9:42 The deadpan way in which he says: "The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete, having first removed the inspector." 😂

A far better documentary than any current documentary. No bullshit music, dramatic narration, or overdone animation, as are now included for our viewing pleasure in nearly every television and KZfaq video.

I was a Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co. commissioning engineer for the automatic braking systems. No mention that the trains were fitted with disc brakes, interlocked air suspension and a seven step digital braking system. As the weight of passengers were added to a car, so the braking effort of that car was increased. The trains were originally fitted with a single button for the driver to push to start the train towards the next station. After one driver got his head knocked on the tunnel entrance by hanging it out the window to look back down the train. We had to add another button and a window interlock, so the window had to be shut and both buttons pressed to start the train. When the train stopped at a station there were white lines on the pavement so that any under or overshoot could be measured and reported. The trains were also fitted with hydraulic handbrakes. Not the best. When we serviced them and the oil mixed with the brake dust it took a week to get our hands back clean. Most of all this was new, never been done before. It was so successful that the New York Subway and Singapore Underground systems adopted it over the next few years.

"Then an inspection is made by the engineer to confirm that the footing is well and truly in the clay. The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete, having first removed the inspector." Very funny stuff. What a great video. I now see that others commented on this as well. I also enjoyed the talk about maintaining essential services while the film shows beer being delivered to a pub.

"The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete ... having first removed the inspector" LOL. I still have the videotape of this that came out years ago, love it.

Very interesting, I am somewhere in the shots of the umbrella being laid as I went up to London just to watch. Spent the entire afternoon there. Looking at the cops then reminds me how friendly the police were in those days. I was 14 and the copper let me sit on a barrier so that I could see easily. Also interesting how I felt able to travel 30 miles to London in those days alone without an worry at all. No mobile phones in those days either. I think I rang my Mum just once to tell her I was ok. Thanks for posting.

The tunnellers are almost certainly from Ireland. My neighbour in Glasgow was from Donegal and work on tunnel projects all over the UK in the 70s and 80s. Good money but by God did he graft for it. I'm told the tunneling gangs were damn good at their jobs and the work rate was phenomenal.

55 years ago they where breaking through on this day and I was taking my first breath. 20 September 1966.

“The next step is to fill the hole with concrete after first removing the inspector”.. Priceless Brit humor… i see i’m not the only one who laughed at this. Seriously though, the endeavor of building this underground station and tunnel complex in the middle of one of London’s busiest crossings is amazing to say the least. Talk about HARD projects. It fumes me that modern transit projects consist of extending lines on surface routes between roadway or freeway lanes, in which cases the project engineers and politicians want us to believe they have constructed a new wonder of the world tantamount to recreating the Pyramids. The workers and designers shown in this video are the kind of heroes we should never take for granted.

Mind-boggling complexity and ingenuity

6:00 "the only way we could find where the pipes were, was to dig for them." Nice to know it's not just me who lays things down and forgets where I put it.

What a marvellous visual document! Clear, concise yet comprehensive and a minimum of distraction (e.g. music and sound-effects).

So strange to think of all the times I travel along those tunnels we have seen being dug in this video. Watching the cutting face inch forward through the London clay, making way for the trains that have now been running through there for over 5 decades now. Lots of guys really toiled to build the lines back then, real back breaking work by the looks of it. I salute those men for their hard work. I used to travel on those lines frequently when i was a young teenager back in the late 70's, and back then i never gave a thought to how all of those tunnels were built. So fascinating to see how the Victoria was built. So easy to take it all for granted without a thought to the guys that worked so hard to build it.

In the 1980's I worked in a glass bottle factory in Kent. The story I was told was that the bottle blowing machines were powered by compressors that had been sold off after they were used to service the drilling machinery on the Victoria line construction, albeit at reduced pressure because they were knackered for some reason!.

I wonder how many of those tough tunnellers slinging the cast iron rings and concrete sections around were still young enough to have seen combat in WW2 and Korea.Resilient and doubtless afraid of very little.

I grew up in sight of Fairlop Aerodrome and watched with great fascination as it was turned from being the RAF airfield with bunkers and aircraft pens that we used as our playground into the enormous sand and gravel extraction and concrete production plant that produced all the concrete segments. I also used the Hainault loop to get to school every day and well remember the test trains that operated on it.

