Cravens Home | Epping Museum

Zone 1

Welcome to the Cravens Heritage Trains website, parent company of Locomotive L11 and Epping Signal Cabin

The Car Diagram at the top of each CHT page shows the destinations available. Click on the destination of your choice. Stops within Zone 1 all contain information on the various Cravens subjects whilst stops within Zone 2 relate to Epping Signalling Museum. Members of CHT can access the Members area using their password. Enjoy your visit!

The 'other' Cravens Unit. Photo credit: Keith Ward

You've heard the old saying - "There's light at the end of the tunnel". Well, there is an increasing possibility it could once again be the headlights of the last passenger-carrying 60TS Cravens Unit to run over London Underground metals, now owned by Cravens Heritage Trains!! The only other surviving Cravens Unit is the LU owned Track Recording Vehicle, which has recently been spotted on a much more regular basis travelling across the whole network. Many great pictures have been posted on Facebook's Central Line Past & Present - why not join the group?

Before we get carried away, we must remember our Cravens Unit last ran under her own power back in 2003 when we held the last Railtour and much has changed on the London Underground network since. The last time the Unit ran in public was when it was 'topped and tailed' to the Epping-Ongar Railway in 2014 to commemorate 20 years since the closure of the Central line branch between Epping and Ongar.

After many years of languishing in a siding, there are on-going discussions about the future of the Cravens Unit and there is a definite air of optimism. You may know this is not the first time such discussions have been held, but there is a real feeling that this time progress can be made.

We posted previously that the Cravens Unit had been towed inside the depot at Ruislip so a Brake Test could be performed. Before any further activity could be carried out, there had to be confirmation the brakes still worked. They did!! This was the first step along the way to a more detailed Inspection and Condition report.

Further updates on progress, together with pictures when they come through, will be announced on our various Facebook channels and then published in full here.

Top: archive photo of the Cravens interior during previous renovation works

Bottom: Cravens Units 3902 & 3903 minus windows shortly before removal from Hainault

The team at Ruislip have also been looking at the condition of the windows. They found several which had become damaged or the rubber seal had simply perished and needed replacement. If you've been following our Cravens Facebook page you may have noticed that the pictures of the Cravens units being taken away for scrap back in 1995 showed the windows had been removed. We knew they'd come in handy one day!

Our team of Volunteers stand ready to assist and we thank the team at Ruislip for their continuing efforts to retain this item of significant historical interest- Cravens Units being the first trains to intensively test running under Automatic Train Operation (ATO).

** UPDATE AS AT 23rd FEBRUARY 2026 **

We are grateful to LU and the team at Ruislip Depot for this further update on the activity being carried out on the Cravens Unit as part of the continuing assessment of her potential to return to running order..

The latest feedback is that work has started on cleaning the interior of the train. As we've commented before, the Unit was more recently stored on an outside road at Ruislip, open to the elements (and we've had quite a few 'elements' to contend with recently!). One of the problems we all encounter whether it be at home or in a static tube train is mould. It is caused mainly by excessive moisure resulting from condensation, coupled with poor airflow.

The Cravens has been 'off juice' for many a year now and the passenger doors have likely not opened since her visit to the Epping Ongar Heritage Railway in 2014. These are the ideal conditions for mould to flourish. A start has been made on removing the worst excesses.

There has never been a better time to consider signing up as a Member of Cravens Heritage Trains. CHT welcomes new members interested in continuing the work of preserving some of the history of London Underground. The annual membership starts at a very modest £20 per annum and entitles you to vote at the AGM as well as allowing you to become a Volunteer at Epping Signalling Museum.

There is lots of information about Cravens Heritage Trains and how to become a Member: please take a look at our Membership page, and if you'd like to ask us for more details to help you decide, please drop us a line to our joint email address: eppingmuseum@gmail.com. You might also be interested in taking a look at our Facebook group?

The Cravens Unit is currently at Ruislip Depot undergoing tests which will determine its future and whether it could again run over the network

CHT is the parent Company of the popular Epping Signalling Museum, which now opens to the public as a museum of historical London Underground artefacts and exhibits, including a 'real' LU locomotive as well as a fully functioning 47 lever signal frame, signals, signage and a set of fully operational points.

Click one of the 'destinations' on the map at the top of this page to go to a chosen subject, or the arrow below to go to the Epping Signalling Museum