BBC Spotlight
Craig Munday
We must first apologise for the late sharing of this news article.
Our friend and regular contributor Craig Munday made an appearance on last nights BBC Spotlight news program in connection with the Network Rail re-signalling program which is taking place in Cornwall currently.
You can read an online article on the BBC website by clicking here (External website : BBC News)
Or, you can watch the excellent news item on the BBC iPlayer website by clicking here and forwarding the video to around 21:30 (an iPlayer account is required - free for TV License holders).
Many thanks to Craig for letting us know, I am sure all of our readers will find the article and the behind-the-scenes views of Truro signal box very interesting.
Our friend and regular contributor Craig Munday made an appearance on last nights BBC Spotlight news program in connection with the Network Rail re-signalling program which is taking place in Cornwall currently.
You can read an online article on the BBC website by clicking here (External website : BBC News)
Or, you can watch the excellent news item on the BBC iPlayer website by clicking here and forwarding the video to around 21:30 (an iPlayer account is required - free for TV License holders).
Many thanks to Craig for letting us know, I am sure all of our readers will find the article and the behind-the-scenes views of Truro signal box very interesting.
CRS contributor and Network Rail Mobile Operations Manager Craig Munday. Copyright BBC.
Around the Clay Country
Fifty Years 1974-2024
Jon Hird & Roger Winnen
Fifty Years 1974-2024
Jon Hird & Roger Winnen
Jon Hird supplies a photograph of the first China Clay train of the year, while Roger provides some photographs of the industry from 50 years ago.
740929e Treviscoe Dries in 1974 during a CRS Mini Bus Trip. Copyright Roger Winnen
Treviscoe in 2023 with a Class 66 on JIA's. Copyright Jon Hird
Treviscoe in 2023 with a Class 66 on JIA's. Copyright Jon Hird
740929f Crossing gates in the Meledor Mill area. Copyright Roger Winnen
740929g Stenalees Tunnel 29th September 1974 Richard Angove Chris Angove Keith Jenkin etc with a Cornwall Railway Society. Copyright Roger Winnen
Stenalees Tunnel photographed in 2022. Copyright Jon Hird.
740929nThe Carbis Branch photographed on 29th September 1974 Copyright Roger Winnen
740929m The 12.05 from Newquay passing through Bugle Station on 29th September 1974. The CRS Mini Bus is seen awaiting its passengers. Copyright Roger Winnen
The first clay train of 2024 - 66143 with 15 loaded JIA's descending Luxulyan Valley bound for Fowey. Copyright Jon Hird
740929o Looking up to the China Clay spoil tips. Copyright Roger Winnen
740929p Now looking down to the pit. Copyright Roger Winnen
Didcot Railway Centre
First steam day of 2024
Colin Pidgeon
2999 Lady of Legend, DL26 & 604 (08604) Didcot Railway Centre.
2999 was the only steam engine operating on the main demonstration line, while the rest of the steam locos were inside the running shed.
The two diesel shunters were stabled on the side of the running shed.
DRC had decided that 2999 was the only engine they would use. The branch line demonstration line was open to allow members of the publicto get closer to the artefacts.
Colin
2999 was the only steam engine operating on the main demonstration line, while the rest of the steam locos were inside the running shed.
The two diesel shunters were stabled on the side of the running shed.
DRC had decided that 2999 was the only engine they would use. The branch line demonstration line was open to allow members of the publicto get closer to the artefacts.
Colin
2999 'Lady of legend' at the Didcot Railway museum, 01.01.2024. Copyright Colin Pidgeon.
2999 'Lady of legend' at the Didcot Railway museum, 01.01.2024. Copyright Colin Pidgeon.
2999 'Lady of legend' at the Didcot Railway museum, 01.01.2024. Copyright Colin Pidgeon.
Diesel shunter DL26 at the Didcot Railway museum, 01.01.2024. Copyright Colin Pidgeon.
Diesel shunter 604 (08604) at the Didcot Railway museum, 01.01.2024. Copyright Colin Pidgeon.
Many thanks Colin, happy new year to you.
New Years Day Walk
Bridge 153 - Little Petherick Creek
Jon Hird
I took advantage of the dry spell this morning (01.01.24) to visit my home town of Padstow to go for a short walk down The Camel Trail, formerly the Southern/LSWR route. I took my drone with me with the intention of taking some top-down views of the bridge - I've always wondered how they managed to create the curve of the structure, yet when viewed from ground-level each of the three spans appears to be a uniform rectangular shape - I can only assume they are not actually perfectly rectangular when viewed from above.
Sadly the air was absolutely roaring through the wind braces and in a direction which would have meant no chance of recovering my device if it got swept away in the breeze, so I played it safe and took a few lower-level shots of the bridge instead.
With its 'new' (actually now about 20 years old) tarmac/concrete deck, it's hard to imagine a Bulleid Pacific rumbling over it, but at least its future is secure as part of the immensly popular Camel Trail cycle path.
Sadly the air was absolutely roaring through the wind braces and in a direction which would have meant no chance of recovering my device if it got swept away in the breeze, so I played it safe and took a few lower-level shots of the bridge instead.
With its 'new' (actually now about 20 years old) tarmac/concrete deck, it's hard to imagine a Bulleid Pacific rumbling over it, but at least its future is secure as part of the immensly popular Camel Trail cycle path.
A short video of the bridge from various angles.
Hello from me, number 2 son and the dog. The sign informs us that no vehicles over 3t maximum gross weight may cross the bridge (apart from fire engines), so I suppose most of Oliver Bulleids designs are now off the cards for this route. Copyright Jon Hird
As high as I dared go with the wind. A view from Little Petherick creek looking upstream towards Padstow and the Atlantic. The blue shed in the distance (a boat builders) is built over the pit of the turntable. Copyright Jon Hird.