Even that model was a work of art !!!

Brilliant record of those events, particularly seeing the miners using their clay-spades! I saw the Oxford Circus Umbrella going up in 1962, then in 1966 I worked in the site offices at Fitzroy Square, near Warren Street, where an access shaft had been constructed in the Gardens. I'll never forget going down the shaft in the bucket for the first time, nor the weight of those clay spades. It's amazing to see the men at their tasks in such 'primitive' conditions - no safety gear. The Fitzroy Square site was closing down and in early 1967 our team were moved to Tilbury to a cable tunnel project under the Thames. This tunnel was built in wet chalk using a new type boring machine - a smaller version of the TBM's in use on Crossrail and HS2. Hard hats were issued but often neglected and, as it was wet the miners were given jackets and over-trousers.

I like the sense of humour of the commentator. Definitely froll!

Not a hint of health and safety in sight, just getting the job done. Bloody marvellous! 😅

Lovely series of documentaries.

What splendid eyebrows.

Fascinating stuff. Some incredible engineering and planning that goes into these lines. Side note, does anyone know what the piece of music at the start is called?? It’s a bop and I love it

Miss the 1967 stock on the Victoria line. At least we still have the identical looking relatives 1972 mk1 and mk2 stock on the Bakerloo line

I love how they very seriously added that they removed the inspector before filling the column with concrete

Considering the film is nearly 50 years old its very good quality.

Was really interesting and really hard graft for the men dealing with the clay by shovel.

Used to use this line and was oblivious to all the engineering thats amazing engineering! thank you loved watching I was born 1962! great history. thank you for posting 🌍

Hard to believe that would be probably done the same way today, only difference a tunnel boring machine. Love the department store music of the time.

Great performance, in planning & execution! Hats off

I worked with a guy in '68/9 whose daughter was born on the day this line opened. Guess what he called her..........

That was absolutely fascinating! I hadnt realised how new the Vic line was when I first travelled on it in about 1973. I didnt live in London but travelled down ther regularly on training courses with the company I worked for, so I was a regular user of the tube until 1977. I remember the contrast between the Vic line and Bakerloo line was stark!

Wonderful to watch. Looking forward to our next trip to London, will ride the Victoria line with a new appreciation.

"The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete, having first removed the inspector". Wonderfully dry British humour delivered in the same deadpan manner as the rest of the commentary.

Not a Hi-vis jacket nor many hard hats - but industrious productivity abounds!

I was scared of his authoritarian voice then terrified by those eyebrows.

Very interesting. Good presentation for 1962. Thanks

And finally enjoyed every min of that thanks.

TfL need to play that elevator-jazz-muzak in all their elevators, that's for starters. PS. Little did he know that 30-odd years later that'd be a place associated with the boys of East 17 - should change Walthamstow station name to "House of Love"

Brilliant work. Nirvana.

Has that old world Headmaster tone to him

My construction manager worked on the finsbury park diversion, then he worked on the m25 aveley,brentwood,epping, then on sizewell b , a130 Chelmsford , last contracthet was on before retiring was the thameslink station box on the st panacras channel tunnel raillink

How good is that stringline around the drawing pins? Who needs google maps or fancy computing stuff? [Greetings from a still pretty-much locked down Melbourne - I think we hold the world record now.]

Great jazz music intro.

They were giants in those times.

I've travelled on the Victoria line on those old rolling sock train many times and it's only now that I understand WHY those armrests had the odd shape to them! It's quite clever!

Doing the tiling in a shirt and pullover. Nice touch.

I was living in walthamstow at that time and remember riding in the carriage the queen used to open the line.

🤔The part showing the 1960 stock on the Hainault loop must have been taken in the mid 1970s well after the Victoria line had open in 1969. The train operater seen was my father Bill Speight (only time seen wearing a cap🤭) And he wasn't was trasfered to Seven Sisters depot untill the late 1970s as back then it was done by seniority (his was early 1930s) as one retired ⚰the next on the transfer list took there place. All for a few ££s more🙄to spend his working shift in a 🌚tunnel instead of the Essex 🌳countryside.

The Hammersmith and City line was still part of the Metropolitan line between Hammersmith and Barking at this time.

