Making an Exhibition of Ourselves

Come along to see photographs from behind the scenes at the UK's only train building factory, where the good people of Bombardier are building new tube trains for London.

You can talk about pictures online, upload them, leave comments and Google further details, but how about seeing them in-person?

That's exactly what you'll be able to do from tomorrow evening. The graduating shows from many of the photography courses round the country are happening in the next few weeks at the Old Truman Brewery in London's Brick Lane, and the whole graduating class (including me) will be there.

As part of the Free Range set of shows, it gives us a chance to showcase our final project in a proper gallery setting and invite along a wide range of industry people to ask questions, critique and offer advice.

The exhibition runs from Friday 22nd until Monday 25th June (Friday- Monday 10am - 7pm and Monday 10am - 4pm), is free and has a wide range of photography on display.

I'll be displaying the Bombardier Derby and London Underground Neasden S-Stock project, entitled, 'At London's Service'.

Pop along and say hello!

Part Two - Neasden Night

Road 32, with a new train on the left and an original train on the right being cleaned for the morning service.

Stepping from my Jubilee Line tube onto a deserted Neasden station, not long after midnight, the second part of the day was just starting.

Arriving at London Underground's Neasden Depot, like Bombardier's Derby site, the place is massive. Getting in, out of the rain (the frequent good omen!), I met Dan Jones, part of the Bombardier team at Neasden. The weekly delivery of a shiny, new S Stock train from Derby was scheduled for the evening of my visit.

The line map seen through the window of one of the 1959-built trains

With the rain pouring down, creating a thunderous sound on the roof, I stayed inside for picture taking!

A collection of other recently-delivered new trains were in stages of commissioning before being put into service. A steady stream of trains arrived in the cleaning roads and a team went through making them ready for service in the morning. This gave a chance to compare the old and new fleets as they stood side-by-side.  

Original brake-pressure gauges made by Westinghouse in the original A Stock trains.

The original 'A Stock' trains are a world away from the new 'S Stock' that's replacing them. First introduced in 1959, they have luggage racks for umbrellas and briefcases and the dials and controls in the cabs feels like stepping back to another age, not a computer screen in sight!

An A Stock train looking slightly worse for wear. The entire fleet will have been replaced by the end of July.

At around 2am, the newest train from Derby arrived, being pushed into the depot by two screaming diesel locomotives. These two engines, and the barrier vehicle (needed because the coupling the underground trains use doesn't match that of trains on the national system) were disconnected and pulled out of the depot quickly. Since the Underground is entirely electrically powered, Neasden doesn't have an extraction system for fumes from diesel trains and quickly the shed can fill up. 

The newest Derby-built Bombardier S Stock train to arrive at Neasden for use on the Metropolitan Line.

The Bombardier team discussing that evening's delivery just before arrival.

Immediately, the team swung into action, dismantling the length of hose that ran the length of the train, on the passenger cabin floor, (that provided the air brake pressure on the journey from Derby), and checking the parts sent from Bombardier.

One of the pallets inside the doors of one the cars, with the air-brake hose being removed.

Each car of the train had a pallet immediately inside the doors containing all the parts required for fitting the 3rd rail collection shoes to allow the train to pick up the electrical power to run. 

I took pictures inside the new trains, in the cab of the old ones, and even from underneath, in the inspection pit.

That pipework I had seen at Derby earlier in the day? Here's what it looks like underneath a soon-to-enter-service train. Never to be seen this clean again!

Imagining Neasden would be full of a team buzzing around, barely able to stop for a chat, it had a lot in common with what I'd seen in Derby earlier that day. Everyone knew exactly what time the trains had to start leaving for the start of morning service and Dan knew how many trains he was responsible for providing to the Metropolitan Line each day. There was no sense of panic, Bombardier and London Underground have got the overnight job at the depot down to a T.

With that evening's delivery on the left, the train to the right is nearly ready to run along the length of the line on it's 'rattle test' (to make sure everything works and no panelling or other fitting rattles).

The original power controller handle on the A Stock 

The modern equivalent on the S Stock

 I left for home, 24 hours after waking up, reflecting on the impressive teamwork, commitment, passion and skill involved at Derby and Neasden. From train building to service running, these people keep the UK running.

Part One - Derby Day

The upside-down under frame of a London Underground Metropolitan Line train car being assembled at Bombardier's Litchurch Lane plant in Derby.

I promised more pictures and details of my day and night at Derby and Neasden, a little late, but here we are!

Bombardier's Derby plant is vast, covering 100 acres and, as is the way with the start of new projects, it was pouring with rain. Met by Bombardier's Internal Communication's Manager, Kathryn Lancaster, we dodged the showers and headed inside one of the many sheds where the production line for the London Underground's S Stock was.

What it's all about. The 'S Stock' train on the left is for the more spacious 'surface' underground lines, whilst the one of the right is for the deep 'tube' Victoria Line. Each train is capable of carrying over 1000 people.

The production stages I saw included the roof assembly (turned upside-down, making fitting of components easier), the underframe assembly (again, turned up-side down), then the body shell panels and at the north end of the building a completed underground car.

Work on the coupling at the north end of the production line.

Coming from Swindon, it was strange to actually get the chance to see trains being built. My mind kept wandering back to the Works site in Swindon and wondering if things had been different, where people were buying discount designer clothes in the Outlet Village that wet morning, trains could have been under construction.

Bright workshops with bold colours.

A couple of things struck me. Firstly, the workshop is clean and brightly coloured. The flooring is multicoloured, denoting safe areas to walk, areas vehicles can drive along, space for pallets and workspaces you need permission to walk into. All these colours mix with the yellow of the jigs and overhead cranes, the red panels of the trains and the plastic drawers with the smaller components behind. It reminded me of Lego, bright shiny colours bringing your attention to something being built. 

The Bombardier name is elusive, even on the finished trains.

The second thing was something you couldn't see (not great for a photographer you might think!). Everyone we spoke to and saw, even just walked passed was friendly and chatty. For a factory that employs 1,600 people, that's a great feel to have about the place. The atmosphere was old-fashioned, professional but welcoming, something you don't really think would exist in such a big place. The whole place exuded a pride. Pride in the work, what was being produced, the weight of history from all the building and generations that had gone before. Pride in who they were, where they were and what they were doing.

I left Derby with great admiration for train building and the city itself. 

The pipework for the underframe, partly assembled on a large board for each traincar. 

From the cab of a new train, being signed off by London Underground's representative at Derby, with the daylight peeping through the doors.

Heading back to Swindon on a Derby-built Voyager, I had a chance for a few hours rest and then it was onto London.