London Underground Surface Stock

The surface stock of the London Underground is built to the same loading gauge (size) as normal railways and is used on the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, District & Circle Lines, that were built using the 'cut and cover' technique.

1920 F Stock

Built between 1919 and 1921 to remedy a shortage of rolling stock on the District line caused by the massive increase in passenger journeys since the start of WW1 in 1914, and the decrepit condition of much of the existing wooden bodied stock. They were popularly known as 'tanks' possibly on account of their all steel construction and resemblance to the newly invented weapon. They featured very distinctive oval end windows similar to those on the 1920 tube stock and that of the Berlin U-Bahn built shortly afterwards.

The model exterior of the single ended DM is mostly finished, just needing a few tweaks, and the underframe end details, but the interior has not been started. The most problematic item currently are the markerlights which are such a distinctive feature, but difficult to implement efficiently. When complete it just needs cutting in half, and two front ends will produce the double ended DM, and two rear ends will produce a trailer.

1937 O Stock

Built in 1937-1938 for the Hammersmith & City line, this was the first 'Metadyne' equiped stock. The metadyne was an analogue control system that did away with control resistances and replaced them with a large rotating machine suspended under the floor. It allowed smooth acceleration, and could supply power back to the track using regenerative braking. Unfortunately the infrastructure of the time could not absorb the large amount of current produced, so much was wasted, and the weight of the equipment negated a large part of the gains. Eventually the system quickly became more and more unreliable, and spares for the metadyne harder and harder to source. Consequently the metadyne control equipment was replaced by conventional PCM equipment in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the stock then being known as CO stock.

Initially the stock was to be formed entirely of motor cars, but the power requirements were too great for the generating equipment, and so trailer cars were manufactured to dilute the sets and they were formed into 3 car units as DM-T-DM. The intention was to convert the trailers to motor cars at some future date, so they were built identical to the motor cars, but with the drivers doors sealed.

My first attempt at London Underground stock, which has never been released. The model is in the early 'train red' livery and features changeable destination signs, headcodes and set numbers, automatic numbering, a directional driver, opening doors and passengers. This has been extensively re-made recently to use better components that were developed for other stock. It is currently under test to iron out the final bugs (loads found as it's been ages since this was worked on and has had odd bits tweaked and forgotten). Still seems to be missing advertising posters and an engine sound. A 'Bus red'  & (white) roundel logo liveried CO stock will be available later.

1939 P Stock 

Built in 1939-1941 for the Metropolitan line, this was very similar to the O stock, and when converted to PCM became CP stock. The main visual differences from the O stock were lower seat backs on the transverse seats, and the guards position being at the rear rather than in the cab.

Q23/Q27/Q31/Q35/Q38 Stock

The Q stock was mostly produced from conversions of various earlier (clerestory) stock, except the Q38 stock which were newly built and similar to the O/P stock. Thus a Q stock train looked to be a motley assortment of different designs.

R38/R47/R49/R59 Stock

Due to financial & material restrictions after the Second World War, the R stock appeared in dribs and drabs over a twelve year period, with the different batches having considerable differences. The initial batches had steel bodies and were painted in red livery, whilst later batches were constructed from aluminium and were in a bare metal livery. The R38 stock were conversions of Q38 stock trailers. Later builds had a different design of ventilator above the windows. All the R stock had the destination blind above the offside cab window, and a separate window for the set number below it.

A model of the R stock by Andi06 exists on the Auran DLS.

