Thanks for bringing back many happy memories Martyn. Since I last visited the area I see that the seawall line has been signalled for reversible working......Is it used very often ? Coincidentally today the National Rail site said that Virgin had suspended their services on this route due to high winds and tides but that First Great Western were still operating !!!!! With a name like "Voyager" you think they would be waterproof John.
Yep you're right, unfortunately the entire line ground to a halt today, my contact at Wessex trains tells me six voyagers failed (separately) on the seawall due to salt water ingress, the last of which had to have a rescue loco sent out... Virgin had a very bad day today in the south west, they reportedly had a passenger stab himself near Taunton (c'mon, these train's aren't that bad ) plus another failure at Hayle, and then they basically plugged the main line with multiple failures at Dawlish! And yes, the landward side line is bi-directional from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth, this lets them put single line working in when they maintain the sea wall....(or in today's case, to get past a line of stalled trains! ) Anyhow, here's the bit of line we're talking about. From the top of Langstone Rock (which was in the background of the steam pic) you can see the line heading south, the town of Dawlish is in the middle background, and the line hugs the cliff bases, passing through the headlands in the background in tunnels. In this pic a Virgin HST is heading north (sorry for the pic quality on these two BTW, taken into the sun somewhat.) And in this second picture we look back North as a freight heads past with a class 66 in the lead. The station at Dawlish Warren, and the footbridge the previous pics were taken from are in the background. Also visible in the background are a collection of old coaches used as holiday accomodation. [ 09. October 2002, 21:36: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
