Bere Alston Station. Part 1

[46444]

Last Friday and Saturday I ventured up to Bere Alston on the Gunnislake Branch aka as the Tamar Valley Line,  The Tamar Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the UK in my eyes and a ride on the line offers some unique views that would be hard to see normally.

 

I took the train up on Friday and got off at Bere Alston.  The station other than severe track rationalisation appears as as time stood still and the signal box, goods shed and provender store still stand.  What I'm planning to do with this set of photos I took is look at the respective parts of the station still standing.  They were taken from a modellers perspective and there's others that show door ways and windows but I'll only post them if requested.

 

With the Kernow O2 Class coming out I expect to see a few SR layouts based in Devon on the scene. Hopefully, these photos will help any prospective layout builder.  Also I believe Bachmann and Farish are bringing out a Class 150/1 in simplified FGW livery so a modern version could well be possible too.

 

On getting off the train I took a shot of the ground frame.  A nice touch the BR (SR) name board.  Like a lot of the stations in Devon/Cornwall heritage plays an important part courtesy of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership.

 

 

Then we move to the front of the building. What I presume was the station master's accommodation is a private dwelling.  The car park was well patronised too:

 

 

 

 

And a couple of shots of the gents:

 

 

 

The canopy still stands platform side and is very ornate:

 

 

 

The disused platform has this structure standing. I'm guessing it's the waiting room but has been extended both ways in the past including using old rails for supporting the roof at the open end.

 

 

 

On Saturday I drove over to Bere Alston and was given to permission to photograph from the old goods yard side of the station.

 

 

Back on the used platform after a bit of impromptu pruning I found this old lamp post at the northern end of the platform:

 

 

Loads of lovely LSWR/SR atmosphere still present.  Hopefully, in the foreseeable future the line will extend north to Tavistock? 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark 

Edited September 9, 2013 by 46444

[gismorail]

What a gem of a station great to see that the original features are still retained. Do I feel a layout coming on here ????

[KeithMacdonald]

On 10/09/2013 at 00:15, gismorail said:

What a gem of a station great to see that the original features are still retained. Do I feel a layout coming on here ????

 

Here's one I prepared earlier:

 

[Bernard Lamb]

What a fantastic set of photographs. Thank you for posting them.

My interest?

I lived in The Manse in Bere Alston around 1944.

The Rev JE Lauckner was my uncle.

Bernard

[spamcan61]

In the unlikely event I ever get round to building a proper layout, it will be Bere Alston late 1950s, nice mixture of Southern and Western trains, mainline and branch workings. One of the few stations where I'd need to ease rather than tighten the curve through the station to fit it in the garage.