For our first main line route survey, I've picked the Exeter to Newton abbot section of the Great Western main line. The line was built in the 1840's, and was originally an atmospheric railway, with trains powered by compressed air supplied by pump houses along the way. This was fairly short lived however and the line soon reverted to loco haulage. For more info on the Atmospheric line check out these two links: Mike's Railway History http://www.whoosh.care4free.net/brunel's.htm Between them they describe the workings, and the good and bad points of the system quite well. The line has very little in the way of grades, from Exeter it follows the wide Exe valley south to Dawlish Warren, then runs along the sea wall at the base of the cliffs through Dawlish to Teignmouth before turning inland following the Teign estuary. These days it's a very busy piece of line, with passenger trains from Wessex Trains, First Great Western, Virgin and South West Trains using the line, as well as freight and mail trains from EWS and freight trains from Freightliner. The coastal holiday bias of the region means it also sees many charter and special trains, for example a regular stopping steam train service is operating between Exeter St Davids and Paignton every day this month, known as "the Dawlish Donkey". This rough map shows roughly the layout of the route, the line is actually heading South West for Plymouth, but takes a very roundabout route to get there! One correction to this map, there are five tunnels south of Dawlish, but I will try and describe that area a little better when I get that far. This entire route is signalled from Exeter these days, click here to see the website of one of the signallers at Exeter, and photo's of the inside of the signalling centre there. The initial route out of Exeter will be covered soon under our Rail Centre's - Exeter photo-essay, click on the red link if you want to check that out. Another resource not to be missed if you want to find out more or are planning a visit is The Sea Wall Guide, well worth a visit as well. [ 07. August 2002, 11:45: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
On the outskirts of Exeter a class 158 unit heads south down the wide river valley. Immediately above the unit you can see the towers of the cathedral in the centre of Exeter, the building next to the tree on the right is one of several pubs along the Exeter canal. Looking in the other direction from the same location earlier this year as the Royal Train heads north to an appointment in Exeter.
South of the above location the line passes under the massive twin viaducts carrying the M5 motorway across the valley. South of that is the location of Exminster station, unfortunately it was closed, as Exminster has grown dramatically with much new housing being built in recent years. Here, in this view looking North from the road bridge at Exminster, 58021 passes southbound with an enthusiasts special, class 58's have been occasional visitors over the last few years, but are slated for withdrawal from service by the year end, this was one of the farewell tours. In the distance is the M5 viaduct, and the towers of Exeter Cathedral can still be seen on the hill in the background (above the train & to the left) Exminster village is out of shot to the left of this picture. Looking south, a Great Western HST set (with green power cars and "Barbie" coaches) runs through the station site Northbound with a Paddington train. The station buildings are now part of a garden centre, whilst the wooden signalbox survives as a birdwatching hide, off to the left is a large area of marshland/reed beds. [ 07. August 2002, 07:13: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Extremely interesting, Martyn. I am learning so much more about the railways in your area. I would like to visit that 'bird watching' signal box, as it looks like a good place to photograph trains
RSPB Exminster marshes I'm now wondering if the signal box is a hide, it only mentions one hide on that side of the river, the box *is* owned by the RSPB as far as I know... Good to see it still standing anyhow, especally with it being a wooden box, they tend to be easily demolished after falling out of use.
<font color="336633">That Line looks very accessible, is it easy to get about on?? Trying to find good locations on the East coast main round this part is rather hard, there is a few good spots tho.....</font>
In UK terms the line is very accesible. The first location is from a field footpath just off an industrial estate on the edge of Exeter, there are canal-side paths the other side of the line as well. The second batch of pics were from a road bridge that takes a small country lane across the line, there are a couple of these around Exminster. Neither of these are that easy if you are not driving, but there are loads of even better photo locations to come which are easily reached either by the stopping rail service or by the local bus (85/85a/85b) that runs from Exeter to Newton Abbot via Dawlish and Teignmouth. From Powderham (just south of Exminster) to just south of Cockwood roads parralel the line, and there are frequent foot crossings to access the estuary which give you access to stairs on the water side of the line. Starcross station area is pretty good, a short walk (or bus ride) south of Starcross gets you to Cockwood, with great afternoon shots of the small harbour. From Dawlish Warren you can walk along the sea wall path to Dawlish, which gets you really up close and personal to the trains! A similar sea wall path goes north from Teignmouth, so even if you spent a day using the stopping trains service and walking to move around you could get loads of great shots. If you're visiting keep in mind that you get very little warning of approaching trains on these minor foot crossings, trains are often coasting for long distances on this route at 80mph+, and they can sneak up on you quickly and quietly! Take *lots* of care and (as usual anywhere in the UK) don't trespass on the railway, you should have no excuse to on this route anyhow as there are so many great locations for photography. Oh yeah, and there's no overhead wires! [ 07. August 2002, 11:47: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Martyn - Thanks for the geography lesson. I have a genealogy friend who lives in Ilminister who has assisted my research in English ancestors and this gives me a look at the country side where he lives. I got my Ordnance Survey out and see that Exeter is not too distant from his home. The link to the signal boxes was quite interesting to me also. Thanks again.
