Knowledge (XXG)

Fluffer (London Underground)

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The work is done at night during Engineering Hours, when the trains have finished running, and the electricity is switched off. Cleaning the tunnels is a heavy and dirty job, which has traditionally been a role carried out by teams of women. In 1947, a newsreel made by
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is a person employed to clean the tracks in the tunnels. The passage of the trains through the tunnels draws in dust and rubbish, and removing this debris is essential to maintain the safety of the Underground, as it would otherwise create a fire hazard.
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2013 1909396168 "For those with their minds not in the gutter, a fluffer is someone whose job it is to clean the Underground's tracks while everyone else is safely tucked up in bed."
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These days, the fluffers have electric torches and protective clothing, and collect the dust in plastic bags. Fluffer teams still tend to be mainly made up of women.
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In 1989, documentary filmmaker Molly Dineen chronicled the work of a team of fluffers at Angel station in Islington for a TV documentary called
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London Underground's Strangest Tales: Extraordinary but true stories
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Index


orphan
link to it
introduce links
related articles
Find link tool
London Underground
British Pathé
carbide lamps


"Science & Society Picture Library"


"A city sleeps"
""Mind The Gap" the story of Evelyn Roberts"
the original
"A ★★★★ review of Heart of the Angel (1989)"
"Fluffer, Whitechapel Station, London, 1996"
"A team of 'fluffers', Whitechapel Station, London, November 1994"
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stub
expanding it
v
t
e
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stub
expanding it
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