A view from the opposite side. Atop the hill in the background stands the Queen Victoria Jubilee (1887) monument, which being erected in 1889 pre-dates the iron bridge/railway by 10 years. Copyright Jon Hird.
A look 'up' the trackbed, from Padstow towards Wadebridge. The route ran through a cutting after here before reaching the bridge which is visible in the distance. Copyright Jon Hird.
The First Photograph of 2024
Ken Mumford
Ken Mumford
Many Thanks Ken. Wishing you and all your family a very Happy 2024
New Years Day 2024
Wishing all of our readers, contributors and friends a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024.
1st of January, new years day in 1979, HST at Ponsandane. Soon we may see Castle Class HSTs in the new sidings created at this location. Copyright Roger Winnen.
790101l Marazion Station in snow showing the former Station Masters house and the six pullman coaches. Copyright Roger Winnen
790101n Marazion Station with the old Pullman Coaches. Copyright Roger Winnen
NINETEEN SIXTY TWO –
PART 64
Michael L Roach
The Last Trip on the Launceston Branch
(continued from Part 63)
The evening trip had been planned for the 6.20pm off Plymouth returning on the 8.35pm SO off Launceston due Plymouth at 10.10pm, but the weather gods had other ideas. When the Launceston and South Devon Railway opened officially on the 1 June 1865 the opening ceremony and festivities were dogged by continuous rain all day to the extent, allegedly, that such a day became known as “railway weather” in Launceston. It was not rain that dogged the last day of passenger services to Launceston via Tavistock, it was wind and snow. The wind and snow increased from lunchtime onwards until by mid-afternoon it was snowing heavily and blowing with gale force winds up to 90mph in other places in the West Country; i.e a full-scale blizzard. This continued well into the evening of 29 December 1962 but then declined as quickly as it had started as we shall see later. The last Saturday of December 2023 was in some ways similar to that of 1962 in some parts of Britain; particularly in Northern England and Scotland where there was snow, high winds and travel disruption. Here in Cornwall there were high winds peaking at 55mph mid-afternoon. There was also precipitation in Cornwall starting as light drizzle soon after 12.00 noon and turning heavy mid-afternoon and continuing through the evening
I had spent much of the daylight hours of Saturday 29 December 1962 at Yelverton Station watching the trains pass through the snow-bound station. Because the trains were getting later and later I had travelled home from Yelverton to Plymouth by bus for my tea and to warm up. Then it was a 15 minute trudge through the deep snow to Plymouth Station arriving in good time to buy my cheap day return to Launceston for 7/9d (39p). At the time trains terminating and starting at Plymouth had their coaches cleaned inside and out and the tanks replenished with water at Millbay, the former terminus of the South Devon Railway on the west side of the City Centre and a former passenger station up until 1941 when it was closed after being bombed. It was just three quarters of a mile from Millbay to Plymouth North Road and there was a steep gradient between the two which would tax the small prairies when they had 10 or 12 bogies in tow as they did at times. The 6.20pm was scheduled to leave Millbay at 6.05pm and take 5 mins to North Road. If required the train would also convey vehicles on the rear for the 3.40pm Penzance to Paddington perishable train due at Plymouth 7.32 to 7.50pm.
That evening there were problems with operating points in many places with snow and ice collecting between the switch blade and the stock rail and preventing the full movement. The offending snow and ice had to brushed out manually byn the railwaymen working in the appalling conditions. They deserved a medal for their dedication to duty. There were such problems at the west end of Plymouth Station, Tavistock Junction, Marsh Mills and Bickleigh. The 6.20pm took 70 ? minutes to make that short journey from Millbay to North Road, eventually arriving in the station some 65 minutes late. As the train stopped in platform 6 (itself unusual) I noted that it was 5568 with four corridor coaches, and I made my way to my favoured position in the cross corridor at the front of the first coach immediately behind the loco's bunker. I was not alone as there were other enthusiasts with the same idea. We took turns at the window which remained firmly up much of the time because of the cold, the wind and the snow blowing in. At times it was kept down a short way for the enthusiast with the tape recorder. Occasionally the window went down for a few seconds and the news was conveyed to the rest of us as to what was happening outside as the stalwart railwaymen battled to get us past the next obstacle which was mostly to do with the frozen pointwork. The train departed Plymouth Station at 7.32pm (72L) and took it very easy with stops at Laira Junction home (4 mins); Laira Junction starter (15 mins); Tavistock Junction outer home (57 mins); and Tavistock Junction middle home (68 mins); finally arriving at Marsh Mills Station at 10.14 pm (228L). Here we saw the returning Launceston goods abandoned in the up platform. The 5.40pm from Launceston had travelled through the wrong platform with the attendant delays of altering the points at both ends of the loop which led to our long wait at Tavistock Junction. It eventually cleared the area and arrived at Plymouth Station 170L. Our train left Marsh Mills 231L and we proceeded gently up the Plym Valley because the driver simply did not know what was lying in wait for the train in the cuttings which could have been full of snow.
