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North Devon line (was Eggesford July 2014)


Ramblin Rich
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Thanks Keith, I'd seen these some while ago but worth pointing out for the picture they paint of a less frantic pace then. My favourite is the story of the breakdown on the Meeth line, with the relief loco spreading the rails and then the fitters vans colliding with a cow!

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23 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Apologies if anyone has already mentioned these, but I've just found a couple of really lovely articles by Ian Dinmore, on working for British Rail in Barnstaple, 1979 onwards.

 

An Indian Summer in the West Country - Part 1
https://www.railscot.co.uk/articles/An_Indian_Summer_in_the_West_Country_-_Part_1/

 

An Indian Summer in the West Country - Part 2

https://www.railscot.co.uk/articles/An_Indian_Summer_in_the_West_Country_-_Part_2/

 

Some of his stories are hilarious, like the trains and relief crews that got lost, or engines that reversed through shed doors, or fishing lines tied to signal bells. Could have been the inspiration for Will Hays and "Oh Mister Porter" :D

Ian is a long time friend and I used to spend many a weekend staying with him from 1981 till he moved from North Devon. We would often lineside the route and go visiting old rialway routes. I just wish that I had been able to ride the line to Ilfracombe but did manage to do the route to Torrington when Ian told us about the last special trains. We also helped steward on the GWR 150 train whilst it was at Barnstaple.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I see the the line is shut for 2 weeks from 26th October  - from Yeoford to Barnstaple while the track is replaced with continuously welded rail.   Does that mean 66s or 37s or 20s on engineering trains ? 

 

Interested as I don't think anything diesel and bigger than a 50 has been up the line since 1990.

 

Might get my camera out as I'll be in the area.  

 

Matt W

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1 hour ago, D826 said:

Interested as I don't think anything diesel and bigger than a 50 has been up the line since 1990.

 

Does this count ?

 

 

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1 hour ago, bgman said:

 

Does this count ?

Yeah, that's cracking , if that lot turned up I'd be delighted.  Though they'd come from Okehampton I imagine.  Am interested to see what turns up as I thought the bridges north of Yeoford are weight limited.

 

Went for a job interview in Barnstaple in July 1990 and was hauled up there in 2 or 3 Mk1 coaches by a 50 which was either Triumph or Courageous. 

 

Earlier that summer had best train ride on the mainline ever from Exeter to Dawlish in a BG - there were two - hauled  by a Railfreight distribution 47.  Everyone was moaning at the Guard as he came round for tickets.  I told him it was the best train journey of my life and I'd happily pay extra.  The 47 was roaring and I had the droplight right down to drink in the sound.

1 hour ago, bgman said:

 

 

I see the the line is shut for 2 weeks from 26th October  - from Yeoford to Barnstaple while the track is replaced with continuously welded rail.   Does that mean 66s or 37s or 20s on engineering trains ? 

 

Interested as I don't think anything diesel and bigger than a 50 has been up the line since 1990.

 

Might get my camera out as I'll be in the area.  

 

Matt W

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2 minutes ago, D826 said:

Earlier that summer had best train ride on the mainline ever from Exeter to Dawlish in a BG - there were two - hauled  by a Railfreight distribution 47.  Everyone was moaning at the Guard as he came round for tickets.  I told him it was the best train journey of my life and I'd happily pay extra.  The 47 was roaring and I had the droplight right down to drink in the sound.

 

Why were they moaning?

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15 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Why were they moaning?

Search me, they didn't seem to appreciate the bespoke traction and rolling stock..

1 hour ago, bgman said:

 

Does this count ?

Yeah, that's cracking , if that lot turned up I'd be delighted.  Though they'd come from Okehampton I imagine.  Am interested to see what turns up as I thought the bridges north of Yeoford are weight limited.

 

Went for a job interview in Barnstaple in July 1990 and was hauled up there in 2 or 3 Mk1 coaches by a 50 which was either Triumph or Courageous. 

