Wooden escalators were standard in the London Underground for decades until a devastating fire at King's Cross station in 1987 finally convinced management that moving wooden staircases were essentially giant matches.

A closer look

Wooden escalators were standard in the London Underground for decades until a devastating fire at King's Cross station in 1987 finally convinced management that moving wooden staircases were essentially giant matches. A discarded cigarette slipped beneath the treads, igniting a horrific mixture of grease, dust, and trash that had been accumulating in the machinery since World War II. It took thirty-one people dying in a massive fireball for transit authorities to realize that combining highly flammable timber, friction, and underground oxygen tunnels was perhaps not the pinnacle of passenger safety. Now we get to ride on cold, sterile metal steps, utterly devoid of vintage charm but heavily improved by the fact that they won't spontaneously roast us alive during the morning commute!