Yes, the very transport system that unleashed my Inner Nerd celebrates a very significant birthday - the first passengers boarded an underground train (minding the gap, of course) in 1863.
When I lived in London, not only did I commute on the London Underground, I worked under the London Underground. No, it was not in a dungeon - exciting though that might have been - it was in a railway arch, because at that location the Underground is actually running overground. Every few minutes, the trains would pass directly over my head. The noise was loud, but it only took half a day to get used to it. I remember a few days, when there was a tube strike - it was so eerily silent in the office.
On weekends, I travelled the entire network - and alighted at stations with weird and wonderful names, like ANGEL and COCKFOSTERS and BARKING. My nose was pressed against the window when I travelled north of Baker Street on the Metropolitan Line, because I liked to spot the remains of the abandoned "ghost" stations there. I visited the London Transport Museum (you should go, too), and bought books about the history of the Tube Map.
I should go to London again. Soon. It has been much, much too long.
Anyways: Happy Birthday LU!
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