Thanks for these articles Martyn, they are fascinating, and also making me feel very homesick! Keep up the good work, your photos and information are becoming a valuable source for me, modeling the UK while living in the US is not the easiest thing in the world to do! Now, if I could grovel nicely to some of the east coasters to consider doing the same sort of thing, Kings Cross, Peterborough, Cambridge, Spalding and York are of great interest to me. Oh, and Liverpool Street, Hoddesdon, Cheshunt, Llandudno Junction and a few other places dotted around the country. [ 07. August 2002, 13:45: Message edited by: MikeB ]
If you weren't sitting on the left hand side of the train leaving Exeter, it's time to move! You'll miss the scenic bits!!! Lets go south a little further, this is taken from a set of public boat access stairs, (we're now in the tidal section of the Exe estuary) accessed by one of those foot crossings I was talking about, it's about a mile north of Starcross station and there are several of them around here. The land off to the left is the grounds of Powderham castle. The train is a westbound class 159 unit that will have originated from London Waterloo. In case anyone was wondering, yes it is kind of intimidating to sit there as it bears down on you at 80+! Taken from further along the same piece of line, another SWT service is also heading West, this time with a 6 car formation. Mike, I'd love to see some more of these myself, it would be nice if we could one day travel virtually around the country by following the threads! It would be fun to see something similar from the US as well, I'd enjoy that. If anyone does have pics that they could add to any of the existing threads, or would like to have a go at covering their local route(s) then that would be great!! If it helps I can probably find a bunch of London area pics, amongst others, but I don't live close enough to contemplate covering any given route well enough. Oh, next stop Starcross! [ 13. August 2002, 16:51: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Photographs would be very nice Martyn, even without a full description. I'm annoyed with myself, in all the years I traveled through the stations I listed I never took much notice of them or the routes and I never even considered taking photographs. I'll do some research on my local area and see if I can put something similar together, it would probably be interesting to compare the two countries.
Right folks, now for Starcross Taken from a small pier just North of the station a class 47 powers towards Cornwall with an excursion train to the Eden project. The building in the background was formerly one of the Powderham castle gate houses. Looking in the same direction from the new station footbridge, the pier where the previous shot was taken can be seen mid way down the train, at left is the rather circituous main road between Exeter and Teignmouth, which runs parallel to the line through here, it's a much faster journey to Exeter by train from here than by car! Looking in the other direction, the line curves away along the estuary, the building with the tower was formerly the pump house for the atmospheric line, the land in the distance is the spit that separates the river Exe estuary from the sea. Mike, I'll try & sort some London area pics for you, but it's unlikely to be before mid-September at the earliest due to personal circumstances, sorry.
Thanks once again Martyn. We had a family holiday in the Teignmouth area in the mid-to-late '70's, and I took quite a few photographs, but they are all on slides, which I cannot scan yet When I get a slide scanner, I will add to this topic. However long that is
Thanks Alan, this line is virtually guaranteed to give you some dramatic and interesting photo's, i'm lucky to live close enough to visit it fairly frequently! I'd certainly love to see some 70's shots at some point, sounds great! Lots of classic diesels i'll bet
Martyn, another wonderful series of photographs! No need to apologise for any delay in posting London Photographs, whenever you can post them will be great. I'm researching St. Louis as promised and hope to have something put together in a couple of weeks or so.
Cockwood harbour is one of the most photographed rail locations in the country, the line here leaps across the small harbour in front of the rather picturesque village of Cockwood, giving you a location where afternoon trains in either direction can be photographed in perfect light, from seemingly endless angles, with no distracting background and a pleasant foreground! Here a class 158 unit is heading towards Newton Abbot. A Great Western HST heads for London, the shots here are even better when the tide is in! The line uses a causeway to cross the harbour, with a small bridge at each end. An Exeter bound class 150 passes. Cool, looking forward to it! I'm guessing "The Ready Track" is the right forum for this? Do you reckon Alan?
That is a beautiful place, Martyn. Lucky you to have access to good photographic spots Yeah, the ready track would be a good place for a St. Louis survey. I look forward to it
Right, lets carry on down the line a little... Dawlish Warren is the next station, and for a small station sees quite a bit of action. There are platform loops here to allow fast trains to overtake stopping services. Here a class 158 passes through. The old station building on the right is now a private cottage! Dawlish Warren is a popular holiday resort, and the access to the beach area is through this small bridge between the amusement arcades...a class 150 unit passes above. Just south of the station is an old footbridge, in this shot a pair of class 153 units leave on a stopping train towards Newton Abbot. Every summer a regular steam service runs a stopping service between Exeter and Paignton, this year it was BR standard 4-6-0 76079 approaching it's Dawlish Warren stop. The water to the left is now the English Channel, and in the background is the local landmark of Langstone Rock... [ 06. October 2002, 08:22: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Yeah! Takes me back to a family holiday in the area in the seventies I enjoyed the coastline down there and must get back sometime. There are some excellent photographic locations as witnessed by your photos, Martyn. (Even if only with today's boring diesel railcars)
