UG 1959 Stock 4 Car Model Set

Postwar experiments with unpainted aluminium bodies on London Underground trains instead of steel proved successful on District line 'R49 stock' from 1952. When new rolling stock was required to replace the Piccadilly line 'Pre-1938 tube stock' the new trains were also left unpainted. In 1959 a new type of train was introduced on the London Underground, the ‘1959 tube stock’. The trains were lighter in weight with an unpainted aluminium finish to save maintenance costs. They also had fluorescent interior lighting and rubber suspension, and were striking in appearance when new, the silver exterior marking a departure from traditional Underground red. 76 new trains of ‘1959 tube stock’ were originally ordered for the Piccadilly line, but 57 trains were diverted to the Central line due to the urgent need for new rolling stock there. These trains were returned to the Piccadilly line when new deliveries of almost identical ‘1962 tube stock’ arrived in 1962–64. The Piccadilly line extension to London Heathrow Airport was opened in December 1977. Heathrow was the first international airport to be linked to an underground transit system, and new ‘1973 tube stock’ was designed specifically for the airport link. The internationally recognised aircraft silhouette symbol was displayed on the front of Piccadilly line trains serving the airport. Until all the '1973 tube stock' had been received, '1959 tube stock' continued to operate on the Piccadilly line to and from Cockfosters, Uxbridge and the new terminus Heathrow Central. Our model represents a '1959 tube stock' train on one of those workings. When delivery of '1973 tube stock' were complete the '1959 tube stock' was transferred to the Northern and Bakerloo lines for continued service until withdrawal in late 1999.