot.
The gates opened inwards using
crank handles on the end screens. The gateman operated the handles on both cars at
the same time by standing on the buffer and leaning between the cars. During this
process, the gateman could hit his head on the jumpers at roof level and they were often
strapped up tightly in an effort to remove this annoyance. The result was that
sometimes the plugs would pull out of the sockets on sharp curves and the train could
become partially or even totally disabled.
Originally, leather covered
chains were provided between the cars to prevent passengers falling into the gap but these
are missing in this picture.
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