Mail Rail, London - 2015
Disclaimer: no trains were derailed in the making of this UE.
So, yeah. Mail Rail… This kinda happened.
I don’t really do many reports these days, god knows how many photos I’m sitting on now. This one was different. Ever since being down here, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s hard to explain, you probably know what I mean if you a passionate about this exploring malarky.
This place, or even just London in general, is not exactly a half an hour tube journey for me, it’s a 125+ mile jaunt along the M4, and that's before you even hit central. I always said to Gabe that if I knew of this place opening up, I’d be in the car and over that very night. Well, that’s basically exactly what happened… Twice. Two nights down here and I still didn’t see it all. After intending to do it for a third night in a row, we got news that access had changed a bit, so actually got a nights sleep that night.
Some photos were taken on my phone, others on a Canon, which belongs to a girl who I have never met before but seriously owe a lot to for lending it to me on the second night. Never used a Canon before now so photos are hardly on point. That being said, who cares. It's not about photos for me, they're just an added bonus and a good reminded of dem memories.
We’d looked at this one a couple of nights in London before now, and tried a number of different ways and looked at a number of different locations etc, but we always knew this one was going to be the one that came up trumps. After the most recent one, which involved me clambering down the side of a lift shaft and very nearly getting stuck, the situation had changed drastically and was now much more inviting.
The first night there was no one around so I thought fuck it, and went down alone to get my first helping of this incredible labyrinth (well, past the confines of a breeze block wall that is), and even solo, it certainly didn’t disappoint.
There are cameras, naturally. I guess you can thank a certain few for that, but anyway, the only way to see this place was to just go for it. Can’t spend your whole life being hesitant and then spending ages after thinking of what could have been, right? On top of these infrared cameras, nearly every station has either motion activated floodlights or constant strip lighting on to make it a lot easier for these cameras to see what’s going on. Yeah…
We moved on further and further, stopping here and there for a fag break (I say fag break - the others did, I ate more and more ham rolls and sweets), whilst knowing we needed to be back at our access point by a certain time ideally.
By far, the most bait of all stations was of course Mount Pleasant, where you can actually hear the goings on of the live Post Office site that sits above. We were almost half expecting someone to walk out of one of the offices on the platform at any time.
It was daylight when we got back out, and how no one saw I don’t know. But we didn’t care, or at least I didn’t anyway. That feeling, the one where you walk away from something and just can’t help but smile. We’ve all experienced it, it’s that feeling that reminds me why I do this and why I seriously love this past time more than any other. I spent the drive home on both nights just wandering when I’d next be able to see this, or even just when I was next gonna be in London. Safe to say it won’t be long.
Spent a lot of nights in this city over the last few years, and seen some sexual stuff, but this might just be the crowning jewel to top them all. No doubt posting these photos won't sit well with everyone, but seeing as Flickr and Facebook are business as usual, why the hell not.
Thanks, as always, to the usual few in the capital who are hitting stuff like there’s no tomorrow (and actually share it with other people), and put a lot of other ‘explorers’ to shame with how much they do as well as full time jobs etc etc. Big up guys, total respect.
Disclaimer: no trains were derailed in the making of this UE.
So, yeah. Mail Rail… This kinda happened.
I don’t really do many reports these days, god knows how many photos I’m sitting on now. This one was different. Ever since being down here, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s hard to explain, you probably know what I mean if you a passionate about this exploring malarky.
This place, or even just London in general, is not exactly a half an hour tube journey for me, it’s a 125+ mile jaunt along the M4, and that's before you even hit central. I always said to Gabe that if I knew of this place opening up, I’d be in the car and over that very night. Well, that’s basically exactly what happened… Twice. Two nights down here and I still didn’t see it all. After intending to do it for a third night in a row, we got news that access had changed a bit, so actually got a nights sleep that night.
Some photos were taken on my phone, others on a Canon, which belongs to a girl who I have never met before but seriously owe a lot to for lending it to me on the second night. Never used a Canon before now so photos are hardly on point. That being said, who cares. It's not about photos for me, they're just an added bonus and a good reminded of dem memories.
We’d looked at this one a couple of nights in London before now, and tried a number of different ways and looked at a number of different locations etc, but we always knew this one was going to be the one that came up trumps. After the most recent one, which involved me clambering down the side of a lift shaft and very nearly getting stuck, the situation had changed drastically and was now much more inviting.
The first night there was no one around so I thought fuck it, and went down alone to get my first helping of this incredible labyrinth (well, past the confines of a breeze block wall that is), and even solo, it certainly didn’t disappoint.
There are cameras, naturally. I guess you can thank a certain few for that, but anyway, the only way to see this place was to just go for it. Can’t spend your whole life being hesitant and then spending ages after thinking of what could have been, right? On top of these infrared cameras, nearly every station has either motion activated floodlights or constant strip lighting on to make it a lot easier for these cameras to see what’s going on. Yeah…
We moved on further and further, stopping here and there for a fag break (I say fag break - the others did, I ate more and more ham rolls and sweets), whilst knowing we needed to be back at our access point by a certain time ideally.
By far, the most bait of all stations was of course Mount Pleasant, where you can actually hear the goings on of the live Post Office site that sits above. We were almost half expecting someone to walk out of one of the offices on the platform at any time.
It was daylight when we got back out, and how no one saw I don’t know. But we didn’t care, or at least I didn’t anyway. That feeling, the one where you walk away from something and just can’t help but smile. We’ve all experienced it, it’s that feeling that reminds me why I do this and why I seriously love this past time more than any other. I spent the drive home on both nights just wandering when I’d next be able to see this, or even just when I was next gonna be in London. Safe to say it won’t be long.
Spent a lot of nights in this city over the last few years, and seen some sexual stuff, but this might just be the crowning jewel to top them all. No doubt posting these photos won't sit well with everyone, but seeing as Flickr and Facebook are business as usual, why the hell not.
Thanks, as always, to the usual few in the capital who are hitting stuff like there’s no tomorrow (and actually share it with other people), and put a lot of other ‘explorers’ to shame with how much they do as well as full time jobs etc etc. Big up guys, total respect.