A quarter mile north of Cann Viaduct we came to a halt because the brakes had come on; but after an eleven minute delay the problem was solved and we were on our way again. It was hard to believe that just 30 hours earlier I had been in almost the same spot taking photos in the then dusting of snow, but now it would be dangerous to be out in such conditions and although we did not realise it yet the wind and snow were finally starting to abate. That did not help the railwayman at Bickleigh Station battling to change the points for our train. The 7.10pm from Tavistock, consisting of 6400 with three auto coaches had been here for well over three hours waiting for the section to Marsh Mills to be cleared by the previous train and the engine was now frozen to the rails and immoveable. Our train spent 23 minutes at the home signal before it lowered and we travelled the few yards into the platform. Six minutes were spent here at Bickleigh before leaving at 11.26pm 290 minutes late. Travel was now a bit more normal with no more major delays but the driver taking it easy because of possible snow drifts. 5568 took water at Horrabridge for which it must have been very grateful and we left the water crane by milepost 9 at 12.12am no less than 312 L. After a brief stop at Whitchurch Down we finally arrived at Tavistock South Station at 12.23.26 Note all my times were recorded to the second but have been rounded for the purposes of this article. I have only once since witnessed a train running more than 320L when I was at Truro Station about 30 years later and the orange display box told passengers that the last down Cross Country train of the previous day from Glasgow/Edinburgh to Penzance was about to appear more than 700 minutes late. The train had been the scene of a murder somewhere on the WCML in the Cumbrian Fells and had been impounded by police until all passengers had been interviewed when it was allowed to proceed on its way.
No photographs were taken on this trip because at that time I did not take flash photographs and had left my camera at home. The train was terminated at Tavistock South and the news was conveyed to the passengers on the train about ten minutes after arrival. As well as passengers making a return trip from the Plymouth end there were also enthusiasts on the train from Lifton and Launceston returning home, some of whom would no doubt have also travelled on the 8.35pm as far as Tavistock South where they would have crossed platforms to catch the 8.40pm SO Plymouth to Launceston; thereby catching the very last train in both directions. It did not work out like that.
We remained on the train in Tavistock South station until the word came through that the train was being terminated because there was no communication between Tavistock and Lydford signal boxes. I am sure that no-one was at all surprised. Today's risk-averse management would have cancelled the train before it set out from Millbay in the prevailing circumstances that day. I believe that the passengers split into three groups. Some opted to stay on the train and sleep on the cushions while others stayed in the waiting room of Tavistock South Station. My group applied some lateral thinking that the 7.00pm from Waterloo could just be running a bit late and might take us back to Plymouth from Tavistock North that night. So we made our way across Bedford Square and up the hill to Tavistock's other station. That walk was magical. The snow had stopped and the wind had miraculously dropped almost to nothing. The scene reminded me of the words appearing in two different well-known Christmas Carols: “snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow” and “deep and crisp and even”
There had been so much snow; and it had been so long since there had been any traffic, either motorised or pedestrian, that there was nothing to mar the surface of the snow. It was clinging to one side of all lamp columns, and to every branch of every tree. It was a truly magical scene and all it needed was a stagecoach to round the corner from the Okehampton direction into Bedford Square to complete a real live Christmas card scene. We could not stop to admire the scene as we hurried up the hill to Tavistock North Station. We arrived to discover that the 7.00pm from Waterloo had not passed through and would not be calling as it too had also been terminated because the line was blocked by snowdrifts north of Lydford. The line was closed for several days and reopened on the followoing Wednesday. In a later snowfall the line was blocked for a week.
There was nothing for it but to pass the night in the waiting room at Tavistock North Station as best we could. Come morning the station staff told us that a rescue train was going to be sent out from Plymouth to convey us back to Plymouth via Bere Alston. However they could give no indication of timing. The rescue train would be no help to the contingent from the Launceston area so they set out to walk the 13 miles home, but some got friends and family to drive out to pick them up part way. I had spent the previous evening on the train with MB an enthusiast from Falmouth. He and I together decided that we were not going to wait for the rescue train and also decided to walk to Plymouth, which was 14 miles for me and 15 for MB. Breakfast was provided by British Railways in a cafe on the east side of Duke Street, Tavistock which is still there trading under a different name. We set out for Plymouth on foot along the A386. It was a beautiful day with no clouds or wind just continuous sunshine which enhanced the walk considerably. After some two hours and 6 miles we reached Roborough Down south of Yelverton Village and the highest pont on the route. From here there were long distance views to the east to Burrator Dam and the tors of Dartmoor. That view was quite magical in the cool, silent and still air. The silence was then broken by the noise of an approaching motor vehichle – the first we had seen on the move that morning. It was a Land Rover and the driver stopped to see if he could offer us a lift which he did for about 5 miles to a point alongside Plymouth Airport from where I walked the remaining 3 miles home.