 

Earlier that summer had best train ride on the mainline ever from Exeter to Dawlish in a BG - there were two - hauled  by a Railfreight distribution 47.  Everyone was moaning at the Guard as he came round for tickets.  I told him it was the best train journey of my life and I'd happily pay extra.  The 47 was roaring and I had the droplight right down to drink in the sound.

Quote

 

 

I see the the line is shut for 2 weeks from 26th October  - from Yeoford to Barnstaple while the track is replaced with continuously welded rail.   Does that mean 66s or 37s or 20s on engineering trains ? 

 

Interested as I don't think anything diesel and bigger than a 50 has been up the line since 1990.

 

Might get my camera out as I'll be in the area.  

 

Matt W

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On 19/10/2019 at 12:27, D826 said:

Search me, they didn't seem to appreciate the bespoke traction and rolling stock..

Yeah, that's cracking , if that lot turned up I'd be delighted.  Though they'd come from Okehampton I imagine.  Am interested to see what turns up as I thought the bridges north of Yeoford are weight limited.

 

Went for a job interview in Barnstaple in July 1990 and was hauled up there in 2 or 3 Mk1 coaches by a 50 which was either Triumph or Courageous. 

 

Earlier that summer had best train ride on the mainline ever from Exeter to Dawlish in a BG - there were two - hauled  by a Railfreight distribution 47.  Everyone was moaning at the Guard as he came round for tickets.  I told him it was the best train journey of my life and I'd happily pay extra.  The 47 was roaring and I had the droplight right down to drink in the sound.

I see the the line is shut for 2 weeks from 26th October  - from Yeoford to Barnstaple while the track is replaced with continuously welded rail.   Does that mean 66s or 37s or 20s on engineering trains ? 

 

Interested as I don't think anything diesel and bigger than a 50 has been up the line since 1990.

 

Might get my camera out as I'll be in the area.  

 

Matt W

Love the stories of the loco hauled DMU replacements from the early 1990s, definitely something to emulate on a model of the line. There were some good images on the old RMweb site, I regret not saving them before it was locked off.

 

The North Devon line page on Cornwall Railway Society site has a few images of class 70s at Eggesford on engineering trains in 2015 and Jan 2019. You do need to scroll a way down to the Eggesford section

 

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/exeter-to-barnstaple-and-ilfracombe.html

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Has Portsmouth Arms north been done Rich, I was hoping I might see some engineering trains heading up to Barnstaple this week.  If it's already been CWR'd I suspect not.  

 

Beautiful, beautiful line.

 

Matt W

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2 hours ago, D826 said:

Has Portsmouth Arms north been done Rich, I was hoping I might see some engineering trains heading up to Barnstaple this week.  If it's already been CWR'd I suspect not.  

 

Beautiful, beautiful line.

 

Matt W

I think it has already been done, either way the engineers trains wont be going any further than the possession limits anyway. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Defiance at Crediton is truly outrageous! 

 

Does anyone have a list of 50s that got to Barny in the heady days of 1989/90? I visited the branch around that time and got a Duff but never seemed to  be there when the 50s showed. I travelled down 200 miles one day on the basis of some dodgy gen - only to find a dmu. 

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As an aside, when I used the line ( I lived in Yeoford ) to got to Barny I always thought that the previous track work that was discarded around Portsmouth Arms was a total waste to be left seemingly abandoned. 

Has it been removed for scrap value or doesn't it pay to do so ?

Just a thought.

 

G

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  • 1 month later...
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On 19/10/2019 at 12:07, D826 said:

 

Earlier that summer had best train ride on the mainline ever from Exeter to Dawlish in a BG - there were two - hauled  by a Railfreight distribution 47.  Everyone was moaning at the Guard as he came round for tickets.  I told him it was the best train journey of my life and I'd happily pay extra.  The 47 was roaring and I had the droplight right down to drink in the sound.