Amazing work, can't help wondering if we could do it these days or if they'd even try to. Anyway, I'm going to enjoy this fascinating film.

Amazing film , it’s a pity there wasn’t any sound during the construction of the tunnels , it kind of sanitised it, the sound must have been deafening.

You remember the adverts inside the carriages. There was one specially for the opening. It said; Welcome to the new Victoria Line. Everything is new up-to-date etc. But there is a secret. Have a butchers under the bonnet... Pit Ponies!

🚂🚂🚂good luck over 100 years ago 😎🎥☝️👏👏👏👏👏

Fascinating, the background music was a little ‘stripper sounding music’ of that period...so I'm led to believe!?

Wonder how many accidents happened during the construction of this massive project. Or if there were any deaths. What an achievement though. People never cease to amaze. Have shoveled clay before, it's not a fun or easy job by any means and it was a very miniscule amount compared to what these guys were doing.. could only imagine. Especially day in and day out for that long.

At 9:45: "The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete, having first removed the inspector".

When this was done the queen had been in charge for already ten years, and she still is. God save her, indeed.

Changin onto the Vic from the black line at stockwell is a bi difference. Like taking off after rattling along the old northern line

Men and their creations.

There's some lovely music on this video, anyone know what the swing tunes are?

9:42 'first removed the inspector' this was in their checklist before poring the concrete. LOL

Wow!

Imagine Network Rail or Crossrail or HS2 finishing that Oxford Circus job dead on time?!

0:58 - he may have changed his name and his accent, but that is clearly Albert Speer.

Always wondered how they can tunnel and actually know where they are going . Also tunnels curve so how does the greathead Shield mange to make tunnels that are curved.

Mind your feet and fingers! Old school DSE, shirt sleeves and hair grease!

And it was raining, of course.

13:13 Essential services diverted. 18:24 Rubery Owen into making big things then.

It was said that some navvies used to be paid on Friday, clean up, buy a new off the peg suit and be on the booze all weekend. On Monday, they'd turn up for work in their suit and wear it all week, until Friday and restart the cycle all over again. Look carefully and you'll see quite a few men working in suits that are worse for wear.

At 9:42 so this isn't one of those New York Mafia construction projects then. Laboratory/office-grade PPE at 30:07 with the protective red necktie to assist in pulling the hydraulics when needed.

Is that Oliver Postgate narrating? (The first voice that we hear)

Long before Health and Safety became an issue!

Briiliant.

Nice subway.I mean Tube.

PPE..what's that???

"OK boys start your shift, got everything?",. "yeah boss, welly boots, fire bucket full of water and 2 packs of Senior service ciggies"

Shame these lads couldn't have done crossrail

This would give a health and safety inspector a cardiac or a stroke.

😀

Mostly built by big strong Irish hands

terminalの発音が、米語とは随分違うんだね・・

Those eyebrows!

Incredible to think no one is wearing a safety helmet or high vis jacket and men are working in confined conditions, undertaking hard physical work by hand. Equally the calculations were undertaken by hand, rather than application of information computer technology.

As something that is taken for granted the London Underground must rate as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. 😁 ( Thankyou very much for uploading the film, thoroughly enjoyed it. When I go on the Tube again it will be with the knowledge of the effort involved to make such an effortless journey. 🚇🤗👍

2:45 His Eyebrows: --------|

Wonder if these guys lost all his hearing later. Also : did they really dress this in suits to work?

The guy who took so long to finish the Black Horse sculpture really milked that job. It looks horrendous. Considering the back breaking work going on 24/7, he sure had the cushy job. LOL

Imagine !! Wonderful background music played by real live humans reading their parts, and a conductor conducting them !! No synthetic soulless crap like today !!! And it's jazz !!!

It time countries got back to making their own stuff instead of importing cheaply made crap.

Imagine getting away with that tacks on the mouth method thesedays!

7:07 I thought "a few" meant 3 or 4 max in my books. But what he should of said was "half a dozen" or "Elon time". Even back then they lied through their teeth and things have only got worse as times gone on. I still don't think it's fair they get paid a lot more that the rest of us, as we get tuppence. 11:14 Btw is there any reason you'd be wearing shoes, trousers, shirt and a tie when your working in dirt n concrete dust? It's not as if they're working in the grand old age of steam, now is it. 29:42 The poor bloke. I bet he'll never forget his parents for giving him that name ☹️

It's amazing that a nation that wasn't able to produce an automobile managed such a feat, and with very few immigrants on top of it!

you couldn't build this today in London. or rather you could but never open it to passengers.

