UK Electrics - South West into London

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Nearly in.......

[Marc Russell]

I always found it interesting that in the south of the Thames the electricity came via the 3rd rail, yet in the north it came via overhead wires

[John Ashworth]

In 1923 the Southern Railway actually inherited both 3rd rail and overhead electric systems from its pre-grouping constituents, but I understand the 3rd rail was more extensive and was also cheaper, so they standardised the whole system on 3rd rail. Much later, when the benefits of overhead ac systems became more apparent, I suspect that the southern system was just too extensive and complex to contemplate changing over at an acceptable cost.

There's still a lot of 3rd rail stuff around Liverpool in the north west of England. Tyneside, in the north east, also used to have 3rd rail but I believe it was de-electrified during the BR era.