British Museum Tube station

[Jack D]

Morning all,

As stated elsewhere on this forum I’m a writer and last year I finished the first draft of a novel called Old Dogs. Please see the two sentence summary below

After a successful heist at the British Museum a family of criminals, led by a formal criminal mastermind, accidentally create a hostage situation on the London Underground's Central Line during a heatwave. Trapped beneath ground with the temperature rising and with the world watching the developing news story, the family must put aside their differences to survive.

The heist in question involves breaking into the British Museum via the disused British Museum tube station which lays directly beneath the building. As I understand it, the platform of this station has been removed and the track remains for storage (yellow ballast trucks and the like) I’ve used creative licence to create a tunnel that connects to the museums’ storerooms but I do want my depiction of the station to be as realistic as possible. This is just for my own personal taste, I don’t think anyone would call me out on any inaccuracies.

Aside from the Wikipedia page for the station can anyone recommend any websites/videos or the like where I can learn more about the station, in particular it’s current condition.

I will be disregarding any comments about the Egyptian Mummy take supposedly haunts the platform…

 

[Ashley Hill]

Here is a short film from the Secrets of the London Underground series about British Museum station. It was shown on the Yesterday channel and uploaded to YouTube.

 

[Jack D]

Here is a short film from the Secrets of the London Underground series about British Museum station. It was shown on the Yesterday channel and uploaded to YouTube.

What a wonderful video. Thank you so much. As I said I'll use some creative licence but it is good to actually see the station.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to go there.

 

[edwin_m]

disused British Museum tube station which lays directly beneath the building

I appreciate this statement may be "artistic license", but as far as I can tell the station was actually a couple of hundred yards from the nearest part of the museum site. If you're assuming a connecting tunnel then there's probably no need to imagine also that it was anywhere other than where it actually was.

 

[Jack D]

I appreciate this statement may be "artistic license", but as far as I can tell the station was actually a couple of hundred yards from the nearest part of the museum site. If you're assuming a connecting tunnel then there's probably no need to imagine also that it was anywhere other than where it actually was.

The tunnel was bricked up (I can't recall what year) but a film called Bulldog Jack in the 1930's showed the tunnel as active. The, so called, cursed Mummy also used the tunnel to enter the tube station... according to the myths.

 

[Gloster]

In London’s Disused Underground Stations (Connor & Butler, 1999) J.E.Connor, an expert on this subject, says that the platforms were removed after closure and the station tunnels used as air rails shelters; the street level buildings were demolished in 1989. He also comments that it is almost certain that the filming of Bulldog Jack was done on a studio set.

You have presumably looked at the London’s Abandoned Tube Station site or the London Underground Railway Society site.