A60/A62 Stock

The A60 stock was ordered in 1959 from Cravens of Sheffield. 248 cars were ordered to replace the T stock and locomotive hauled stock, following the extension of electrification from Rickmansworth to Amersham. These were made up as 4 car units (DM-T-T-DM) with 2 of these units coupled together to form 8 car trains. A further order of 216 cars  to replace the F stock became the A62 stock, only differing from the A60 stock by having a border round the destination blind, and different compressors. With a top speed of 70mph, these were the fastest trains on the underground, but from the late 1990s they were restricted to 50mph to improve reliability. The stock was refurbished between 1994 and 1997, replacing the original bare aluminium finish with the corporate red, white and blue, adding end windows and redesigning the interior. The A stock was used on the Metropolitan and East London lines. Following the introduction of the S8 stock, withdrawal of the A stock commenced in October 2010, with the last train being withdrawn in September 2012.

There is a not entirely accurate model of the A stock in refurbished condition in the Sketchup Warehouse by Jamie98Marquis, which is being used as the basis for a version in Trainz. The basic model is now completed, and most of the inaccuracies of the original model have been dealt with. A few details still need sorting, and the interior needs remaking as it's extremely high polycount, and not correct anyway.

C69/C77 Stock

The C69 stock was built in 1969 by Metropolitan-Cammell of Birmingham to replace the COP stock used on the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, with an initial order of 106 units. The units comprised a Driving Motor (DM) and a trailer, semi-permanently coupled together. The C77 stock was an additional order of 33 units in 1977, plus an extra DM to replace 5585 which was damaged in a terrorist bomb incident in 1976. A further 2 units were manufactured in 2008 to replace a unit damaged in the 2005 bombings, and a unit which had been scrapped after use in equipment trials. The C stock was normally formed as 3 2-car units. The stock was refurbished in 1991-1994. Prior to refurbishment the units had been finished in bare aluminium, and had transverse seating. After refurbishment they were finished in the corporate red, white and blue, and had longitudinal seating. C stock is normally used on the Circle, District and the Hammersmith & City lines. The C stock is currently being replaced by the new S7 stock.

This model originally started life as a conversion of the model by MrNK94 in the Sketchup 3D Warehouse which is considerably distorted, being far too long, but little if any of the original remains. The model features changeable destination signs, set numbers, automatic numbering, a directional driver, opening doors and passengers. Liveries currently available are C69 Stock (black roof), C77 Stock (grey roof), experimental livery applied in the early 1990s to 5585/6585, early refurbished livery (no window surrounds & early aerial),and the current refurbished livery. Possible future liveries are  poppy livery, and olympic livery.

A crude conversion by Redmanb11 of the original Sketchup model is available on the Auran DLS.

D78 Stock

The D78 stock was ordered from Metro-Cammell of Birmingham in 1976 to replace the District Line's CO/CP and R stock. 75 6 car trains were delivered between 1980 and 1983. 65 of the trains consisting of 2 single-ended (DM-T-UNDM) units, and 10 trains consisting of 2 double-ended (DM-T-DM) units. The D stock was fitted with single leaf doors, and shared many design features with the 1983 tube stock. The stock was refurbished between 2005 and 2008, replacing the aluminium finish with the corporate red white and blue, redesigning the interior, adding end windows, and the addition of dot matrix destination displays and an audio passenger information system. The D stock is due to be replaced by S stock in 2016.

A model of the D stock by Andi06 exists on the Auran DLS. A model of the D stock also exists in the Sketchup 3D Warehouse by MrNK94, which is being used as the basis for a Trainz version.

S7/S8 Stock

This is the new stock currently being introduced to replace the A stock and C stock on the Metropolitan, District and circle lines. The S7 stock comprises 7 car trains, is used on the Destrict and Circle lines, and is equiped entirely with  longitudinal seating to maximise standing passenger capacity. The metropolitan line uses the S8 stock which comprises 8 car trains equiped with some transverse seating to maximise passenger comfort on the generaly longer journeys.

There are a couple of models in the Sketchup Warehouse by Jamie98Marquis, and Shreeyam, which might be used as the basis for a Trainz model (with an awful lot of work - both are crude and inaccurate). My model is almost complete externally, but the interior is still a work in progress. It is currently running on the 1973 stock bogies.

Page updated : 22 Nov 2020