The series titled The End of 1962 covered that period in 22 parts and is still available on this website. The series covered the travelling of a Plymouth railway enthusiast during the most inhospitable weather of his lifetime. The Launceston Branch may have closed but life went on in 1963 and so did the cold spell. I resumed travelling on Saturday 5 January 1963 with my friend Charles Fennamore on a day trip from Plymouth to Hemyock via Okehampton, Exeter and Tiverton Junction. Where Charles spent 29 December is not known but he was due to meet me on the train for the last trip out to Launceston on the 6.20pm off Plymouth. That last summer we had made a couple of similar return trips on a Saturday evening but parking our cars at Marsh Mills Station for a change, and that is what Charles did on the 29 December. At the time Charles lived in the village of Brixton five miles south-east of Plymouth Station and Marsh Mills Station was a little closer to his home. At Marsh Mills he would have witnessed the freight train abandoned in the up platform and the struggles to get the 5.40pm from Launceston past the obstruction and then to change the points for my train which arrived in the station at 10.14pm. After a couple of hours enduring the blizzard Charles gave up and drove home while it was still possible – a very wise decision in the circumstances
MLR / 31 December 2023
PART 64
Michael L Roach
The Last Trip on the Launceston Branch
(continued from Part 63)
The evening trip had been planned for the 6.20pm off Plymouth returning on the 8.35pm SO off Launceston due Plymouth at 10.10pm, but the weather gods had other ideas. When the Launceston and South Devon Railway opened officially on the 1 June 1865 the opening ceremony and festivities were dogged by continuous rain all day to the extent, allegedly, that such a day became known as “railway weather” in Launceston. It was not rain that dogged the last day of passenger services to Launceston via Tavistock, it was wind and snow. The wind and snow increased from lunchtime onwards until by mid-afternoon it was snowing heavily and blowing with gale force winds up to 90mph in other places in the West Country; i.e a full-scale blizzard. This continued well into the evening of 29 December 1962 but then declined as quickly as it had started as we shall see later. The last Saturday of December 2023 was in some ways similar to that of 1962 in some parts of Britain; particularly in Northern England and Scotland where there was snow, high winds and travel disruption. Here in Cornwall there were high winds peaking at 55mph mid-afternoon. There was also precipitation in Cornwall starting as light drizzle soon after 12.00 noon and turning heavy mid-afternoon and continuing through the evening
I had spent much of the daylight hours of Saturday 29 December 1962 at Yelverton Station watching the trains pass through the snow-bound station. Because the trains were getting later and later I had travelled home from Yelverton to Plymouth by bus for my tea and to warm up. Then it was a 15 minute trudge through the deep snow to Plymouth Station arriving in good time to buy my cheap day return to Launceston for 7/9d (39p). At the time trains terminating and starting at Plymouth had their coaches cleaned inside and out and the tanks replenished with water at Millbay, the former terminus of the South Devon Railway on the west side of the City Centre and a former passenger station up until 1941 when it was closed after being bombed. It was just three quarters of a mile from Millbay to Plymouth North Road and there was a steep gradient between the two which would tax the small prairies when they had 10 or 12 bogies in tow as they did at times. The 6.20pm was scheduled to leave Millbay at 6.05pm and take 5 mins to North Road. If required the train would also convey vehicles on the rear for the 3.40pm Penzance to Paddington perishable train due at Plymouth 7.32 to 7.50pm.
That evening there were problems with operating points in many places with snow and ice collecting between the switch blade and the stock rail and preventing the full movement. The offending snow and ice had to brushed out manually byn the railwaymen working in the appalling conditions. They deserved a medal for their dedication to duty. There were such problems at the west end of Plymouth Station, Tavistock Junction, Marsh Mills and Bickleigh. The 6.20pm took 70 ? minutes to make that short journey from Millbay to North Road, eventually arriving in the station some 65 minutes late. As the train stopped in platform 6 (itself unusual) I noted that it was 5568 with four corridor coaches, and I made my way to my favoured position in the cross corridor at the front of the first coach immediately behind the loco's bunker. I was not alone as there were other enthusiasts with the same idea. We took turns at the window which remained firmly up much of the time because of the cold, the wind and the snow blowing in. At times it was kept down a short way for the enthusiast with the tape recorder. Occasionally the window went down for a few seconds and the news was conveyed to the rest of us as to what was happening outside as the stalwart railwaymen battled to get us past the next obstacle which was mostly to do with the frozen pointwork. The train departed Plymouth Station at 7.32pm (72L) and took it very easy with stops at Laira Junction home (4 mins); Laira Junction starter (15 mins); Tavistock Junction outer home (57 mins); and Tavistock Junction middle home (68 mins); finally arriving at Marsh Mills Station at 10.14 pm (228L). Here we saw the returning Launceston goods abandoned in the up platform. The 5.40pm from Launceston had travelled through the wrong platform with the attendant delays of altering the points at both ends of the loop which led to our long wait at Tavistock Junction. It eventually cleared the area and arrived at Plymouth Station 170L. Our train left Marsh Mills 231L and we proceeded gently up the Plym Valley because the driver simply did not know what was lying in wait for the train in the cuttings which could have been full of snow.
A quarter mile north of Cann Viaduct we came to a halt because the brakes had come on; but after an eleven minute delay the problem was solved and we were on our way again. It was hard to believe that just 30 hours earlier I had been in almost the same spot taking photos in the then dusting of snow, but now it would be dangerous to be out in such conditions and although we did not realise it yet the wind and snow were finally starting to abate. That did not help the railwayman at Bickleigh Station battling to change the points for our train. The 7.10pm from Tavistock, consisting of 6400 with three auto coaches had been here for well over three hours waiting for the section to Marsh Mills to be cleared by the previous train and the engine was now frozen to the rails and immoveable. Our train spent 23 minutes at the home signal before it lowered and we travelled the few yards into the platform. Six minutes were spent here at Bickleigh before leaving at 11.26pm 290 minutes late. Travel was now a bit more normal with no more major delays but the driver taking it easy because of possible snow drifts. 5568 took water at Horrabridge for which it must have been very grateful and we left the water crane by milepost 9 at 12.12am no less than 312 L. After a brief stop at Whitchurch Down we finally arrived at Tavistock South Station at 12.23.26 Note all my times were recorded to the second but have been rounded for the purposes of this article. I have only once since witnessed a train running more than 320L when I was at Truro Station about 30 years later and the orange display box told passengers that the last down Cross Country train of the previous day from Glasgow/Edinburgh to Penzance was about to appear more than 700 minutes late. The train had been the scene of a murder somewhere on the WCML in the Cumbrian Fells and had been impounded by police until all passengers had been interviewed when it was allowed to proceed on its way.
No photographs were taken on this trip because at that time I did not take flash photographs and had left my camera at home. The train was terminated at Tavistock South and the news was conveyed to the passengers on the train about ten minutes after arrival. As well as passengers making a return trip from the Plymouth end there were also enthusiasts on the train from Lifton and Launceston returning home, some of whom would no doubt have also travelled on the 8.35pm as far as Tavistock South where they would have crossed platforms to catch the 8.40pm SO Plymouth to Launceston; thereby catching the very last train in both directions. It did not work out like that.
