Hunt for 'ost’ railway

Press, 25 June 1979, Page 4

Hunt for 'ost’ railway

From KEN COATES in London Train enthusiasts — and there are thousands in Britain — plan to make a new attempt to find London’s (‘lost” underground railway. Next month a survey firm will use seismic equipment to scan the grounds of Crystal Palace, looking for evidence of a tunnel under the park. The London Underground Society believes

there might still ba a carriage on a 600-yard stretch of track last used in the 1860 s. Records and documents of the old railway were destroyed in a fire, but it is known that a test railway using air pressure to move trains was built there. It was abandoned when electric trains were adopted for underground travel. Old rumours that a ghost train is still trapped in the tunnel, complete

with skeletons of passengers on board, are still repeated by older residents of the district. Mr P. J. Davis, secretary of the Railway Society, says any rail disaster would have been recorded. “We have commissioned surveys to see whether stories.” he said. Special equipment that beams sound-waves into the ground to detect there is any truth in the underground chambers will be used.