Electric cars also destroy the environment through resource mining, manufacturing processes and ultimately going to the landfill in mass droves. The pollution they cause is simply unnecessary as is the amount of urban space squandered on parking and other paved over autocentric wastes. They also perpetuate urban sprawl, the food deserts that come from that invariably, along with cities that are not navigable as a pedestrian or bicyclist and are, in fact, inhospitable to humanity. They add to traffic congestion. Commodification of societal needs and normalization of trying to substitute rampant consumerism where we need standardized, regulated and uniform public utilities doesn’t work. Putting the financial burden of transportation inefficiently and directly on the individual citizen is simply not wise or fair and hasn’t been the norm for even 80 years. We need to invest in commuter rail that’s properly implemented as it typically is overseas. A commuter rail system is an engineering marvel while buses are just buses. The most reliable predictor of a neighborhood being impoverished is if it has no commuter rail connection. The people are apathetic through decades of disenfranchisement and a lot of that marginalization (eg Robert Moses’s racist urban renewal) is through divestment of public infrastructure, utilities and programs to help the American people. We’re past the point of car dominated transportation being anything better than a tragic hindrance or an outright travesty. Public works materially improving life for the taxpaying citizenry will bolster civic pride. Transcontinental High Speed Rail should integrate seamlessly with commuter rail networks so it can evenly function as one cohesive system and this will convert flyover country back into a thriving heartland by functioning as an artery of commute and commerce which will reduce clustering on the coasts. Similarly, wholly integrated circuits of commuter rail blended with interurban routes, light rail lines, street car grids, subways, and even trolleys along with ferries functioning together as a comprehensive series of interwoven systems would prevent people from having to live on top of each other in city centers in order to have quick access to urban cores and downtown areas so this would stimulate our local economies and prevent gentrification from demolishing cherished heirlooms of our historicity, destroying our classic neighborhoods, shredding the fabric of our communities and toppling our civic landmarks and architectural heirlooms along with other social capital such as venerable culture generating venues. Numerous studies show that built environments of homogenously bleak and bland duplitecture dreck that profiteering developers push on us for their privatized gains to our public loss for the riches of themselves and corporate slumlords not only cause homelessness from being financially inaccessible to most Americans, but also cause depression from creating such a devastatingly sterile, cold, unloving urban habitat that’s too congested and overcrowded to work properly as a correctly engineered built environment. Our roadways are overcrowded and no amount of widening them and adding lanes will do anything to help it because it just leads to induced demand that inevitably grinds to a halt at snags and bottlenecks down the road. Shouldn’t cities be thriving centers of culture and character rather than austere and chintzy morasses of mediocrity? I believe that we can design the cities of our nation to reflect a future that embraces humanity and that we also must for America to have any sort of a bright future ahead of it. Right now we are mired in the destruction of our cities from the inward attacking neocolonial oppressors who weaponize their clout of wealth against the nation for their own off-shore un-patriotic gains of privileged, parasitic, private profits. This greed fueled anti-social exploitation is present day feudalism driving us into another gilded age. Tons of new petrochemical building “luxury living” housing units remain empty serving only as financial assets in investment portfolios of hedge fund and permanent capital firm cretins sheltering dubiously acquired wealth instead of as direly needed shelter for humans. We deserve a landscape we can be proud of and country should come first before corporate looting and exploitation. Legacies are important and live on forever. With space opened up in our cities we could rebuild beloved structures gone from economic and environmental disaster utilizing new technologies such as hempcrete and 3-D printing. We could create vertical agriculture etc. on spots currently now just serving as paved over squares and nothing more. We can extend democracy into offering the taxpayer residents democratic say in what their city consists of, how it looks and how it operates promoting civic engagement and participation.

If you look at an actual real map of the Victoria Line - not the stylised map - you see that they actually put in a big chink / detour to avoid going right underneath Buckingham Palace. It probably adds a minute to the journey on that section. (The Chief Engineer, interviewed, never mentioned it). Not many people know that ...