London Underground C69/C77 Stock: The final months (images/videos)

[superdrive1]

With the introduction of S7 Stock now in reasonable flow across the Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines, the days of the C69/C77 Stock units is set to become a part of history within the next few months, with May 2014 the current 'planned' withdrawal date for the last set(s). Although given the current speed that S Stock seems to be entering service I'd wager a bet they'll be out before then! So yesterday I took a venture out to see how many were about on the network. More trips to London to find more C Stocks will probably be undertaken in the future. (excuse the dodgy images and lack of video this time around, camera wasn't working terribly well yesterday)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[realizm]

I hear you. Better get all the footage of the C stocks you possibly can before they're gone. +1.

[DJ MC]

Nice shots of the C Stock. Hard to believe, these cars built in 1969 and 1977 replaced the Q Stock of 1923-1938 vintage and the CO/CP Stock of 1937-1939 vintage. Now the C Stock will soon be gone just like the equipment they replaced more then 30-40 years ago.

[realizm]

Just by looking at the pics it seems like that the fleet is still in pretty good shape. Admittedly as a New Yorker I am quite surprised they are slated for retirement so early. But then again we are dealing with the pioneers of urban rapid transit here. We all know this but they paved the way for New York City rapid transit as August Belmont toom a page out of the London Underground engineer's book to create the IRT lines. There's a legacy behind the London Underground that I appreciate.

[T to Dyre Avenue]

Great images. Can't believe the C Stock trains are about to be withdrawn from service. Can't believe the A Stock are already gone. I guess the S Stock's introduction into service is going well. Which is a good thing. They're nice-looking trains and they're air-conditioned. I look forward to riding them when I visit London.

[superdrive1]

I hear you. Better get all the footage of the C stocks you possibly can before they're gone. +1.

 

I think I might have to somehow! Not long left for them now.

 

Nice shots of the C Stock. Hard to believe, these cars built in 1969 and 1977 replaced the Q Stock of 1923-1938 vintage and the CO/CP Stock of 1937-1939 vintage. Now the C Stock will soon be gone just like the equipment they replaced more then 30-40 years ago.

 

Thanks, have used them for as long as I can remember so it's certainly strange to think that they're going soon, but they've certainly had a good life, and we live in hope at least one might get preserved for future use

 

Just by looking at the pics it seems like that the fleet is still in pretty good shape. Admittedly as a New Yorker I am quite surprised they are slated for retirement so early. But then again we are dealing with the pioneers of urban rapid transit here. We all know this but they paved the way for New York City rapid transit as August Belmont toom a page out of the London Underground engineer's book to create the IRT lines. There's a legacy behind the London Underground that I appreciate.

 

Cosmetically they're still more or less ok, although they are definitely showing their age up against the new fleet! Standard lifespan of Underground stock here is around the 40 year mark, the 'A' Stock outlasted that by a good 10 years, but that's generally the exception, the current fleet of 'D' Stock trains on the District Line are set to be fully replaced by 'S' Stock in 2015, which would mean that fleet wouldn't even make the 40 year mark, and this would be despite the fact they were refurbished within the last 10 years, which seems ever so slightly pointless.

 

Great images. Can't believe the C Stock trains are about to be withdrawn from service. Can't believe the A Stock are already gone. I guess the S Stock's introduction into service is going well. Which is a good thing. They're nice-looking trains and they're air-conditioned. I look forward to riding them when I visit London.

 

Times are a-changing on the Underground that's for certain! Although 2 short sets of 'A' Stock do still exist and are used during the autumn as leaf-clearing trains, as well as on the occasional heritage tour. The 'S' Stocks are rather nice, great improvement on the trains they are replacing, although I must admit I prefer the old trains over the newer ones!

[DJ MC]

Many stock retired in the past have lasted 30-35 years. Though a number of the Pre-war stock like the Q, F, H, 1938, Standard, and CO/CP Stock were in service for 40+ years. The Dreadnoughts dated from 1910 and were retired in 1961 with the arrival of the recently departed A Stock. Kind of interesting how some stock was retired without hitting 40 and some were. 