We remained on the train in Tavistock South station until the word came through that the train was being terminated because there was no communication between Tavistock and Lydford signal boxes. I am sure that no-one was at all surprised. Today's risk-averse management would have cancelled the train before it set out from Millbay in the prevailing circumstances that day. I believe that the passengers split into three groups. Some opted to stay on the train and sleep on the cushions while others stayed in the waiting room of Tavistock South Station. My group applied some lateral thinking that the 7.00pm from Waterloo could just be running a bit late and might take us back to Plymouth from Tavistock North that night. So we made our way across Bedford Square and up the hill to Tavistock's other station. That walk was magical. The snow had stopped and the wind had miraculously dropped almost to nothing. The scene reminded me of the words appearing in two different well-known Christmas Carols: “snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow” and “deep and crisp and even”
There had been so much snow; and it had been so long since there had been any traffic, either motorised or pedestrian, that there was nothing to mar the surface of the snow. It was clinging to one side of all lamp columns, and to every branch of every tree. It was a truly magical scene and all it needed was a stagecoach to round the corner from the Okehampton direction into Bedford Square to complete a real live Christmas card scene. We could not stop to admire the scene as we hurried up the hill to Tavistock North Station. We arrived to discover that the 7.00pm from Waterloo had not passed through and would not be calling as it too had also been terminated because the line was blocked by snowdrifts north of Lydford. The line was closed for several days and reopened on the followoing Wednesday. In a later snowfall the line was blocked for a week.
There was nothing for it but to pass the night in the waiting room at Tavistock North Station as best we could. Come morning the station staff told us that a rescue train was going to be sent out from Plymouth to convey us back to Plymouth via Bere Alston. However they could give no indication of timing. The rescue train would be no help to the contingent from the Launceston area so they set out to walk the 13 miles home, but some got friends and family to drive out to pick them up part way. I had spent the previous evening on the train with MB an enthusiast from Falmouth. He and I together decided that we were not going to wait for the rescue train and also decided to walk to Plymouth, which was 14 miles for me and 15 for MB. Breakfast was provided by British Railways in a cafe on the east side of Duke Street, Tavistock which is still there trading under a different name. We set out for Plymouth on foot along the A386. It was a beautiful day with no clouds or wind just continuous sunshine which enhanced the walk considerably. After some two hours and 6 miles we reached Roborough Down south of Yelverton Village and the highest pont on the route. From here there were long distance views to the east to Burrator Dam and the tors of Dartmoor. That view was quite magical in the cool, silent and still air. The silence was then broken by the noise of an approaching motor vehichle – the first we had seen on the move that morning. It was a Land Rover and the driver stopped to see if he could offer us a lift which he did for about 5 miles to a point alongside Plymouth Airport from where I walked the remaining 3 miles home.
The series titled The End of 1962 covered that period in 22 parts and is still available on this website. The series covered the travelling of a Plymouth railway enthusiast during the most inhospitable weather of his lifetime. The Launceston Branch may have closed but life went on in 1963 and so did the cold spell. I resumed travelling on Saturday 5 January 1963 with my friend Charles Fennamore on a day trip from Plymouth to Hemyock via Okehampton, Exeter and Tiverton Junction. Where Charles spent 29 December is not known but he was due to meet me on the train for the last trip out to Launceston on the 6.20pm off Plymouth. That last summer we had made a couple of similar return trips on a Saturday evening but parking our cars at Marsh Mills Station for a change, and that is what Charles did on the 29 December. At the time Charles lived in the village of Brixton five miles south-east of Plymouth Station and Marsh Mills Station was a little closer to his home. At Marsh Mills he would have witnessed the freight train abandoned in the up platform and the struggles to get the 5.40pm from Launceston past the obstruction and then to change the points for my train which arrived in the station at 10.14pm. After a couple of hours enduring the blizzard Charles gave up and drove home while it was still possible – a very wise decision in the circumstances
MLR / 31 December 2023
Read more of Michaels fascinating memoirs by clicking here
A tale of a Fowler
Chris Bellett
Hello Gents,
With reference to the website photo of the 0-4-0DM Diesel Shunter 'Peter' at St.Blazey. This was previously based at Bodmin General and sat in the Barracks Siding there for quite some time. Attached is a photograph taken in mid-2023. I assume its been sold.
Take Care and a Happy New Year to everybody,
Chris Bellett
Semi-retired S&T Engineer
CRS Member
With reference to the website photo of the 0-4-0DM Diesel Shunter 'Peter' at St.Blazey. This was previously based at Bodmin General and sat in the Barracks Siding there for quite some time. Attached is a photograph taken in mid-2023. I assume its been sold.
Take Care and a Happy New Year to everybody,
Chris Bellett
Semi-retired S&T Engineer
CRS Member
Fowler diesel mechanical shunter 'Peter' during its past life at the Bodmin Railway. The shunter is now located at St. Blazey roundhouse as per Neil Phillips article posted yesterday. Copyright Chris Bellett.
Thank you for the information Chris, what a strange looking machine. A very happy new year to you, too.
Happy New Year & 6V74
Dennis Clarke
Dennis Clarke
Hi Keith and Roger, I would like to send my best wishes to everyone for 2024. I have also attached my picture of 66165 and 66143 at Par, working 6V74 from Exeter Riverside to St Blazey yesterday, Best Wishes, Dennis
Many Thanks Dennis and Best Wishes for 2024
When green is not what it seems!
Driver Alan Peters
Hired to Colas Rail, Freightliner 66604 is seen at Westbury 'down side' sidings with 6C45 to Plymouth and return with an in-traffic ballast drop between Tavi Junction and Totnes on the evening of 19/12/23 - Copyright Alan Peters
Freightliner 66604 on hire to Colas Rail at Totnes with 6C45, South West Drivers Mark Fabiano (left) and Alan Peters (right) would like to wish Cornwall railway Society and everyone a Happy New Year! - copyright Luke Lockton.
