The Metropolitan line started out as a city underground line from Aldgate. It ran along the northern side of the Inner Circle to Baker Street station where it branched off to the right running into four platforms of that station; two of the four terminated at Baker Street. From there the Metropolitan was a surface line to Watford and Amersham, with branches to Uxbridge and Chesham. It also went beyond Amersham, once upon a time, to a station in the middle of nowhere called Verney Junction, but this section is no more. The railway used electric motive power as far as Rickmansworth and was steam hauled form there onwards, the longest run being about 48 miles. This was the line that inspired Sir John Betjeman to name the areas it served 'Metroland'.

Three-car set comprising two Q38 driving cars
and one Q35 trailer.

The basic body was fairly simple with the floor made from ¼ inch MDF and the sides, which Jean inwards slightly, from 1/8 inch hardboard with windows cut out and glazed with 0.030in clear plastic. The same applies to the Q35 trailer except that the sides are vertical and the roof has a shallow clerestory. The ends, which are slightly rounded are built up with small pieces of wood and sanded to shape. The roofs, which lift off, are made model aircraft style with shaped formers and a thin covering with the ends sanded to shape. Returning to the Q38 cars, these bodies have the complexity of inwardly sloping sides and flared skirts. There are also projecting ventilators. The flared skirt caused a bit of bother until I found a concave, quarter round beading intended for a doll's house.

The three cars are driven by a single Lima motor bogie. A few pieces of lead in the body over the bogie to give it a bit of adhesion. In spite of their rather elementary three-pole construction the bogies are quite good as it will drive all three cars up one of my gradients of approximately 1:30 which is also on a curve. Directional lighting, using light emitting diodes, is fitted with jumper cables between each car. The couplings are simple drawbars.

The picture at the top of the article shows the 3-car set in the terminus (unfinished) with a Metropolitan Bo-Bo, No.20 Sir Christopher Wren and the first coach of a quad-art set behind. The electric loco was built from an MDK set of parts and is fitted with two Lima motor bogies. This loco is also fitted with directional lighting and performs very well.

Picture No.3 shows the Q38 driver, the Met. No.20 and one of the former GWR pannier tanks, in this case 0.L90. They were never this clean in service. It also shows the track which is two rail and stud contact. This is because the line is really a test line and as I have some models using stud contact and some using two rail current collection, either can be run by operating a change-over switch. What it hasn't got is the four rail set up as used by the Underground. I don't think I have the energy to do this.

If you are sufficiently interested, the book I mentioned earlier is London Underground Rolling Stock by Brian Hardy, published by Capital Transport in 1993; copies can probably be found in railway bookshops. I wonder if anybody has modelled the Paris Metro, with its rubber tyred wheels. Now there's a thought.