[superdrive1]

Many stock retired in the past have lasted 30-35 years. Though a number of the Pre-war stock like the Q, F, H, 1938, Standard, and CO/CP Stock were in service for 40+ years. The Dreadnoughts dated from 1910 and were retired in 1961 with the arrival of the recently departed A Stock. Kind of interesting how some stock was retired without hitting 40 and some were. 

 

The time that stocks seem to last has always seemed to vary with no real uniformity to it! News hot off the press, as of week commencing 13th January, only 2 C Stock diagrams are planned for operation on the Circle Line. Also the Hammersmith & City Line within the same week is set to have only 1 set in operation, and this will only be during the late morning/afternoon period Monday-Friday. I will endeavor to make a trip during that week to cover these changes. 

[realizm]

I was made aware of the fact that London Underground is expected to complete installation of CBTC technology in many of its rapid transit lines by I think 2018. Can that be one of the major reasons for the early dismissal of the C stock to make room for the new fleet that can accomidate automatic signalling?

[superdrive1]

I was made aware of the fact that London Underground is expected to complete installation of CBTC technology in many of its rapid transit lines by I think 2018. Can that be one of the major reasons for the early dismissal of the C stock to make room for the new fleet that can accomidate automatic signalling?

 

That is more than likely the reason yes, as it will get the 'Sub-Surface Lines' ready for ATO/CBTC whenever it is ready to be implemented. A news item from yesterday however suggests there may be a few issues with this... http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/29299.aspx

[realizm]

Gotcha. Bombardier deemed their CBTC technology uncompatible with the existing infrastructure and let go if the contract with London Underground. The rail industry giant is going through a slew of problems ranging from closures of manufacturing plants in Europe to a major lawsuit with Deutsche Bahn. I can see better now why they could not take on the R188 order here with the MTA.

[bobtehpanda]

Gotcha. Bombardier deemed their CBTC technology uncompatible with the existing infrastructure and let go if the contract with London Underground. The rail industry giant is going through a slew of problems ranging from closures of manufacturing plants in Europe to a major lawsuit with Deutsche Bahn. I can see better now why they could not take on the R188 order here with the MTA.

This is interesting: I was assuming Bombarider was making bank since they were able to launch their C-Jets and sell their trains to China.

[Vistausss]

Gotcha. Bombardier deemed their CBTC technology uncompatible with the existing infrastructure and let go if the contract with London Underground. The rail industry giant is going through a slew of problems ranging from closures of manufacturing plants in Europe to a major lawsuit with Deutsche Bahn. I can see better now why they could not take on the R188 order here with the MTA.

 

And not only Bombardier has problems with Deutsche Bahn. Siemens also has a problem because the new ICE train sets Siemens is producing have been severely delayed by 2 years now.

[superdrive1]

Time for more C Stocks... I undertook a run around the network on Wednesday to see what of the C Stock family still remained, with the only stronghold of them now being on the District line branch between Edgware Road and Wimbledon I mainly stayed along that section. However one C Stock on the Circle was located (top photo). Again no videos for which I apologize, it's very difficult to get away with filming inside C Stocks. But the usual array of images to follow and hopefully on the next attempt I will actually be able to film inside a C Stock that isn't crowded. One can hope anyway. Remainder of C Stock lifespan is approx 10 weeks now, it's expected by the end of March they'll be all but gone. 

 

 

 

 

 

[DJ MC]

Thanks for taking the shots and for keeping us updated on the status of the C Stock. 

[Turbo19]

Great pics!

[superdrive1]

The first phase of C Stock withdrawal is nigh. As of tomorrow (Monday) afternoon, there should be no more C Stocks in operation on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, with only those allocated to the District line to remain for a few more months. Tomorrow there are supposed to be 2 'final' journeys to run on the Circle and H&C for the final time, however owing to breakdowns and other issues the H&C run looks doubtful to happen, the Circle run looks like it shall go ahead though. Of course, I plan to be there for whatever happens, bits from that will follow, most likely Tuesday/Wednesday time. In the meantime here's what turned up yesterday, and lack of passengers (for a change!) meant some on-board filming was possible in places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Tram man]

Is it just me or is the London Underground getting less and less interesting? A few years ago i wanted to go there just to do some spotting, seeing the old stock still running. I just haven't had the money to go, and now these beauties are going aswell.

