Visit to the Transportation Museum

The weather here is finally warming up and while we should be home sorting, purging and packing we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out of the house and go on another field trip.  We have been told many times that the London Transportation museum is wonderful and it has  been on our list to visit for the past 5 years but we never got around to it until this past weekend.  It lived up to our expectations, Little Man is enamored with the underground system here.  I kid you not, he knows most of the rail lines by memory and we if we quiz him on the system, just for fun,  he usually gets the right answer about 95% of the time.  So going to this museum was a little slice of heaven for my youngest child:)

First we learned about the Watermen and found out they didn't have the best reputation for honesty

We saw a chair carrier used by the wealthy to travel short distance around London

Next came the  bus pulled by 3 horses

Inside of the buses

We read that during this period there would be nearly 1000 tons of horse poo on any given day.  We also read that it would take up to 3 horses to pull a bus carrying 22 passengers

Then it was discovered if the horses pulled the busses on a track (sort of like a railroad) they could pull larger loads and the bus would only need 2 horses 

Discovering how the London underground was built.  We have seen many documentaries on this as it appeals to my son

Completing the kids trail.  Princess has decided she is too old to participate in children's trails in the museums anymore.  

What the city streets would have look like during the building of the tunnels.  We also read that many houses were torn down and the government simply threw people out and they were homeless, no compensation was given

Originally steam engines were used and there needed to be places along the lines to release the poisonous fumes being built up inside the tunnels.  This could be down with street grates.

An original under ground steam train

Inside of the cabin for 1st class

Inside the cabin for 2nd class

The famous London Underground map.  Little Man has practically memorized this

They had a mini side exhibit on all the different posters done over the years to advertise the use of the underground.  Here are a few of our favorites

Next we looked at the buses

and the old way of ticketing

You know you are getting old when the bus you remember riding in the 80's is now in the museum:(

Experiencing what it is like to be a underground conductor

We couldn't pull Little Man away from this

Bomb shelter and how the underground was used during WWII was then exhibited

Sleeping in the underground

I loved this sign:)

The etiquette of entering and exiting of the trains.  I can attest that this is not performed nearly as well in the modern age. 

You never know what kind of street performer you are going to find in London:)

We had a great day out and learned tons about the underground and how public transportation has changed over the years.