Thank you very much for your images Alan, wishing a very happy new year to both yourself and Mark, too!
Double Stamps
Jon Hird
Todays (30.12.23) train of empty JIA wagons from Exeter Riverside (6V74) was double headed by DB Cargo locos 66165 and 66143 (with the latter being conveyed dead in tow).
The two locos and wagons were being brought back to Cornwall ready to resume work on the China Clay circuit after the festive period shut down.
They're pictured here, the bright red locomotives adding a splash of colour to an otherwise dull Respryn at 10:40, en route to St. Blazey.
The two locos and wagons were being brought back to Cornwall ready to resume work on the China Clay circuit after the festive period shut down.
They're pictured here, the bright red locomotives adding a splash of colour to an otherwise dull Respryn at 10:40, en route to St. Blazey.
66165 and 66143 double head 6V74, the Exeter Riverside - St. Blazey empty JIA working on 30.12.2023. Copyright Jon Hird.
Ponsandane progress
Dennis Clarke
Hi Keith,
A few pictures taken today (30.12.2023) to show the progress at the new Ponsandane Sidings. They are taking shape but the buffer stops are still to be put in place,
Regards,
Dennis
A few pictures taken today (30.12.2023) to show the progress at the new Ponsandane Sidings. They are taking shape but the buffer stops are still to be put in place,
Regards,
Dennis
Ponsandane progress, 30.12.2023. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
Ponsandane progress, 30.12.2023. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
Ponsandane progress, 30.12.2023. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
Ponsandane progress, 30.12.2023. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
Many thanks Dennis, it's nice to see a little more progress being made on this project.
'Peter' & The CDA
Neil Phillips
No, not the name of a movie or pop group! I discovered this afternoon that the Ruston & Hornsby 48DS 4wDM 'Brian', Fowler 0-4-0DM 'Peter' and (G)WR ventilated van have now been removed from Par Docks - it would be interesting to know how the movement was performed.
I called in to the St Blazey turntable area to find that 'Peter' had been turned and parked up on the depot side. The nameplates appear to be made of wood with brass letters. This locomotive, Fowler Works No. 22928, dates back to 1940 and had previously worked for the North Devon Clay Company at Meeth. Interestingly in February 1934 the Great Western Railway took delivery of an almost identical locomotive, numbered it '1' and painted it in full 'Great Western' lined green livery with a copper-capped 'chimney' - trust the GWR to go overboard on such a diminutive machine! Despite this lavish attention it was withdrawn in 1940 (the same year 'Peter' was constructed) and taken on by the Ministry of Supply.
There was no sign of the vent van or 'Brian', they are possibly inside the shed beyond 'Peter'. This R&H 48DS locomotive - Works No. 443642, built 1960 - was previously named 'LEC' and worked for LEC Refrigeration at Bognor Regis.
Nearly three years ago vegetation clearance in the turntable area revealed a long-lost loop line which rejoins the other track near the A3082 level crossing - since then nothing appears to have used these rusty rails, which nature is now attempting to reclaim, but CDA 375102 has now been shunted onto it - I wonder what the last wheels to run on these rails belonged to......?
Having examined 'Peter' I nipped down the road to check out the year-end situation regarding the CDA scrapping at the far end of St Blazey Yard. Ten wagons remain intact, with no sign of recent activity. By my reckoning 58 wagons have each been carted away in three large pieces this year, requiring further processing so perhaps there is currently no space for these final ten in the destination scrapyard.
I must take this opportunity to join others in acknowledging your daily dedication to keeping the CRS website so up-to-date and informative - I check in every morning!
Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Neil Phillips
I called in to the St Blazey turntable area to find that 'Peter' had been turned and parked up on the depot side. The nameplates appear to be made of wood with brass letters. This locomotive, Fowler Works No. 22928, dates back to 1940 and had previously worked for the North Devon Clay Company at Meeth. Interestingly in February 1934 the Great Western Railway took delivery of an almost identical locomotive, numbered it '1' and painted it in full 'Great Western' lined green livery with a copper-capped 'chimney' - trust the GWR to go overboard on such a diminutive machine! Despite this lavish attention it was withdrawn in 1940 (the same year 'Peter' was constructed) and taken on by the Ministry of Supply.
There was no sign of the vent van or 'Brian', they are possibly inside the shed beyond 'Peter'. This R&H 48DS locomotive - Works No. 443642, built 1960 - was previously named 'LEC' and worked for LEC Refrigeration at Bognor Regis.
Nearly three years ago vegetation clearance in the turntable area revealed a long-lost loop line which rejoins the other track near the A3082 level crossing - since then nothing appears to have used these rusty rails, which nature is now attempting to reclaim, but CDA 375102 has now been shunted onto it - I wonder what the last wheels to run on these rails belonged to......?
Having examined 'Peter' I nipped down the road to check out the year-end situation regarding the CDA scrapping at the far end of St Blazey Yard. Ten wagons remain intact, with no sign of recent activity. By my reckoning 58 wagons have each been carted away in three large pieces this year, requiring further processing so perhaps there is currently no space for these final ten in the destination scrapyard.
I must take this opportunity to join others in acknowledging your daily dedication to keeping the CRS website so up-to-date and informative - I check in every morning!
Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Neil Phillips
CDA china clay wagon 375102 on the 'long lost rails' 29th December 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
Fowler 0-4-0DM 'Peter' near the St Blazey turntable 29th December 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
There we are folks, 10 CDA wagons left 'in the wild' - get a last look at them while you still can! Many thanks both for your photographs and information, as well as your kind comments, Neil. A very happy new year to you, too.
Wareham Station
Mick House
Mick House
Hi Keith, Roger & Jon
Some uptodate images of Wareham taken 05-12-2023.
