Talk:Burnt Oak tube station

Opening, renaming

There is a discrepancy concerning opening and renaming, our usual sources don't resolve it.

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 49. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  • 27 October 1927 - Opened as Burnt Oak (Watling)
  • c. 1950 - Renamed Burnt Oak
• Harris, Cyril M. (2001) [1977]. What's in a Name? (4th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. p. 13. ISBN 1-85414-241-0.
  • 27 October 1924 - Opened as Burnt Oak
• Leboff, David (1994). London Underground Stations. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 27. ISBN 0-7110-2226-7.
  • 27 October 1924 - Opened as Burnt Oak (Watling)
  • the name's suffix has gradually been dropped over the years
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0.
  • 27 October 1924 - Opened as Burnt Oak
  • circa 1928 - Renamed Burnt Oak (Watling)
  • suffix gradually dropped

So, four different stories. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 16:47, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

You can safely disregard anything What's in a Name? claims; although it's published by the generally respectable Capital Transport, it's absolutely riddled with error and shouldn't ever be used as a source. I'd be fairly certain that Butt and Rose's "suffix gradually dropped" will be the case; as with Hillingdon (Swakeleys) and South Woodford (George Lane), this kind of renaming hasn't traditionally been of the "replace every sign on a single day" variety we've seen with Surrey Quays or Shepherds Bush Market, but a gradual process as the enamel signs wear out. ‑ Iridescent 2 19:08, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Checking the tube map archive, a 1948 tube map has all three stations (Burnt Oak, Hillingdon, and South Woodford) with their parentheticals, while a 1951 map has none of them. That does suggest that there was a decision circa 1950 to stop using the suffixes, at least on maps. The signs are certainly a more gradual process: I can confirm that South Woodford still has roundels with "(George Lane)" in 2019! the wub "?!" 20:45, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Hillingdon does as well, as does Burnt Oak. Since in the case of Hillingdon the signs date only from the rebuilding in 1992, that means someone at LUL made the decision to include the suffix despite it having long-since disappeared from the maps. LT are not the most consistent organisation on the planet when it comes to signage (although they're not the worst offender; the signage at and relating to Coulsdon Town railway station is so inconsistent that to this day Southern's on-board indicators and announcements call it "Coulsdon Town/Smitham"). ‑ Iridescent 12:28, 1 May 2019 (UTC)

I think Douglas Rose has it right:

• The last photo link to the London Transport Museum photo colletion in the external links section, Permanent station building, 1925, has a picture of the station building from 1925. Though blurry, this shows just "Burnt Oak" on the sign board.
• The 1925, 1926 and 1927 tube maps (here, here and here) shows it as "Burnt Oak".
• The 1928 map (here) shows it as "Burnt Oak (Watling)".

--DavidCane (talk) 11:20, 21 July 2019 (UTC)