Probing the edges of system late one night we found her, The One. That place in the system which sets itself apart from the rest. Like NYC's City Hall or Sydney's St James, this is Paris' jewel: An abandoned section of tunnel converted into an underground facility, including a tunnel packed with the fading red and green of vintage Sprague rolling stock waiting to be moved to a museum.
The main entrance to the complex, below the streets of snotty residents more than happy to call the cops on loiterers an...
Looking towards the entrance of the complex. Paris 2009.
True to Parisian form not only was the space enjoyed for what it was, it was enjoyed for what it could provide as a party venue. The dumbest possibility was embraced and using the power already provided a huge stereo system was hauled in for the sickest party of the year. A few hours after it all kicked off nosy residents in the street above reported swarms descending upon their swank little cul de sac. Four cops arrived and discovered 200+ people partying to deafening music in an abandoned metro tunnel full of old trains. Word raced through the crowd as the four bewildered police reached the edges of the mob. The gates to the live system were flung open and 1/3 fled via the live tracks, 1/3 managed to escape via a vent shaft and the rest well, they were just too damn blazed to give a fuck.
Who's popping loli in the bowels of the metro? Wouldn't you like to know. The driver's cabin of the train on the left co...
As the graffiti on the left train alludes to, at one stage these vintage Sprague Thompson carriages were destined for a ...
Mouth of the abandoned tunnel filled with vintage Sprague Thompson rolling stock. The red cars are first class, the gree...
A red and green worm of vintage Sprague Thompson rolling stock decaying in the old tunnels below paris, locked away from...
Naturally the RATP flipped and in the weeks following the locks were changed to virtually unpickable Abloy Disc-Lock Pros and the other entrances locked, plated and welded shut. Access had lasted only a month and with total lockdown the party was over. Finally the Sprague-Thompson's can rest in peace until the day they're cleaned up and given a real home.
Paris, 2009.
The connection to the live system, now locked, plated or welded shut. Paris 2009.
You can tell it's first class by the signs that say no smoking and spitting. They're very civilised the French. Vintage ...
Lockdown. Ventilation system, paris metro 2009.
-dsankt, 2010
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