I have a lot of images of Wool that were taken on the same day that I will sort out next.
Happy New Year to you and all your family's.
Regards Mick
Some uptodate images of Wareham taken 05-12-2023.
I have a lot of images of Wool that were taken on the same day that I will sort out next.
Happy New Year to you and all your family's.
Regards Mick
No prize for this, Where is it ? Copyright Mick House.
Wareham Station and Box looking west. Copyright Mick House
Wareham looking east. Copyright Mick House
Many thanks Mick
Wishing you and the family
A prosperous 2024
Wishing you and the family
A prosperous 2024
NINETEEN SIXTY TWO
PART 63
Michael L. Roach
The Blizzard of December 1962 (Continued)
continued from Part 62
The last photograph shown yesterday was 5564 on the 12.40pm SO Launceston to Plymouth and was taken at 2.12pm with the train running 24 minutes late. It had started to snow at Yelverton around 12.00 noon on 29 December 1962, light at first but gradually increasing in intensity. and the snow was now starting to cover the rails in places. As I was writing this on the evening of 19 December 2022 I was also watching Winter Walks on BBC 4 through the Yorkshire Dales and the presenter stopped to recite a very famous poem titled “Leisure” by the Welsh Poet W.H. Davies (1871 – 1940) which made me think. The poem starts like this - “What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”
I had plenty of time to stand and stare on the afternoon of 29 December 1962. Ignoring the train that had brought me to Yelverton I saw 9 trains pass through the station in 277 minutes equalling one every half hour. Between trains I had plenty of time to strand and stare at the infrastructure of the station. The track was disappearing under the blanket of snow and only one track was in use. The Princetown track had long gone so there were two disused platforms. All the buildings remained although only the small downside booking office was in use for part of the day. The distinguishing feature of Yelverton Station was the octagonal station building on the island platfom which was made of timber and dated from 1885. It was closed when the loop was taken out of use but remained intact. It contained a large central booking hall; a booking office at the north (small) end with toilets at the other end for ladies and gentlemen. The building had an awning on the longest sides and luckily for me on a day of such extreme weather the footbridge also had a roof. There were plenty of places for me to shelter while waiting for the next train.
With no signals to guide me and the trains getting later and later I had to select my next spot to take a photo and shelter close by and soak up the last views of a functioning station before going out into the snow at the last minute.
The wind was not too bad when I arrived at Yelverton at 11.23am but was now increasing rapidly and by 3.00pm I was able to record that a full-scale easterly blizzard was raging. Hearing the train approaching I went out into the snow to stand on the steps of the signal box to record the 2.10pm Plymouth to Tavistock arriving at Yelverton at 3.04pm, some 21L. Although I was wearing a duffle coat with a hood the cold was so intense and the wind so strong it felt as though the icy blast was cutting straight through me; and I was glad to return to the shelter of the station awnings again. The station was now unstaffed as the porter had ended his single shift at 2.00pm, it is believed. By a strange coincidence the booking office at my local station a 5 minute walk away is, 60 years later, staffed on a single shift from 6.45am to 2.00pm.
The resulting photograph of 6430 entering the station shows the snow blowing from only just above the horizontal. I am looking almost due south and the wind is coming from the east, all the way from Siberia according to some experts at the time. It certainly felt like it.
I now had more than 65 minutes to stand, stare and shiver until the next train which was the 3.05pm Plymouth to Launceston which eventually appeared 31L. I stood on the footbridge to watch 4591 run in with four coaches, and then walked along beside the loop to photograph 4591 stopped and moving off in a cloud of steam.
I had planned to travel home on the 4.30pm from Tavistock to Plymouth due off Yelverton at 4.46pm, but soon after seeing 4591 pass very late I realised that if the 4.30pm train was late I would not be getting home in time for any tea before returning to the station to catch the 6.20pm to Launceston. There was nothing for it but to drag myself up the long steep station access road to the village in the hope that the buses were still running in the blizzard conditions. They were and I did not have to wait long for a red Plymouth Corporation Leyland double-decker to appear on its return journey from Dousland, which up until 1956 was also served by a railway station on the Princetown branch.
The bus driver somehow managed to keep the bus on the road in the newly fallen snow, and with a much shorter walk from the bus stop than the railway station, I could have a good tea before heading off to Plymouth Station for a last return trip over the branch.
(to be continued)
The last photograph shown yesterday was 5564 on the 12.40pm SO Launceston to Plymouth and was taken at 2.12pm with the train running 24 minutes late. It had started to snow at Yelverton around 12.00 noon on 29 December 1962, light at first but gradually increasing in intensity. and the snow was now starting to cover the rails in places. As I was writing this on the evening of 19 December 2022 I was also watching Winter Walks on BBC 4 through the Yorkshire Dales and the presenter stopped to recite a very famous poem titled “Leisure” by the Welsh Poet W.H. Davies (1871 – 1940) which made me think. The poem starts like this - “What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”
I had plenty of time to stand and stare on the afternoon of 29 December 1962. Ignoring the train that had brought me to Yelverton I saw 9 trains pass through the station in 277 minutes equalling one every half hour. Between trains I had plenty of time to strand and stare at the infrastructure of the station. The track was disappearing under the blanket of snow and only one track was in use. The Princetown track had long gone so there were two disused platforms. All the buildings remained although only the small downside booking office was in use for part of the day. The distinguishing feature of Yelverton Station was the octagonal station building on the island platfom which was made of timber and dated from 1885. It was closed when the loop was taken out of use but remained intact. It contained a large central booking hall; a booking office at the north (small) end with toilets at the other end for ladies and gentlemen. The building had an awning on the longest sides and luckily for me on a day of such extreme weather the footbridge also had a roof. There were plenty of places for me to shelter while waiting for the next train.
