London Underground Cutaways, Ancient and Modern!

By John Freeman on June 18, 2022

Transport for London has released a number of documents that show almost every London Underground station in glorious 3D format, the latest incarnation of such “cutaways” down the decades, as veteran Eagle comic readers, among others, will know.

The new cutaways, partly redacted, feature in full here on “Ian Visits”, the always enjoyable website of Ian Mansfield, who notes they are “technically axonometric diagrams, which is 3D-like, but not to scale, which becomes obvious when you see some of the vertiginous descents offered on some stairs and escalators.”

In total, some 120 stations with underground tunnels are represented in what Ian describes as “this motherlode of tube and map geekery”. Ian has removed the redacted black blobs that are scatted over the originals, and generally cleaned them up a bit, and made them easier to navigate, too.

London Underground has been the focus of “cutaway art” many times, perhaps most famously for comic fans in the pages of the original Eagle comic and associated publications, by artists such as L. Ashwell Wood.

*Cutaway of London’s Charing Cross railway, underground and trams, from Popular Science Magazine 1921. Via The Londonist*

*Piccadilly Circus, from a 1930 issue of London Illustrated News, art by by D MacPherson*

*Kings Cross Underground in 1939, from the Eagle Book Of Records & Champions 1951, art by by D MacPherson*

*Camden Town Junction, from Eagle Volume One, No 27, cover dated 13th October 1950. Art by L. Ashwell Wood*. *Check out the original art here on Bear Alley*

*Oxford Circus, as featured in Look and Learn magazine, cover dated 24th August 1963. Art by Harry Green*

• Lose yourself in the latest London Underground cutaways here on the ‘Ian Visits’ site

With thanks to Paul Gravett | Vintage cutaways via “AusDew”

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.