11 ms·

From 2008 to 2012 a friend and I spent at least 2 - 3 times per week obsessively 'running track' in the Paris metro. It's definitely one of the most interestin

by kweks 5y ago

From 2008 to 2012 a friend and I spent at least 2 - 3 times per week obsessively 'running track' in the Paris metro. It's definitely one of the most interesting systems in the world, with a lot of hidden secrets. Despite years of systematic exploration, and having walked the length of the entire system, we were still finding artefacts. For the interested, in my opinion the most complete writeups of the system was written by my exploring partner. http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844/http://www.sleepycity.net/posts/252/Demolition_of_the_Paris_Metro http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844/http://www.sleepyc...

klohto 5y ago
Good read, thanks for the link! What was the most weird thing you encountered?
- kweks 5y ago
  One of the weirdest was shooting photos when a track side door opened, a man in a nice suit walked up to us, didn't say a word, smiled and shook our hands, each in turn, in total silence. He then revealed himself to be the chief engineer of the line 1, was happy to let us hang out and watch the trains with him, and said in parting.. oh, I really should get around to fixing that ingress point of yours.. Or a worker we bumped into who said he knew we weren't painters because we didn't throw rocks at him, and thanked us kindly. The most surprisingly was stumbling upon a 1930s train, the Sprague Thompson in mint condition, hiding in a section of metro that we'd overlooked for years...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - alcover 5y ago
    > stumbling upon a 1930s train Truly fantastic. Did you enter it ? I would die for such moments if I was an urbexplorer.
    - kweks 5y ago
      Multiple times, it stayed 'unknown' and pristine for a long time http://ninjito.com/_2012-04-07 http://ninjito.com/_2012-04-07 When we turned the corner and saw it, I guess we nearly passed out, we'd been looking for it for years :)
      - qwertox 5y ago
        Thanks for the link. I can't believe that it hasn't been touched for a long time, it's almost way to clean. And the site itself, wow. http://ninjito.com/2020-02-05-Baikonour http://ninjito.com/2020-02-05-Baikonour
      - alcover 5y ago
        Damn... Please don't tell me it got graffited. Thinking of the million souls, early morning workers and late night lovers this venerable workhorse has carried is vertiginous.
LaputanMachine 5y ago
I like how some of the photos show the same place years apart. These two images [1][2] show the same junction near St Martin station. Note the patch in the ceiling in these two pictures: [3][4] The pink graffito on the back wall in this [5] picture can still be seen years later if you zoom into this [6] picture. A red graffito can be seen on the back wall here [7] (very small) and here [8]. [1]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/ad37787c54479cd6de3886df5da0f882.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [2]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/21.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/21.jpg [3]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/55c0e8d1a9febbd0cb462f8272b8a18d.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [4]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/8-1.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/8-1.jpg [5]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/2ef8b0addda3f1fa5ed3a17aa4ade8ce.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [6]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/58.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/58.jpg [7]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/2d5a3da156ae0d5803d82fe5eadbabbd.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [8]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/59.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/59.jpg
- kweks 5y ago
  Even looking back at those photos today takes me on a huge nostalgia trip. The article very accurately outlines our trepidation of first plunges into the system, and our original photos shot on film, and finally progressing to a more polished style as we got more experience. There are very interesting stories in the graffiti, representing generations of visits, and 'following' certain people, noticing where they'd been and not been.
owenversteeg 5y ago
Excellent writeup, thank you! Does anyone know if the system is still as accessible as it was in 2012? I know that at least in northern France and Belgium this type of exploration has become a lot more difficult due to more cameras and more police/security awareness.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Probably not. They tightened security all sorts of public infrastructure stuff since then because terrorism.
  - johncoltrane 5y ago
    No, they did nothing special beyond the usual security theatre.
- kweks 5y ago
  Nothing has changed.
qwertox 5y ago
For those who don't want to read the entire article, here's one part which you shouldn't skip: F3 the page for "getting caught by security and police".

by kweks 5y ago

klohto 5y ago

Good read, thanks for the link! What was the most weird thing you encountered?

kweks 5y ago
One of the weirdest was shooting photos when a track side door opened, a man in a nice suit walked up to us, didn't say a word, smiled and shook our hands, each in turn, in total silence. He then revealed himself to be the chief engineer of the line 1, was happy to let us hang out and watch the trains with him, and said in parting.. oh, I really should get around to fixing that ingress point of yours.. Or a worker we bumped into who said he knew we weren't painters because we didn't throw rocks at him, and thanked us kindly. The most surprisingly was stumbling upon a 1930s train, the Sprague Thompson in mint condition, hiding in a section of metro that we'd overlooked for years...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- alcover 5y ago
  > stumbling upon a 1930s train Truly fantastic. Did you enter it ? I would die for such moments if I was an urbexplorer.
  - kweks 5y ago
    Multiple times, it stayed 'unknown' and pristine for a long time http://ninjito.com/_2012-04-07 http://ninjito.com/_2012-04-07 When we turned the corner and saw it, I guess we nearly passed out, we'd been looking for it for years :)
    - qwertox 5y ago
      Thanks for the link. I can't believe that it hasn't been touched for a long time, it's almost way to clean. And the site itself, wow. http://ninjito.com/2020-02-05-Baikonour http://ninjito.com/2020-02-05-Baikonour
    - alcover 5y ago
      Damn... Please don't tell me it got graffited. Thinking of the million souls, early morning workers and late night lovers this venerable workhorse has carried is vertiginous.

LaputanMachine 5y ago

I like how some of the photos show the same place years apart. These two images [1][2] show the same junction near St Martin station. Note the patch in the ceiling in these two pictures: [3][4] The pink graffito on the back wall in this [5] picture can still be seen years later if you zoom into this [6] picture. A red graffito can be seen on the back wall here [7] (very small) and here [8]. [1]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/ad37787c54479cd6de3886df5da0f882.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [2]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/21.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/21.jpg [3]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/55c0e8d1a9febbd0cb462f8272b8a18d.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [4]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/8-1.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/8-1.jpg [5]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/2ef8b0addda3f1fa5ed3a17aa4ade8ce.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [6]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/58.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/58.jpg [7]http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepycity.net/2d5a3da156ae0d5803d82fe5eadbabbd.jpg http://web.archive.org/web/20130513204844im_/http://sleepyci... [8]https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/59.jpg https://www.urbextour.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/59.jpg

kweks 5y ago
Even looking back at those photos today takes me on a huge nostalgia trip. The article very accurately outlines our trepidation of first plunges into the system, and our original photos shot on film, and finally progressing to a more polished style as we got more experience. There are very interesting stories in the graffiti, representing generations of visits, and 'following' certain people, noticing where they'd been and not been.

owenversteeg 5y ago

Excellent writeup, thank you! Does anyone know if the system is still as accessible as it was in 2012? I know that at least in northern France and Belgium this type of exploration has become a lot more difficult due to more cameras and more police/security awareness.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Probably not. They tightened security all sorts of public infrastructure stuff since then because terrorism.
- johncoltrane 5y ago
  No, they did nothing special beyond the usual security theatre.
kweks 5y ago
Nothing has changed.

qwertox 5y ago

For those who don't want to read the entire article, here's one part which you shouldn't skip: F3 the page for "getting caught by security and police".