Garry Morris

It is Ramilies 50019.

A 50/47 combination in the same location.(50017 Ramilies pilots 47246) 21st April 1983. Would this be an Ince - Truro fertilizer train? How many trains are too heavy for one loco to handle nowadays?

Another relatively unlikely combination for Devon 37/31 attacks Dainton 6th May 1983. 37 176 and 31187. This is however by arrangement (never so exciting!) as I believe this is the Skirl 'o the Pipes Railtour proceeding west somewhat anonymously without any headboard. In those far off days without internet or mobiles I was taken completely by surprise when this appeared. I knew it was a 37 as it was plainly on full power from Aller junction and the distinctive tractor sound was echoing across the Stoneycombe valley, the 31 was a bonus cop! I haven't checked but I am guessing that neither of these are our own locos. Sorry, just noticed I have been lazy. You will have to crop it yourself if you like this!

Very Rare Traction Devon is seldom the recipient of locomotives that Exeter crews aren't trained on, particularly on normal service trains. An example that springs to mind was a class 58 working through from Saltely to Plymouth which was well documented. Here we have a combination of 40/25 on the up Bitumen tanks from King's Asphalt. The 40 is the one involved in the Great Train Robbery 40126 along with 25209 of Bescot. A class 40 once worked through to Plymouth in connection with testing the washing plant at Laira in the early 1960's but apart from that they were rarely seen west of Weston - Super - Mare where they could turn up on excursions. The first arrivals of class 45's in the mid 1960's were by freights to Riverside Yard where we see this one departing 20/05/82. Class 20's have been rumoured to have reached Exeter but no photos have come to light yet. South Wales Class 37's were also known to have appeared long before their allocation in Cornwall. I don't know the source of this picture but it must have been someone keeping a close eye on workings to catch such a rare combination in the West.

What looks like frost is infact spent ballast, it is an early afternoon shot. I had just parked the car with the intention of finding a photographic location when I heard the rumble of the train. It's not a normal spot to take pictures from but I'm glad I got this one. Thanks for the information.This thread is certainly collating a lot of knowledge about odd freight flows in Devon that certainly I was unaware of.

I would tend to agree with this. Three points to add; The train itself (if full length) would be beyond the starting signal, secondly the passengers look like some kind of officials and thirdly you would need to be pretty keen to stand in the rain to take the shot unless you were paid! I must admit I had always assumed that cars were driven on to the carflats end on where the creamery siding ended behind where the photo was taken but then one would need a second loco to do the shunt.

Don't think they would perform well on bitumen on this freight!

Combining the theme of Motorail and freight! 45020 (D26) 3rd April 1984 near Stoneycombe with a trip working. One Motorail flat along with three Bitumen tanks? I would imagine heading for Exmouth Junction repair shops eventually as it seems an eclectic mix which I would like to run on my model railway if only someone would make the Motorail flats! The 45 has come a long way from heading up 'The Thames Clyde Express' which was in it's heyday.Thanks for all the comeback on the Heathfield wagon, fascinating what stories lie within old pictures, Just found the thread on the Barnstaple line under the 'Prototype' section of RMweb. It brought back a lot of memories as I used to Secondman on the Barnstaple line in the seventies. I remember well the early morning papers turn up to Barnstaple and working out to Meeth. Never shunted Lapford though.

I believe that the clay from Newton Abbot is known as Ball Clay as opposed to China Clay. Perhaps this necessitated a different kind of wagon. I would be surprised if it was being used for salt. I must admit I thought that it was a standard clay wagon but on closer inspection it definitely looks different. Thanks for posting the link.

To continue the theme (sorry no diesel again!), more WR Motorail taken from the back window of the train? Source unknown; maybe the owner of the 'Singer' took it! Humber Singer? The Dawlish outer home signal in the background means it must be the last of the shorter tunnels in the Down direction. Fully booked!

Motorail Devon was quite a hotspot for Motorail trains in the 60's and 70's. They sometimes originated from locations that no other trains came from like Sutton Coldfield, Kensington Olympia, Stirling and Inverness. Loadings could be up to 20 bogies by far the heaviest passenger trains to regularly enter Devon. Newton Abbot was the main destination in Devon but there was also a small somewhat makeshift terminal at Totnes which required loading from the actual platform. Not sure of the origin of this picture or why everyone drove a white mini! Glorious Devon with our own special 'Liquid Sunshine'!

What an entertaining thread. I have fond memories of this line as a Secondman working to Barny! I remember taking the papers and parcels at some unearthly hour from platform 2 at St. Davids. Still quite a lot of freight in the seventies but never anything for Lapford.

Thankyou brianusa. I was wondering where to go next! Here is the coal loading wharves at Kingswear. Although it looks to the contrary they were still in active use when this was taken. (63-65?) This is not my negative. I have no record if I have copyright but whoever took this did us a great favour! Diesel era shots of Kingswear are like gold dust and one with two loco's present virtually unheard of. There is so much of interest in this picture with the cranes and shipping of the day, carriages being cleaned and the whole scene is a modellers delight. D862 Viking on A Paddington portion? Can anyone shed any light on the other loco - NBL or Swindon?. The chocolate and cream coach proves that set rakes of this livery were being split up, this dates the shot as later than 1960. Interesting use of the coal loading sidings as carriage sidings. Maybe this is a summer Saturday and wagons had been cleared away. A similar angled photo appears in Diesel Pioneers Vol1 for comparison.

