| Baker Street Tube (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Baker Street Tube
Photographer Description of Baker Street Tube
It is impossible to get a good panorama looking down Baker Street without being in serious danger of being run over. The best I could manage was to stand on the traffic island in the middle of Marylebone Road. The tube station itself is beneath the white building on the north side of the road. You can just about see the green dome of the old planetarium of Madam Taussauds a little down the street.Baker Street Tube - Further Information
Baker Street in Londonis famous for many things. It was one of the first stations on the oldest underground system in the world. It is very close to Madam Taussauds, one of the most popular tourist attractions in London. The station is intrinsically associated with the fictional Sherlock Holmes, who lived at 221b, the station tiles carry a profile of the sleuth, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum is a short distance away up Baker Street. Just past this museum is boating lake of The Regents Park.
Baker Street tube opened on the 10th January 1863 after 9 years building the line between Paddington and Farringdon Street. That day over 40,000 people traveled the line, the carriages leaving every 10 minutes and being pulled by steam locomotives. This marks the beginnings of the London Tube System, which is the oldest urban underground rail network in the world. The only surviving underground steam locomotive can be seen at the London Transport Museum.
Baker Street itself is a very busy shopping area stretching down from Regents Park to Oxford Street, coming out near to Selfridges and Marble Arch. At the height of the tourist season there is no such thing as rush hour at Baker Street. Vast numbers of people use the sation on their way to the nearby attractions.
The London Underground Lost and Found office is located next to Baker Street station, whose large, and sometimes weird, collection of misplaced items form a a bizarre diary of the lives of those who use the London public transport system. Aside from the obligatory hand bag and umbrella, other items handed in include outboard motors, false eyes and even skeletons. The lost and found collection represents a mini-catalogue of manufacturing and consumer items throughout the ages. Those not reclaimed are auctioned off.
Travel Directions and Getting There:
Tube: Baker Street (Bakerloo, Jubilee, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines), Zone 1