[superdrive1]

Is it just me or is the London Underground getting less and less interesting? A few years ago i wanted to go there just to do some spotting, seeing the old stock still running. I just haven't had the money to go, and now these beauties are going aswell.

 

I'd like to think the Underground is still interesting, it certainly is to me! But as the old stocks start to disappear it is fair to say that the appeal of the network it is dying out a little.

 

Anyway an update. Of the planned 2 'final' C Stocks that were due to run on Monday on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, only the H&C service ran. The final C Stock on the Circle ran on Sunday, this was owing to a shortage of available Cs due to scrapping and breakdowns. I have so far managed to upload a short on-board ride of the final H&C C Stock with also a few images after it arrived at Hammersmith for the final time. A longer 30 min video is due for upload to Youtube in the future, once I can find the time (18 hours+) to do it! We are now down to approx 11 C Stock sets, all of which nowadays should only appear on the District Line between Edgware Road and Wimbledon, these are set for final withdrawal in May/June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DJ MC]

Well superdrive1, thanks for keeping us up to date with the retirement of the C Stock. Also like the pics and video too.

[superdrive1]

Well superdrive1, thanks for keeping us up to date with the retirement of the C Stock. Also like the pics and video too.

 

Thanks, although please all feel free to call me Adam in the future!   I shall still make occasional trips to see the C Stocks left on the District Line, we also have 2 tours featuring C Stock in the coming months as well so it's by no means over yet, yesterday was just the end of the first chapter!

[DJ MC]

That's cool Adam, we will be looking forward to seeing pictures and videos from you.

[superdrive1]

Evening, update to bring you all.

 

Yesterday (13th April) the first obvious sign of the end for the C69/C77 Stock units occurred when a special ticket only railtour was run. The tour (planned by TfL and the London Transport Museum) and named "The C Stock Explorer" was ticketed at the price of £40 each with all proceeds going to charity, and was to see the C Stock take in some unusual locations for trains of its type, including routes to Amersham and Uxbridge on the Metropolitan line, Northfields on the Piccadilly line plus Acton Town and Upminster on the District line.

 

As for day-to-day operation of C Stock, only 4 sets are now in use daily on the District line branch between Edgware Road and Wimbledon. Final withdrawal of normal passenger service for these trains is expected to be around early June, with the final C Stock tour expected to be on the 29th June.

 

Below I have included a few clips and images of the C Stock Explorer in action, hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[superdrive1]

The death bell for the C Stocks is now well and truly being sounded across the London Underground. After 44 years of C Stock service to the Tube, the end is now approaching. With the arrival of the latest staff working timetable for the District line due to begin tomorrow (19th May), it has been confirmed that the 4 remaining daily workings for Cs between Edgware Road and Wimbledon are coming to an end, with Thursday 29th May seemingly the last timetabled day of operation and full withdrawal expected before Wednesday June 4th. However one set will be retained until Sunday 29th June to provide a service on the final C Stock railtour on that date.

 

Over the weekend of the 18th/19th May, C Stocks did however get to pull off a set of duties away from their usual workings. With the Wimbledon branch closed for engineering works, 2 sets of C Stock (comprised of set numbers 5712/5551/5516 and 5733-5550-5594) alongside 2 S7 Stock sets ran a 'shuttle' service between Edgware Road and Kensington Olympia via Earl's Court. A few photos and a video follow below.

 

Further trips to capture the final C Stock workings are currently being planned, hopefully I'll be able to show something from that to you all as and when that happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[superdrive1]

A few images and videos to share of C Stock back in their natural habitats on the Wimbledon branch of the District line with just over a week until withdrawal. Since the last update the information we have seems to be that the last passenger C Stock will be running on Tuesday 3rd June as Train 74, the final working as far as we know at the moment is booked to be the 13:08 departure from Wimbledon to Edgware Road where the C Stock is expected to be changed over to an S7 set, thus ending 44 years of customer service of C69/C77 Stock to the sub-surface London Underground network.