It's the view from the over bridge on the Newton Abbot to Kingsteignton road looking towards the Heathfield direction.

Freight In The Diesel Era There is a diesel in this picture but it is attached to a lorry! Sorry to the loco followers out there but I found this shot of a minor clay siding of WBB and went back to check the scene last year and began to doubt that I was in the same location! I As I remember the lorry proceeded to load the hopper shortly after I took the shot by tipping it's load from above the wagon. Somewhat quaint in today's world of bulk! There looks to be a clay slurry tanker (Crossfield?) behind the hopper. Taken 22.3.84. Definitely a victory for nature!

Sorry forgot to attach!

People can have one of two effects on a picture. Here, they make the scene. The equivalent Saturday to today (31.5.69) and D1972 of Gateshead brings in the ECS from Goodrington Yard for a working that will take the loco back home to the Eastern Region. This loco still exists as 47 854 in the West Coast Railways fleet but here it is only three and a half years old and likely to have been it's first visit to Paignton. A crowded Paignton platform even this early on in the season, though judging by the clothes not yet very warm! Paignton is too down market to engage in gentrification and sadly all the original Red Sandstone warehousing you see behind has gone, you need to go to Totnes to see what can be done with old wharehouses!

From the same spot.Looking the other way.

In answer to your question very little green stock appeared. Generally only an odd coach shunted in to strengthen a set of maroon. There were no Southern originating services to Paignton or Kingswear., this was because historically all Southern services were routed from the Southern onward to the West via Okehampton to Plymouth.

The Art Of Carriage Shunting Poor quality but rare track for the diesel era. D1578 0f 40B (Immingham) engages in carriage shunting in Queens Park Sidings, Paignton - Saturday 14th September 1971. One of the last times ever that a BR loco did this as the sidings changed hands to the steam railway at the end of the year. There was very little splitting of stock by 1971 at Paignton. This could have been the last Saturday of the Summer Timetable, it was certainly near the end. The set of coaches on the right (12 bogies) was a Friday night arrival (Saga Special) which would remain for the week until its return the following Saturday. These Saga trains would run throughout the summer and a Friday evening would yield up to three such trains. Often two would be placed in Queens Park Sidings and the other in the far Goodrington Yard. To a 12 year old spotter it was great fun to sit on 'The 'wall' at Sands Road by the level crossing and observe these train being backed in around the curve from Goodrington and we delighted in watching the delicate maneuvering of these large loads gently rolling over very lightly used sidings watching the rails bend under the weight at the joints. There was much creaking, squealing and all manner of other sounds from what was frankly the bottom of the pile Mk1 stock used on these workings! The driver leaning out as far as he could to see someone mid set also leaning (on the outside of the train)! A third member of staff in the last coach also giving a signal as to when the buffer stop was coming up! A couple of years earlier one of these sets remained in the sidings for about 5 weeks and during that time a seagull built a nest on the roof of one of the carriages. It even made the local press. Imagine having a set of stock lying around for that long now! Another world then!

D1011 Western Thunderer, weathered, battered, but not yet beaten!

Would be interested to know what is under those tarpaulins behind the 37s.Not a normal freight flow from the west, definitely not clay and a substantial load. Great photos.

Apologies for the quality.but I tend to think that for some pictures it's worth hanging on to them for interest and sharing. Taken on my Brownie 127 camera at Goodrington in 1968. This shows the signalman having delivered the single line token to the driver of a Newton Abbot to Kingswear service (2B99) which will then form a morning Kingswear to Paddington on a Summer Saturday - a regular class 43 working. NBL D860 Victorious, long gone and none of the class preserved. I note that the tablet catching apparatus is still present in this picture. All has gone now including the signalbox. The nearest siding has since been taken out and reinstated by the Dart Valley Railway/Torbay Steam Railway/ Torbay and Dartmouth Railway/Dart Rail...I could go on! Anyone know who the signalman is?

The heyday of the Mk 1 coach! When I took this photo I hesitated about wasting a precious exposure on such a mundane scene (just a dmu). However now I am amazed to be reminded that a summer Sunday afternoon would result in 40 or so Mk 1 coaches stabled in the far yard at Goodrington and a dmu in the much lesser used siding behind the platform. Dmu's seldom found their way beyond the station at Paignton which made the earlier posting of the class 120 all the more interesting. One set of coaches was an evening scheduled train to BNS but the rest are probably excursions. Their locos have gone off to Newton Abbot to refuel. It all makes for a very tidy scene. There are currently some pictures up from yesterdays mini railtour which is in the same location as the dmu - interesting to compare the same scene today.

Also on a Southern theme Hastings units at Paignton, 'ee it were wet that day'!