# London dopers - What do West Brompton and Mornington Crescent have in common? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645 "2007-12-11T19:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/1 "2007-12-11T19:46:22Z")
This has been driving me nuts. When I moved into my apartment (in America) the previous tenant had left a wall hanging [(pic)](http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5158/1072611vg0.jpg) of a system map of the London Underground hanging above my bathroom mirror. I stare at it while I brush my teeth. A few months ago, I heard about the Brittish pop culture meme of the [game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_%28game%29) “Mornington Crescent.” (Non Brits, check it out: it’s hilarious.) So, brushing my teeth one morning, I spotted Mornington Crescent on the system map. It has a curious symbol beside it. [(pic)](http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1660/1072613rk9.jpg) It’s a little five-pointed star in a little box, for those who don’t want to open the picture. The symbol does not appear in the legend [(pic)](http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/5853/1072614pq0.jpg), so I have no idea what it means. I thought it was the only station on the map with that symbol, but a few days later, I found West Brompton [(pic)](http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6779/1072612sq5.jpg) with the same symbol. I have looked up both stations, but can’t figure out what trait they alone share that would merit a symbol on the map. (The symbol does not appear anywhere on the [current tube map](http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf) (pdf).) What does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/2 "2007-12-11T19:48:22Z")
I know that Mornington Crescent was closed for quite some time - perhaps that’s what the star denotes? ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/3 "2007-12-11T19:53:03Z")
It means ‘Closed Saturdays & Sundays’. Your map probably dates from the late 80s - You can tell because it still has the Aldwych stub of the Piccadilly line marked on it. [Here](http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clive.billson/1986.html) is a map from around the right time period with a key to the symbols on it. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/4 "2007-12-11T19:56:25Z")
[QUOTE=bluecanary] It means ‘Closed Saturdays & Sundays’. Your map probably dates from the late 80s - You can tell because it still has the Aldwych stub of the Piccadilly line marked on it. [Here](http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clive.billson/1986.html) is a map from around the right time period with a key to the symbols on it. [/QUOTE] Snap. Shoulda asked this months ago. I could have saved myself much grief. Thanks for the quick reply, **bluecanary**! (On a side note, I feel it is my duty to point out that many of the station names are quite silly. There. I said it.) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/5 "2007-12-11T20:12:46Z")
I think we’ve got the same wall hanging (or rather tea towel!) somewhere - check to see if it was bought at the London Transport Museum. It would match with **bluecanary** ’s dating. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/6 "2007-12-11T20:26:08Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] Snap. Shoulda asked this months ago. I could have saved myself much grief. [/QUOTE] Me too - I allowed a double play on reverse shunts that should have been invalid, if I’d noticed it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/7 "2007-12-11T20:39:33Z")
**Randy** , you’ll be pleased to know that there are “ghost” stations on the underground, some of which haven’t been used since the 1940s - left completely untouched. The trains whoosh through them, and few people know that they’re there. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/8 "2007-12-11T20:40:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Me too - I allowed a double play on reverse shunts that should have been invalid, if I’d noticed it. [/QUOTE] Greyfield’s Challenge would have made the point moot. **Stamford Brook**. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/9 "2007-12-11T20:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] **Randy** , you’ll be pleased to know that there are “ghost” stations on the underground, some of which haven’t been used since the 1940s - left completely untouched. The trains whoosh through them, and few people know that they’re there. [/QUOTE] But they only come into play in period play, or under the leftward variant of Tumpington’s Elevated rules. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/10 "2007-12-11T20:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] **Randy** , you’ll be pleased to know that there are “ghost” stations on the underground, some of which haven’t been used since the 1940s - left completely untouched. The trains whoosh through them, and few people know that they’re there. [/QUOTE] And ones that never even opened: [http://underground-history.co.uk/bullbush.php](http://underground-history.co.uk/bullbush.php) (warning: don’t start browsing that site if you’re completely geeky about such stuff and need to do anything else today) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/11 "2007-12-11T20:43:57Z")
I know that Hellgate: London was a pretty crappy PC game, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they included **British Museum** as part of the underground sysytem. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/12 "2007-12-12T01:12:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] But they only come into play in period play, or under the leftward variant of Tumpington’s Elevated rules. [/QUOTE] But you still can’t perform a reverse clockwise bounce through them. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/13 "2007-12-12T01:27:52Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] But you still can’t perform a reverse clockwise bounce through them. [/QUOTE] That’s true only if Krip wasn’t declared to escape a loop in the last three turns, or, of course, if your play implicates Bank and the Waterloo and City line isn’t closed for maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/london-dopers-what-do-west-brompton-and-mornington-crescent-have-in-common/429645/14 "2007-12-12T01:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] And ones that never even opened: [http://underground-history.co.uk/bullbush.php](http://underground-history.co.uk/bullbush.php) (warning: don’t start browsing that site if you’re completely geeky about such stuff and need to do anything else today) [/QUOTE] Dammit! I love that site. But I can’t escape it! Everytime I think I’ve managed to get away, something else draws me in 😉