London Underground G Stock
British electric rolling stock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The G Stock were 50 electric multiple unit train carriages built for the District Railway in 1923 by Gloucester RC&W.[1] They operated on the District line of the London Underground until 1971 (with most cars being withdrawn in the early 1960s).
| G Stock | |
|---|---|
.jpg) G/Q23 stock at the London Transport Museum | |
| In service | 1923–1971 |
| Manufacturer | GRC&W |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 49 ft 2 in (14.99 m) |
| Width | 9 ft 0+1⁄16 in (2.745 m) |
| Height | 12 ft 3+1⁄2 in (3.747 m) |
| Weight | 33.6 long tons (34.1 t; 37.6 short tons) |
| Seating | 44 |
| Notes/references | |
 London transport portal | |
Construction
The G Stock was built to allow the scrapping of some of wooden-built B Stock trailer cars which were in poor condition. Some steel-framed B Stock motor cars were converted to trailers, themselves being replaced by new G Stock motorcars. The G Stock consisted entirely of motor cars, all built with a clerestory roof similar in style to the B Stock with which they would work.[2][3]
Q Stock
In 1938, forty-eight of these cars were rebuilt when the District line was standardising its post-1923 stock and were reclassified as Q23 Stock.[4] A major part of the Q Stock project was the replacement of the potentially dangerous manually operated sliding doors (which could be opened by passengers between stations) with air operated doors controlled by the guard.[5]
In 1965, several cars were renumbered by adding 100 to the number to avoid conflicting numbers with the 1967 Stock being built for the Victoria line.[citation needed]
South Acton shuttle
The two remaining cars were rebuilt into single cars for use on the South Acton shuttle, replacing a B Stock car. These two cars, numbered 4167 and 4176, were not rebuilt into Q Stock and were classified G23 Stock.[4]
Withdrawal
The majority of the cars were withdrawn in the early 1960s as CO/CP Stock trains transferred from the Metropolitan line started to become available. The last of the Q Stock was withdrawn in 1971.[citation needed]
Two driving motors have been preserved.
- DM no. 4184 - London Transport Museum, Acton
- DM no. 4248 - London Transport Museum, Covent Garden
