The amazing transportation systems in London and beyond have made quite an impression on us. It’s seems that there’s a convenient way to get nearly everywhere in London via The Underground or a bus with only a bit of walking and with very little waiting. If we miss one Underground Train the next one to our destination will arrive usually in about five minutes. Buses are frequent also. Our fascination with this led us today to the London Transport Museum. It’s located in Covent Garden in a building that was once the Flower Market. It’s organized to allow you to travel through time from the human powered sedan chair of the 1600’s to the first horse drawn public conveyances all the way through to the Elizabeth Line, the newest London Underground (Tube) line, and into the future. In our own studies of transportation as it relates to our own family history, we understood that it was the growth of the cities spurred by the Industrial Revolution in the Nineteenth Century that created the need and fueled the development of mass transit. It was fascinating to make that trip through time, seeing preserved examples and models of common modes of transportation from eras past and even getting to climb into and get a sense of what it might have been like to travel in vehicles like these a hundred years ago. Some of the stories were fascinating like the great success of the horse drawn tram that was removed from central London but eventually led to the efficient and affordable London Underground. Yes, we did take a break for a delectable repast in the Museum cafe then returned to learn some of the engineering details of constructing the Underground. We came away with our heads full of wonderful information and a desire to take one of the Hidden London guided tours sometime soon.
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