With no signals to guide me and the trains getting later and later I had to select my next spot to take a photo and shelter close by and soak up the last views of a functioning station before going out into the snow at the last minute.
The wind was not too bad when I arrived at Yelverton at 11.23am but was now increasing rapidly and by 3.00pm I was able to record that a full-scale easterly blizzard was raging. Hearing the train approaching I went out into the snow to stand on the steps of the signal box to record the 2.10pm Plymouth to Tavistock arriving at Yelverton at 3.04pm, some 21L. Although I was wearing a duffle coat with a hood the cold was so intense and the wind so strong it felt as though the icy blast was cutting straight through me; and I was glad to return to the shelter of the station awnings again. The station was now unstaffed as the porter had ended his single shift at 2.00pm, it is believed. By a strange coincidence the booking office at my local station a 5 minute walk away is, 60 years later, staffed on a single shift from 6.45am to 2.00pm.
The resulting photograph of 6430 entering the station shows the snow blowing from only just above the horizontal. I am looking almost due south and the wind is coming from the east, all the way from Siberia according to some experts at the time. It certainly felt like it.
I now had more than 65 minutes to stand, stare and shiver until the next train which was the 3.05pm Plymouth to Launceston which eventually appeared 31L. I stood on the footbridge to watch 4591 run in with four coaches, and then walked along beside the loop to photograph 4591 stopped and moving off in a cloud of steam.
I had planned to travel home on the 4.30pm from Tavistock to Plymouth due off Yelverton at 4.46pm, but soon after seeing 4591 pass very late I realised that if the 4.30pm train was late I would not be getting home in time for any tea before returning to the station to catch the 6.20pm to Launceston. There was nothing for it but to drag myself up the long steep station access road to the village in the hope that the buses were still running in the blizzard conditions. They were and I did not have to wait long for a red Plymouth Corporation Leyland double-decker to appear on its return journey from Dousland, which up until 1956 was also served by a railway station on the Princetown branch.
The bus driver somehow managed to keep the bus on the road in the newly fallen snow, and with a much shorter walk from the bus stop than the railway station, I could have a good tea before heading off to Plymouth Station for a last return trip over the branch.
(to be continued)
A view of Yelverton Station from the private accomodation bridge which was provided because the construction of the railway cut a land holding in two. Indeed there was no railway station here for the first 26 years of the line's existence. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
6430 on the 2.10pm Plymouth to Tavistock approaches Yelverton Station at the height of the blizzarrd. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
6430 waits to leave Yelverton with the 2.10pm from Plymouth. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
View of Yelverton looking north in a snow storm. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
View of Yelverton looking south. I spent a lot of time on the seat under the awning because it gave some protection from the biting easterly wind which was travelling left to right across the picture. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
It was necessary to retain the footbridge after the closure of the signal box and the upside track and platform for passengers arriving on foot from a footpath adjacent to the Princetown Branch embankment. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
4591 waits to leave Yelverton with the 3.05pm Plymouth to Launceston, which was the last train to complete the journey in that direction. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Thank you Michael.
To read more of Michaels tales, please click here to visit his section of the website.
To read more of Michaels tales, please click here to visit his section of the website.
Nocturnal Scenes
Alan Peters
We are indebted to Alan for these wonderful, priveledged views of some night-time happenings on the railways. Whilst most of us are fast asleep, the 'orange army' set to work to keep the railway in tip-top condition.
Thank you very much for the images, Alan.
Thank you very much for the images, Alan.
Colas Rail 66846 is seen at Totnes awaiting Network Rail staff to operate the 5 autohoppers for a ballast drop on 6C44 between Totnes and Tavi Junction in the early hours of 19th December 2023. Copyright Driver Alan Peters
A nocturnal view of Colas Rail 67023 'Stella' stabled at Westbury holding sidings alongside Matisa tamper DR75406 looking towards the station 19/12/23. Copyright Driver Alan Peters.
Bodmin Railway
Winter Steam Up
Jon Hird, Sam Hooper & Roger Winnen
The Bodmin Railway held their annual winter 'steam up' on the 29th December 2023. It featured GWR Prarie Tank 5552 hauling the mk1 service set, and Port of Par Bagnall Saddle Tank 'Judy' providing brake van rides on the alternate branch line. Healthy passenger numbers were observed, and it seems a good time was had by all!
Port of Par Bagnall Saddle Tank 'Judy' brings a brake van full of passengers up from Bodmin Parkway working the early-running 11:40 service. Copyright Jon Hird.
Bodmin Railway volunteer Sam Hooper records the scene from the trackside as 'Judy' continues up the gradient. Copyright Jon Hird.
... And here is Sam's view! Copyright Sam Hooper.
231230a 5552 Runs around at Bodmin Parkway to form the service to Bodmin General. Copyright Rower Winnen
231230b 5552 Leaves Parkway on the 10.35 service to Bodmin General. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230d All aboard for the 11.00 Brake Van and Judy to Bodmin Parkway. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230e 5552 at Boscarne Junction running around its train. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230f The tranquill setting of Boscarne Junction with the 11.45 to Bodmin General. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230g 5552 Climbs out of Boscarne Junction. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230h Approaching the two bridges on entering Bodmin General Station. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230i Judy topping up with Water prior to going to Bodmin Parkway. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230j 5552 with the 12.50 departs Bodmin Parkway to Bodmin General. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230k Judy with the Brake Van arrives at Bodmin Parkway. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230l Judy runs around at Bodmin Parkway. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230 llLittle and Large at Bodmin Parkway. Copyright oger innen
231230m Raising steam to tackle the banks to Bodmin General. Copyright Roger Winnen
231230n Jimmey James and Judy preparring for departure. Copyright Roger Winnen