 

I think your experience may have been immortalised in Bernard Mills' book 'Devon and Cornwall The Class 47 Years' - pages 54-55 features two shots of 47281 in RF grey with two BSK/BSO coaches as a last minute replacement for the Exeter-Plymouth portion of a late running service on 15th July 1990 - worth checking out if you get the chance!

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On 27/10/2019 at 16:38, Ramblin Rich said:

Bye bye bullhead!

Anyone know if there's any still left further along? I remember the sections through Lapford and Portsmouth Arms being done in recent years.

A really delayed reply but the remaining sections of jointed rail are:

  • Eastern approach to Crediton;
  • Copplestone - Morchard Road;
  • Middle third between Lapford and Eggesford (around Chenson);
  • 3/4 mile west of Chapelton to Barnstaple.
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9 hours ago, alexross42 said:

 

I think your experience may have been immortalised in Bernard Mills' book 'Devon and Cornwall The Class 47 Years' - pages 54-55 features two shots of 47281 in RF grey with two BSK/BSO coaches as a last minute replacement for the Exeter-Plymouth portion of a late running service on 15th July 1990 - worth checking out if you get the chance!

Must look at that, and thanks for the tip Alex.  It sticks in my memory as I was telling my railway tolerant girlfriend, now my wife of 25 years how bloody lucky we were.

 

Serendipity as today went to Exeter Central from Umberleigh today - super hourly service, personal joy at the jointed track sections, and first class service by GWR staff.  Slightly sad at the blue circle cement depot less appearance of Central, and the rusty railheads to Okehampton from Crediton.

 

But the Barney line is in fine fettle.

 

Happy New Year all.

 

Matt W  

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From the Realtrack class 143/144 thread, link to story about Eggesford platforms being extended to accommodate longer stock

Although a rather garbled statement:

“The proposal has the following aims. To accommodate diesel multiple unit trains which are longer than the current High Speed Train (HST)"

Err, what...?

 

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  • 2 months later...

Folks might be feel proud and heartened by the backstory as well.
 

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A dedicated Royal Navy helicopter observer and railway enthusiast from Dorset who died in a training accident has been honoured with a flypast over Swanage station – during the official naming of a newly main line overhauled 1960s heritage diesel locomotive in her honour.

One of the Fleet Air Arm's first female Lynx helicopter aircrew, Jenny Lewis from Sherborne was a long-time fan of the classic 1960s-built British Railways Class 33 diesel-electric locomotives, of which the 71A Locomotive Group's No. D6515 is an example.

With the locomotive restored to as near original mid-1960s condition as possible, the overhaul of No. D6515 at Eastleigh Works in Hampshire has taken the volunteers of the 71A Locomotive Group four years, £96,000 and at least 10,600 hours of work.

With Jenny's proud father Chris Lewis – and the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton commanding officer in attendance – the gleaming 73-ton diesel locomotive, which hauled London trains to Corfe Castle and Swanage in 1966, was named 'Lt Jenny Lewis RN' during a poignant ceremony at Swanage station.

In Jenny's honour, a flypast by a Lynx helicopter from Yeovilton in Somerset over Swanage station and No. D6515 took place – just after proud father Chris Lewis unveiled one of the two new nameplates; 12 years to the day since his 25-year-old daughter died; the first United Kingdom naval servicewoman to lose her life while on operational duty.

 

 

https://swanagerailway.co.uk/news/detail/royal-navy-helicopter-observer-killed-in-accident-honoured-with-flypast-for-heritage-locomotive-naming

 

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The original bridge at Penstone (near Coleford Junction) is being replaced at the end of March. The Tarka line will be closed whilst this and other work takes place including the extension of Eggesford platforms. Today the first sections of the new bridge arrived at the work site next to the line. The bridge will be assembled here and raised up into position. I will post further pics when this happens.

BCB988B5-1AEA-4915-990C-05D077606976.jpeg

5D247502-CC06-4A38-BFB3-FCB023CE27FD.jpeg

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