Where would you have seen trains from the midland , western and southern in Cornwall, Devon?

[Earl Bathurst]

Hi

Im just wondering would you have seen trains from the Midland, Western and Southern region all running together in Cornwall/ Devon? Just something im not sure about?

Thanks

[Karhedron]

Your best bet would have been the mainline on a Summer saturday when all the holiday specials were passing through. You could get trains from all parts of the country passing through.

 

It depends to some extent on the date you are interested in. Up until 1958 the Southern had their own station in Plymouth (Friary). When this closed, SR and WR trains regularly rubbed shoulders at North Road. Trains from the midlands were common summer specials but for more regular workings there were a handful of ex-LMS locos assigned to the WR in the 50s and 60s. Ivatt 2-6-0s could be seen on trains like the "Swindon Fish" for example.

 

The more away from the mainline you go, the less likely interlopers would become. Local trains would usually be in the hands of Western or Southern engines as appropriate for the line.

[Ian J.]

If you were prepared to move a little further to the east, then between Poole and Branksome in Dorset you could have seen trains from the Midland, Western, Southern and Eastern regions. I don't think anything uniquely Scottish ever got along that short section of line, but I could be wrong. Admittedly in the case of the Eastern you wouldn't have seen many (if any) of their locomotives, but some of the inter-regional trains contained Gresleys and Thompsons IIRC.

[Karhedron]

Another place where western southern and midland locos rubbed shoulders was the S&DJR. Initially a Southern and Midland line, there was an influx of ex-GWR types after the line was transferred to the Western Region in 1958. There are plenty of shots of Ivatt locos hauling GWR B-sets and diesel hydraulics at Bath Green Park. Granted it was probably not the happiest of marriages as the WR ran down the S&D but it did make for a colourful collection of trains for a while at least.

 

Oh, and don't forget the BR standards too. I cannot think of many other routes that regaular had 9Fs hauling short passenger trains (and longer ones too).

[Kris]

Southern coaching stock would have been a real rarity on the Western mainline in Cornwall. Part of this is down to the fact that most traffic would have originated from London and services coming from the Southern region would have been directly competing with the services offered by the Western region. Midland services were a common feature of the Cornish mainline as these did not compete with Western region but complemented it.

 

As Karhedron has said Plymouth North Road is going to be the closest location to Cornwall that you would have regularly seen coaches from all 3 regions. If you went to Exeter St Davids then you would have also been able to see ex LNER coaches during the summer.

[Cornish Triang Paul]

It does depend on the period but regarding the GWR mainline in Cornwall in steam days you would only see ex GWR locos mainly Hall,county,Castle,45xx and the like. The SR had its own line to North Cornwall. Coaching stock in pre BR days would have come from allover the country. BR Standards were tried in the 50s - Britannias - but that was about it. For locos up to around 2004, i recommend the book - Images of Cornish Railways by Maurice Dart published by Halsgrove 2007 ISBN9781841145877. This gives a class by class account of what could be found.

[Cornish Triang Paul]

.......also, as stated above, move along abit to the ex SDJR line and trains AND locos from allover could be found.

 

 

[Brinkly]

The Devonian Service which went from Plymouth up north(!) had a mix of ex GWR and ex LMS stock before MK1s took over.

 

Regards,

 

Nick